Pascal Vincent: “If Jacob Fowler is with us, maybe we’ll still be in the running.”

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Pascal Vincent: “If Jacob Fowler is with us, maybe we’ll still be in the running.”
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During his two years with the Rocket, Pascal Vincent had Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler as his starting goalies for part of the time.

The former was there for half a season (in 2024–2025, before being called up), and the latter spent time with the Rocket in 2024–2025 and 2025–2026.

Fowler notably helped Pascal Vincent make a run in the playoffs in 2025. The duo he formed with Cayden Primeau in the playoffs was effective.

But of course, he wasn't there for the 2026 playoffs. During the final weeks of the season and the playoffs, he was with the Canadiens to back up Jakub Dobes.

We agree that it was the right thing to do since he was the organization's second-best goaltender and the Habs' goal was to (try to) win the Stanley Cup.

But the fact remains that it affected the Rocket.

Appearing on the Sick Podcast last night, Pascal Vincent couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if the Rocket, who lost in the first round of the playoffs against Toronto, had been able to count on Jacob Fowler.

Vincent, newly appointed as an assistant coach in Seattle, described Fowler as an elite goaltender who wants to make a difference in big moments. He wonders if the American netminder could have led the Rocket to the finals.

Remember that the Marlies beat the Rocket in a decisive game… and that today, the Toronto club is in the finals.

“If Jacob Fowler were with us, maybe we'd still be playing.” – Pascal Vincent

Vincent succeeded in his mission to make Fowler an NHL player (I say this even though there's a chance we'll see the youngster back in the AHL in 2026-2027), and he can be proud of that.

But I'm still surprised to see that Vincent didn't bring up the tape (by saying that Tony Marinaro's question about a run with Fowler was hypothetical) in the interview.

In my view, that speaks volumes about how he sees Fowler. And that's a good sign for the Habs.

Also worth noting, speaking of goalies, is that Vincent knew Dobeš was good, but he didn't expect him to be that good that quickly in the NHL.

It's also worth noting that in addition to Dobeš and Fowler, Vincent praised Samuel Montembeault as a person. He says all three Habs goalies are good guys.

That's what really made the trio work.

I highly recommend listening to the full Sick Podcast with Pascal Vincent. It's a great interview in which he speaks highly of many people, including Nick Bobrov and Martin Lapointe.

Seriously, he had nothing but good things to say about the Canadiens organization in general.


In a nutshell

– Excellent point.

– Dylan Larkin to the Flyers?

– Interesting.

– How to Give Your Player Bargaining Power 101.

– The Habs are off to a good start.

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