Jakub Dobes: From a Break from the Spotlight to a Major Contract in Just a Few Months

Vincent Larue
Jakub Dobes: From a Break from the Spotlight to a Major Contract in Just a Few Months
Credit: YouTube / CH

Jakub Dobes has just reached another major milestone in his young career.

The Canadiens have awarded him a three-season contract extension, a strong show of confidence in a player who had a stellar spring.

It's worth remembering, however, that just a few months ago, the situation was quite different.

In late March, my colleague Maxime Truman explained the real reasons behind the Czech goaltender's media hiatus, during which he was no longer available to speak with the press. That decision was made to better manage the pressure that comes with playing in a market like Montreal.

Today, it's safe to say that this choice appears to have paid off.

But beyond the new contract, another detail seems significant.

In a post on X, David Ettedgui made a point of paying tribute to Chantal Machabée for the work she did for Dobes. According to him, she took the young goaltender under her wing when he was struggling to cope with the pressure from the Montreal media.

A detail that shows that a young player's development isn't just about on-ice performance.

It certainly seems that Dobes has also learned another important lesson.

After signing his new contract, the young goaltender explained that he wanted to settle his contract situation as quickly as possible so he could focus solely on hockey. Ivan Demidov made exactly the same statement when he signed his own deal with the Habs the day before.

It's hard not to see a connection to what Lane Hutson went through last year.

Early in the season, questions about his next contract kept coming up. It even affected his play a bit, as the topic quickly became a distraction.

Dobes and Demidov seem to have learned from that experience.

Both players chose to settle their futures over the summer to prevent negotiations from taking up too much time during the season. Once their contracts were signed, they made no secret of the fact that they wanted to quickly move on and focus solely on hockey.

All of this can only be a positive for the Habs.


In a nutshell

– The return of two stars.

– What a game!

– A beautiful gesture.

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