Jacob Fowler: a historic season for a first-year NCAA goalkeeper

At the last draft, the Canadiens had a clear objective: they wanted to replenish their bank of prospects in front of the net in an attempt to find their future #1 goaltender.

There were already a few good prospects in the organization (Samuel Montembeault, Cayden Primeau and Jakub Dobes), but the club clearly wanted to maximize its chances.

Quentin Miller and Yegveni Volokhin were drafted late in the draft, but early in the third round, the Tricolore set its sights on Jacob Fowler, a young American goalie who had just broken all records in the USHL.

The question, of course, was how he would respond in his first NCAA season… and clearly, the kid was ready for Boston College.

A record of 23-5-1, a goals-against average of 2.22 and an efficiency rate of 0.923: you could (really) do worse, and that puts him in good stead among all NCAA goalkeepers.

Because what’s clear right now is that Fowler isn’t just one of the best first-year goalies in the league: he’s one of the best, period.

If you want to compare him to other first-year goalies, you have to look back… and it gets even more interesting.

Fowler’s 23 wins tie him for 11th among all first-year goalkeepers in NCAA history, including Spencer Knight. It should be remembered, however, that most of these figures have only been tallied since 1999-2000, so you have to take this with a grain of salt.

On the other hand, unlike these goalkeepers, Fowler still has several games to play. Boston College still has four more regular-season games to play, and considering the fact that they have a (very) big club, it’s safe to assume that they could play quite a few games in the playoffs.

Remember that in the NCAA, season and playoff statistics are grouped together.

Since (at least) 1999-2000, the record for most wins in a single season by a rookie goaltender is 30, a mark set by Al Montoya. It’ll take a huge end to the season and many more games, but Fowler seems on track to approach that mark.

He tasted his 23rd victory yesterday, and we’ll have to see if he gets another chance to play tonight.

But either way, it’s hard to ask much more of Fowler in what has been, so far, an exceptional first year in the NCAA.

And with a few more wins, he could put his name in the record books. Nothing less.

In bursts

– No surprises here.

– Today’s ballot.

– A first NHL goal for Zachary Bolduc, who celebrates his 21st birthday today. A nice birthday present.

– Whew.

Even-strength goals by Habs forwards in the last 10 games.

It’s been rough man, wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy pic.twitter.com/9U10Sd6Bc1

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) February 24, 2024

– Hard blow for the Kings.

– The Habs have a scout at the Rangers-Flyers game this afternoon.

– Love this.