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JUST IN: Jacob Fowler appears poised to become the Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender of the future
His Boston College head coach adds, “Everything he showed in his freshman year indicates that he’s trending to be an outstanding goalie.”
In selecting goalie Jacob Fowler in the third round (69th overall) of the NHL Draft last year, the Canadiens appear to have struck gold. This season, the 19-year-old at Boston College recorded a 32-6-1 record as a freshman, in addition to 2.14 goals against average, a.926 save percentage, and three shutouts.
Before falling to Denver 2-0 in the NCAA title game at the Frozen Four, Fowler assisted Boston College in winning the Hockey East Tournament Championship and moving on to the NCAA final.
Along with Wisconsin senior Kyle McClellan and Colorado College junior Kaidan Mbereko, Fowler was voted the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year and one of the three candidates for the Mike Richter Award, which recognizes the best goalkeeper in the NCAA.
The 24-year-old McClellan, who was not chosen in the NHL Draft, took home the trophy with a record of 24-12-1, 1.94 goals against average, and.931 save percentage.
When asked if he believes the Canadiens got a good deal when they took Fowler, Boston College head coach Greg Brown responded, “The draft is a hard thing for teams, depending on your needs and everything,” in a recent phone interview. “They should be delighted that they chose him, and I do believe that they are.
Based on all he shown throughout his first season, he appears to be developing into a superb goalie and a fantastic prospect for the Canadiens. The Canadiens were particularly impressed by Fowler’s track record of success.
The Canadiens made it evident in a behind-the-scenes video of their penultimate scouting session in Nashville prior to the draft last year. Billy Ryan, the director of player evaluation and amateur scout for the Canadiens, states in the film, “If you want to win, I’d take the winning goalie.”
Ryan continues, “We’re all aiming for the same prize. “I would like the child who wins the most as we are attempting to win a Stanley Cup. Never was the best goaltender in history. At all. Examine the figures.
He has always been the best goalie in the league. In every league he has played in, he has consistently had the best save percentage.
We will definitely regret not taking this child, in my opinion. Fowler had a 27-9-4 record, 2.28 GAA, and a.921 save percentage with the Youngstown Phantoms, the league winners, the season before the Canadiens selected him in the first round. Goalie of the Year in the USHL went to Fowler.
Whether things are going well or not, he has a terrific manner of maintaining composure, the head coach remarked. “He plays with a genuine maturity in that regard, and his efficiency is another quality that helps him maintain consistency.
He is such a position player. He doesn’t lose control when he lunges back and forth to produce incredible saves. These two factors transfer quite well to his ongoing professional development.
Boston College is expected to have a strong team again next season with Fowler returning. Brown agrees with Ryan that Fowler knows how to win and the goal next season will be an NCAA championship.
“It’s hard to put your success or failure on one game,” Brown said. “There’s lots of things Jacob and the whole team can improve on aside from just winning the last game of the year.”
When asked what makes Fowler a winner, Brown said: “He seems to really enjoy the moment in the big game. He looks at it as a fun challenge, not something to be nervous about. I think his attitude in those games really helps him find success. And each time you have success in those big situations you get more and more confident.”
Confidence is another thing the Canadiens liked about Fowler, along with a bit of cockiness — but in a good way.
“We don’t see Jacob as being really cocky,” Brown said. “He’s not like that in an annoying way at all. He just has a confidence to him that you do want. If you’re a goalie, you have to have that. I equate it to being a starting pitcher in baseball. You might get hit hard once or twice, but you have to have that full confidence in yourself no matter how the game’s going and he does a great job of that.
Playing goalie for the Canadiens is one of the most pressure-packed positions in the NHL, but Fowler seems to have the mental makeup to handle it if he becomes the team’s goalie of the future.
“So far, he definitely has shown a mental and physical characteristics that would lead him to have a good shot to be the goalie in Montreal,” Brown said. “Again, there’s only 32 teams and 32 nets. But everything he’s done so far is leading toward that and that he would be a guy who could do that.”
