Even Carey Price got sent down, once upon a time. Remember that if anyone dares suggest the Montreal Canadiens’ decision to send Jacob Fowler to the Laval Rocket on Friday was the wrong move.
The season was 2007-08. Social media was just starting to become a thing (that would in turn evolve into a cesspool of misinformation and toxicity). People were just getting used to the idea of having a phone meet all their digital needs in a single device (like on-the-go access to social media). And Price, after having joined the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs the previous spring in time to help lead them to a Calder Cup championship, was playing his rookie NHL season.
Price’s Rookie Season to Remember
While Price had a strong start to his career, going 24-12-3 with a 2.56 Goals-Against Average (GAA) and .920 Save Percentage (SV%) overall, the Canadiens made the bold move to send him back down to the AHL in January (coincidentally) to help him regain his confidence. He played 10 games with the Bulldogs, going 6-4 with a 2.69 GAA and .896 SV%, which, while far from awe-inspiring, did the trick. He went on to even win his first playoff series as a rookie that spring, beating the Boston Bruins in seven games, before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in Round 2.
The next time Price saw the AHL was in 2021, as a conditioning stint ahead of the postseason. Again, it served him well, as, obviously, he backstopped the Canadiens to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, where they unfortunately lost in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s worth noting, in the inherently unlikely event the Final went another way, Price would have been a Conn Smythe Trophy front-runner.
The point is, despite Fowler’s relatively impressive play upon being called up in December, this is the appropriate, measured response by management in the face of a three-goalie rotation that logically couldn’t last based on past experience. Most would agree, but many would argue the Canadiens should have sent Jakub Dobes, who remains exempt from waivers, like Fowler, down instead, as he has the worse numbers (compared to the latter), while Sam Montembeault has successfully begun to string together a few decent starts after a rough start to the season.
Dobes is 14-5-3 with a 3.01 GAA and .888 SV%. Fowler is 4-4-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .902%. So, despite Fowler’s lower winning percentage, there is some merit to the argument. However, this is the same organization (but admittedly different administration) that rushed Cayden Primeau to the NHL despite then-goaltending coach Stephane Waite having suggested he get in 200 AHL games before making the jump. Granted, Fowler is a higher-calibre prospect than Primeau and, at least on paper, has more in common with Price, but, unless the Canadiens are prepared to play him as their No. 1 and trade Montembeault, like the Habs did Cristobal Huet the aforementioned 2007-08 season, they’re giving him more of a chance to reach his potential by playing regularly in the AHL.
Price’s Circuitous Road to Elite Status
Obviously, Price didn’t suddenly become the best goalie on the planet at that point. He really only achieved that status circa the 2014 Winter Olympics after several years of inconsistent play and a stint sharing the crease with Jaroslav Halak, which culminated in an all-world goaltending performance on the part of the Slovakian in the 2010 playoffs that necessitated a difficult choice: Go with Price, who may have the higher ceiling, or Halak, who has shown more so far.
Had many fans at that point had their way, Price would never had blossomed into the goalie he did, at least not with the Canadiens. That doesn’t mean fans should blindly trust every decision team management makes now, because the Primeau quagmire goes to show they have the capacity to show faulty judgment as well.
Above all else, Price’s career goes to show that Fowler shouldn’t be expected to take the team’s reins as its No. 1 goalie overnight. There are ebbs and flows to every career, but it certainly bodes well that Fowler has displayed impressive poise in the NHL over his first 10 games, that they went much smoother than Primeau’s, which were played over a span of three different seasons, and that, if you’re a believer that some coincidences are just too coincidental to be, his first game was a road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins (just like Price’s… and Patrick Roy’s and Ken Dryden’s).
Related: Top 3 All-Time Canadiens Goalies
The thing is, right now, Fowler on the whole looks to have much more in common with Dobes, who helped salvage the Canadiens’ 2024-25 after having been called up two Decembers ago to replace Primeau. It wasn’t long ago that Dobes was the toast of the town after he started his career with five straight wins and a .941 SV%. So, if anyone is saying the Habs should have kept Fowler in the NHL despite him showing similar signs of decline back to the mean, they’re not really paying attention.
Dobes vs. Fowler? Not Really. Not Now.
Dobes is a different animal than Primeau, though. He may be struggling compared to how he had played when he first got called up, but he’s still by and large getting the job done. Demoting him would seem like a punishment, and for what? Being nine games above .500? If a goalie is winning consistently in the NHL, it’s just logical to work with him in the NHL to fine-tune his game.
In contrast, playing it safe with Fowler is the right call. This way, he’ll be guaranteed regular starts with the Rocket instead of competing for starts with the incumbent in Montembeault. He’s in a better position to develop at his own pace instead of at the team’s leisure. The Canadiens called him up initially presumably because they felt like he could handle it (and Montembeault had been struggling). For all intents and purposes he did, but standards should be higher, when his ceiling is as well. Honestly, unlike with Price and Halak, this choice shouldn’t have been nearly as hard.
This isn’t the Canadiens choosing Dobes over Fowler. They’re not trading anyone, at least not yet. Although, you have to believe if/when that time comes, they’ll act similarly and accordingly and go with the goalie who has the most potential. That seems to be the best working strategy regardless of the names in play. And, should Dobes be the odd man out then, as is widely expected, what’s wrong with having given him the opportunity to spread his wings? Maybe then the Habs will end up getting significantly more in exchange than they did (once upon a time).
Maybe there will even be a happier ending. That would be something to get excited about. Not this. This is just garden-variety roster management. Rest assured, Fowler will be back and probably better than ever.