‘He’s got that swagger’: Carey Price gives thoughts on Habs’ Dobes/Fowler tandem
Former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price likes what he sees in the new tandem in nets for the Habs.
Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler are “a little bit different,” he said in an interview with NHL.com.
“I really love Dobes’s compete level, he’s got that ‘grrr’ in his game, he’s got that swagger. I really enjoy watching that,” he said of the 25-year-old starter.
He also had praise for Dobes’s backup.
“Fowler kind of reminds me more of myself, a little more reserved. He plays a very quiet game like I did.”
Price added that “it’s their mentality that has them where they’re at.”
Dobes and Fowler handled goaltending duties during the team’s playoff run to the Eastern Conference final in the spring. Dobes got the lion’s share, including two crucial Game 7 wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres. He finished the playoffs with a 9-10 record, a 2.66 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
Fowler got a taste of the postseason coming in relief of Dobes against the Sabres for the final 8:23 of Game 6. During the regular season, the 21-year-old had a 9-6-2 record in 17 games, with a 2.43 goals against average and .908 save percentage.
Last October’s opening night starter, Samuel Montembeault, is still on the team and could be a factor in goal for the Habs after a rough campaign in 2025-26.
Price rewrote the record book for the Habs during his playing career from 2007-22. He leads the team in regular-season wins, game played, saves and shots against.
In November, Price will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.
One achievement he was unable to reach in his career was a Stanley Cup, but he said in the interview that the current team “sure feels like a contender,” but added “a lot of things need to go right for (a championship) to happen.”
The article said he was next in line to be the pregame torchbearer at the Bell Centre had the Habs not fallen to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
“If I didn’t watch a game, I was probably at my daughter’s ball game,” he said in the interview. “But even there, I had the game on my phone, trying my best to watch them both at the same time.”
