Home › Forums › Montréal Canadiens › Montembeault or Dobes: Who Gets More Starts?
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Mash.
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July 30, 2025 at 11:20 am #18855
AmyRSM
ParticipantSo here’s something else we pondered on this week’s Canadiens Connection podcast that I’m curious about here on the forum:
1. Who gets more starts this season, Montembeault or Dobes?
2. Does Fowler spend the entire season in Laval?
3. Where does Kaapo Kähkönen fit into the depth chart?July 30, 2025 at 11:55 am #18861kicksave856
Participanti usually decide my goalies based on their gear.
July 30, 2025 at 12:07 pm #18863Pat1993
Participant1. Who gets more starts this season, Montembeault or Dobes?
2. Does Fowler spend the entire season in Laval?
3. Where does Kaapo Kähkönen fit into the depth chart?1- Montembeault will definitely get more starts, unless of course he gets injured… He should be playing fewer games than last year though, I expect him to play around 50 games, the rest going to Dobes.
2- Fowler will spend the whole year with the Rocket as the starter there, but once again, if injuries occur, you never know I guess lol. Anyway at 20 years old he’s way too inexperienced to become a regular NHL goalie, there’s no rush in bringing him up too soon.
3- Kähkönen is most likely an insurance policy more than anything, I guess he could be a veteran goalie supporting Fowler during his development in Laval…
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This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by
Pat1993.
July 30, 2025 at 3:10 pm #18892AmyRSM
Participanti usually decide my goalies based on their gear.
that’s fair – whose setup did you like best last year?
July 30, 2025 at 3:12 pm #18893AmyRSM
Participant1- Montembeault will definitely get more starts, unless of course he gets injured… He should be playing fewer games than last year though, I expect him to play around 50 games, the rest going to Dobes.
2- Fowler will spend the whole year with the Rocket as the starter there, but once again, if injuries occur, you never know I guess lol. Anyway at 20 years old he’s way too inexperienced to become a regular NHL goalie, there’s no rush in bringing him up too soon.
3- Kähkönen is most likely an insurance policy more than anything, I guess he could be a veteran goalie supporting Fowler during his development in Laval…
Fowler spending the majority of the season in Laval would be the best thing for him, and yes with Kahkohnen as a mentor of sorts…but I would like to see Fowler get a crack at some NHL games midway or 3/4 of the way through the season just to see how he’s progressing.
July 30, 2025 at 3:20 pm #18896kicksave856
Participantthat’s fair – whose setup did you like best last year?
dobes. i don’t really get the design on montembeault’s pads.
i have always though habs goalies would look best with solid red, or solid blue gear. or like roy’s pads that were mostly blue with some red bits (you remember them).
these are the things i think about.
July 30, 2025 at 3:36 pm #18900AmyRSM
Participantkicksave856 wrote:
dobes. i don’t really get the design on montembeault’s pads.i have always though habs goalies would look best with solid red, or solid blue gear. or like roy’s pads that were mostly blue with some red bits (you remember them).
these are the things i think about.
Dobes did have a sharp looking setup! I’m thinking Fowler will do something pretty solid as well.
July 30, 2025 at 3:39 pm #18901kicksave856
ParticipantDobes did have a sharp looking setup! I’m thinking Fowler will do something pretty solid as well.
i’m counting on it.
i loved this look:
July 30, 2025 at 5:27 pm #18925AmyRSM
ParticipantDefinitely! That’s a great combo!
July 31, 2025 at 10:04 am #19021Mash
ParticipantMonty will get more starts, but the Habs need to keep him at around 50 games, lots of back-to-back games this year because of the Olympic break.
I still question whether Dobes can play the other 32-ish games. He came out strong, was fairly decent afterwards, but teams exposed a few of his weaknesses that he needs to work on as the season progressed. I would not be surprised to see Dobes back in Laval at some point during the season.
I can see Kähkönen getting 10-12 starts this year in Montreal.
Unless we have a bad rash of goalie injuries, Fowler stays in Laval all year, maybe a later call up at the end of the season for a game or two, if the Habs have locked up a playoff spot early (or eliminated, I guess).
August 1, 2025 at 7:39 am #19152AmyRSM
ParticipantMonty will get more starts, but the Habs need to keep him at around 50 games, lots of back-to-back games this year because of the Olympic break.
I still question whether Dobes can play the other 32-ish games. He came out strong, was fairly decent afterwards, but teams exposed a few of his weaknesses that he needs to work on as the season progressed. I would not be surprised to see Dobes back in Laval at some point during the season.
I can see Kähkönen getting 10-12 starts this year in Montreal.
Unless we have a bad rash of goalie injuries, Fowler stays in Laval all year, maybe a later call up at the end of the season for a game or two, if the Habs have locked up a playoff spot early (or eliminated, I guess).
I think Dobes will pleasantly surprise some people this year. He’s quite a personality, but he’s got some solid foundations in the net as well – and he’s a big kid. I agree that Montembeault’s starts need to decrease in number a bit – it’ll be interesting to see what happens if Dobes really steps up to the plate in his share of the starts and builds some momentum for himself. I mentioned above that I think the Fowler/Kahkohnen tandem in Laval will be a good fit, and I’d like to see Fowler get a game or two with the big club before the end of the year just to test him at NHL level. For Kahkonen, my guess is that if he gets NHL starts it’ll be due to injury – but that’s why he’s a solid piece to have in the pipeline in an emergency situation, without having to suddenly put a ton of pressure on Fowler.
August 1, 2025 at 8:39 am #19156Pat1993
ParticipantI think Dobes will pleasantly surprise some people this year. He’s quite a personality, but he’s got some solid foundations in the net as well – and he’s a big kid. I agree that Montembeault’s starts need to decrease in number a bit – it’ll be interesting to see what happens if Dobes really steps up to the plate in his share of the starts and builds some momentum for himself. I mentioned above that I think the Fowler/Kahkohnen tandem in Laval will be a good fit, and I’d like to see Fowler get a game or two with the big club before the end of the year just to test him at NHL level. For Kahkonen, my guess is that if he gets NHL starts it’ll be due to injury – but that’s why he’s a solid piece to have in the pipeline in an emergency situation, without having to suddenly put a ton of pressure on Fowler.
It’s very difficult to determine how a goalie will pan out, but I agree Dobes does have potential… That being said, playing the role of backup at the NHL level must be quite a challenge for a young goaltender, since they’re trying to continue their development and work on their flaws while not playing that many games to do it.
August 1, 2025 at 11:41 am #19220Mash
Participantbut I agree Dobes does have potential
I like Dobes too. I think he has some solid attributes to be a decent goalie in the NHL.
Maybe I just feel burned after the whole Primeau debacle and am concerned about another inexperienced back-up this year, perhaps more, because of the large volume of back-to-back games in 25/26.
But we will see.
August 1, 2025 at 11:50 am #19223Pat1993
ParticipantMaybe I just feel burned after the whole Primeau debacle
speaking of, I was aware the return wasn’t going to be great but I was a bit disappointed that they only got a 7th round pick for Primeau lol… I think most habs fans now consider he isn’t NHL material but I’m very curious to see if he’ll be able to get an opportunity in Carolina, he’s still young and could become a decent goalie imho if he gets his (poop) together.
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This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by
Pat1993.
August 1, 2025 at 12:30 pm #19230Mash
Participantspeaking of, I was aware the return wasn’t going to be great but I was a bit disappointed that they only got a 7th round pick for Primeau lol… I think most habs fans now consider he isn’t NHL material but I’m very curious to see if he’ll be able to get an opportunity in Carolina, he’s still young and could become a decent goalie imho if he gets his (poop) together.
I always felt he could be a decent back up, and may still yet be.
Another player I would have like to see go through the new HuGo organization development path from the start.
Unfortunate.
But Maybe Fowler is the real deal, so I’d rather he get the games in Laval.
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This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by
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