New Canadiens Connection: Dobes Has Earned His Shot

The Montreal Canadiens are off to a strong start this season leading the NHL’s very competitive Atlantic division with seven wins in their first ten games. Since Montreal’s training camp, head coach Marty St. Louis has stressed the urgency of a strong start in 2025-26. Last year, his team was slow out of the blocks.

Montreal’s success during this campaign has been been powered, in part, by their young guns, who can count themselves among the NHL leaders. After signing his new long-term deal, Lane Hutson has been in fine form leading the league in assists with eight.

Ivan Demidov leads all rookies in points with nine and assists by rookies with seven. Oliver Kapanen is tied for the top spot in rookie goal scoring with four goals.

Perhaps most surprising has been the play of Jakub Dobes who is off to a perfect 5-0-0 start for the second straight season. Coming into Saturday night’s game in Vancouver, the 24-year-old led all NHL goalies with a goals against average of 1.47 and a .950 save percentage.

This Week’s Show

With Jakub Dobes at the top of the current goalie rankings and Sam Montembeault truly struggling, our hosts discussed the ramifications for Montreal’s crease going forward on the latest episode of the Canadiens Connection podcast.

NEW PODCAST: Montreal’s Net Front Battle: Why Dobes Has Earned the Crease | Canadiens Connection ep 371

On this week’s episode of the podcast, we also discussed these key topics:

• Kirby Dach returns to the lineup.
• Canadiens offense receives some bad news.
• Canadiens’ prospects are thriving in the NCAA.

CC Question of the Week: Which Habs goaltender gives you more confidence right now — and why?

It is our eighth season, with a new episode of the podcast dropping every Saturday afternoon. Be sure to subscribe using your favorite podcast app! Or watch our episodes on YouTube!

Canadiens Connection Podcast: Why Dobes Has Earned the Crease

Catch up on any missed episodes here at HockeyHotStove.