Why is Jakub Dobes playing so many games?

Why is Jakub Dobes playing so many games?

Written by Fred Arshoff

Edited by Judy Pitcher

First of all many thanks to my editor Judy Pitcher for always editing my articles, adding stats and facts I may have overlooked. Updating the article between the time I wrote it and it’s being published.

I decided to write this article as several people on X(formerly Twitter) were discussing this topic. I’d like to give my thoughts. I will do so in an article as I usually do.

Right off the top Dobes has played more games this season than he had previously, already having appeared in 45 games for the Laval Rocket. With the exception of the 2020-21 season when he played for the USHL Omaha Lancers where he played 47 games. In the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons he played in the NCAA for Ohio State University and played 35 games and 40 games, respectively.

To start the 2023-24 season Dobes was playing in every other game, sharing the net with Strauss Mann, who has since been re-assigned to the ECHL Trois Rivieres Lions. Laval signed Finnish goaltender Kasimir Kaskisou on Monday December 18, 2023. They shared the netminding duties until Kaskisou was injured. Although Kaskisou has returned, Dobes has still played all but one of those games, during which he was pulled.

For more information about Kasimir Kaskisou, please see my article at: https://montrealsportsblog.wordpress.com/2023/12/26/laval-rocket-sign-kasimir-kaskasou-to-a-pto//

What I don’t know is if this increase in play for the last 6 weeks or so was part of the plan since the start of the season by Laval Head Coach Jean-Francois Houle and Goalie Coach Marco Marciano.

This increase in playing time could be to help increase his stamina, which would be required to play professional Hockey on a regular basis. I can see the point of this with Jake Allen having been traded. Dobes would be the HABS call-up should either Samuel Montembeault or Cayden Primeau get injured. He would need to be prepared to play at the higher level.

One thing for sure, is it is not a punishment, as earlier this seasonDobes was extended until July 1, 2025 to a 2-way contract. GM Kent Hughes signed him to the contract which would see him earn $950,000 in the NHL and $80,000 in the AHL. There are no bonus clauses in this contract.

As this season has progressed Jakub Dobes’ numbers and performance has improved, as of March 24, 2024 his SV% 0.903 and GAA 3.01. He has had one shutout on March 22, 2024, which coincidentally was David Reinbacher’s AHL debut. I don’t think this increased playing has anything to do with Jacob Fowler coming to Montreal, as he still has 1 year remaining in the NCAA for Boston College and they are still in the playoffs.

SOURCE

Jakub Dobes games played stats and contract

https://www.capfriendly.com/playersjakub-dobes#:~:text=SUMMARY%E2%96%B4,and%20%24832%2C500%20in%20base%20salary.

JUDY’S THOUGHTS

I don’t know how anyone could think playing Dobes so often would be punishment, if he was playing poorly he’d be sitting on the bench. I think, with Laval making a push for the AHL Playoffs, the Rocket are choosing to play the hot hand with their goaltender. That is currently Jakub Dobes!

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Owen Beck traded and what it means

Owen Beck traded and what it means

Written by Fred Arshoff

Edited by Judy Pitcher

First of all many thanks to my editor Judy Pitcher for her excellent editing of my articles. A tip of my hat to you, Judy.

First of all I’ll state that I haven’t seen Owen Beck play, except at the WJC and that was on TV.

Owen Beck was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens on July 8, 2022 at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal from the 2nd round as the 33rd selection overall.

For those who don’t follow the OHL, on January 8, 2024 the Peterborough Petes traded HABS prospect Owen Beck to the Saginaw Spirit. I won’t go into details about the players involved in this transaction, except to say how this trade may impact Beck’s development. I feel this trade will help his development.

There are rumours on social media that the Petes coaching staff didn’t like him. However, the Peterborough Petes have embarked on a rebuild in the 2023-24 season and perhaps Beck didn’t fit with their plans.

Another reason this could improve Beck’s development is that the Saginaw Spirit have a good chance of winning the Memorial Cup this season. Thus, he will be playing in meaningful games. At this point it looks like the Petes won’t get into the Memorial Cup playoffs.

Being a 19 year old, he can use his leadership skills to help the younger players on the Spirit.We never know know if sometime down the road the HABSgive him a letter, only time will tell. Beck did wear an “A” for Team Canada at the WJC. This was his second year playing for Team Canada. This past year he was a last second add-on, due to the injury to Colton Dach. Generally speaking, playing in the WJC and the Memorial Cup helps speed up player development.

We would like to wish Owen Beck a Happy Belated Birthday as he turned 20 on February 3, 2023.

Here is a look at Owen Beck’s STATS: 2023-34 Peterborough Petes 25GP 16G 14A 30Pts 4PIM 2023-24 Saginaw Spirit 11GP 5G 12A 17Pts 6PIM

Last 10 games he is FO% 57 and is a +6 2023-24 U20 WJC FO% 69.23

Source

OWEN BECK STATS

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/owen-beck#:~:text=Montreal%20Canadiens,-87%20L2&text=Owen%20Beck’s%20salary%20is%20%24870%2C000,3%2C%202004.

https://www.eliteprospects.com>0wen-beck

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January 13th, 1971 Frank Mahovlich traded to HABS

January 13th, 1971 Frank Mahovlich traded to HABS

Written and edited by Marlene Wall

Videos uploaded by Fred Arshoff

Frank Mahovlich was traded from the Detroit Red Wings to the Montreal Canadiens for Mickey Redmond , Bill Collins and Guy Charron

Detroit GM Ned Harkness had been hired just 5 days prior to this trade being completed . It was thought that Harkness wanted to rid the team of players he deemed a threat to his power while rebuilding the team. The Harkness tenure in Detroit is referenced as ‘Darkness with Harkness ‘

Montreal GM Sam Pollock indicated that he was contacted by Harkness asking if he would be interested in acquiring Mahovlich. From that moment the details of the trade were worked out and finally completed .

Mahovlich had his best points season (96) of his career and won 2 Stanley Cups with Montreal. Mahovlich played 3 1/2 seasons with Montreal before leaving for the WHA

Mickey Redmond became the first 50-goal scorer in the history of the Red Wings, he scored 52 goals in 1972-73 with Alex Delvecchio as his center. Redmond scored 51 goals in 1973-74 with Marcel Dionne as his center . Back problems forced Redmond to retire at the age of 28.

Bill Collins was a journeyman hockey player , he played 768 NHL games with 7 different teams

Guy Charron played very well for Detroit. He had two 30 goal seasons with Washington. He holds the NHL record for most games played (734) without making a playoff appearance

After the trade , both Mahovlich and Redmond were part of Team Canada for the 1972 Summit Series. Mahovlich was 1 of 3 Canadian players (Henderson , Stapleton) to participate in both the ’72 Summit Series and 1974 Russia Series against WHA players .

Montreal got an excellent player in Frank Mahovlich. Detroit received an excellent package in return with Mickey Redmond being the crown jewel and 9 years younger than Mahovlich. Injuries took their toll on an otherwise productive hockey player.

Emil Heineman recalled by HABS on January 5, 2024

Emil Heineman recalled by HABS on January 5, 2024

Written by Fred Arshoff

Edited by Judy Pitcher

DISCLAIMER

This article was written on January 5, 2024 before the HABS announced the January 6, 2024 line-up changes.

As many of you may have heard late Friday morning January 5, 2024 the HABS have recalled Emil Heineman from the Laval Rocket on an emergency basis. This means he can be loaned back to the Rocket once the HABS have a full compliment of players. The HABS were short a forward when Christian Dvorak suffered a season ending injury. Dvorak will undergo surgery on January 6, 2024. As soon as Dvorak got injured the first thing that came to mind was to recall Heineman from the Rocket , as they did on December 13, 2023 due to injuries to the HABS forwards.

For more information on the December 13, 2023 call-up, please see my article at: https://montrealsportsblog.wordpress.com/2023/12/21/why-emil-heineman-was-called-up-and-not-joshua-roy//  

During his call-up he played very well and made no mistakes. While up with the HABS he played in 2 games and although he had no points, he was a +1, to me that’s a key factor. In his 10 games with Laval this season (he missed games due to injury) he was a +7, showing he is a consistent plus player.

Right from Dvorak getting injured, I didn’t like the 11 forwards 7 defensemen formation Martin St Louis was employing, instead of calling up a forward. Going with this formation, players often lose chemistry with their line mates. If a player is double shifted, you have to wait longer to get ice-time and you lose the rhythm of the game. For defensemen working with the same partner, you know what they will do in any given situation but, changing defense partners might mean taking a second or two to anticipate what they will be doing. That two second adjustment could lead to a 2-on-1 or a breakaway. It’s always best in my opinion to maintain the same forward lines and defensive pairings, to keep everyone in sync.

With the call-up of Emil Heineman, I believe Johnathan Kovacevic becomes a healthy scratch, unless another defenseman gets injured or is ill on game day.

I’d like to wish Emil Heineman the best of luck on this call-up and the best of luck in his future NHL career, hopefully all with the HABS.

SOURCE

Emil Heineman STATS

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/emil-heineman#:~:text=Emil%20Heineman’s%20salary%20is%20%24925%2C000,16%2C%202001.

Kent Hughes needs to hire two more directors for Hockey Operations

Kent Hughes needs to hire two more directors for Hockey Operations

Written by Fred Arshoff

Edited and Researched by Judy Pitcher

Photo Merges by Marlene Wall

First of all I’d like to thank two ladies very much for their help on this article and all the others, without whom these articles wouldn’t be as good as they are. In no specific order, they are Judy Pitcher for her always excellent editing and researching facts and Marlene Wall for her always excellent photo merges. A tip of my hat to both of you

What I feel GM Kent Hughes needs to do to improve hockey operations is to hire two more directors, I won’t put names out there. The first position I feel is needed would be a director of goaltenders. Judy and I have discussed this many times. The second director would be for the NCAA scouting.

Why the need for a director of NCAA scouting?

To start with here is a list of current HABS and Rocket players who played in the NCAA prior to turning professional: Cole Caufield, Jake Evans, Jordan Harris, Johnathan Kovasevic, Chris Wideman, Mike Matheson, Jayden Struble, Sean Farrell, Cayden Primeau and Alex Newhook. There are also the two top HABS prospects still playing in the NCAA, Jacob Fowler and Lane Hutson. The HABS have also had players from the NCAA who didn’t develop as we had hoped. One example would be Ryan Poehling who showed so much potential. In his first NHL game with the HABS he scored a hat trick and the game winning goal in a shootout on April 6, 2019 against the Leafs. And is now playing in the AHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Watching the WJC you see Team USA has a lot of players from the NCAA. We do need to scout these teams more thoroughly so we can draft and sign the best players available. For a couple of years the HABS did have Nick Carriere as a director/scout for the NCAA professional players. I’m sure this meant players the HABS had already drafted, who were still playing in the NCAA. I feel by having one person in charge, you can easily cross-scout players other scouts may see differently. The scouts report on how prospects are developing in their skating, shooting, positioning and in the case of centers, numbers of face-offs won or lost

Why a director of goaltending operations?

The HABS have signed many goalies who are playing at different levels In the AHL we have Jacob Dobes, in the ECHL there is Joe Vrbetic, Quentin Miller in the QMJHL, Jacob Fowler in the NCAA and Yevgeni Volokhin in the KHL. The HABS have not developed a #1 goalie since Carey Price. When they drafted and signed Cayden Primeau it was hoped he would be the heir apparent to Price but is seen more as a back-up goalie. Then they drafted and signed Zack Fucale, it was hoped he could become a #1, but is now playing in the KHL, as no NHL team thought enough of him to sign him to a contract.

The team has to know how each goalie prospect is prospect is developing and a timeline for when they should be NHL ready. The HABS hired Sean Burke as a goalie scout in 2016 then in the 2020-21 season he was hired full-time as a goaltending coach during Montreal’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Let’s remember the AHL is harder than the ECHL and you can’t compare junior hockey to the NCAA by stats alone. They have to watch these players to see how they play, their positioning and their attitudes.

Although they can’t work to develop the junior or NCAA players, they can speak to them and encourage them.

Adding two more people as directors and hiring people to work under them does not affect the salary cap, which only applies to the players. Thus you can have as many people as deemed necessary in your hockey operations department. It’s not like the HABS are tight on money to make payroll. Let’s put in as many people as needed to do the job properly, so we get the best players and know at all times, how they are developing.

Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr December 30th

Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr December 30th

Written and edited by Marlene Wall

Videos uploaded by Fred Arshoff

When you talk about the greatest twosome in the history of the game , Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr have to be near the top of your list because of their time together with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both players had big nights on this date .

Lemieux scored his 35th career hat trick on December 30th, 1995 as the Penguins earned a 6-5 victory over the visiting Florida Panthers.

Jagr has the best offensive night of his legendary NHL career on December 30th, 1999 , when he put up a career high 7 points. He scores his 6th career hat trick and added 4 assists the Penguins 9-2 blowout win over the New York Islanders.

One year later , Lemieux had a goal and 3 assists to lead Pittsburgh to a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. The 4 point performance gave him 1,500 points in his career, making him just the 10th player in league history to reach this milestone. Only 4 more players have joined the 1,500-point club since this date .

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HABS Top Goalie prospect Jacob Fowler

HABS Top Goalie prospect Jacob Fowler

Written by Fred Arshoff

Edited by Judy Pitcher

I

First of all many thanks to my editor Judy Pitcher for her excellent editing of this and all previous articles. A tip of my hat to you, Judy.

I decided to write this article as at the age of just 19, Jacob Fowler has already shown so much potential. I believe he will be the HABS starting goalie in a few years.

Jacob Fowler was born on November 4, 2004 in Melbourne, Florida, USA. He is 6’2″(187cm) and weighs 206lbs(93.4kg), he is a goalie that catches left. Fowler was drafted by HABS GM Kent Hughes in the 3rd round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft at 69th overall.

Presently, Fowler is not under contract with the HABS but is on their reserve list.Fowler plays in the NCAA for Boston University. The NCAA rules say that no player can have any income from the sport they play, thus he is unable to attend the rookie camps until he has left Boston University. He can attend the development camp which usually occurs immediately after the NHL draft but must pay for it on his

So far this 2023-24 season in the NCAA at Boston University he has very impressive stats. He has a GAA 2.04 and SV% 0.930 in 13 games. Fowler’s record as of November 25, 2023 is 10-2-1. He also performs well under pressure, while playing in the USHL his GAA 1.36 and SV% 0.952 in 9 playoff games.

Personally, I can’t wait to see him play for the HABS in a few years once he is fully developed. Let’s remember that goalies usually take longer to develop than other players.

SOURCE

JACOB FOWLER STATS

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/jacob-fowler

Jayden Struble

Jayden Struble

Written by Fred Arshoff

Edited by Judy Pitcher

First of all many thanks to my editor Judy Pitcher for her always excellent editing of my articles. A tip of my hat to you, Judy.

I decided to write this article for several reasons, one, I love Struble’s play since being called up by the HABS. Second, it makes hard choices for Kent Hughes when Jordan Harris is ready to return from injury, who gets loaned to Laval. Third, the number of goals he has scored in his 11 game NHL career, as of December 14, 2023.

In 22-23 NCAA 31 games 1Goal 11Assists for 12 Points 22-23 Laval 9 games Goals 1Assist 1Point 23-24 Laval 12 games 1Goal 5Assists 6Points 23-24 HABS 11 games 2Goals 1Assist 3Points

With Struble’s excellent play, he is making it very difficult for GM Kent Hughes to decide who to loan to the Laval Rocket Struble has exceeded expectations of hockey operations this season.

He is doing this by working hard at practices and in games and listening to what his coaches are telling him. We have already seen earlier, when Arber Xhekaj came back from injury, instead of Struble being loaned to Laval, it was Arber Xhekaj. When David Savard returned from injury, it was Mattias Norlinder who was loaned to the Rocket. What leaves me wondering is when Jordan Harris comes back from injury and it appears to be soon, who will be loaned Laval? With how well Struble is playing, I won’t even try to predict who will be loaned to Laval.

There are several options available. What I don’t want to see, is if Struble isn’t loaned to Laval, that he becomes the 7th defenseman and ends up with reduced ice-time. That would prolong the excellent development he has shown thus far.

Struble has shown why he was the HABS 2nd round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft at 46th overall. I’m sure if other teams had known how fast his development would be, hehe wouldn’t have slipped so far down the draft. I do see Struble becoming a first pairing defenseman in the long term.

I would like to wish Struble, in closing, the very best of luck in his hockey career with the HABS.

SOURCES

JAYDEN STRUBLE STATSAND DRAFT INFO

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/jayden-struble 

STRUBLE’S STATS SINCE HIS SENOIR YEAR IN THE NCAA

eliteprospects.com

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