Before he came in relief of Samuel Montembeault on Monday night in his NHL pre-season debut, Montreal Canadiens goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler got the full Bell Centre treatment at the Rookie Showdown. Fowler, who grew up a Canadiens fan, was in the hallway hearing “Fix You” coming out of the arena, and a sold-out crowd of over 21,000 fans was cheering.
It wasn’t quite a regular season game, but it felt like one. Fowler had 30 family members ranging from Quebec, West Virginia, and his native Florida in the stands as well.
“Usually I say a little prayer, do a little positive talk to myself but […] I just wanted to soak it all in,” Fowler said after the Rookie tournament. “I don’t think it will really sink in until you see the pictures for a long time to come. When I got to the crease, it was pretty emotional when you get there, and you realize what you just did. Just being here in this moment was a dream of mine,”
There are still a lot of firsts to come for Fowler, who will enter his first full professional season but until he makes his NHL regular season debut, and even when he does, it won’t be the first time he led his team onto the ice at the Bell Centre in a Canadiens jersey.
“You don’t get another first time to do that,” he said.
Fowler made several big saves in his first NHL pre-season game, and showed why he is considered one of the top goaltending prospects in the league.
Fowler wasn’t the only young Canadiens player to impress on Monday night. Filip Mešár had his best game in a Canadiens uniform, showing the player the team thought they were getting when they made him a first-round pick in the same building.
Like Fowler, Mešár had a moment to remember at the rookie tournament. Mešár scored the team’s only goal in the second game, and it was his first goal in the building.
“It was pretty special,” Mešár said. “I always had it in my head that I wanted to score in the Bell Centre one day. The fans are great. They support us every game, it’s pretty special, it’s a pretty special building and playing in front of them is probably the best thing that could happen for me. […] It’s a great memory.”
Mešár has tried to be involved more physically. He had a great start to the AHL season last year, his first full professional season in North America, but injuries plagued his year and he played in only one of the team’s playoff games.
He looked like a potential NHL player, and it is the little things that will get him to the NHL. Laval Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent said that Mešár’s offensive game itself isn’t enough to get to the top league, and his goal is to help Mešár get the puck back as soon as possible when his team is on defence. The first test against NHL preseason opponents went well.
Another player drafted in the Bell Centre to make their debut in the building was Vinzenz Rohrer. There was a lot less fanfare around his selection than there was his other 2022 Draft cohorts, namely Juraj Slafkovský, Mešár, Owen Beck, and Lane Hutson.
Rohrer played 15 minutes, including on the penalty kill and was implicated physically and made some plays with the puck. It was the same kind of style of play he had in the rookie tournament, in his first games in North America.
He’s in a different situation than most players in camp, as if he doesn’t make the NHL roster (which is quite unlikely), he will go back to Zurich in the Swiss league. He’s in the first year of his NHL entry-level contract and could join the organization after his season in Europe.
It was a positive showing for Rohrer over the three games he has played so far.
“You’re standing in the Montreal locker room, where there is so much tradition and you can wear the jersey, it’s amazing to have that,” Rohrer said after the rookie tournament.
Throughout the rebuild, everyone has their role to play and the Bell Centre and the fans have their role as well. Having the experience to play in a full building during a rookie tournament, getting a taste of what it is like through pre-season is part of the development. Last season, when the Canadiens started making their run, the arena was part of the forces pushing the players towards the playoffs.
Neither Fowler, Mešár, nor Rohrer were born in Montreal but they understand what it means to be a member of the organization. What they showed – and experienced – through the first few weeks of September – could put them one step closer to reaching their goal.
