Stu Cowan: Canadiens impressed by Jacob Fowler’s winning attitude

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Jacob Fowler smiled when asked if he had watched a behind-the-scenes video the Canadiens released after last year’s NHL Draft in Nashville of their final group scouting meeting.

“I saw it,” the goalie, who was selected by the Canadiens in the third round (69th overall) of last year’s draft, said Tuesday on the first day of the team’s annual development camp at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard.

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In the video, Billy Ryan — the Canadiens’ director of player evaluation and amateur scout — makes a plea for the team to draft Fowler.

“If you want to win, I’d take the winning goalie,” Ryan says. “If you want to hope that the tools all come together, you can take the guys with better tools. … Fowler shows up every time and wins. It’s like almost … it’s crazy. … He’s like mastered his position. The other guys haven’t. They have the tools, they haven’t figured out in their head how to win games. This kid does it. He’s been doing it since he was like 10 years old. And he wants to do it.

“We’re all working on the same goal,” Ryan adds. “We’re trying to win a Stanley Cup and I’d want the kid who wins the most.”

The Canadiens did take Fowler after he posted a 27-9-4 record, along with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage with the Youngstown Phantoms and was named the USHL’s goaltender of the year. He was even better during the playoffs, posting an 8-1 record, along with a 1.36 GAA and a .952 save percentage as the Phantoms won the Clark Cup.

Last season as a freshman at Boston College, the 6-foot-1, 223-pound Fowler posted a 32-6-1 record with a 2.14 GAA and a .926 save percentage as the Eagles won the Hockey East championship and he was named the league’s top goaltender. Boston College advanced to the NCAA championship game at the Frozen Four before losing 2-0 to Denver.

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“It gave me goosebumps to kind of see that,” Fowler said about the Canadiens’ behind-the-scenes scouting video. “You want to be a guy that somebody’s fighting for. I think I’ve worked my whole life to be that guy that somebody’s sticking up for because I have missed out on so much. Whether it’s USA Hockey stuff or different camps I didn’t get invited to. I never really got that chance and to kind of see somebody going to put their job on the line, sort of say. It gave my parents … I think they were tearing up a little. But it was just super-special to kind of see that. When I was sitting there in Nashville (at the draft) to hear my name called by Montreal … you see my parents faces going through it … I think my dad was crying for a few hours after, so super-special.”

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What made it “super” special is that Fowler was never selected at the OHL or USHL drafts after posting a 1.68 GAA and a .928 save percentage in 21 games with the South Kent School U-18 triple-A team in Connecticut during the 2021-22 season.

Now, Fowler looks like the No. 1 contender to become the Canadiens’ goalie of the future. It has been quite a journey for the 19-year-old Florida native.

When asked about his reputation for being a winner that impressed Ryan, the Canadiens’ scout, Fowler said: “I think it was something that was kind of instilled in me from my earliest days of not even in hockey, but just sports in general. It’s way more fun to be a winner than it is to not be a winner.

“For me, my youth hockey team growing up it was hard on my parents and all the other parents to take a team from Florida to go play tournaments,” Fowler added. “We weren’t going to just play in a tournament, we were going to get our money’s worth and we were going to win every event. That mindset stuck with me every level I’ve gone up. When I got to juniors is where I really felt it jump the most with our coaching staff. People want winners, whether it’s in life or in hockey. The guy who wins the most obviously gets sometimes the most opportunities. So just try to keep winning everywhere I can go and keep earning those opportunities.”

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Fowler will return to Boston College next season with a goal of winning the NCAA championship. Last season’s loss in the Frozen Four final still stings.

“I don’t know if it’s a feeling I can say I’ll ever get over,” he said. “I think it’s something that you reflect on. The first 48 hours after it still hadn’t really sunk in yet. I think throughout my summer training so far when you’re in the gym and you’re doing the right things away from the rink you’re always thinking about that moment because you don’t want to ever feel that way again.

“You want to be on the other side of it and you want to be the guy winning, not losing.”

scowan@postmedia.com

x.com/StuCowan1

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