MONTREAL – Between Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Carey Price, the Montreal Canadiens are known for their legendary goaltenders.
Jakub Dobes doesn't exactly fit this list of goaltenders, but that's OK.
Somehow, among all of the historic goaltenders that have bled the Canadiens colors over the franchise's 116 years of existence, Dobes has been able to stand out and catch the heart of Montrealers.
It's his unorthodox and wacky goaltending tendencies that make him different compared to some of the Habs' greatest goalies, but it's what has made him a hero in the eyes of Canadiens' fans through the team's playoff run thus far.
That was made especially apparent during the Canadiens' 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 3 of the second round on Sunday night, when Dobes found a way to become the star of the show even after an offensive onslaught from the Habs.
He's become a "cult hero" as one reporter phrased it on Sunday night, but Dobes does not see it that way.
"I'm not a hero. I'm just me. I'm just a goofy goalie who tries to stop pucks," Dobes said. "Trust me, I don't call myself a hero. I pretty much go home, eat, watch Game of Thrones and go to bed. I don't think that's anything heroic from there, and when it's time to do my job, I will do anything to win. Make this franchise happy, make these fans happy."
Dobes' emergence as the Canadiens' starting goaltender was also far from ordinary.
Selected by the Canadiens in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL draft, Dobes was far from anybody's radar.
It wasn't until three years later, during the 2023-24 season, that the Czech native became too hard for the Habs brass to set aside.
Over the course of that season, Dobes took over as the Laval Rocket's starting goaltender, playing in 51 AHL games and posting a 24-18-6 record, a .906 save percentage and a 2.93 goals against average.
Despite his impressive play in the AHL, it wasn't until December 2024 that Dobes was called up by the Canadiens, in the wake of Samuel Montembeault starting 10 consecutive games, with Cayden Primeau on the back burner.
Starting in 15 games for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign, the 24-year-old goalie made inroads with the Canadiens, establishing himself as the backup behind Montembeault, but that was the extent of his role, which was expected to remain the same going into the following season.
Through the first half of the 2025-26 season, Montembeault and Dobes struggled, but Dobes emerged as the steadier goaltender, earning more starts as a result.
Jakub Dobes has the second-best goals-against average in the playoffs among goalies who have played at least five games. (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)
Heading into the Olympic break, no goalie had necessarily commanded the starting role.
However, that all changed through the final few weeks of the season when Dobes stepped up his game to a level that left no doubt he would be the Canadiens' starting goaltender for the playoffs.
It's been over these playoffs that Dobes has transitioned from the starting goaltender to a cult hero in Montreal.
Matching up in the first round against Vezina Trophy finalist and two-time Stanley Cup champion, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Dobes was not intimidated by the moment. In fact, he only elevated his game, as his confidence never wavered.
The rookie's 28-save performance in Game 7 of the first round helped propel the Canadiens over the Tampa Bay Lightning, with the Habs recording a record-low nine shots in a playoff victory, and cemented the goofy goalie's spot in the hearts of fans.
Fast-forward to Sunday night, and fans are holding stop signs with Dobes' name on them, while giving him a rousing standing ovation.
Throughout the game, Dobes made some critical saves to allow the Habs to maintain their multi-goal lead over the Sabres, but Dobes stole the show of the night even without some of his flashy saves.
In the second period, Beck Malenstyn crashed into Dobes, who kept his composure and remained unfazed, although it was a scary collision. The moment that started with a gasp only further pumped up an already electric Bell Centre crowd.
"You don't have time in this league to feel sorry or anything," Dobes said of the Malenstyn collision. "You just stand up, take it on the chin. You got to drink some water, and you got to be back at it, because no one is going to feel sorry you got hit. I just stood up and kept making saves."
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Dobes is a showman in every sense of the word.
Being propped on the jumbotron late in the third period with the Canadiens all but wrapped up a victory, the young goalie just put on a smile for the fans, putting the Bell Centre into a frenzy and showing how much Dobes embraces the spotlight.
"He's a funny kid," Cole Caufield said of Dobes. "Obviously, been huge for us all year. He's been unbelievable throughout these playoffs and kept us in every game. So he's going to keep it going. He works so hard every day, and (he's) very prepared for every moment."
Dobes' wacky and aggressive style of play on top of his unpredictability when speaking to the media may not be typical of what many consider to be the gold standard of Canadiens goalies of the past who have their names etched in the history books.
All of that does not matter, though. Dobes is producing results no matter how peculiar his methods may be.
"People tell me he plays with emotion and all," coach Martin St-Louis said. "I don't really pay attention to that. What I see is how he competes. Each player has his way of staying in the game and to find a way to evolve and play the game. He does the job."
He doesn't need to be Plante, Dryden, Roy or Price; he just needs to be Jakub Dobes.
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