Fowler, Caron tough to beat
ST. PAUL, Minn. — They’ve made plenty of saves, but neither has had to save their team’s season. With all the firepower in front of them, the goalies for Boston College and Boston University sometimes have to fight to stay in the game.
Not this time. The Frozen Four semifinal opponents for BC (Michigan) and BU (Denver) will be after BC’s Jacob Fowler and BU’s Mathieu Caron from the start Thursday. They’d better be ready.
To hear them tell it, they are.
“In Hockey East, it’s been me and him as top dogs,” said Caron, a 24-year-old junior. “I came in unknown to most people. At this point, I’ve proven that I’m doing pretty much the same thing as [Fowler]. Every goalie I’ve gone head to head with this year — and there have been some good goalies — I feel I’ve come out on top most of the time. I know I deserve to be here.”
A spectacular Frozen Four could be Caron’s ticket to the pros after not being drafted by the NHL.
“If he finds a way to win two more games, everything might change for him,” said former Bruins goalie Andrew Raycroft, who is working the Frozen Four for ESPN.
Despite the fact he is an older prospect, BU goalie coach Brian Daccord believes Caron has plenty of room to grow.
“He’s got what NHL teams want with his quickness,” Daccord said. “He hasn’t been overwhelmed here. He’s calm and analytical.”
Caron hails from Abbotsford, British Columbia. He put up solid-but-unspectacular numbers with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs.
That was despite a torn left ACL in November 2018 that cost him 11 months.
“Blew it out,” Caron recalled. “I went from 15 Division 1 offers to nothing.”
Those backing off included Denver, his top choice.
Just before the playoffs in 2020, Caron committed to Brown. The pandemic dashed his plans. Brown told him to spend an extra season in juniors because the Ivy League was shutting down all sports.
Arriving in Providence in 2021, Caron did all he could to lift the Bears out of the ECAC basement. In two seasons, they went 14-26-7 in his starts, while he improved his save percentage from .911 to .921 and goals-against average from 2.74 to 2.49.
BU, which needed a replacement for Drew Commesso, nabbed Caron from the transfer portal. He has started every game (39), allowing six goals across two regional games after a tough loss to BC in the Hockey East final.
“We knew he was good. He put up great numbers at Brown,” BU defenseman Cade Webber said. “He might be under the radar a little bit, but he can win a game for us.”
Fowler, 19, is a finalist for the Mike Richter Award (top Division 1 goalie) and has won more games in his debut season (31 to date) than any freshman in NCAA history. In January, he won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championship.
A third-round pick of the Canadiens (69th overall) last June, he could be their goalie of the future.
Regardless if Fowler winds up being the guy, Habs fans will appreciate that Fowler, a communications major, is taking French to satisfy his curriculum’s language requirement.
Montreal drafted him after a stellar regular season (27-9-4, 2.28,.921) for USHL Youngstown, and an even better playoffs. Fowler was 8-1 with a 1.36 GAA and .952 save percentage in a run that ended with a Clark Cup title.
“His superpower is his composure,” Raycroft said. “He’s certainly a pro. There’s not many college goalies I say are pros.”
Fowler, from Melbourne, Fla., was 9 when his house league team in nearby Rockledge was bleeding goals. Fowler begged his father, Jay, who coached the team, to let him play net.
He soon joined the Florida Alliance AAA team, which practiced three and a half hours away in Estero. Players would come from all over the state for weekends.
“We’d skate for six hours, work out for four hours, and scrimmage,” Fowler said. “Marathon weekends, and some of my best memories.”
Fowler’s game took off once he started working with Florida Everblades goalie coach Josh Robinson. He spent two years with South Kent Selects in Connecticut, then joined Youngstown.
He will lean on his mental preparation at the Frozen Four. He has mantras at the ready and does breathing exercises at stoppages.
“Doesn’t matter what’s happened so far, good or bad, feeling good, feeling confident,” Caron said. If he just gave up the first goal? “[Expletive], let’s restart. Back at it. Stop shots.”
They never know when they’ll be needed.