While Montreal Canadiens' prospect Jacob Fowler went to the AHL All-Star Classic, he will not be taking part as he's currently nursing an upper-body injury, but his teammates, Laurent Dauphin and Adam Engstrom, competed in the skills competition on Tuesday night.
While Montreal Canadiens prospect Jacob Fowler made his way to the AHL All-Star Classic, the Laval Rocket announced that he would be standing pat and just watching from the sidelines because of an upper-body injury.
On Tuesday night, Fowler watched on as his teammates from the Rocket, Adam Engstrom and Laurent Dauphin, competed in the skills competition and won the night with the Eastern Conference by a score of 18-15 over the Western Conference. Dauphin currently leads all players in the AHL with 53 points in 43 games, while Engstrom is fifth in points amongst defensemen with 30 points in 34 games. Last season, the Swede could only muster 27 points in 66 games, which shows how much more comfortable he is this season and how much he has progressed.
The players were put through their paces in seven events: the puck control relay, the fastest skater, the rapid fire, the hardest shot, the accuracy shooting, the pass and score, and the breakaway relay.
Engstrom took part in one of the puck control relay races and came out on the winning side, earning a point for the East. The blueliner also competed in the hardest shot competition and registered the third-hardest shot at 99.4 mph. Arthur Kaliyev from the Belleville Senators won the event with a 104.0 mph shot. The East won the event with the highest average in shot speed.
Dauphin faced Calle Slang in the rapid-fire event, and the goalie stopped nine of the 10 shots he received. The East won the event since their goaltenders (minus Fowler) made the most saves. The forward then took part in the fifth round of the pass and shoot challenge alongside Zac Jones and Patrick Brown, and the three players scored on Isak Posch
Both players took part in the last event, the breakaway relay. Engstrom was stopped by Slang, and Dauphin couldn’t beat Thomas Milic.
Despite not competing, Fowler was all smiles when he posed with his teammates for the pictures. Hopefully, his upper-body injury is a minor ailment, and he’s ready to go when the Rocket faces the Hershey Bears on Friday.
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