#7532

Background

Doby was drafted in 2020 as the 136th overall pick. He was a fifth round pick, which is pretty insane looking at where he is now.

Doby’s way to the NHL was anything but guaranteed. The Athletic has a great piece on his early career and life here. If you can’t get around the paywall, feel free to dm me and we’ll get it sorted out! That goes for all articles I link in this post.

Pretty much my favorite Doby interview out there is this one with Friedge. His (imo) emotional and earnest personality also comes through well here and here. And another article with fun stuff about his personality.

Gator was drafted in 2023 as the 69th overall pick. He was a third round pick and much higher touted than Doby was in his draft year.

Here’s a fun clip from Jacob’s draft interview with the Canadiens!

Here’s a great interview that showcases his personality pretty well, at least his 18 year old personality lol

Relevant Lore

- Doby had his debut in 2024 against the P*nthers and immediately got a shutout!

- Fowler had his debut in 2026 against the P*nguins and also got the win! Parallels despite big deviations=gatorwolf 101

I’m not getting into the Monty of it all unless someone helps me with that. I have no idea what the final timeline of him becoming the third stringer and Jacob’s two separate call ups is and I have no desire to piece it together, sorry😭 All you really need to know is that having a rookie tandem was not the plan for the 25/26 Habs season, but inconsistent and bad performances let it end up that way. Over the winter/spring of 2026 Doby established himself as the starter through great performances and Fowler established himself as his backup, also through great efforts when Doby was resting.

- Gator’s newest 2026 mask had a significant change from the one he wore in the NHL up until then: he changed the license plate on the back of it from a Florida plate to a Quebec plate! What made this especially significant is that he changed it shortly before the Habs played in T*mpa on March 31st (we won 4-1). This ties nicely into him feeling very connected to Montreal due to family ties and him strongly signaling he wants to spend his career in Montreal and, as he said, win a cup with the Canadiens.

- Their masks match nicely, Doby’s was made by the same artists! The animals they claimed for themselves, the Wolf and the Gator, make up their ship-name. There’s also Jacobsquared or Jacob^2, but I’m less fond of that because it erases the Czech spelling and pronunciation of Doby’s name (Jakub).

- Doby loves hosting people at his apartment and cooks! Here’s him trying to convince Cole to come over (wonderful opportunity to reference Doby’s canonical air fryer in a fic)

Actual Food (Crumbs)

- “The two are nearly inseparable otherwise, they spend a lot of time together off the ice” -actual quote from the Canadian English broadcast of the Habs-B*ffalo Game 2. I do not have a clip but I heard it myself and there were several posts talking about it in the lb (you can find them somewhere in my gatorwolf tag)

The general consensus due to this and what little we see of them together (almost always either yapping or giggling at each other, with lots of hugs and physical affection) is that they’re friends, or at least get on really well!

- After OT winners, even when most of the team goes to congratulate the goal scorer, Fowler will make a straight line for Doby as seen here after Lane’s OT winner against T*mpa and here after Newt’s OT winner against B*ffalo

- The 2026 playoffs have gifted us with what are the biggest crumbs we have of them: Several celly pictures after games (1, 2, 3), and wonderful shots of them on the bench (this gifset is my life. Look at them.)

- The day before the first game against the C*nes had TVA posting this fun clip where you can once again see them cheesing at each other and Gator closely sticking to Doby

Their dynamic, as described/speculated on by the small amount of gatorwolf writers and my moots

- Fowler is a yapper. Doby is too, though more on the ice than off it (the dog motif is strong with him, many lb posters have called his mask a muzzle. He’s a biter)

- According to Cole and what we can see in interviews, Doby is “a shy kid”. That doesn’t mean he’s not confident!

- Their play styles are vastly different. Gator’s style is, according to himself, “nothing sexy”. He’s calm and takes less risk in net. Though there is this wonderful clip from his BC days…He played with WSH there!

Doby is controlled insanity. A great breakdown is found here, but you really only need to watch him a few minutes to see it for yourself. He is talkative and loves chirping (great anecdote about that here), and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Us Habs fans expect at least two goalie fights in his career.

- As far as we can read out of (lovingly teasing) comments by teammates, Doby is weird even by goalie standards. He has some peculiar pre game rituals that several Habs have dodged questions about.

Gator has not stuck out that way, which mirrors their play styles.

- As far as nsfw stuff goes: It seems most of us are in agreement they’re switches and/or verse, maybe with Doby topping a little more often than Fowler. That’s all vibes though, have fun and do whatever you want in your own writing/art!

- Both seem like smart, dedicated guys. Doby had to adjust to living in the US at 16 with little to no English and seems like he’s a grinder from what his former coaches told the media. Gator seems to have an academical approach to the game and life as well! He has continued taking online courses, and as far as I know, is still slowly working his way towards a communications degree at Boston College.

Thank you for reading and lemme know about any potential additions! :D

This is meant to be a collection of significant moments and pillars of their personalities/dynamics, so if you have any good refs on that please reblog/dm me/comment <3