Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes proves why goalies are a little weird

It is a well-established fact in locker rooms across the NHL. You have to be a little bit out of your mind to willingly play between the pipes, operating on an entirely different wavelength than standard skaters.

Ahead of a highly anticipated matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dobes took the ice for his regular warmup routine. The spotlight was firmly on the young netminder. It was quite the sight to behold, and the fans and reporters were quick to point it out on social media.

Fans and media members immediately noticed him engaging in a highly unusual sequence of events. He was caught on camera going through an intensely quirky ritual of physical twitches, aggressive neck stretches, and rhythmic net-tapping.

Some fans in the arena laughed at the spectacle. Others were simply left scratching their heads in pure confusion.

Goaltending is arguably the most isolated and high-pressure position in all of professional sports.

You stand alone in a painted blue crease for a full 60 minutes. Meanwhile, the biggest, fastest athletes on earth fire frozen rubber at your head.

Surviving that nightly onslaught requires a very specific mental makeup. It demands a level of intense focus that often borders on pure obsession.

History is filled with legendary netminders who possessed incredibly bizarre habits. Patrick Roy notoriously had full-blown conversations with his goal posts during games.

Glenn Hall famously made himself physically sick before every single start. Ed Belfour guarded his specialized equipment like an angry junkyard dog.

Dobes is simply adding his own personal flavor to a long, storied lineage of crease eccentricities. He is embracing the weirdness.

The reality is that whatever he is doing out there helps him lock in. His mechanics remain exceptionally sharp and his lateral movement is highly efficient.

If his strange routine helps him track the puck better and shut down elite offensive output, nobody in the Montreal dressing room will bat an eye.

Piling up wins and maintaining a solid save percentage will always cure any complaints about a weird pre-game ritual.

The coaching staff wants stops, not standard behavior. It is quirky, but it brings a whole lot of fun to the daily grind of an 82-game schedule.

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