Canadiens newcomer Noah Dobson will wear No. 53 in tribute to late grandfather

Montreal Gazette

11 hours ago

Montreal Canadiens
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Defenceman Noah Dobson will wear No. 53 with the Canadiens in honour of his late grandfather.
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes acquired the 25-year-old Dobson from the New York Islanders last Friday afternoon in exchange for the 16th and 17th overall picks at that night's NHL Draft and 23-year-old forward Emil Heineman.
Dobson wore No. 8 with the Islanders, but that number is taken by Canadiens veteran defenceman Mike Matheson. So Dobson will go back to the No. 53 he wore in junior with the QMJHL's Acadie-Bathurst Titan as a tribute to his late maternal grandfather, David LeBlanc, who died at age 53 in 2004, seven years after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
Acadie-Bathurst selected Dobson with the sixth overall pick at the 2016 QMJHL Draft.
'When I got drafted by Bathurst, they asked me what number I wanted, and up until that date I didn't really have a set number,' Dobson told the Halifax Chronicle Herald in 2019. 'My grandfather, who is from Bathurst, passed away at age 53 from MS, and my dad and I came up with the idea it would be a nice way to honour him, especially playing in the city where he is from and grew up. With my grandmother (Betty Ann LeBlanc) there, too, it was special for her when she watched me play.'
Dobson won the QMJHL championship with the Titan in 2018 and again the next year after being traded to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The Islanders selected Dobson in the first round (12th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Dobson's father, Andrew, who is also from Bathurst, described his late father-in-law to the Chronicle Herald as 'a really avid sportsman' who loved all sports.
'He worked at the mines most of his life, in the time I knew him anyway,' Andrew said. 'He was a hard-working blue-collar type of guy with a heart of gold, too. He was a very sincere and caring guy and would give you the shirt off his back.'
Andrew added that his son is similar to his late grandfather in many ways.
'The biggest thing we are proud of is Noah's character,' Andrew told the Chronicle Herald. 'He's a very sincere, down-to-earth individual and is very humble. He's not one to wave the flag, look at me. He lets his actions speak for themselves. He's similar to his grandfather that way, where he's a sincere, quiet and humble kind of guy.'
Dobson will become the eighth player in Canadiens history to wear No. 53 after André Racicot (1990), Rory Fitzpatrick (1996-97), Sylvain Blouin (1999-2003), Doug Janik (2009), Ryan White (2010-14), Lucas Lessio (2016) and Victor Mete (2018-21).
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Dobson is from Summerside, P.E.I., but he has lived in Quebec before. In 2014-15, he attended Bishop's College School in Sherbrooke on a scholarship as a 14-year-old. The next year, he moved to Salzburg, Austria, after being recruited to join Red Bull Akademie, a hockey and soccer development program.
After being acquired by the Canadiens, Dobson said he's looking forward to playing in Montreal.
'I think people love their hockey in this market,' he said. 'They're passionate, and the pressure that comes with that is a privilege. It's an honour to wear the Montreal Canadiens sweater. You can't take that for granted. I'm looking forward to it.
'There will be no more pressure than the pressure I put on myself to be the best player possible, and each day try to improve your game and be as good as you can be, and make the fans proud because it's such a great fan base.'
Dobson is coming off what was a disappointing season for him and the Islanders, who missed the playoffs with a 35-35-12 record. Dobson had 10-29-39 totals in 71 games and a minus-16 rating. The previous season, Dobson had 10-60-70 totals and was plus-12.