“If you give up on your dream, what's the point of continuing?” asks the very, very stubborn Gabriel Dumont, who becomes one of the players who has played the most games in the American League and who has been on for more than 1,530 days another recall to the NHL awaits.
Matteo and Lucas, her two sons, usually do not attend their weekday meetings.
However, December 20th was not a normal one. This Wednesday's game against the Laval Rocket was her father's 800th game in professional hockey.
Gabriel Dumont's sons Lucas and Matteo during their father's 800th game in the American Hockey League on December 20. Photo provided by the Dumont family
Eight hundred games – 90 in the NHL, including 18 with the Canadiens, and 710 in what was then the American League – are a testament to the strong bond that Dumont has with ice hockey.
Playing more than 700 games in the AHL is a feat that only a few players have achieved.
Rarely a little guy's dream
And even Dumont admits with a laugh that it is rare for a little guy to say, “He wants to play in the American League.” We feel the words he said right at the beginning of this text without rancor or bitterness.
Gabriel Dumont during the American League All-Star Game last season. Archive photo, Martin Alarie
On the contrary: between the little black puck and him it is a rather long love story, which was born in Dégelis, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, where around 2000 people live, and continues regardless of the ice rink where the 33-year-old jumps Attacker.
“The older I get, the more I realize how lucky I am to do what I do in life,” philosophizes the captain of the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning’s school club.
“Because I enjoyed playing with my friends during the pandemic as much as I did playing professional ice hockey.”
Yes, he believed it
Gabriel Dumont was the Canadian's fifth choice in 2009 and could have retired due to demotions and injuries.
Because yes, he sometimes believed that he would eventually live the life that the little boys who love hockey like him dream of and that he would secure a permanent place in the NHL.
Gabriel Dumont, in January 2015, during Canadian training. Archive photo, Martin Chevalier
Especially in 2016-2017, when he wore the Lightning jersey for 39 games. He then played seven more games for Tampa and 23 for the Ottawa Senators the following season.
He also played three times in the Wild's big circle five seasons ago, in 2019-2020. No more calls since then.
What defines the character
His story is therefore not just a story of love, we point out to him. It's also about resilience.
Gabriel Dumont, during a Hamilton Bulldogs game, in 2015. Archive photo, Martin Chevalier
Dumont quickly agreed, before just as quickly reflecting his longevity in hockey on those who surrounded him from the start, be they his coaches or those close to him.
“Coming from such a very small place, we make sure we don’t get pushed around,” he says.
“It's not easy in the world of ice hockey if you don't come from a big city,” adds the small 1.75 meter tall player. Everyone I’ve been with in my life has influenced my career in one way or another.”
“Eat the Street”
But Dumont also plays a key role in this achievement.
He could have given up and moved on to another call over time because he was tired of spending so much time on buses (“It's true that I ate it on the way!” he says at another point, laughing few).
Here too, however, he refuses to take too much credit. What allows him to remain passionate, he emphasizes, is the environment in which he operates.
That of the Crunch and the Lightning is “world class,” he says. But what excites him most is the team spirit and the time he spends with his teammates.
“Basically, what's the difference between the little guy who played Pee-Wee CC and the one who plays in the American League today?” he wonders.
And keep dreaming
But despite everything, as we have written from the beginning, Dumont continues to dream of a recall from the big club, that the numbers we assign to his record in the NHL do not remain at 90 games, four goals and five assists.
“I think if you don't think about it as a hockey player, it's because you lack passion,” he emphasizes.
“Sometimes I talk to myself in my head and say to myself, 'Come on, this is really stupid, this is not your role anymore.' But it remains your childhood dream.”
And meanwhile, Matteo and Lucas were in the arena on a Wednesday evening, holding a sign congratulating dad on 800 games of passion and perseverance.
Gabriel Dumont in statistics
- After setting a record for goals scored with Collège Notre-Dame (Rivière-du-Loup), Gabriel Dumont excelled in Midget AAA with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, where he posted a 51-goal, 127-penalty minute season alongside Sean Couturier , 2009-2010.
- Since then, he has played for the Hamilton Bulldogs, Canadiens, Saint-Jean IceCaps, Lightning, Senators, Iowa Wild, Minnesota Wild and Syracuse Crunch (three stints).
- His best season in the American League came in 2021-2022 with 62 points (including 30 goals).
- Last year he played in the American League All-Star Game.