Grady Hobbs joined the Dauphin Kings in the 2016-17 season as a rookie and in that first season, the Deloraine native posted seven goals and 19 points. In all, Hobbs played four full seasons with Dauphin and it would have been five if it weren’t for the pandemic ending last year’s season after just six games.
Hobbs was Mr. Durable during his time in Dauphin has he played at least 51 games in all four seasons and 60 in his first and fourth season with the team. Grady grew to love Dauphin and his living situation so much over the years that he would spend plenty of time in the offseason in town. And as he’s now moved on to the next level, Dauphin will forever have a special place in his heart.
“I met a lot of good friends and a ton of great teammates,” said Hobbs. “It was a pretty special situation for me and it’s one that I’ll never forget, Dauphin was such a great place. A great organization and tremendous people.”
And while Hobbs continued to find a way to score over the first three years of his time in Dauphin, he became a superstar in his fourth season as he scored 43 times, had 81 points and was named the league’s most valuable player. The 43 goals were the most in the league and he was named to the first all-star team. Then in the playoffs, Hobbs scored a goal that will go down as one of his best memories while with the team. Trailing 2-0 in their series against Portage, Grady beat Noah Giesbrecht in double overtime as Dauphin got back in the series. Unfortunately, that was the last game the team would play because of the pandemic.
“That has to be right up there at number one,” said Hobbs. “It’s pretty tough to beat that, was such a great feeling and I’ll remember that for a long time.”
As we continued to battle the pandemic, Grady was back in Dauphin news as he announced that he would return for his fifth and final season. When he did so, he scored seven times in six games and had 11 assists in the shortened season.
Now, Grady is 25 hours away from Dauphin playing Division 1 hockey with the Rochester Institute of Technology. Hobbs has played three games in his Freshman season.
“It’s a big change, that’s for sure,” offered Hobbs. “The school part is the biggest change because I’ve been out of school for a few years now. It will get easier as time goes on.”
Grady was a goal-scoring machine in Dauphin and it didn’t take him long to score his first goal with his new team. In front of nearly 1300 fans in a game against Army West Point earlier this month, Grady took a pass from Carter Wilkie and scored his first-ever NCAA goal. Hobbs is a plus-3 in his first three games.
“It felt really good to put one in the net pretty early in my career here,” said Hobbs. “I’m just looking to continue with that success and having the ability to do that at this level would be huge.”
Next up for the team is a game on Saturday against St. Lawrence before they head on the road for a pair of games against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish next Thursday and Friday.