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Canadiens' Caufield to now wear No. 13 to honour Gaudreau

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Cole Caufield will wear jersey No. 13 in honour of his friend and fellow hockey player, Johnny Gaudreau, who passed away on Aug. 29.

"We all lost an amazing person, both on and off the ice," he wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of his new jersey. "Getting to play with your hero is something that most people only dream of. I was lucky enough to be Johnny's teammate this past summer and it didn't take long to realize how great of a person he was."

Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were riding their bikes when they were struck and killed by a driver in New Jersey.

They were to attend their sister's wedding the next day.

"I wore #13 at a point in my career because of Johnny and now I will be wearing it again to honour him," Caufield writes. "He paved the way for smaller players and proved we had a future in this game at the highest level. I will forever be grateful to him for inspiring me and others."

He is the ninth player in franchise history to wear No. 13.

He joins Mitchell Stephens, Cedric Paquette, Max Domi, Alexander Semin, Mike Brown, Mike Cammalleri, Alex Tanguay and Edmond Bouchard.

Caufield and Gaudreau played together at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, CZE, as members of Team USA.

Sean Higgins, 43, has been charged with two counts of vehicular death. 

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