With the NHL regular season starting there have been multiple tributes for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
On August 29th the brothers were out for a bike ride in New Jersey the day before their sister’s wedding when they were struck by a drunk driver trying to pass two cars on the right. The National Hockey League(NHL)has come out with helmet patches that have been and will continue to be worn in all games through October 24th. The patch is a G with the number 13(Johnny’s jersey number) to the left of it and 21(Matthew’s jersey number)to the right of it. It is located behind the right ear. In addition to that during the Columbus Blue Jackets home opener against the Florida Panthers the two teams honored the Gaudreau brothers. During warm ups all players wore Johnny’s name and number on the back of their jerseys.
Before the game started there was a ceremony. Johnny’s wife Meredith and brother in law Eddie came out on the ice carrying his two sons. They were joined in the spotlight by Blue Jackets Centerman Sean Monohan. A banner was hung for Johnny as music was played and the crowd applauded for him. Once it reached the top of Nationwide arena the crowd chanted, ”Johnny Hockey”, which was a nickname.
There was also a video tribute for him. Lastly the two teams let the clock run for 13 seconds with the players on the ice standing still. There was no one standing in Johnny’s left wing position for the Blue Jackets.
Sean Monohan scored with 8:38 left of the 2nd period to take a 2-1 lead for the Blue Jackets. Immediately after jamming the puck past Panthers goalie Spencer Knights pad Johnny’s former teammate in Calgary pointed up at the banner. following the 4-3 loss he said, “I felt like Johnny was watching down on us today”. Johnny Gaudreau spent his first 9 NHL seasons with the Calgary Flames. In that time he played in 602 regular season games, scoring 210 goals and 399 assists. In addition, he played in 42 playoff games, scoring 11 goals and 22 assists.
Following the 2021-22 season he signed with Columbus where he played the final two seasons of his career. In that tie he played 161 games scoring 33 goals and 101 assists. In his career he won the hobey baker award his junior year of college and the lady byng trophy in 2017 for his gentleman like play. Some memorable moments from his career include him being drafted 104th in the 2011 NHL entry draft, scoring in his first NHL game, and scoring the series winning overtime goal against the Dallas Stars in the 2022 playoffs. Matthew Gaudreau never played in the NHL but played pro hockey in four different seasons.