Columbus Blue Jackets player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew have passed away. The team made the announcement at X on Friday morning..
A native of Salem, New Jersey, Gaudreau played 11 seasons in the NHL with the Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames, appearing in 81 games last season and recording 48 points.
He leaves behind his wife, Meredith, and two children, 1-year-old Noah and 6-month-old Johnny.
The tragedy occurred just one day before the Gaudreau brothers were scheduled to serve as groomsmen at a wedding. Sister Katie's wedding To Devin Joyce, a hockey player from Gloucester City, New Jersey.
Gaudreau grew up in Oldsman Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, and later attended Boston University, where he won the Hobey Baker Trophy, the highest individual award in college hockey, in 2014.
The Flames selected Gaudreau in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Draft.
Gaudreau was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL's best rookie, and appeared in seven All-Star Games during his career.
“I was never really focused on making it to the NHL,” Gaudreau said. In a 2016 Players Tribune essay,“I've always tried to take it one step at a time to get to the next level. It's important to take it slowly because if you try to compare your game to the guys playing in the league right away, you'll quickly start beating yourself up.”
“I'll never forget my first development camp with the Flames. I was just a college kid in every sense of the word, and seeing all these NHL players on the ice, and I was just thinking, 'What am I doing here?' My eyes were wide open, and I just wanted to ask for autographs.
“Then a year later, by the next development camp, my attitude changed to, 'I think I know what I'm doing here.' And then finally, I got to the point where I was on the ice with NHL players and I felt like it was okay to say to myself, 'I know what I'm doing here.'”
Like his brother, Matthew played hockey at Boston University before signing with the New York Islanders' minor league affiliate in 2017. He last played professional hockey in 2021, playing in Sweden and the ECHL in the United States.
The Blue Jackets suffered another tragedy in 2021 when goaltender Matthijs Kivlenieks, 24, died from chest injuries after being hit by an errant firework mortar during a party at a private home in Michigan.
Kibrenieks was in a hot tub and slightly tilted over to try and avoid the fireworks that were being fired into a group of people.
