Three years ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets were rocked, stunned, and saddened by the sudden passing of goalie Matiss Kivlenieks. On Thursday night, a rumor began circulating that current Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau had died in a cycling accident. By Friday morning, the rumor was no more, as the Blue Jackets organization confirmed the worst.
There has been an outpouring of condolences from around the hockey world as news spread that Johnny Gaudreau and his brother were confirmed dead. Gaudreau’s hockey accomplishments are well-documented.
Some of Gaudreau’s accolades include 763 games played, 243 goals, 500 assists, and seven-time All-Star honors. To define Gaudreau by hockey numbers alone would be to put him in a box. As the news broke, the first comments from people, players, and media were about his love for his family. Johnny Gaudreau loved his family publicly, he loved them well, and he loved them hard, which makes this news especially difficult.
The two brothers were in New Jersey for one of their sisters’ weddings, where they were both groomsmen, and their wives were to be bridesmaids. They decided to go cycling and were hit by a car. The driver is suspected to have been under the influence.
NHL training camps will start soon, and suddenly there is a rather large hole in the Blue Jackets’ lineup and, more importantly, in their teammates’ hearts. Teammates who were silent after the news hit could hardly be blamed. Erik Gudbranson, a long-time teammate of Gaudreau in Calgary and Columbus, had a tough time accepting that his friend was no longer around. Much later in the day, teammates and former teammates began to post on social media, many of them struggling.
The hockey community has come together to console not only the players but the fans as well. While hockey will start soon and questions will be asked and answered, this is not the time to talk about lineups, salary cap ramifications, or anything hockey-related. It is a time to reflect on a person who loved his family and the city he played and lived in.
