The death of Johnny Gaudreau sent shockwaves through hockey and Calgary is still feeling the effects

On the morning of August 30, Blake Coleman woke up to a disturbing text message from a friend that said, “You were a friend of Johnny Gaudreau, right?”

The Calgary Flames forward's heart sank.

He searched online and found a report that said Johnny Gaudreau and his brother had died the night before.

“I didn’t think it was real,” Coleman said.

When he knew it was so, he woke up his wife, Jordan.

“We collapsed,” Coleman said. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.”

Gaudreau signed with Columbus as a coveted free agent in the 2022 offseason to be closer to his hometown and family on the East Coast. He and his brother Matthew were riding bicycles when they were struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver on August 29th. The brothers were in New Jersey the following day for their sister Katie's wedding.

Family determined Gaudreau's life and career, and family would also determine his death.

Johnny Gaudreau was 31 years old and the father of two young children, with a third on the way. Matthew was 29 years old and was expecting their first child with his wife in December. One was a star in the NHL, the other had become a high school hockey coach.

Coleman's wife was close friends with Johnny's wife, Meredith.

“We have kids the same age,” Coleman said. “To put yourself in that position is terrible.”

Johnny Gaudreau played nine seasons in Calgary, where he became the face and heart of the team, and his decision to join the Blue Jackets deeply angered the Flames and their fans, even as Calgary general manager Brad Treliving said he had “nothing as respect”. for John the player and John the person.”

“We were together for many years and built a strong relationship,” said Treliving, who is now general manager of the Maple Leafs. “And with John it wasn’t just about him, it was about him and his family.”

News of the Gaudreau boys' deaths shattered a sleepy late summer morning and shocked the hockey world. Fans left thousands of sticks, jerseys and bouquets of flowers at memorials outside Calgary's Saddledome and Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

Candlelight vigils were held in both cities. In Columbus, a moment of silence lasted 13 minutes and 21 seconds. Johnny wore number 13 for most of his career; Matthew wore a size 21 when the two played together for one season at Boston College. In Calgary, where thousands gathered, Canadian country star George Canyon performed a haunting version of Johnny B Goode.

“I didn’t know a single person who didn’t like him,” said Lewis Gross, Gaudreau’s agent.

When Gaudreau was 17 years old, he was one of the top scorers in the United States Hockey League. He later won the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the NCAA's best player.

Despite his obvious talent, he lasted until the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Draft. At that time he was 1.70 meters tall and weighed 75 kilograms.

Craig Conroy, a former Flames player and now the club's general manager, remembered that draft.

In Gross, Conroy and Gaudreau shared the same agent. Minutes before Calgary was about to select him, Conroy texted Gross and said, “I see you, but I don't see Johnny.”

“I didn’t bring him,” Gross said. “I was afraid that if people saw him, they wouldn’t pick him up.”

In the NHL, Gaudreau was listed as being 5'10″ tall and weighing 163 pounds, but acknowledged that this may be an exaggeration. During a training camp weigh-in, he once tied pucks around his waist to appear heavier, but they fell out of his pants.

“Everyone said he was small and doubted whether he could play in the NHL,” Conroy said. “John was one of the first to change that perspective.”

He scored a goal in his only game with the Flames in 2014. And then he just kept scoring. In his best season of 2021-22, his last in Calgary, he scored 30 or more goals twice and scored 40 and 115 points, respectively.

“He was just electric, like a little cartoon superhero,” said Ryan Leslie, who has covered the Flames for Sportsnet for nearly a decade. “He had a way of proving everyone wrong.”

Occasionally, Leslie would drive around Calgary with Gaudreau and they would stop at random rinks. Gaudreau went in unannounced and handed out Flames scarves and other souvenirs.

“He was the most loving, fun-loving guy,” Leslie said.

In interviews, Gaudreau appeared shy. Privately with his teammates, he was the life of the party.

“Once you got to know him, he was like an undercover cop,” said Rasmus Andersson, Calgary's deputy captain. “I miss calling him. We talked quite a bit. Once you were friends with him, you were a friend for life.”

Andersson and Gaudreau served as groomsmen at the wedding of their former teammate Andrew Mangiapane this summer.

“We spent 72 hours together,” Andersson remembers. “I'm really glad I got to spend this time with him. I miss him so much.”

Early on the morning of August 30, Andersson's wife, Tess, received a text message asking her to call Mangiapane's wife, Claudia.

The Anderssons were at home in Sweden. Tess called and learned that the Gaudreau brothers had been killed.

“Andrew gave me the news,” Andersson said. “It’s been hard since then. I still have a hard time believing it.”

Players from all 32 NHL teams will wear a sticker on their helmets at the start of the season honoring the Gaudreaus – their numbers 13 and 21 on either side of a “G.” Cole Caufield, the Canadiens' young star and a Johnny Gaudreau fan growing up, has changed his jersey number to 13. The Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers will wear Gaudreau sweaters during warmups before Columbus' first home game on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Canucks shared a pregame video and donated $50,000 to a charity of the Gaudreau family's choice. Highlights of Gaudreau's greatest moments will be shown on Saturday when Calgary plays its first home game.

When Gaudreau returned to the Saddledome for the first time as a Blue Jacket a few years ago, he was booed. A little later he received a standing ovation.

“I've always been a Johnny fan,” Randy Foster said Wednesday as he watched the Flames' opening game at Trolley 5, a sports bar on Calgary's threadbare Red Mile. “We were able to watch him develop from a young man into a superstar. You couldn’t have asked for a better person to represent Calgary.”

This is the second year the Flames have suffered heartbreak this season.

In 2023, less than two weeks before the start, the club's assistant general manager, Chris Snow, died after a long and stubborn battle with ALS.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my hockey career,” Conroy said.

“Everyone in Calgary was invested in the Gaudreau family,” said Kelsie Smith Snow, Chris’ widow. “I felt dejected in a way I hadn't felt since Chris died. It's a unique type of pain that's hard to describe.

“I thought about Johnny’s family, his parents, his sisters and his wife. There are no words for this devastation. I thought about the room and the moment in the hospital when you receive this news and your life changes. Everything you imagined your life to be is gone.”