NHL honors Gaudreau brothers in emotional Stadium Collection tribute
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Stadium Collection recreation between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Pink Wings on Saturday promised to have all of it: a crowd of greater than 90,000 — making it the second-largest in NHL historical past — and an electrical environment inside the enduring Ohio Stadium.
The NHL additionally ensured {that a} key determine was entrance and heart on the occasion.
Columbus is mourning the demise of Johnny Gaudreau, the NHL star generally known as “Johnny Hockey,” and his youthful brother, Matthew, who had been struck and killed whereas using bicycles close to their New Jersey house Aug. 29, sooner or later earlier than their sister’s marriage ceremony.
The NHL made it a precedence to honor the Gaudreaus throughout the Blue Jackets’ first outside hockey expertise.
The Blue Jackets entered the sector in what group captain Boone Jenner referred to as “Signature Johnny match,” carrying matching sweatshirts from Avalon Surf Store, emulating Gaudreau’s ritual of representing companies from his New Jersey house. The Pink Wings donned No. 13 Gaudreau jerseys from throughout his profession, together with Workforce USA and the Boston School Eagles.
The Gaudreaus’ mom, Jane, led the group into the stadium with Johnny’s widow, Meredith, and their younger kids, Noa and Johnny, carrying Gaudreau Stadium Collection bomber jackets. It was a strong reflection of the close-knit group household that has been cast.
“We needed to have that second and get individuals speaking about them once more, and by no means forgetting,” mentioned Steve Mayer, NHL president of content material and occasions.
Johnny Gaudreau’s legacy was additionally felt all through the sport. His jersey was displayed within the Blue Jackets’ locker room, because it has been all season, and his picture appeared on the newly painted helmet of beginning goalie Elvis Merzlikins.
“Johnny remains to be educating us so some ways,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason mentioned. “We speak about him so much. There’s simply so many ways in which Johnny has impressed us.
“He’s continually with us. He’s in our dressing room. His jersey’s there each evening, not simply recreation nights. He’s with us on a regular basis.”
Mayer mentioned the NHL started discussions quickly after the Gaudreaus’ deaths about how finest to memorialize the brothers at this historic occasion.
“We needed to have a good time Johnny’s life fairly than merely have a second of silence,” Mayer mentioned. “This can be a large deal for Columbus, and we needed it to be delicate however highly effective.”
His teammates acknowledged the Blue Jackets success — which has them in playoff rivalry for the primary time since 2020 — and look within the Stadium Collection would have been a dream for Gaudreau, whose love of the sport and the gamers with whom he shared a uniform has formed everybody within the Blue Jackets locker room.
“What you’re seeing is the large affect that they’d,” heart Sean Kuraly mentioned of the brothers. “We’re carrying on the issues that we discovered from them and that they’d need us to hold on — to like the sport and one another, and embrace each expertise.”
The Stadium Collection recreation, which was broadcast in 191 international locations, marked a poignant second for the Blue Jackets and their followers. Columbus, is among the final NHL groups to be included in an out of doors recreation.
“We’re going to play for … like we have now all 12 months,” Jenner mentioned earlier than the sport, “and honor him the easiest way we are able to.”
NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
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