Loss of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau leaves a ‘hole in our hearts’

“Nothing will fill the void in our hearts, but through our remembrance, we can find the strength to get through this difficult time together.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Jenner and other members of the Blue Jackets organization offered tearful, touching remembrances at a news conference where they wore polo shirts with Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13. There, Jenner hailed Gaudreau as “truly one of a kind” whose pregame meals of “sauce-free pasta topped with butter and a Coke” always brought a reaction from new teammates. He praised Gaudreau as a family man and for the camaraderie he brought to the team. “We’ll grieve, cry, and be vulnerable,” he said, “but we’ll persevere — because that’s what John would’ve wanted.”

The Gaudreau brothers were “taken in a cruel and senseless manner,” Don Waddell, the Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations and general manager added at the news conference. “While there is a huge hole in our lineup, there’s a bigger hole in our hearts.”

Johnny, Waddell said, “played the game with joy. It’s apparent just how special Johnny was, and how significantly his loss is felt by everyone.”

The vigil included a moment of silence that last 13 minutes and 21 seconds, in honor of the brothers’ jersey numbers. Johnny, who starred for Boston College and the Calgary Flames as well as the Blue Jackets, wore 13; Matthew, who played at BC and for multiple pro teams, wore 21. Nearly 2,000 miles away, the Flames were set to hold a memorial later in the evening at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome.

Among the fond memories shared by Columbus’s Erik Gudbranson at the vigil was his penchant for giving the much smaller Gaudreau bear hugs. “I wouldn’t let him down until he told me he loved me,” said the 6-foot-5, 222-pound defenseman, “and he wouldn’t tell me for a long time.

“But I know — up here, today — it was because he enjoyed the hugs,” Gudbranson continued. “We just miss him so much.”

As he had done at the news conference, Gudbranson also shared a plea for people to avoid driving while impaired.

“I beg you: Having fun is one thing, but please find a ride home,” he told the crowd in Columbus. “There’s no reason for a tragedy like this. There are so many options available to you.”

The car that struck the brothers was driven by a man New Jersey State Police identified as Sean Higgins. He was charged Aug. 30 with two counts of vehicular homicide in the second degree and admitted to having five to six beers before the incident, according to a police affidavit.

Higgins is being held without bond pending a detention hearing Thursday.

“It’s difficult to find the right words,” Jenner said at the news conference. "[Johnny and Matthew] shared an inseparable bond. It was easy to see very quickly how tight-knit their family was. … One thing that John never forgot is where he came from.”

Another NHL player, Cole Caufield of the Montreal Canadians, announced Tuesday that he would be changing his jersey number to 13 to honor Johnny, who was his teammate for Team USA at the 2024 IIHF World Championships in Prague.

“Getting to play with your hero is something that most people only dream of. I was lucky enough to be Johnny’s teammate this past summer and it didn’t take long to realize how great of a person he was,” Caufield wrote of Johnny, an undersized, 5-9 star, in an Instagram post. “He was the most welcoming, genuine, and funniest guy I have ever met. He was someone everyone gravitated towards and I took every chance I could to be around him. Not only was he an amazing hockey player and teammate, but he was down to earth and truly cared about every person he encountered.”

The Gaudreau brothers were to have been groomsmen at their sister’s wedding, which was scheduled for Friday in Philadelphia. They were struck about 30 miles south of Philadelphia. Johnny was 31 and Matthew was 29.

“As we embark on the journey of laying John and Matty to rest, we are greatly comforted by all those who have visited these growing memorials and who have left messages of love, prayers, thoughts of kindness as well as jerseys, skates, sticks, pucks, flowers, candles and so many other tokens of remembrance,” their uncle, Jim Gaudreau, wrote Tuesday on Facebook.

“We are consoled by the memorials on each of your doorsteps, in your yards and on your cars. We have heard and seen the countless moments of silence and heartfelt messages by so many professional athletes, organizations and other athletic leagues, by every single person in private, along with the extremely heartfelt messages from broadcasts, media and each and every single one of you along with the random acts of kindness and compassion by complete strangers.”

In addition to their parents and extended family, Johnny is survived by his wife, Meredith, and two small children; Matthew’s wife, Madeline, is pregnant with the couple’s first child. A Go Fund Me campaign for Meredith and her unborn son has raised nearly $600,000.

“We have been brought to our knees,” the Gaudreau family’s statement said, “but in that process we have witnessed and are reminded that we have been blessed with everything everyone has done for us through the lives John and Matty lived. We are gaining strength and WE WILL stand up once again. We are Gaudreau Strong!”