Flames gamers, hockey executives mourn Gaudreau brothers

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At an empty Saddledome, a memorial to Johnny Gaudreau was displayed on the large display.

On the steps exterior, anyone left behind a couple of bottles of purple Gatorade, a gesture that requires no clarification for a whole era of Calgary Flames followers.

Certainly one of Gaudreau’s former teammates, Blake Coleman, expressed on social media what a whole metropolis was feeling.

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“Utterly gutted,” Coleman wrote. “The world simply misplaced probably the greatest.”

Among the best hockey gamers, though that’s not what Coleman was referring to and that wasn’t the main target as tributes poured in.

Gaudreau, 31, and his youthful brother Matthew, 29, have been killed Thursday of their dwelling state of New Jersey. The siblings have been using bikes after they have been struck by a suspected drunk driver.

“I can’t imagine it’s true,” wrote Flames captain Mikael Backlund on Instagram. “I’m gutted. I’m going to overlook you buddy.”

By way of textual content message, longtime teammate Mark Giordano informed Postmedia: “I’m devastated. The most effective man and household I’ve ever been round.”

Former Flames head coach Darryl Sutter described a “sick empty heavy feeling.” He added: “Johnny and his household are wonderful. Johnny’s enthusiasm and pleasure of the sport, household, buddies, kids was stunning to see.”

“Looking for the precise phrases in the present day is just not straightforward,” stated Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson, sharing a photograph with Gaudreau that was taken at Andrew Mangiapane’s marriage ceremony earlier this summer season. “You have been a hell of a hockey participant but it surely’s the particular person Johnny that all the time goes to be with me, one in all my closest buddies, it didn’t matter if we hadn’t spoken in a day or every week we all the time knew the place we had one another!”

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That was echoed from all of those that had been round Johnny, a seven-time participant within the NHL All-Star Sport.

“John was a really particular participant, dazzling on the ice together with his unbelievable expertise, however what made him really particular was the particular person he was off the ice,” stated former Flames normal supervisor Brad Treliving by way of assertion. “His thousand-watt smile and infectious persona have been matched solely by his love for his household, buddies, and people near him. He introduced pleasure to everybody round him and to the various who by no means knew him however marvelled at his excellence on the ice.”

“It can’t be overstated simply what a pleasure it was for everybody concerned to have Johnny Gaudreau on their workforce,” echoed former Flames government Brian Burke in a social-media submit. “At the beginning, Johnny was all the time the primary to lift his hand to offer again to his group. After we had any charity requests, we all the time knew he would say sure, with out hesitation. His love of his household, buddies and alma mater (Boston Faculty) was all the time obvious and was clearly the driving drive in his life.

“What I’ll keep in mind most was his happiness, enthusiasm, and kindness that radiated out by means of the locker room day-after-day. There are few gamers in hockey historical past who matched his ardour and love for the sport of hockey. His expertise on the ice was enhanced, not diminished, by the truth that he was having enjoyable on the market. All the Gaudreau household is in our ideas and prayers as they navigate this extremely troublesome time.”

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Johnny Gaudreau leaves behind a spouse and two younger kids — a daughter who will quickly flip two, and a son who was born in February.

Whereas he spent the previous two campaigns with the Columbus Blue Jackets, so a lot of his most memorable on-ice moments got here throughout a nine-season stint with the Flames, together with a Sport 7 additional time purpose to finish a first-round sequence towards the Dallas Stars in 2022.

Johnny racked up 210 targets and 399 assists in 602 profession contests in Calgary’s colors. In franchise historical past, he trails solely 4 fellow legends — Jarome Iginla, Theoren Fleury, Al MacInnis and Joe Nieuwendyk — on the all-time factors record.

There are numerous followers throughout southern Alberta with No. 13 jerseys hanging of their closets at dwelling. In the event that they’d shaped a line, Johnny would have fortunately autographed each one in all them.

Matthew Gaudreau additionally skated briefly within the Flames’ farm system, logging 4 appearances with the AHL’s Stockton Warmth in 2019-20. For the previous two winters, Matthew was teaching high-school hockey.

“Our hearts are damaged by this devastating loss,” the Flames stated in a press release. “Johnny was and all the time will probably be a member of the Flames household and beloved by all of Calgary. The ache we really feel for Johnny’s spouse Meridith, kids Noa and Johnny, dad and mom Jane and Man, sisters Kristen and Katie, and your entire Gaudreau household is immense. Possession, administration, gamers, and employees of the Flames specific our heartfelt sympathies throughout their time of sorrow. You might be in our ideas and prayers.”

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

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