COLUMBUS, Ohio — The tragedy that took the lifetime of Columbus Blue Jackets star winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, nonetheless doesn’t appear actual. At a night vigil outdoors Nationwide Area on Friday, followers positioned flowers, sweet and candles in a makeshift memorial by the principle entrance. A lonesome bagpipe wailed within the background.
It will likely be a very long time earlier than this blanket of grief lifts. And there can be tortuous reminders that Gaudreau is not with us, not doing what he did so nicely with the Blue Jackets — resembling the beginning of coaching camp, the common season, the NHL All-Star Recreation (he was a daily) and the Stadium Collection recreation at Ohio Stadium.
Gaudreau’s locker — the fourth stall down the appropriate wall of the Blue Jackets’ dressing room — can be onerous to have a look at with out conjuring recollections.
Sadly, the Blue Jackets and their followers are aware of this ache.
The Gaudreau brothers had been killed late Thursday whereas using bicycles on a rustic street in New Jersey. It was a mindless tragedy wherein an allegedly aggressive driver, one being investigated for driving below the affect, slammed into their bikes whereas making an attempt to go automobiles on a two-lane street, police stated.
It got here barely three years after promising, younger goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died at a Independence Day celebration on the dwelling of then-goaltending coach Manny Legace in Novi, Mich. Kivlenieks, solely 24, died when a firework misfired and struck him from shut vary within the chest.
The gamers had a lot of the summer time to grieve Kivlenieks’ passing, a deeply private course of.
Nonetheless, after they arrived at coaching camp two and a half months later, there was virtually a second wave of grief: a number of gamers stated Kivlenieks’ absence shook them, regardless that they knew he wouldn’t be there.
“It was like one thing was lacking,” one participant stated, “as a result of somebody was lacking.”
Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who witnessed Kivlenieks’ dying in Legace’s yard, acknowledged a 12 months later that the cannon in Nationwide Area — it’s blasted earlier than each recreation and after each objective and win — was an terrible reminder of the blast that killed Kivlenieks.
The Blue Jackets helped prepare a funeral for Kivlenieks in central Ohio in order that a number of gamers — each NHL and minor-leaguers who knew Kivlenieks as a teammate with AHL Cleveland — might attend. They paid to fly his dad and mom to Columbus for the service.
On Oct. 14, 2022 — opening evening — the Blue Jackets lifted Kivlenieks’ No. 80 jersey into the rafters of Nationwide Area, the place it remained for the complete season. His No. 91 was additionally painted on the ice behind each targets. It was an emotional evening for a lot of.
The Blue Jackets can have even much less time to grieve Gaudreau, with the beginning of coaching camp set for Sept. 18 and the primary on-ice day of camp the following day.
However the two circumstances have some unhappy similarities.
The Gaudreau brothers had been planning to function groomsmen in sister Katie’s wedding ceremony, which had been scheduled for Friday. Kivlenieks’ dying occurred simply hours after the gamers attended the marriage of Legace’s daughter, Sabrina.
The Gaudreaus had been biking on a street they’ve traveled numerous instances, not removed from the house the place their dad and mom, Man and Jane, raised them. They had been the victims of one other man’s alleged recklessness, positive, however they had been additionally unlucky to be within the unsuitable place on the unsuitable time.
Kivlenieks, in the meantime, was planning to return dwelling to Latvia in early July that summer time however was satisfied by others to remain just a few days longer to witness a July 4 celebration in particular person. He was stoked to be there.
Just a few gamers stay on the roster from when the Kivlenieks tragedy occurred, however a number of front-office members are nonetheless in place. In a single sense, they will draw on their experiences within the wake of Kivlenieks’ passing to assist them via this course of.
Gaudreau’s loss will depart a crater within the dressing room. He was not solely the Blue Jackets’ greatest participant, however their main scorer and a top-line left winger. He was additionally a revered determine in Columbus and throughout the NHL. He was “Johnny Hockey.”
The Blue Jackets have made an organizational determination to hunker down within the aftermath of Gaudreau’s passing, save for an preliminary assertion and a few extremely emotional posts on social media from present and former Blue Jackets Boone Jenner, Patrik Laine and others.
A wave of Blue Jackets gamers had been anticipated to reach in Columbus early subsequent week — just a few gamers are already right here — to get a head begin on coaching camp. Now, they’ll virtually definitely change plans to attend the Gaudreau brothers’ funeral.
The Blue Jackets and the NHL gamers’ affiliation have made grief counselors out there to any participant, coach or workers member who desires to hunt assist.
One can solely think about what the Blue Jackets can have in retailer for Gaudreau after they play their first dwelling recreation this season on Oct. 15 vs. Minnesota. It’s attainable that Gaudreau’s No. 13 heads into the rafters, too.
The Blue Jackets’ franchise timeline is plagued by an inordinate variety of tragedies, and it began early within the group’s historical past.
On March 16, 2002, a younger fan — Brittanie Cecil — was struck by a puck throughout a recreation as she watched from the seats above the tip zone glass. She was celebrating her 14th birthday, however suffered a seizure on her means dwelling from the sport and died two days later in Nationwide Youngsters’s Hospital.
It’s the one fan fatality in NHL historical past, and it led to the addition of protecting netting above the tip boards glass all through the league. Cecil could be 36 years previous if she had been alive at this time.
One 12 months later, a Blue Jackets minor-league participant — winger/enforcer Trevor Ettinger — died by suicide.
There isn’t a playbook for a way greatest to deal with this. There are myriad gamers from many various cultures and with many various personalities within the dressing room. Every can be on their very own tempo.
The roles of latest GM Don Waddell and new coach Dean Evason simply turned far more troublesome, not simply on the ice however within the dressing room.
Waddell has been right here earlier than, too. In 2003, earlier than the Atlanta Thrashers started their fifth season, a single-car crash in a automobile pushed by Thrashers star Dany Heatley price the lifetime of his teammate, Dan Snyder, who died after six days in a coma.
It’s the sort of expertise no GM desires on his resume. It’s the sort of expertise no group desires to endure. But, sadly for each Waddell and the Blue Jackets, it’s not distinctive.
(Picture of memorial outdoors of Nationwide Area: Jason Mowry / Getty Pictures)