The Loss of the Gaudreau Brothers

[MTH]

Such a tragedy with the loss of both Johnny and Matty Gaudreau yesterday. Both were struck by a drunk driver while riding their bicycles on their parents road in the evening. 

As we all know Johnny was a star in the NHL and had won pretty much every possible award on his way up to the NHL. Married and the father of two little ones.

Matty also played professional hockey. Younger brother of John. Was in the Islanders system for a bit. Heck of player. Married and lived near his parents too.

Myself and my kids all played at Hollydell Ice Arena that their father was the hockey director at for decades. He coached my boys and his kids were active in and around the rink both as players and as "rink family". Unreal to wake up and have this terrible news today. I don't know how their dad, Guy, and the rest of their family get through something like this. 

Parents hug your kids more than ever today. Make sure you appreciate how lucky we are to still have them. Things can change in a blink of an eye sometimes.

[coopaloop1234]

The day before their sister's wedding too. 

What a tragic event for the entire family. 

[Lucky Pucker]

3 hours ago, MTH said:

Such a tragedy with the loss of both Johnny and Matty Gaudreau yesterday. Both were struck by a drunk driver while riding their bicycles on their parents road in the evening. 

As we all know Johnny was a star in the NHL and had won pretty much every possible award on his way up to the NHL. Married and the father of two little ones.

Matty also played professional hockey. Younger brother of John. Was in the Islanders system for a bit. Heck of player. Married and lived near his parents too.

Myself and my kids all played at Hollydell Ice Arena that their father was the hockey director at for decades. He coached my boys and his kids were active in and around the rink both as players and as "rink family". Unreal to wake up and have this terrible news today. I don't know how their dad, Guy, and the rest of their family get through something like this. 

Parents hug your kids more than ever today. Make sure you appreciate how lucky we are to still have them. Things can change in a blink of an eye sometimes.

Beautiful write up, @MTH. The hockey fans at work - incl Oilers fans who hated him when he was in Calgary (but would have loved to have him on their team) - we all just felt gutted by the news. I actually have his Flames jersey for when I play out as a skater. It’s all just so tragic, sad, and completely unfair.

That bolded part from your post… that really, REALLY resonates with me. Again, great post, brother.

[Mike24]

Well said @MTH 

What a tragedy 

My wife is a co-worker of their sister. 

My wife told me over the past few years Johnny would come in and talk to the kids at school they worked at.

 I’ve thought about this family as much or more as mine own today.  

T’s and P’s

 

 

 

[bildeer]

Hey folks.

I don't post here much anymore because my playing days have come to a close (for now, at least) and I pretty much stopped following new equipment releases in 2015, but I digress.

Back in 2015 I met him (Johnny) at a camp. Really down-to-earth guy and super nice. At the time I was using a Reebok stick that I had taped "CCM" over in jest of Reebok being merged with CCM that he got a kick out of. (I think I have a photo of us with it somewhere, 14 year old me thought it was hilarious) I also got to take some shots from him and by coincidence ended up sitting with him, Mark Giordano and Bob Hartley at lunch.

All I can say is thanks for the memories and condolences to his family. 

[MTH]

More stories told of these kids - the better. My god. 

I was playing mens league one summer and the boys were playing with their Dad. It was the summer after Johnny joined the Flames. They were all together on a line. Obviously not fun for me. I was super jealous of them yelling "dad pass it" and other things to their dad while playing. So jealous! Would have loved to play with my dad. 

Regardless, Johnny scored ten on me that game. Wore it like a crown. One goal was behind the goal line almost in the corner. 

I joked that he even shot one past me while he was on the bench.

There are a million stories of them from folks at the rink. Not a one less than awesome.

That same summer John was still helping his dad run his summer camp. The kids would swarm him obviously. The following year he started his own camp using a "G" logo that looked like the Flames logo. Pretty cool.

I even laugh at a memory of him (while running his own camp) in the rink's pro shop with dad. He asked his dad to buy him some tape. His dad said no so he left the shop all mad. This is an actual NHL star getting the same treatment as my kid would. And acting the same. ha

Gone way too soon. These kids will be forever missed by everyone. Doesn't even seem real.

[MTH]

I haven't been to the rink since they passed yet. I get pretty emotional with stuff like this as a parent. It will be really sad. Their dad stopped coaching there years ago - the rink was sold and renovated - so it's not as much Guy Gaudreau's place anymore. The pictures of John were moved from the lobby up into a corner of the rink bar. They added a few things for John and Matt up there - so it's really nice.

It's going to be tough to see it now.

The Robinson boys both are from this rink too. There is a nice sign in the small rink saying how the future starts of the game start here. I'll have to get a picture of it. Has John, Matt and Buddy and Eric Robinson. 

[MTH]

Here's a great article about the Gaudreau and Robinson connection that was reconnected in Columbus in 2022. It's spot on too how Guy is.

ByJeff Svoboda

@JacketsInsider BlueJackets.com

December 01, 2022

SvoNotes is a weekly column by BlueJackets.com reporter Jeff Svoboda.
In the Blue Jackets home opener, the team was up 1-0 and looking for more when Eric Robinson had a golden scoring chance.
Sean Kuraly hunted down a puck behind the net while Columbus was shorthanded and hit Robinson in stride with a pass all alone in front of Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Robinson was no more than five feet in front of the blue paint when he received the pass and fired a quick shot on Vasilevskiy, but the Lightning goalie moved over and swept the puck out of the air with his glove to deny the chance.

When Robinson got back to the bench, new (and old) teammate Johnny Gaudreau had a piece of advice -- it would have been better to fake the shot, then go against the grain and try to beat Vasilevskiy on his backhand. But that wasn't the only time that night Robinson heard the suggestion. In fact, after the game, another Gaudreau -- the high school coach of both Johnny and Eric -- had the exact same advice.

"I saw Eric get the puck, and he just turned around real quick and fired it," Guy Gaudreau, Johnny's father, later recounted. "I said, 'The goalie was sliding across. Just one move the other way, come right back to the backhand, and you'd have a wide-open net.' "He said, 'Johnny said that.' I said, 'John said that, but John might have done the same thing you did.' "Getting a shot on net is never a bad thing, but sometimes you have to be a little more patient and get a better quality shot."
Guy Gaudreau is 65 years old and no longer coaching, having left his post as the leader of the Gloucester Catholic High School program in south Jersey that produced the Robinsons and Gaudreaus. But old habits never die easy, and sometimes Guy just can't help himself these days.

"My wife gets mad at me -- 'You know, he's not your player anymore,'" Guy said of his wife, Jane. "I go, 'He'll always be my player.' I still tell John things he should have done. I guess when you're a coach, you're a coach."

Gaudreau was a pretty good one, essentially establishing the Gloucester Catholic program from scratch. A member of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame for excelling in hockey and soccer, first at North Country Union High in Newport and then Norwich University, Gaudreau is a rink rat who just seems to be most at home with the sound of steel cutting into ice and pucks clanging off boards.
The Gloucester Catholic program started in the mid-2000s and by 2010 Gaudreau had skippered it to the non-public state championship game against longtime power Delbarton School. It helped that Guy had a talented but diminutive star named Johnny and a big but raw forward named Eric on his team that year.
Having two future NHLers would make any high school team look good, but the other side wasn't short of talent, including star Kenny Agostino, who scored four goals in Delbarton's 7-2 victory and would go on to play for six different NHL teams. Gaudreau scored in the first period as Gloucester Catholic actually led 2-1, but that was it from there for the Rams.
"It was fun," Guy said looking back at the squad. "John always says to me, 'There's only one game I'd like to redo in my entire life, and it's that game.' I said, 'You can redo it 10 times, you're not going to beat them.' They were that good. They had like three or four D-I players and at least eight D-III players. They were a high-end team."
Still, it's pretty cool for the elder Gaudreau to look back. Both Johnny and his brother, Matt, have played high-level hockey, with the latter spending three seasons in the AHL. Eric is in his sixth season with the Blue Jackets, while his older brother Buddy has played in his sixth NHL season this year as well with Chicago (he even had a cameo in Calgary with Gaudreau in previous seasons).
That's a lot of talent that Guy can look back on and be proud he helped mold on its way to the top.
"If somebody would have told me then (Johnny and Eric) were going to play in the NHL and on the same team, I would have said I don't think that would happen," Guy said. "I'm betting against those odds. I'll call Vegas and put a bet on. That would have been the smart thing to do.
"But yeah, you know what's really cool? They're almost like your own kids. Both (Robinson) boys would come over and stay at my house, they played hockey at my house, they'd stay for four days at a time. We couldn't get rid of them. (It was) like they were my kids. It's pretty cool."
For Robinson, the arrival of the Gaudreaus added a bit of a family atmosphere at Nationwide Arena that he likely never could have anticipated.
"It's awesome," he said. "It's surreal to see (Guy) when you come out after the game. The home opener, his parents and my parents are all hanging out. It's like we're coming out of a high school game. To be in the NHL with a lifelong friend is pretty special."