close
close

Columbus Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau mourned at the home opener

Posted on by Kennedy
Columbus Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau mourned at the home opener

The Columbus Blue Jackets' home opener on Tuesday was like the first holiday without a loved one.

The rituals were all familiar, the traditions firmly anchored in more than two decades of NHL hockey at Nationwide Arena. Fans in jackets, jerseys and hoodies flocked, lining up for burgers and beer and snapping up new merchandise. They shouted “Leo!” for national anthem singer Leo Walsh. They shouted “CBJ! CBJ!” and “Let's go, jackets! Let’s go, jackets!”

But nothing at all was the same. Many people wore No. 13 on Tuesday night as the Jackets began their 41-game home schedule for the 2024-25 season. But No. 13 himself was missing from the ice.

“I'm devastated,” Cathy Kaplan said, fighting back tears since the Aug. 29 death of Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew, who were struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver , often spilled while riding bikes near her family's home in New Jersey.

Johnny Gaudreau: Here you will find the latest information on the investigation into the NHL star's death

Tuesday was an emotional evening for many who attended a tribute to the Gaudreau brothers in the arena's lower concourse. Four jerseys – from his time at Boston College, from Johnny's time on the U.S. national team and with the Dubuque Fighting Saints – flanked the No. 13 on his jackets. More than 100 hockey sticks that had been left outside the arena after the star's death leaned against a window. Signs, hockey pucks and other memorabilia were also on display.

“It's not a normal, uplifting opening night,” said Paula Hammer, who was there with her husband and daughter. But it was comforting, she said. “We’re all here because of Johnny in some way.”

But there were also good memories. As Jacob Barker looked at the merchandise at a kiosk in the lower concourse, he remembered purchasing a Blue Jackets jersey with Gaudreau's name and number in the summer of 2022 and signing it at a preseason meet-and-greet.

Gaudreau's wife, Meredith, was expecting their first child at the time, and when Barker got his moment at the autograph table, he told Gaudreau that he, too, was a new father.

“His face lit up,” Barker said. “He was a family man.”

“It was right over there,” he said, pointing to the area where the Gaudreau monument now sits.

More: Meredith Gaudreau announces her pregnancy in an emotional eulogy for Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau

One of the biggest cheers during a pregame video tribute to Gaudreau came as images switched from his time with the Calgary Flames to the day in July 2022 when he stepped off a private plane in Columbus and played a Blue Jackets game for the first time. put on the jersey.

Three years after Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stepped off a plane in Miami and leading scorer Artemi Panarin landed in New York, Gaudreau decided to come to Columbus as a top free agent. And he did it for a reason that forever earned him a place in the hearts of Jackets fans.

He liked it here.

Among the hockey sticks, pucks and posters that are part of the monument to Gaudreau, some were inscribed with the same message from fans.

“Thank you for choosing Columbus,” they said.

[email protected]

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *