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NHL Commissioner Addresses Death of Blue Jacket's Johnny Gaudreau

Gary Bettman Releases Statement on Death of Blue Jackets' Johnny Gaudreau

Nick Horwat

Jan 25, 2024; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 25, 2024; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports / Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
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The hockey world has been struck with an unbelievable tragedy as the Columbus Blue Jackets confirmed the passing of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother. Gaudreau was preparing to enter his 12th NHL season and third with the Blue Jackets. Gaudreau had recently turned 31 years old.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement on Gaudreau’s tragic passing.

“The National Hockey League family is shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew. While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey,’ he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path.

"Gaudreau often told the story of how his father taught him to skate as a child in his home state of New Jersey and he carried that same youthful passion throughout his 11 NHL seasons.”

Bettman made note that Gaudreau was always a fan-favorite during each of his seven All-Star Game appearances and would dazzle everyone with his skill.

Before signing with the Blue Jackets in 2022, Gaudreau spent the first nine years of his NHL career with the Calgary Flames. As a fourth-round pick (104th overall) of the Flames in 2011, he appeared in 602 games with Calgary and quickly became synonymous with the organization.

Gaudreau finished third in Calder Trophy voting for Rookie of the Year for the 2014-15 season and later went on the win the Lady Byng in 2016-17 as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player.

“He will be remembered fondly in Calgary, where he played his first nine seasons with the Flames from 2013-14 to 2021-22, emerging as one of our League’s brightest young stars while compiling the franchise’s fifth-highest career points total. His loss also will be felt profoundly in Columbus, the city in which he chose to settle his family and where he was one of the respected, veteran leaders of a club building toward the playoffs. And both Johnny and Matthew will be mourned at Boston College, where they were teammates the year Johnny won the Hobey Baker Award in 2013-14, and at Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey, where both played and where Matthew was the head hockey coach following his own five-year pro playing career.”

Bettman finished his statement by sending condolences to the Gaudreau family, his friends, teammates, and fans.

“We send our most heart-felt condolences to his wife Meredith; their children, Noa and Johnny; his parents, Guy and Jane; and sisters Kristen and Katie. And we grieve alongside his teammates, members of the Blue Jackets and Flames organizations, his many friends in hockey and countless fans around the world for whom he created indelible memories on and off the ice.”

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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