You may have noticed I went quiet yesterday, and I don’t think I was alone in that. It just felt wrong to write about hockey after what happened. I heard the rumors on Thursday night but went to be bed hoping that they weren’t true. They were. The NHL and hockey world tragically lost Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau because of a drunk driver. Please, do not drink and drive.
Colorado Hockey Now and the NHN Network all have the Gaudreau family in our thoughts. Tragedies like this should never happen, especially in 2024 when there are so many rideshare options available to people who drink. Today, we want to focus on the good and spread awareness of the nice stories people shared of Johnny and Matthew. May they both rest in peace.
Colorado Hockey Now
Nothing new yesterday. If you’re looking to catch up on the day before, the Avalanche will be on national television quite a bit this coming season.
Gaudreau Memories
Let’s start with the fundraise for Matthew’s wife Madeline and their growing child Tripp. A GoFundMe was set up and everything raised will be sent to Madeline. One look at the amount raised already and you’ll see how close the hockey community is. Several NHL players and their families have publicly donated, and I’m sure there’s more that have done so in private.
Passing along this GoFundMe for Matthew Gaudreau’s wife, Madeline, and their unborn son, Tripp.
All donations will be directly sent to the family for Matthew’s funeral expenses and for the eventual birth of Tripp. ⬇️https://t.co/j6rEdtx7TO
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) August 30, 2024
Now I want to share some of the great tributes from around the league. It doesn’t seem like anyone has a bad thing to say about either of the Gaudreau brothers. That’s usually the sign of good people.
Trying to find the right words today is not easy.
You were a hell of a hockey player but it’s the person Johnny that always is going to be with me, one of my closest friends, it didn’t matter if we hadn’t spoken in a day or a week we always knew where we had each other!
There… https://t.co/oFPW1VaTkW— Rasmus Andersson (@RAndersson19) August 30, 2024
Fans in Calgary are paying tribute to Johnny Gaudreau outside the Saddledome. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NiO2vb0plb
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 30, 2024
The tribute for Johnny Gaudreau tonight at the Saddledome. pic.twitter.com/rP7tDC2SlX
— Forecast (@ChinookArchYYC) August 31, 2024
RIP JOHNNY HOCKEY #cbj pic.twitter.com/KESRusdXZX
— Sarah (@sarah____kent) August 31, 2024
These are just a few, and if you all have more, feel free to share them in the comments down below. I’ll share one from one of my friends.
A friend of mine shared this on Instagram. Since everyone is sharing nice stories on Gaudreau, figured I’d pass this along. pic.twitter.com/8IrVHW9Xzj
— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) August 30, 2024
Colorado’s home opener this season is against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and I’m sure they’ll be doing some sort of tribute. Please share any stories you have of them in the comments.
RIP Johnny and Matthew.