The memorial banner of Gaudeau, who tragically passed away at the age of 31, was raised on the roof of Columbus’ home arena on Wednesday.
In the hockey NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ home season opener honored the hockey brothers who passed away Johnny Gaudreau31, and Matthew Gaudreau29.
During warm-ups, both the home team Columbus and the away team Florida Panthers players wore jerseys of former Columbus player Johnny Gaudreau.
Before the start of the match, the brothers’ family members came onto the ice. They were there when the white memorial pennant emblazoned with Johnny Gaudreau’s name was raised to the roof of Columbus’ home arena.
Gaudreau, who played as a left winger in his career, represented Columbus for the last time in his NHL career. Team respected late player in such a way that it left an empty spot on the left side, where Gaudreau would belong, when the opening puck dropped.
From Columbus at the start was Gaudreau’s good friend and former teammate Sean Monahan. He took the puck and moved it to Florida For Sam Bennetwho also has a common playing history with Gaudreau.
Bennett finally placed the puck on the left wing in place of Gaudreau. The sold-out stand, i.e. about 18,500 people, fell silent.
The teams and spectators stood still for 13 seconds, symbolizing Gaudreau’s game number 13.
– It was an extremely special moment that I will remember forever. “I felt like Johnny was watching us today,” Monahan said in an emotional interview.
In the interview, Bennett fondly recalled his time with the Calgary Flames, when he played alongside Gaudreau. He and Gaudreau, nicknamed “Johnny-Hockey,” were usually the last to board the Calgary bus on game trips. Bennett said that at that time Gaudreau used to eat only the raisins from the raisin bran cereal.
– This memory brought a small smile to my lips. “I have a million stories about Johnny, but that was one that I thought about today,” Bennett, a current Florida forward, said.
The Gaudreau brothers died in a car crash on August 29.
Columbus forward Sean Monahan scored the 2–1 goal of the match. He showed hands up after the goal, remembering his friend Johnny Gaudreau.
Florida finally won the emotional match with goals 4–3. Anton Lundell continued his scoring streak for the second game in a row. Also Eetu Luostarinen succeeded in scoring. Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola opened his season scoring record with two assists.
Hintz to the taste of the goal
The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks in the round of the night 3–2 at the end of the shootout. Dallas Finnish gun Roope Hintz scored the team’s 2–2 equalizer in the second period.
In their second match of the season, Carolina defeated the New Jersey Devils, who started the season strongly, at home with goals 4–2. Carolina’s Finnish forward Sebastian Aho scored the last goal of the match into an empty net. The match was Aho’s 600th in the NHL.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi on the other hand, the defender got the assist by Shayne Gostisbehere finish to the finish line. The match was the 400th of the NHL career for the 24-year-old Kotkaniemi.
Tampa Bay Lightning – Vancouver Canucks 4–1
St. Louis Blues – Minnesota Wild 1-4
Dallas Stars – San Jose Sharks 3-2 rl. (DAL: Roope Hintz 1+0)
Nashville Predators – Seattle Kraken 3–7 (NSH: Juuso Pärssinen 0+1, Juuse Saros 28/34 counter)
Calgary Flames – Chicago Blackhawks 3–1
Columbus Blue Jackets – Florida Panthers 3-4 (FLA: Lundell 1+1, Mikkola 0+2, Monastic 1+0)
Carolina Hurricanes – New Jersey Devils 4–2 (CAR: Sebastian Aho 1+0, Jesperi Kotkaniemi 0+1)
Washington Capitals – Las Vegas Golden Knights 4–2
Edmonton Oilers – Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 and.
Edited the title to the correct format at 9:00 am. Previously, the headline was erroneously: Johnny Gaudreau’s memory was honored with a fine gesture in Columbus’ season opener.