Blue Jackets, Panthers come together to honor Gaudreaus

This was no ordinary faceoff.

When referee Trevor Hanson dropped the puck to begin the Blue Jackets’ home opener Tuesday, Columbus had only four players on the ice.

One of Johnny Gaudreau’s closest friends, CBJ center Sean Monahan, slapped the puck to his left, where Gaudreau should have been standing on what would normally be one of his favorite nights of the year. Their longtime Calgary teammate, Florida wing Sam Bennett, was there to settle the puck in Gaudreau’s empty spot as 13 seconds elapsed off the Nationwide Arena clock.

The crowd rose to a fever pitch as the players on the ice and benches tapped their sticks in a moment that stood above the rest on a night of poignant, emotional tributes to a player and his brother taken too soon.

“It’s hard, to be honest,” Monahan said postgame when asked what it was like to be part of the tribute. “Yeah, it was a special moment that I’ll remember forever.”

Added longtime NHL wing James van Riemsdyk: “That definitely has to be up there as one of the most emotional, powerful moments I’ve seen in my time playing hockey.

“As soon as that happened, I think it hit everybody,” CBJ head coach Dean Evason said. “It hit me. You kind of visualize him standing there, right? I think it hit everybody when they did that. What a fantastic gesture.”

The Blue Jackets dropped the opener 4-3 against the defending Stanley Cup champions in a hard-fought performance that might have deserved a victory. But on this night, it’s fair to say the hockey was secondary to the recognition of the man the sport called “Johnny Hockey" and his best friends simply called "John," as well as his brother Matthew.

It started when both teams took to the ice for pregame warmups clad in matching 13 jerseys with Gaudreau’s nameplate. After warmups, a 10-minute video montage of photos from the lives of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau played on the Nationwide Arena video board, and then both teams took to the ice for a five-minute video tribute.

Following that, Johnny's wife Meredith and his two kids, Noa and Johnny, stepped onto the ice, with both teams lining the blue carpet they traveled in support. At that point, a banner commemorating the life of Johnny Gaudreau was raised to the rafters in Nationwide Arena. As the teams skated through a short warmup period before the puck drop, a video of Meredith thanking fans for their support and exhorting all to live life with the passion Johnny possessed played throughout the arena.

“I’ll reflect on it probably tonight and in the future, but it means a lot for his family and his wife, his kids the way they honored him,” said Monahan, who joined the family for the banner raising. “The whole league, really. The Panthers were there at the ceremony showing their support. It means a lot."

During the game, the most poignant moment came when Monahan scored a goal to put the Blue Jackets ahead in the second period. Monahan fell to the ice after putting the puck in the net, but he immediately jumped back to his skates and pointed at the Gaudreau banner in the rafters.

“I felt like Johnny was watching down on us today,” Monahan said. “I had a feeling I was going to get one. Unfortunately I did and we lost, which sucks, but I definitely could feel John today.”

The weeks since the Gaudreaus’ passing on Aug. 29 has been filled with emotional moments – from tearful memorial services and vigils held in the days after to smiles and laughs when players remembered their favorite Gaudreau stories, and everything in between – but the opener provided a chance for everyone to come together again and both celebrate the Gaudreaus and grieve them.

The Blue Jackets were delighted the past two days when the Gaudreau's father, Guy, joined them on the ice for practice Monday and morning skate Tuesday, and the entire Gaudreau family traveled to Columbus for Tuesday night’s ceremony.

“It was obviously not a game full but a day full, a couple days now full of a lot of emotions, kind of an emotional roller coaster,” Cole Sillinger said. “It’s tough to choose one thing (that stands out), but it was certainly nice to see Meredith and the whole Gaudreau clan and Guy and Jane. It was just nice to see them and spend time with them.”

In a sport that can seem like one giant family at times, everyone came together on Tuesday night to honor the Gaudreaus’ memory in a fitting fashion. The Blue Jackets left it all on the line on an emotional day, and the memory of Johnny will remain with the team throughout the days, weeks and months ahead.

“First and foremost, we want to send our love and support to the Gaudreau family,” van Riemsdyk said. “We want to carry on Johnny’s memory in a proud way. Just the joy that he had playing hockey was always so apparent from when he was a kid coming up through juniors and college and playing professionally all these years. He was still a rink rat from all the things I heard about him.

“We want to make sure we channel that and realize how lucky we are to be able to do what we love with some good friends and good teammates and really honor that memory. You could tell he loved living out his dream.”

Added Sillinger: "That's been our whole mind-set for quite a while now, is, 'What would Johnny do?' We just want to win hockey games and play for his teamamates and his brothers, and that's what we did tonight. Johnny is one of our brothers."