Deaths of Johnny, Matthew Gaudreau ‘unimaginable,’ Flames legend McDonald says

Lanny McDonald wept in disbelief on Friday morning when he heard of the unthinkable deaths of brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.

Late Saturday afternoon in Montana, 36 hours after having learned the almost surreal news, the Hockey Hall of Fame chairman and Calgary Flames legend was still fighting back tears, yet unable to process the loss of the two young men, shaking hockey to its foundation and McDonald himself to his core.

“It’s just absolutely heartbreaking, devastating,” McDonald said, pausing often during a 15-minute conversation to gather his thoughts. “I got to know Johnny obviously quite well after his eight years in Calgary, 600-plus (602) games and 600-plus (609) points. But I also got to know his dad, Guy. Over the years I was on a couple of dads’ trips with all the fathers, including Johnny’s dad.

Johnny Gaudreau takes a shot in warmup before a 2022 Columbus Blue Jackets game.

“When I think about Johnny and Matthew, their parents, sisters, their wives, the entire family… there are no words to describe the pain they must be going through.”

Johnny, 31, and his brother, Matthew, 29, were fatally struck by a vehicle on Thursday evening while riding their bicycles in Oldmans Township, New Jersey.

Both were to serve as groomsmen at the Friday wedding of their sister, Katie.

McDonald, one of the most popular Flames of all time and co-captain of the 1989 Stanley Cup champions, got to know Johnny Gaudreau during the player’s eight years in Calgary.

Calgary Flames co-captain Lanny McDonald takes the Stanley Cup for a triumphant spin at the Montreal Forum following Calgary’s championship-clinching victory against the Canadiens on May 25, 1989.

“It's unimaginable,” he said, still trying to process the tragic loss. “When I saw the news first thing on Friday morning, I thought, ‘This is not possible. This cannot have happened.’

“Then I started to read the story and I realized it was true. I was crying as I read it, and I’m crying a little now. The news hit me like a sledgehammer. I get a little more emotional these days, having recently gone through my own little thing.”

McDonald’s “little thing” was a near-death experience; he suffered cardiac arrest last Feb. 4 at Calgary Airport, the legend and his wife, Ardell, having just returned home from NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto.

The Class of 1992 Hall of Famer almost miraculously was revived by two nurses and a policeman who rushed to his aid, pounding so violently on his chest that his sternum and several ribs were broken.

Hockey Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald and then-selection committee chairman John Davidson make a call to a newly elected player on June 26, 2018 from the shrine in Toronto.

“I’m sure the Gaudreau family is still in shock,” McDonald said. “To lose one son, let alone two… Johnny with a wife and two young children, Matthew’s wife expecting their first child. The heartbreak is beyond belief.”

Still in shock himself on Friday morning, McDonald immediately called his dear friend John Davidson, the Columbus Blue Jackets executive who in July 2022 signed Johnny Gaudreau as a free agent after the player’s eight seasons in Calgary.

McDonald and Davidson have been friends since their days playing junior together in Alberta, and for about a decade they worked side by side at the Hall of Fame, McDonald the shrine’s chairman since 2015, Davidson serving as the Hall’s selection committee chairman from 2014-22.

“I saw the news and almost right away I called John,” McDonald said, the two men tightly linked to Gaudreau if in different ways. “I’ll reach out to the Gaudreau family once we get through the Labor Day weekend. They have so much on their plate at this point.”

Calgary Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau looks to pass during a game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Early Friday evening, McDonald posted a five-paragraph note of condolence to the Gaudreau family and, by extension, all who had been touched by the tragedy.

His message concluded with: “Go easy on those legends up there in heaven’s hockey rink, boys. You’re getting there earlier than expected, but they’ll take good care of you. Godspeed Johnny and Matthew, Godspeed,” a heart emoji the final punctuation mark.

McDonald said that in just a day, he had heard from countless people in Calgary “telling me how much they loved Johnny, how much they adored him.”

Across the continent, hockey fans were putting a stick or two on their front porch in tribute to the brothers, a silent salute that began in 2018 when 15 members of the junior Humboldt (Saskatchewan) Broncos were killed in a bus crash.

A mourning fan places a hockey stick among others against a wall as a makeshift memorial grows outside Nationwide Arena for Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, at Nationwide Arena on Aug. 31, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio.

Tributes were being laid in Calgary and Columbus, fans gathering to share their memories and reflect on the horrible loss of the Gaudreau brothers.

“Johnny was that little guy about 150 pounds soaking wet who played hard all the time,” McDonald said. “So many opponents thought they had him pinned along the boards or cut off and then he’d find a way to spin off and find a guy in the open.

“That’s what people loved about him. Not being that big but not missing that many games in his career tells you how much talent he had.”

McDonald reflected on what would have been the 93rd birthday of late Montreal Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau, the tall, elegant skater who was born Aug. 31, 1931, won the Stanley Cup 10 times with the Canadiens, seven more as a team vice president and became arguably the greatest ambassador in NHL history.

A fan signs a few words of condolence outside Nationwide Arena in tribute to Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, on August 31, 2024.

“The way Jean carried himself, the way he played, the way he spoke about the game and to people in every walk of life,” McDonald said. “He’d make an ordinary person feel like the most important person in the world.

“But when I think of Johnny Gaudreau, I think of two other Canadiens captains -- Henri Richard (5-7, 160) and Yvan Cournoyer (5-7, 178). They played the game as leaders who were much larger than their height and weight. As Johnny did.

“Henri won the Stanley Cup 11 times, Yvan 10 times. That’s not shabby. They proved, as Johnny proved, that there’s room in the game for smaller men with skills who use their size to their advantage.

“I still can’t believe that Johnny and Matthew are gone. My heart aches for them and for their entire family.”

Top photo: Flowers, signs and other memorabilia are laid at a memorial on the steps at the Scotiabank Saddledome as hockey fans pay their respects to former Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, on Aug. 31, 2024, in Calgary.