Jackets raise Gaudreau banner on 'emotional night'

Johnny Gaudreau’s Columbus teammates were given a few options for how to handle their emotions during the Blue Jackets‘ home opener.

If you want to cry, cry.

If you want to laugh, laugh.

The only rules — play the game the way “Johnny Hockey” would and with him in mind.

Emotions ran high in Columbus on Tuesday night, when the Blue Jackets paid tribute to their star and his late brother, Matthew, at their home opener against the Florida Panthers. Among the highlights: A banner was raised to the rafters in Gaudreau’s memory as fans cheered, both teams stick-tapped the ice in the traditional hockey salute and his family looked on, their arms intertwined.

And before the puck dropped, the teams stood still as 13 seconds — Johnny Gaudreau’s number — ran off the clock and his left-wing position remained vacant, the Blue Jackets having sent four skaters onto the ice instead of the usual five. The puck dropped, and the Blue Jackets’ Sean Monahan passed it to Florida’s Sam Bennett.

Monahan and Bennett were teammates with Gaudreau in Calgary. It couldn’t have been more fitting.

“I don’t want anyone to be sad,” Meredith Gaudreau, Johnny’s wife, said in a recorded message played shortly before faceoff. “I want you all to be inspired by the life that John lived. That means love your family first and foremost, and when it’s time to drop the puck, let’s love the game that John loved.”

Johnny Gaudreau, the Blue Jackets star who would have been entering his third season with the club and 11th NHL season overall, and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, were killed on Aug. 29 when police said they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding their bicycles on a rural road in New Jersey on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding.

“It’s such an unprecedented thing and something that obviously none of us wanted to go through, and nobody ever wants to go through it,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said Monday as final preparations for the home-opener celebration of the Gaudreaus were being made. “But we have to.”

The 31-year-old Gaudreau wore jersey No. 13 for the Blue Jackets. Matthew Gaudreau — who was 29 and played five pro seasons in the American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League and in Sweden — wore jersey No. 21. All 32 NHL teams are wearing decals with 13, 21 and the letter G on their helmets through Oct. 24. USA Hockey has a similar tribute for its teams at all levels this year.

On Tuesday, the “13” tributes were everywhere. Both the Blue Jackets and Panthers took the ice for warmups wearing jerseys bearing the name “Gaudreau” and the No. 13; those sweaters will be auctioned and raffled off to benefit the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation. There was “13” on the ice behind the goals. All fans in attendance received a “13” patch like the ones Blue Jackets players will be wearing on their jerseys this season.

“It’s an emotional night for the hockey world,” Bennett said. “I’m glad I can be here and honor his legacy in any way.”

The Panthers, like the rest of the NHL, are mourning right along with the Blue Jackets. Gaudreau was beloved by players, whether they ever were his teammate or not. Florida star Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the game with illness, knows of Gaudreau’s affinity for purple Gatorade and bags of Skittles. So, every Panthers player got off the bus in Columbus on Tuesday afternoon with Gatorade and Skittles in their hands.

“Johnny was a huge part of the hockey community, but to me he was much more than that,” said Tkachuk, a teammate of Gaudreau’s for six seasons in Calgary. “A great friend, teammate and family man. Not a day goes by without me thinking about Johnny and Matthew.”

The Blue Jackets set up a replica of Gaudreau’s locker in the arena for fans to visit. Many fans did, reading some of the signs that were left in front of Nationwide Arena in the hours and days after the crash that claimed the lives of the brothers. They hugged and took photos, wiped away tears and reminisced.

Kristen and Katie, the sisters of Johnny and Matthew, visited the memorial during the game. Kristen donned a No. 13 Columbus jersey in the home blue, while Katie wore a leather jacket with her brothers’ numbers of 21 and 13 on the front and stacked across the back, along with “Gaudreau.”

Johnny Gaudreau — all of 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds — was a star at Boston College before making it to the NHL, his debut coming in Calgary’s finale for the 2013-14 season. His first goal came on his first shot in his first game, and his star only kept shining brighter from there.

The player who fished the puck out of the net after Gaudreau’s first goal was Monahan.

“Johnny was a huge part of the hockey community but to me he was much more than that. A great friend, teammate and family man. Not a day goes by without me thinking about Johnny and Matthew.”

Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk

“He had an impact on so many people,” Monahan said.

Monahan never aspired to be a donkey. Going forward, the Blue Jackets will clamor to be one.

Johnny Gaudreau used that term — “donkey” — endearingly around friends and teammates. The Blue Jackets had a celebration for about a decade where the player of the game gets to wear a Civil War-style kepi hat, the recipient selected by the previous one. The kepi is retired. The player of the game now gets a donkey hat. Monahan was the first to receive it.

“I’m really happy that we’ve kind of switched it up,” Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “I think it’s fitting for us. It was a great idea. And, you know, we wish the little guy was still here calling us that, But Monny is the right guy to get that the first time, for sure.”

The tributes aren’t over. They’ll keep going for years to come. Guy Gaudreau, the late brothers’ father and a longtime coach, was on the ice with the Blue Jackets for practice in Columbus on Monday and was back for morning skate on Tuesday. And the banner bearing Johnny’s name went up, fans chanted “Johnny Hockey” as his family couldn’t help but smile.

There was a game afterward, one the Panthers would go on to win 4-3. It seemed secondary.

“The first part,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “is clearly the most important part of the event tonight.”