- Johnny Gaudreau would have turned 33 on Thursday, Aug. 13
- The Blue Jackets and Gino Hard both posted tributes to Johnny Hockey
- Read below for his full career line and video of Columbus retiring No. 13
Johnny Gaudreau would have turned 33 on Thursday.
Our graphic put him alone on the ice in Columbus whites, No. 13 on the helmet, under the only nickname he ever needed:
The Blue Jackets posted their own tribute the same minute, calling it a day to celebrate his life and legacy:
Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed on Aug. 29, 2024, struck by a driver while riding bikes in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, the night before their sister’s wedding. Johnny was 31.
Calgary took him 104th overall in 2011, a fourth-round flyer on a 5-foot-9 winger out of New Jersey.
He won the Hobey Baker at Boston College in 2014 and scored in his NHL debut days later, the final game of the Flames season.
Free agency brought him to Columbus in 2022 on a seven-year deal that put him back near family on the East Coast.
His career line reads 243 goals and 500 assists in 763 games, with 33 points in 42 playoff games. The 2021-22 season in Calgary is still the one everybody brings up: 40 goals, 75 assists, 115 points, all career highs.
Nationwide Arena hung his 13 in the rafters at the 2024 home opener against Florida, with his family on the ice and the building chanting the nickname. Watch the video of the Blue Jackets celebrating his life:
That number keeps turning up in places he never got to see. EA put the banner in the Nationwide Arena rafters in NHL 27.
Thirty-three never came. The banner hanging in Columbus makes sure nobody forgets Johnny Gaudreau.
