Blue Jackets, Panthers honor Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau in Columbus

It was an emotional Tuesday night in Columbus as the Blue Jackets took the ice for their home opener against the Florida Panthers. 

The night started with Columbus and Florida wearing no. 13 ‘Gaudreau’ jerseys for their pregame warmups, honoring the late Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau, who tragically passed away in August. 

Pregame continued with a beautiful yet heart wrenching tribute video for Johnny and his late brother Matthew — who passed away on that same day in August.

Johnny and Matthew’s parents, and sisters, watched from the bench as Johnny’s wife Meredith took to center ice with their children — surrounded by players from both teams — as a banner was raised to the rafters of Nationwide Arena in honor of Johnny. 

Columbus and Florida had one final salute to Johnny as the Blue Jackets sent just four players on the ice for the opening faceoff — leaving the left wing spot open for their No. 13. Sean Monahan, one of Johnny’s closest friends, took the opening draw and passed the puck over to Panthers forward Sam Bennett — who was teammates with Monahan and Gaudreau for six seasons in Calgary. Bennett passed the puck to the empty left wing spot for his former teammate as the two teams let the clock run down for 13 seconds before play was stopped. 

For everyone involved, Tuesday’s hockey game was rightfully not the story, paying tribute to two young men who tragically lost their lives was. 

“The game’s going to start when the puck drops and hockey will take over.” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said pregame. “I think the first part is clearly the most important part of the event tonight.”

Before the game, every Panthers player entered the arena with a purple gatorade and a bag of skittles. Sam Bennett said that the idea was Matthew Tkachuk’s, because “Johnny loved skittles and purple gatorade.” 

Tkachuk wasn’t in Columbus as he is back in Florida with an illness, but the Panthers’ star forward sent out a message ahead of Tuesday’s game:

“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.”

“The biggest thing I’m going  to miss about tonight is not being able to see Meredith, Noa, little Johnny, Guy and Jane. Would love to give them all big hugs! Johnny will forever be my teammate.”