2024-08-31 03:12:35
The hockey world was left in mourning after a drunk driver ran over and killed NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew.
Rumors started as early as Thursday, but have not been confirmed. Former NHL referee Tim Peel expressed his condolences to their families. On Friday, the Columbus Blue Jackets officially announced the deaths of Johnny and his brother.
The accident happened on Thursday evening in Salem County, New Jersey, where the two are from. On Friday, they were supposed to travel to Philadelphia for their sister’s wedding.
The two were riding bicycles when they were swept by Sean Higgins. He was behind the wheel of his Jeep Grand Cherokee when he improperly passed another vehicle and hit the brothers. The police arrived at 20.19, only to find that they had died at the scene.
Higgins was arrested and charged with drink driving, drink driving, dangerous driving, wrongful passing, dangerous driving and causing death.
Johnny turned 31 on August 13. He left behind a wife and two children. Matthew is a year and a half younger than him and is also a hockey player. His last club was Worcester of the ECHL.
Johnny Gaudreau was selected by Calgary in the 2011 draft at number 104, which did not give him a chance for a serious career. Even more so with his dimensions – 175 cm and 75 kg. And he made a unique career. And the fans named him Johnny Hockey.
In the NHL, he recorded 11 seasons for “Calgary” and “Columbus”. In 763 games he collected 743 points – 243 goals and 500 assists. Participated in the All-Star game 7 times.
His best season was 2021/2022. Then he collected 115 points (40 and 75) in 82 games with an incredible efficiency of +64. In the playoffs, he scored the winning goal in the seventh game against Dallas.
Two seasons ago, he signed as a free agent with “Columbus” and became the team’s top scorer twice. His last goal was on April 16 against Carolina in a 6:3 win.