COLUMBUS, Ohio — The deaths of Columbus Blue Jackets forward, Johnny Gaudreau, and his brother, Matthew, have shaken the Central Ohio community.

What You Need To Know

  • The community is grieving the loss of CBJ hockey forward Johnny Gaudreau

  • He was a husband, father, son and philanthropist 

  • Young hockey players said they looked up to him and fans hope they retire his number 

On Thursday, Aug. 29, the brothers were killed while biking in their New Jersey hometown.

“Johnny was a true grace,” said Ben Khan, a member of the CBJ Artillery. “His presence on the ice was graceful. Anybody who was lucky to play with him, they all spoke so highly of him so he’s a national treasure.”

The CBJ Artillery is a group of fans that created the “we are the fifth line” slogan. 

They said the community will grieve this tragedy for quite some time.

“They’re wishing their best and giving their prayers to Johnny’s family and Matthew’s family. It’s a huge impact and we’re gonna hurt for a while,” Khan said.

In 2022, Gaudreau signed a seven-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets for $68.25 million. 

Fans respected Johnny so much because he wanted to be here as a free agent, and wanted to make Columbus where he settled down.

“Everybody wanted to get out of Columbus, they didn’t want to play here because we weren’t that big market,” Khan said.

He settled down with his wife and two kids. Meredith Gaudreau posted a statement on her social media saying, “Thank you for the best years of my life. Despite losing you, I am still the luckiest girl in the world to have been yours. I love you so, so much. You were perfect. Some days it felt too good to be true.”

A memorial grew outside Nationwide Arena with fans coming by to pay their respect and remember him for the husband, father, son and philanthropist he was to the community. 

“I really loved watching him play. He and Matthew were great hockey players, very, very good, and it’s so bad what happened,” said youth hockey player Alex Harrison.

Young hockey players from around Columbus were grieving as well, and shared how much they looked up to the brothers. 

Fans said they are going to continue to remember Johnny for not only the great hockey player he was, but person too. 

“I’m hoping they’ll have a tribute to him on opening night and I hope that they retire his number,” said hockey fan Neil Allison.