COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets are set to start their regular season Thursday, Oct. 10, in a match against the Minnesota Wild.
Their first home game this season is set to take place next week at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15., against the Florida Panthers.
This will be the first season since the death of the team’s forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother on Aug. 29. They were struck by a car while cycling in New Jersey. Prosecutors said the driver charged with hitting and killing them had a blood-alcohol level of .087.
The brothers had been in the area for their sister’s wedding, scheduled for the day after they were killed.
The team is honoring Gaudreau, also known as Johnny Hockey, in a number of ways this year. This year’s first preseason home game, on Sept. 25, featured a 13-second (his jersey number) moment of silence.
Throughout the season, players will be wearing a path on their jerseys and a sticker on their helmets in the Gaudreaus’ honor, and fans attending the team’s Opening Night on Oct. 15 will also receive the patch.
The Blue Jackets also released their roster for this season. It is as follows:
Forwards
- Cole Sillinger
- Adam Fantilli
- Mathieu Olivier
- Kevin Labanc
- Kent Johnson
- Sean Kuraly
- James van Riemsdyk
- Zach Aston-Reese
- Mikael Pyyhtia
- Dylan Gambrell
- Sean Monahan
- Yegor Chinakhov
- Kirill Marchenko
Defensemen
- Jake Christiansen
- Zach Werenski
- Jordan Harris
- David Jiricek
- Jack Johnson
- Ivan Provorov
- Erik Gudbranson
- Damon Severson
Goaltenders
- Daniil Tarasov
- Elvis Merzlikins
Spectrum News 1 digital producers Nathan Sharman, Madison MacArthur, Lydia Taylor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.