Days after the news broke that star hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew had been killed while riding their bicycles, a memorial for the former Calgary Flames forward continues to grow outside the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Outside the arena where Calgary’s NHL team plays, a memorial features jerseys, flowers and an enormous stretch of concrete covered in tributes written in chalk to pay respect to the 31-year-old hockey player.
The sheer size of the memorial prompted the Flames to post on social media on Tuesday that a portion of it will need to be moved because of a concert happening later in the evening and also in preparation of an upcoming tribute.
“Moving forward, we encourage fans to use the grassy area immediately to the north of the stairs,” the club said.
After spending the majority of his career with the Flames, Gaudreau most recently played for the Columbus Blue Jackets. On Tuesday afternoon, the Blue Jackets posted on social media that fans in Columbus are invited to a candlelight vigil “in remembrance of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau” at 7:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
“The vigil will be held on the Front Street Plaza outside the east entrance to Nationwide Arena,” the NHL club said.
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Whitney Mandel was just one of many people keeping vigil outside the Saddledome on Sunday. She had come after making the two-hour drive from Duchess, Alta.
“We had to come and say goodbye to Johnny,” she explained. “He was my whole 20s — watching Johnny play hockey.”
After completing a celebrated college hockey career, Gaudreau ascended to the NHL where he skated for the Flames for more than eight seasons and became a fan favourite. In 2022, he signed a contract to join the Blue Jackets, saying that he and his family wanted to be closer to relatives in New Jersey.
“It’s a lot, but it’s really important to come down and grieve together,” Jacqueline Cornett said while spending time at the Saddledome memorial on Sunday.
“It’s surreal,” Nick Haddow said while gazing at all the tributes written in chalk. “powerful.
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“I’m glad Calgary shows what Johnny meant to us.”
Gaudreau’s widow Meredith, who is also the mother of their children, posted about the Saddledome memorial on social media.
“Thank you Calgary,” she wrote.
“This is amazing. But I’m not surprised. The best people ever.”
The Gaudreau brothers were hit by a vehicle while riding their bicycles in New Jersey on Thursday night. Police said investigators suspect the driver of the vehicle was impaired. The collision occurred the night before the Gaudreau brothers were to be groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
On Monday, Katie Gaudreau posted several photos of her brothers on social media.
“To know these two was to love these two,” she wrote in part, adding that Johnny and Matthew were “the absolute best big brothers a little girl could have asked for.”
“This will never be a goodbye post because I will never stop saying your names and honouring you both. I’ll take the best care of mom, dad, Kristen, Mer, Madeline and your babies.”
For days now, a who’s who of players, coaches and executives from the world of hockey have offered condolences to the Gaudreau brothers. That continued Tuesday with Czech hockey legend Jaromir Jagr, who played with Johnny Gaudreau and for the Flames in 2018.
Jagr posted a video of Gaudreau assisting on his final NHL goal.
“It was a beautiful pass above all,” Jagr wrote in Czech. “Unfortunately, life can be sometimes unbelievably cruel.
“Thank you, Johnny Gaudreau, that you were here and you gave hope to all those guys by your unbelievable performances that they can succeed at the world-class level in the NHL as you managed to do. My sincere condolences to your family. R.I.P. to you and your brother.”
Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leader in both goals and assists, posted about the Gaudreaus’ death on social media over the Labour Day weekend.
“We are sending our love, thoughts and prayers to the Gaudreau family,” the post reads in part. “We lost two great young men who were loved and a huge presence both on and off the ice.
“Johnny and Matthew, you will always be remembered and missed.”
In addition to tributes from the hockey community, more demonstrations of support for the Gaudreau family have unfolded at professional sporting events over the past few days.
On Monday afternoon, ahead of their marquee Labour Day CFL matchup against the Edmonton Elks, the Calgary Stampeders arranged for 13 seconds of silence at McMahon Stadium in honour of the late Gaudreau brothers. Johnny wore No. 13 for most of his NHL career.
Fans at the Stampeders football game shared memories of watching Johnny Gaudreau, the small forward who scored 776 points in 805 career NHL regular-season games.
“The kid brought us hope and he brought energy,” Rob Coppens said. “Just seeing him in his first game (as an NHL player), getting that first goal … Amazing.”
Several Stampeders players were seen arriving at McMahon Stadium wearing No. 13 shirts or jerseys ahead of their game against the Elks.
Flames general manager Craig Conroy penned a touching tribute to the Gaudreau brothers that was posted on the hockey club’s website on Saturday.
“I had the privilege to have a front row seat to watch this young boy mature into a true NHL star but more importantly, to grow to be a wonderful man, son, husband, and father,” Conroy wrote in part.
“There isn’t a magic spell that will make us all feel better. But there is love that we can continue to share with the Gaudreaus that will play a part in helping them heal.
“The outpouring of social affection over the past 24 hours, helps. The organic vigil on the steps of the Saddledome, helps. And just as the Gaudreaus have shown us, being kind to one another, helps.”
On Tuesday, former Flames star Jarome Iginla, who is now a special advisor to Conroy, had his own tribute to Gaudreau posted on the hockey club’s website.
“While I never had the privilege to play with Johnny, the times we met or played against each other, I could feel how special he was,” Iginla’s post read in part. “His love of the game and positive energy radiated from him.”
The Flames posted an aerial photo taken of the Saddledome memorial to social media on Monday with a one-word caption: “speechless.”
Over $500K raised to help Matthew Gaudreau’s family
A GoFundMe fundraiser set up to provide financial assistance to Matthew Gaudreau’s widow Madeline and their unborn child had raised over $500,000 as of noon on Tuesday. Over 7,600 people have made donations to the fundraiser.
Matthew Gaudreau was also a professional hockey player and many of the donations came from his peers in the sport.
As of noon on Tuesday, the top donation was listed as being $10,000 and came from Cliff Rucker. Rucker owns the East Coast Hockey League’s Worcester Railers HC organization. Matthew Gaudreau played for the team from 2017 to 2019.
“You and Matty will always be part of our Railer family, and I hope you can feel the love and support we are sending your way,” Rucker said.
— with files from The Associated Press’ Stephen Whyno
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