Yesterday in a Philadelphia suburb, Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were laid to rest. The hockey world stood still as players from various teams and countries attended the funeral alongside friends and family.
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It looked like a beautiful ceremony and the eulogy delivered by Johnny’s wife was incredible. Somehow, she managed to poor her heart out on paper and write a beautiful tribute with was moving, touching and even funny at times. The 35-minute testament to the man, the husband, the friend, the son and the teammate Gaudreau was seemed like it was over in a flash and Meredith Gaudreau also revealed that she was expecting the couple’s third child, being nine weeks pregnant and having celebrated the news with Johnny not so long ago.
Former Boston College teammate Kevin Hayes and former Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames teammate Sean Monahan must have struggled to hold back the tears as she told them and the world how they helped shaped the man she had fallen in love with and how important they were for him.
Related: Canadiens: Caufield Changes Number to Gaudreau’s 13
Cole Caufield, who recently announced that he was changing his number from 22 to 13 to honor the eldest Gaudreau’s memory was present to pay his respect. Both Hayes and Meredith reacted to Caufield’s decision to change his number a few days ago. The former, who played with both Caufield and Gaudreau at the latest World Championship commented: “I love this eloc”. The latter wrote:
Highlight of his summer was with you guys. He loves you eloc.
Apparently, the Team USA roster had taken to referring to the Canadiens’ sniper using his name spelt backwards.
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As for newly minted Hab Laine, he was Johnny’s teammate for the last two seasons in Columbus and also wanted to pay his respect to the man who most probably was the best teammate one could hope for. Mike Matheson, who played with both brothers at Boston College was also present, just like Martin St-Louis and Jeff Gorton.
There will no doubt be more tributes to come for Gaudreau as the NHL resumes its activities with rookie and main camps just around the corner. I fully expect Gaudreau’s number to go up to the rafters in Calgary where he managed to climb up to fifth in all time scoring with 609 points even though he only played 602 games with the Flames while all-time leader Jarome Iginla had 1219 games to rack up his franchise leading 1095 points.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Columbus Blue Jackets did the same, to honour the man who picked them as the place to raise his family and live for what should have been the next seven years while other teams were offering him more money. Given the time, Gaudreau would no doubt have had the same kind of impact on the Ohio franchise.
The turnout for the brothers’ funeral just goes to show how big of an impact they’ve had on the lives of so many people and players.
Related
Montreal Canadiens React To Gaudreau Brothers Passing
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