When the puck drops for the 2024-25 NHL season, all 32 of the league’s teams will wear special helmet decals to honor Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew.
The black and white decals will have the letter G in the middle with Johnny’s 13 on the left and Matthew’s No. 21 on the right.
All 32 NHL teams will honor Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau with helmet decals to start the NHL regular season.
The decals will be worn by all players in all games through October 24th. pic.twitter.com/MlglP6mzp6— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) September 30, 2024
The commemorative decals will be worn by every player in all games played through Oct. 24, when the Los Angeles Kings host the season’s final home opener versus the San Jose Sharks. The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres will be the first teams to feature the Gaudreau tribute when they open the 2024-25 season at O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia for the NHL Global Series.
Players for the Sabres wore the decals on their helmets during practice on Monday in Prague.
“I think it’s an incredible tribute to an incredibly sad situation,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff told NHL.com “We as a league, we as a team, have to try to honor these guys for what they did for the game.”
Every team will be wearing this decal honoring the Gaudreau brothers on the back of their helmets from opening night through 10/24. The Sabres and Devils are the first. The Sabres got them today. pic.twitter.com/MTKdVo7NYw
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) September 30, 2024
The Gaudreau brothers were killed on Aug. 29 when they were hit by an alleged drunk driver while bicycling in rural Salem County, New Jersey.
Johnny, 31, and Matthew, 29, were in New Jersey to attend their sister’s wedding, which was supposed to take place on Aug. 30. The brothers were going to be groomsmen for the ceremony, while their other sister was to serve as the maid of honor.
Johnny Gaudreau played 11 seasons in the NHL, nine with the Calgary Flames and the past two with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was a seven-time All-Star and won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2017, awarded to the player who demonstrates “the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”