Blue Jackets honor Johhny Gaudreau before their first home game since his death

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An emotional video tribute to Johnny Gaudreau and 13 seconds of silence — for his uniform number — opened the Columbus Blue Jackets' first game at Nationwide Arena since the star player's death nearly a month ago.

The tributes came just prior to the Blue Jackets' 3-0 preseason victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

Gaudreau and brother Matthew were killed Aug. 29 near their boyhood home in New Jersey when police said they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding bicycles on the eve of sister Katie’s wedding. The driver who police say struck them is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Starting with preseason games, the Blue Jackets are wearing helmet stickers with “Gaudreau” printed between the images of two doves and the uniform numbers of the brothers, No. 13 for Johnny, No. 21 for Matthew, the number he wore as a player for Boston College.

“I think you put yourself in some of these situations where you'd have John around,” Columbus forward Sean Kuraly said. “Thinking about him all day, obviously. Drive to the rink and a lot of times I'd pick him up on the way. So he's not there for that. I spent a lot of the day thinking about John. When he's not there with us, it's a tough day.”

Columbus players will wear a commemorative patch beginning with the first regular-season game with Johnny Gaudreau's No. 13.

Traditional activities for the home opener Oct. 15 will be postponed so the night can be dedicated to paying tribute to the Gaudreau brothers. The home opener will be celebrated two nights later instead.

One of the worst teams in the NHL last season, the Blue Jackets must find a way to move forward with a new general manager and new coach and with a huge void left on and off the ice by the death of 31-year-old “Johnny Hockey.”

Gaudreau's jersey still hangs in his dressing stall in the Columbus locker room.

“The guys are close,” new coach Dean Evason. “And that doesn't just mean the guys that have been here in Columbus. It's everyone here in this camp. We've seen a real close-knit group.”

This is the team’s second training camp in recent years that follows the offseason death of a player. Goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died in July 2021 of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast at the wedding of an assistant coach’s daughter.

On Wednesday night, Denton Mateychuk and Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus, with Kuraly picking up assists on both. Kent Johnson got an empty-net goal with 43 seconds left.

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