[News] Confirmed: Johnny Gaudreau and brother Matt have passed away

[FanIn80]

From this (the day before the (non)accident):

“Johnny’s one of my best friends,” Monahan said on an episode of the “What Chaos!” podcast that was released Wednesday. “And I think to go full circle, kinda start when I was 18, 19 [years old] with him and to come back and be able to play with him again is pretty cool. We both have sons that are two or three months apart so they get to grow up together.

To this (a week later):

Originally Posted by BigThief

Seeing Guy and Jane Gaudreau ... both hugging Sean Monahan was utterly heart breaking.

Just unbelievably cruel timing. Both wives pregnant. Baby sister's wedding the next day. Sean literally talking about how awesome it was going to be to play with Johnny again, and how their sons were gonna get to grow up together.

Just an absolute #####ing dagger.

[Paulie Walnuts]

How old is baby hockey ?

[Zary's-Mustache]

Seeing Monahan break down was just heart breaking. I hope their family found some closure with the funeral. Feel so bad for his family.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Zary's-Mustache

Seeing Monahan break down was just heart breaking. I hope their family found some closure with the funeral. Feel so bad for his family.

They had to carry Guy out of the church at the end. Not much closure yet, I'm afraid.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

They had to carry Guy out of the church at the end. Not much closure yet, I'm afraid.

It’s going to take time. They lost 2 sons. Especially how close of a family they are.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

They had to carry Guy out of the church at the end. Not much closure yet, I'm afraid.

I still tear up seeing his anguish. A parent should never have to bury their child.

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[BigThief]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

They had to carry Guy out of the church at the end. Not much closure yet, I'm afraid.

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

It’s going to take time. They lost 2 sons. Especially how close of a family they are.

This is a life altering, nothing will ever be the same. no closure, no time.

[Inferno099]

Originally Posted by BigThief

This is a life altering, nothing will ever be the same. no closure, no time.

This is my view as well. There will never be closure… only how strong the hurt is will decrease a little in lots of years . This life altering tragedy will never be forgotten.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by BigThief

This is a life altering, nothing will ever be the same. no closure, no time.

Yeah, when you lose someone in a sudden and tragic way like that, it will often be the first thing you think of when you wake up, and on the last thing on your mind when you go to sleep. There is no amount of time that changes that. Like Lanny said, some wounds will never heal.

As if things weren't bad enough, there are legal proceedings that will likely go on for a while. Coping is probably going to be more difficult because that.

[BigThief]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1833319033145340338

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Wow I'm a bit shocked Hudler made the trip, that's commendable and sad as they had a strong connection.
Markstrom, Lindholm, Rasmus, Stajan were all there too.

I saw Tanev as well, and the Snow family (potentially??)

I wonder what coaches and GMs attended.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Yeah, when you lose someone in a sudden and tragic way like that, it will often be one of the first things you think of when you wake up, and on the last thing on your mind when you go to sleep. There is no amount of time that changes that. Like Lanny said, some wounds will never heal.

As if things weren't bad enough, there are legal proceedings that will likely go on for a while. Coping is probably going to be more difficult because that.

The trial. The appeals. The word is slipping my mind but when people apply to be released early. All these are triggering for the family.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by Inferno099

This is my view as well. There will never be closure… only how strong the hurt is will decrease a little in lots of years . This life altering tragedy will never be forgotten.

I've touched on it in a couple posts. But my uncle passed away suddenly (albeit, not in his 30s). But I watched the anguish in my great aunt and great uncle in person. He had two sisters, both of whom I'm relatively close with.

The memories never go away. That feeling of pain and anguish diminishes over time, but never truly goes away. My one aunt that I talk to several times a day, fondly remembers her brother, but also laments life without him too.

You do your best to honor their life by retelling their stories and memories to your loved ones. Soon those take the place of the more difficult ones, but as noted, they never go away. They just become easier to deal with after you start to remember and share the good memories.

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[jaydub74]

Would be interesting to see a little of players who attended.


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[Mattman]

Mat Stajan, Ryan Leslie, Dylan Larkin, and Gary Bettman were there from what I noticed too.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by BigThief

This is a life altering, nothing will ever be the same. no closure, no time.

Like with all endings that we didn't plan for, we have to give ourselves our own closure to the best that we can make it.

It won't be given to us.

Luckily we're extraordinarily adaptive creatures and somehow... our brains can wrap themselves around most "new normals" even if they're ####ed and unfair from an outside perspective.

I hope they can find relative peace one day. Perhaps the grandchildren growing up can lessen the pain to bearable.. which is better than where it's at today.

The most important thing is moving past the illusions of self-blame ("if I said --- they'd be here"/"if I delayed them or told them not to go.."). That does take time and work. And usually professional help.

[getbak]

This is from the story on NHL.com...

St. Mary Magdalen's was filled with family, friends and mourners from around the hockey world, including NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association executive director Marty Walsh. The Blue Jackets had a contingent of 60 players and staff, headed by general manager Don Waddell and coach Dean Evason.

The Flames were represented by president of hockey operations Don Maloney, general manager Craig Conroy and players Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson. Former Flames GM Brad Treliving (now GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs) and former Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke (now executive director of the Professional Women's Hockey League Players' Association) also were attendance along with Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, who coached Johnny with Dubuque in the United States Hockey League, Philadelphia Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones and Flyers coach John Tortorella.

The mourners also included Johnny's former Flames teammates Matthew Tkachuk (now with the Florida Panthers), Sam Bennett (Panthers), TJ Brodie (Chicago Blackhawks), Jacob Markstrom (New Jersey Devils) and Chris Tanev (Maple Leafs) and former Blue Jackets teammate Patrik Laine (Montreal Canadiens). Laine was joined by Canadiens president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton, coach Martin St. Louis, Canadiens players Cole Caufield, Cayden Primeau and Mike Matheson, Seth Jones and Connor Murphy of the Blackhawks and Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Like with all endings that we didn't plan for, we have to give ourselves our own closure to the best that we can make it.

It won't be given to us.

Luckily we're extraordinarily adaptive creatures and somehow... our brains can wrap themselves around most "new normals" even if they're ####ed and unfair from an outside perspective.

I hope they can find relative peace one day. Perhaps the grandchildren growing up can lessen the pain to bearable.. which is better than where it's at today.

The most important thing is moving past the illusions of self-blame ("if I said --- they'd be here"/"if I delayed them or told them not to go.."). That does take time and work. And usually professional help.

They won’t have the closure because of the way they died tragically, but having the grandchildren hopefully helps give them some peace one day.

Everyone grieves in their own way. This is an unfortunate part of life.

[Hockey_Ninja]

That image of Monny hugging Guy and Jane outside of the hearses still hasn't left my head. I'm rooting extra hard for Monny to succeed in Columbus this season

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

That image of Monny hugging Guy and Jane outside of the hearses still hasn't left my head. I'm rooting extra hard for Monny to succeed in Columbus this season

Killed me. Just killed me.