The death of Johnny Gaudreau devastates a Blue Jackets organization already familiar with tragedy

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The tragedy that claimed the lives of Columbus Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew still doesn’t seem real. During a vigil outside Nationwide Arena on Friday, fans placed flowers, candy and candles in a makeshift memorial near the main entrance. A lone bagpipe player wailed in the background.

It will take a long time for this blanket of sadness to lift. And there will be painful reminders that Gaudreau is gone, that he is no longer doing what he did so well with the Blue Jackets — like the start of training camp, the regular season, the NHL All-Star Game (he was a fixture) and the Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium.

It’ll be hard to look at Gaudreau’s locker, the fourth stall on the right wall of the Blue Jackets’ locker room, without it evoking memories.

Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets and their fans are familiar with this pain.

The Gaudreau brothers were killed late Thursday night while riding bicycles on a country road in New Jersey, a senseless tragedy in which an allegedly aggressive driver, who was being investigated for drunken driving, slammed into their bikes as they tried to pass cars on a two-lane road, police said.

It happened just three years after promising young goalie Matiss Kivlenieks died during an Independence Day celebration at the home of then-goalkeeping coach Manny Legace in Novi, Michigan. Kivlenieks, just 24, died when a firecracker misfired and struck him in the chest at close range.

The players have had much of the summer to mourn the passing of Kivlenieks, a very personal process.

Yet when they arrived at training camp two and a half months later, there was almost a second wave of grief, with several players saying Kivlenieks’ absence had shocked them, even though they knew he wouldn’t be there.

“It was like something was missing,” one player said, “because someone was missing.”

Goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who witnessed Kivlenieks’ death in the Legace backyard, admitted a year later that the cannon at Nationwide Arena — fired before every game and after every goal and every win — was a horrific reminder of the explosion that killed Kivlenieks.

The Blue Jackets helped arrange a funeral for Kivlenieks in central Ohio so that several players — both NHL players and minor-leaguers who knew Kivlenieks as a teammate in AHL Cleveland — could attend. They paid to have his parents fly to Columbus for the service.

On October 14, 2022 — opening night — the Blue Jackets hoisted Kivlenieks’ number 80 jersey into the No. 80 spot at Nationwide Arena, where it remained all season. His number 91 was also painted on the ice behind both goals. It was an emotional night for many.

The Blue Jackets have even less time to mourn Gaudreau, as training camp begins on Sept. 18 and the first day on the ice is the following day.

But the two cases also show some sad similarities.

The Gaudreau brothers were scheduled to serve as groomsmen at sister Katie’s wedding, scheduled for Friday. Kivlenieks’ death came just hours after the players attended the wedding of Legace’s daughter, Sabrina.

The Gaudreaus were cycling along a road they had traveled countless times, not far from the home where their parents, Guy and Jane, had raised them. They were victims of another man’s perceived recklessness, to be sure, but they were also unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kivlenieks, meanwhile, had planned to return to Latvia in early July that summer, but was persuaded by others to stay a few days longer to witness a Fourth of July celebration in person. He was very happy to do so.

There are only a few players left on the roster from when the Kivlenieks tragedy occurred, but there are still several front-office members. In a way, they can draw on their experiences after Kivlenieks’ passing to help them through this process.

Gaudreau’s loss will leave a crater in the locker room. He was not only the Blue Jackets’ best player, but also their leading scorer and a top-line left winger. He was also a respected figure in Columbus and throughout the NHL. He was “Johnny Hockey.”

The Blue Jackets made the organizational decision to retire following Gaudreau’s death, aside from an initial statement and some very emotional social media posts from current and former Blue Jackets Boone Jenner, Patrik Laine and others.

A wave of Blue Jackets players were expected to arrive in Columbus early next week — a few players are already there — to get a head start on training camp. Now they will almost certainly change their plans to attend the funeral of the Gaudreau brothers.

The Blue Jackets and the NHL Players Association have made grief counselors available to any players, coaches and staff members who wish to seek help.

One can only imagine what the Blue Jackets have in store for Gaudreau when they play their first home game of the season on Oct. 15 against Florida. It’s possible Gaudreau’s number 13 will go up in the rafters as well.

The Blue Jackets’ franchise history is littered with an inordinate number of tragedies, and that started early in the organization’s history.

On March 16, 2002, a young fan — Brittanie Cecil — was struck by a puck during a game while watching from the seats above the end zone glass. She was celebrating her 14th birthday, but suffered a seizure on the way home from the game and died two days later at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

It is the only fan fatality in NHL history, and led to the addition of protective netting above glass endboards across the league. Cecil would be 36 years old if she were alive today.

A year later, a minor-league player for the Blue Jackets — winger/enforcer Trevor Ettinger — committed suicide.

There is no playbook for how to best deal with this. There are countless players from many different cultures and with many different personalities in the locker room. Everyone will have their own pace.

The tasks of new general manager Don Waddell and new coach Dean Evason have become a lot more difficult, not only on the ice but also in the locker room.

Waddell has been here before. In 2003, before the Atlanta Thrashers began their fifth season, a single-vehicle crash in a car driven by Thrashers star Dany Heatley claimed the life of his teammate, Dan Snyder, who died after six days in a coma.

It’s the kind of experience no GM wants on his resume. It’s the kind of experience no organization wants to experience. But unfortunately for both Waddell and the Blue Jackets, it’s not unique.

(Photo of memorial outside Nationwide Arena: Jason Mowry/Getty Images)