Senseless tragedy

Loss of Gaudreau brothers hits home on many levels

- DAVE FESCHUK

Johnny Gaudreau will be remembered as a rare talent who never let his relatively small stature define his game.

When seven-time NHL all-star Johnny Gaudreau stunned the hockey world by leaving the Calgary Flames to sign as a free agent in Columbus in the off-season of 2022, he never wavered in explaining his reasoning.

The decision was simple: He wanted to be closer to his family in the East.

“Family was everything to John,” Brad Treliving, the Maple Leafs general manager who worked in Calgary during Gaudreau’s waning days with the Flames, wrote in a statement Friday.

The Gaudreau family and a large swath of the sports world were in mourning Friday after news broke that Gaudreau, 31, and his 29-year-old brother Matthew were killed Thursday night, hit by a suspected drunk driver while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey. It was the definition of a senseless tragedy. According to an Associated Press report that cited a criminal complaint obtained by the news agency, the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that struck Johnny and Matthew told police he had five or six beers prior to the accident and admitted to drinking alcohol while driving. He has been charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Johnny Gaudreau scores a goal for the Blue Jackets