3 things to know about Matthew Gaudreau, Johnny Gaudreau’s brother

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3 things to know about Matthew Gaudreau, Johnny Gaudreau’s brother

The weight of expectation had to feel immense. 

Matthew Gaudreau was a star hockey player coming up through top youth levels in Philadelphia but was also the younger brother of a guy nicknamed “Johnny Hockey.”

Aug 30, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; A makeshift memorial grows outside Nationwide Arena for Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed in a bicycle accident the night before.

Less than two years older, Johnny Gaudreau carved out a near-impossible career path for his younger brother to match. That wasn’t his intention, of course, but that’s how high-level sports usually go with siblings. Comparisons are inevitable.

That’s why Johnny, an NHL star and the Blue Jackets’ highest-paid player, drew the most attention after the brothers were killed while biking Thursday in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, when Sean M. Higgins, 43, plowed into them with a Jeep Grand Cherokee while attempting an illegal pass on a two-lane county road.

Higgins, of Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and failed a field sobriety test, according to New Jersey State Police. He also told police that he’d consumed “five or six beers” before causing the collision. The tragedy has brought immeasurable grief to the Gaudreau family and prompted memorials at sporting events and venues across the U.S. and Canada ― where Johnny Gaudreau, 31, spent nine NHL seasons playing in Calgary, Alberta. 


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