Johnny Gaudreau was not a big man, but he was larger than life. He was an artist with the puck on his stick who could make the seemingly impossible a reality. If only we could escape the reality his life and that of his younger brother Matthew were tragically cut short in a traffic accident Thursday in New Jersey.

The Gaudreau brothers were riding bicycles when they were struck and killed by a vehicle. Johnny was 31, Matty was 29.

To know the Gaudreau brothers' story, it is first and foremost about family. Guy and Jane Gaudreau fostered their children’s love of the sport, and their love of family. The Gaudreau siblings, Johnny, Matty, Kristen and Katie, were clearly each other’s biggest fans, too. 

Guy and Jane were staples in the arenas wherever their sons were playing, watching two undersized players who were routinely doubted reach great heights in their careers. Both were Division I athletes at Boston College. Meanwhile Johnny became an NHL All-Star and Matty got as high as the AHL.

Understanding the tight bond of the Gaudreau family, which was the biggest part of why Johnny signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, makes an unspeakable tragedy such as this even more devastating.

These were two young men beginning the latest phase of their lives. Matty was married just a few years ago and Johnny had only just begun his life as a father to daughter Noa and son Johnny, who was born in February.

According to reports, the driver who struck the Gaudreaus was arrested and under suspicion for driving while impaired, adding to the senselessness of this tragedy.

It doesn’t seem real. Maybe it never will.

Columbus Blue Jackets statement on the passing of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew. pic.twitter.com/V2aFykgKIs

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) August 30, 2024

I’ve been covering Johnny Gaudreau as a player since he was a USHL rookie with the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL in 2010-11. Simply put, he was one of the most entertaining players I’ve had the pleasure of watching. But more than that he also was an inspirational figure, a classic underdog who never played up that aspect of himself. Frankly, I'm not sure Johnny ever thought of himself as an underdog.

Sometimes confused for the stick boy when he reached junior hockey, Gaudreau’s stature was always the first part of his story. He didn’t look the way an elite athlete is supposed to look. Yet every time the diminutive forward would step onto the ice, it was magic.

I won’t forget the first time I saw him. It was in Dubuque, Iowa, on March 19, 2011. The Fighting Saints were taking on the U.S. National Under-18 Team in a late-season USHL game.

Listed on the roster as John Gaudreau, wearing No. 8 and measuring in at 5-foot-6, 141 pounds, and by that point already among the USHL’s top rookie scorers, you couldn’t help but notice him every single shift.

On the other side of the ice were four defensemen who would go on to become NHL regulars and a goalie who would become a No. 1 in the big leagues. But I couldn't take my eyes off the flashy little jitterbug wearing No. 8.

He scored the game's first goal, made a couple of brilliant plays on zone entries, assisted on another goal and, to this day, scored one of the best shootout goals I’ve ever seen in person.

Dubuque beat Team USA that night 4-3 in that shootout. Gaudreau scored on Dubuque’s first attempt making a move so devastating and clever, that I worried John Gibson may have torn a groin trying to recover.

I’d be lying to you if I thought I saw a future NHL superstar that night in Dubuque. I have always been partial to smaller players with elite skill, but Gaudreau was the kind of small that NHL teams usually don’t overlook. This is what I wrote on my blog United States of Hockey after watching him live for the first time:

"John Gaudreau has been turning a lot of heads this year in the USHL, leading the league with 34 goals. His offensive ability is off the charts. At 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, he has to be shifty and he is. He has 64 points, but hasn’t drawn much love from Central Scouting, mainly because of the size. He isn’t overly fast and he got knocked off the puck pretty easily a few times.

"Central Scouting has him ranked as the 206th North American skater. A guy with his size and speed doesn’t appear to have a ton of NHL upside, but his nose for the net and vision on the ice can’t be denied. I really enjoyed watching him play and he may be worth a late-round flier for a team that would be happy to let him grow more over time. It could be one of those low risk, high reward situations."

Gaudreau was later named the Rookie of the Year in the USHL and helped the Fighting Saints claim the Clark Cup championship. The Flames drafted him in the fourth round and even then I thought it was a reach. It, of course, was a steal.

What I learned from Johnny Gaudreau is “don’t discount special.” You will know it when you see it. And he was it.

So you weren’t blessed with natural size, strength and athleticism? If you love something enough and you work hard enough, maybe you can make it. That’s what we’d all love to believe about ourselves at least. That’s what people try to tell us to keep us motivated.

But you also usually have to have something else. You have to have “it.” The impossible to define, impossible to quantify dynamic that outliers like Johnny Gaudreau have that either came naturally in some way or was a forced adaptation by a special individual. For him, I think it was a combination of both.

Dubuque Fighting Saints statement on the passing of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew. pic.twitter.com/3X4MUQpxYY

— Dubuque Fighting Saints (@fightingsaints) August 30, 2024

I think there was also another thing that Johnny had that enhanced his superpower. He loved and lived the game. Watch one second of his highlights and you see a player who put joy into his game. It seemed to come so naturally to him. He was having fun, and so were we.

Johnny had told the story many times of how his father brought him onto the ice days after Johnny was born. There are pictures of Guy holding infant Johnny in his arms, big smile, just skating laps at the rink Guy managed. Maybe that was the moment where the magic seeped in through the swaddled blankets.

There are a lot of stories about how Johnny Gaudreau became Johnny Hockey. But every single one of them you read will mention the laughter, the fun, the friendships and often they return to family.

In a story in Sports Illustrated when Johnny was torching college hockey on the way to winning the Hobey Baker, it was revealed that Matty was the one who chose Boston College for the duo when Johnny ceded the decision to his younger brother. Matty picked BC because he knew that’s really where Johnny wanted to go.

When Johnny entered Boston College as a freshman, Matthew was going to need more time in the USHL. He played two years with the Omaha Lancers. By then, Johnny already had a national championship and two highly-productive seasons at BC with Calgary ready to sign him. But he stayed another year. He wanted to play with Matty.

In Loving Memory pic.twitter.com/Ru6NQUPp0w

— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) August 30, 2024

So in one of the greatest seasons of Johnny Gaudreau’s hockey career, an 80-point assault at the highest level of college hockey, his brother was right there with him watching a small, skinny kid from New Jersey win the Hobey Baker as the best college player in the land.

Matty didn’t play much as a freshman, but he eventually became an integral part of Boston College’s team. He had 35 points in his senior season and earned an AHL deal in the New York Islanders organization.

The younger Gaudreau brother played parts of five seasons in professional hockey, skating for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Stockton Heat in the AHL, and the Worcester Railers and Reading Royals in the ECHL. He also came out of retirement for one game when the Railers needed someone in a pinch on New Year’s Eve, 2021.

pic.twitter.com/Uzvsq8arlL

— Worcester Railers (@RailersHC) August 30, 2024

More recently, Matty had followed in Guy’s footsteps. He was head coach of the Gloucester Catholic High School hockey team, a role that Guy had held for many years. Johnny also played a season there before moving up the ranks of hockey.

Both of these young men defied all of the odds and I don’t think either of them ever approached it with bitterness or a chip on their shoulder. As long as they were playing, they were fine.

I remember speaking to Johnny as he was preparing for the 2013 World Juniors. He took my call from a bus during the pre-tournament camp.

The crux of the story I was working on was USA was taking both Johnny Gaudreau and Rocco Grimaldi to the World Juniors, two players that were 5-foot-7 or shorter, but both were going to be depended on to score for that team. Neither player was hearing anything new from me in my line of questioning. Their size was always a topic of conversation.

I remember asking Johnny if the two of them traded any war stories or if they had any shared experiences from their hockey careers as smaller players. "Not really," was the reply with a bit of a laugh.

I remember, however, the tone. Gaudreau wasn’t frustrated or annoyed that this was all anyone wanted to talk about. He found it kind of comical and calmly explained how he adapted as he grew up and why he knew he could be an impact player at the World Juniors and beyond.

He didn’t have time to be intimidated by bigger, stronger players. He was having too much fun.

Gaudreau scored seven goals in that World Juniors as Team USA won the gold medal in Ufa, Russia. His spectacular goal against Canada in the semifinal broke that game open and led to one of the most lopsided American wins over Canada at that tournament.

As an NHL player, Johnny continued to shine. He was a seven-time participant at the NHL All-Star Game, won the Lady Byng, was a first-team NHL All-Star, a finalist for the Calder Trophy and twice finished in the top five in Hart Trophy voting. He played for Team North America in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and wore the USA crest six times at the IIHF Men’s World Championship including last spring. He would have been competing for a spot on USA's next World Cup and Olympics rosters, too.

Most of Johnny's accolades came as a member of the Calgary Flames, but as he became a free agent, he had a decision to make. It wasn't about money. It wasn't about increasing his star power. He chose to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets in large part because it was a lot closer to home in New Jersey. Especially since he and wife Meredith were ready to start a family, which they did. 

It always came back to family.

These were two good men. They loved their family. They loved each other. They loved their friends and teammates. And, as you will continue to see in the outpouring of remembrances and tributes in the days and weeks to come, they were so loved.