In Memoriam Johnny Gaudreau & Matthew Gaudreau killed by drunk driver while cycling (MOD WARNING. No Flaming, Trolling, or Politics.)

[93LEAFS]

The Humboldt Broncos bus crash that killed 16 people was on the same level of collective sadness in the hockey community as the Lokomotiv plane crash. My nephews' teams wore patches on their jerseys for it and we're in Chicago.

I believe Gaudreau actually went and visited one of the victims shortly after it happened. Speaks to his character.

Edit: Here's an article from the time

Humboldt bus crash survivor: 'I want to play hockey again'

Kaleb Dahlgren, who is still recovering from his own devastating injuries, hopes to honor his fallen teammates by returning to the ice.

www.espn.com

 

[Gregor Samsa]

I couldn't imagine a sadder event. A tragedy of unparalleled proportions.

The bus crash is up there. The fan in Columbus, too. But as far as actual NHL players this is in the upper echelons for sad events

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

This is my mood.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I hope the flames, jackets do something memorable for this. His number better get retired asap with the flames at least.

 

[Diogenes92]

We don't even have tougher penalties for people that shoot and kill a person. Get 10 years for manslaughter, only serve 2/3 of the sentence plus get credit x2 for time spent in jail and ends up being a five year sentence

Yep. Its pretty messed up.

Lots of convicted murderers and repeat aggravated assaulters that are free to roam around cities.

This kind of posters would be incensed to be called snowflakes.

True. Probably because the truth hurts.

 

[End on a Hinote]

I remember browsing the TSN comments section of an Instagram post yesterday in the late afternoon and someone was asking about how Johnny Gaudreau was doing on an unrelated CFL post.

Thought it was just another oddball poster until more people were asking. Then I assumed (and hoped) it was just a stupid, unfunny hoax.

But when I was that the question started going viral after I googled his name that's when I started to worry, especially since he didn't say anything on his Instagram regarding the rumor hours after I first saw it.

It was when a woman on her X said the NJ police offered "no comment at this time" was when I knew it wasn't good and the rumor was likely, tragically true.


RIP boys.

 

[Double Dion]

This is gutting news. I can't imagine losing 2 young kids at the same time right in the middle of a special family moment. My wife and I met Johnny and his dad at the airport in Calgary when the team was flying out to Tampa. Johnny was a bit shy, but the bond he had with his dad and how proud he obviously was of him always stuck out to me. He was a great player and accomplished a lot in his career, but family was always the thing that was most important to him and now the family is shattered.

Drive carefully. We are all behind the wheel of 5000 pound killing machines. Never mix alcohol and driving.

 

[ManofSteel55]

I hope the flames, jackets do something memorable for this. His number better get retired asap with the flames at least.

His number should be retired when the family is ready for it. This year might be too soon. The fans will want it, but this is a situation where the family has to be priority.

 

[Number8]

When it comes to cycling, my overriding rule is: in a collision, it doesn't matter who was the idiot, the car wins. All other decisions stem from that piece of info. Whether it "should" or "shouldn't" be is irrelevant, that is the reality. Refuse to acknowledge you run the risks, even when it's completely not your fault.

That’s all true. But it doesn’t absolve those who lean towards “what were they thinking” type judgement.

Life is full of inherent risk. Doesn’t mean someone doing something innocent should somehow be blamed for an accident that takes their life. Or in this case extremely dangerous and illegal behavior.

The ONLY appropriate response in a case like this is unconditional support and empathy for a family that has experienced a horrific and no doubt devastating blow.

With that, sincere condolences to the friends, family, and loved ones of those two poor boys.

 

[swiftwin]

Black ice is invisible. A car going 20mph on a 55mph road can hit black ice and slide all over the place. Were they still reckless? Have you never driven in winter? Also, there's a scale of "driving to the conditions". It becomes a point that YOU become the danger to everyone else on the road by being "too careful" if that makes sense. Like, for example, someone doing 45mph on a 70mph highway. They are the one who is being reckless, despite being "careful".

You can say all you want that you're not supposed to swerve, but that has no basis in the human condition of most people in that they don't want to kill or injure an animal. I'm well-aware you're technically not supposed to, but 99.9% of drivers on the road will swerve.

Drunk driving and getting in a wreck is not an accident. Not checking mirrors before changing lanes and getting in a wreck is not an accident. Blowing through a red light and getting in a wreck is not an accident. The examples I gave are commonly(and should be) considered accidental and/or out of someone's control.

What about debris in the road? Something "accidentally" falls off the back of a truck or a piece of something blows into the road, you hit it and wreck. It's unavoidable. Was the accident on account of recklessness on your part?

For the two cars coming together, say both checked their blind spot, no car there, so you proceed to change lanes, and you both come together into the middle lane. You did everything right, you checked your blind spot, then put your eyes back on the road, and turned on your signal. You can't stare at your blind spot the entire time you're changing lanes. That's not how it works. Then you're being reckless by not paying attention to the road in front of you.

I understand what you're trying to get at here, it's just not logical or based in reality.

I'm obviously exaggerating a little bit. I even admit to it in that last paragraph. But you're also exaggerating in the opposite direction, cherry picking extreme examples that form a small minority of accidents.

Way too many people default to "There was nothing I could do about it, it was an accident" when in reality, the vast majority of the time, it should be "I had a small lapse in judgement at an inopportune moment, I should have acted/reacted better".

These errors are on a very very long sliding scale, ranging from not recognizing that the truck in front of you has unsecured cargo, to forgetting to scan the sides of the road for wild animals to forgetting to check a blind spot, to texting and driving, to driving aggressively, to driving drunk and overtaking on the right. Some are forgivable and understandable, but as you slide up that scale, they become less so. People need to make an honest effort every day to stay as close as possible to one end of that scale. Too many people don't give a shit, and when they cause a crash, calling it an "accident" absolves themselves of that responsibility. We need to stop using that word.

 

[Hanji]

View attachment 904131
This is my mood.

Just gross. Internet anonymity can bring out the absolute worst in people.

 

[UnderPSI]

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl too

Yep. Beat me to it. T'was almost 13 years ago.

 

[red devil]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1829629568040497599

 

[End on a Hinote]

View attachment 904131
This is my mood.

Not really related, but in the movie The Hangover I always cringe when Bradley Cooper says he drives better drunk and they say he was always their designated drunk driver. Even for an R rated comedy jokes like that always disturbed me.

 

[NeelyWasAWarrior]

I believe Gaudreau actually went and visited one of the victims shortly after it happened. Speaks to his character.

Edit: Here's an article from the time

Humboldt bus crash survivor: 'I want to play hockey again'

Kaleb Dahlgren, who is still recovering from his own devastating injuries, hopes to honor his fallen teammates by returning to the ice.

www.espn.com

I wish there was a way to trade fate. I'd give myself up for Johnny and his brother. The way he carried himself. He's got a young family. All around genuine good guy. I wouldn't make this trade for most but Johnny worked for his wealth and fame and still remained true to his self. To me he represented a counter to the look at me, social media taint in this modern world.

I got to step outside. What a drag.

 

[93LEAFS]

I hope the flames, jackets do something memorable for this. His number better get retired asap with the flames at least.

I would expect his number to be retired by the Blue Jackets immediately. Generally when a player dies while still on your active roster that number becomes retired. It's a major reason why Barilko's #5 isn't issued by the Leafs (and we didn't put up a banner recognizing it until very recently, but the number was not issued). Malik Sealy's number is retired by the T Wolves.

 

[LGBlues]

This thread sounds like many many people have never drove after 5 beers - that is a positive surprise out of this terrible news.

 

[lightsout]

This is just an absolute tragedy and I feel for the parents, spouses, children, and all their other family and friends.

I just want to give some perspective. I live about 15 miles from where the accident took place and right around the corner from the rink his dad used to run. The difference in location in those 15 miles is huge. I live in "suburbia" and the area of the accident is very different.

NJ is the most densely populated state in the US, but Salem county has more in common with flyover middle America than the rest of NJ. There are a lot of farms and it's common to pass farm tractors driving on the road. The area is pretty dang rural for being located in NJ and a short drive to the middle of a major city.

The pictures you see of the road is what nearly all the roads in the vicinity look like minus neighborhoods. Route 40 is the busy road that cuts through Salem county to connect to 295 (major highway) to go towards either Philadelphia or Delaware and even that road looks the same, just with additional lanes.

To me this was just 2 guys riding bikes around the area of their childhood home and the roads there are commonly have small shoulders.

A DUI with a fatality in NJ is often a plea deal of 7 years with the possibility of parole after 5 years. The driver is facing 2 counts and it will be a higher profile case so the prosecutor may go for the maximum.

 

[Sheppy]

This brings me back to when Jose Fernandez passed away (obviously different situations) - Two current star players in their respective sports who passed away far too young. Fernandez was arguably the best pitcher in the MLB at the time too, and was destined for cooperstown.

 

[Cloned]

That’s all true. But it doesn’t absolve those who lean towards “what were they thinking” type judgement.

Life is full of inherent risk. Doesn’t mean someone doing something innocent should somehow be blamed for an accident that takes their life. Or in this case extremely dangerous and illegal behavior.

The ONLY appropriate response in a case like this is unconditional support and empathy for a family that has experienced a horrific and no doubt devastating blow.

With that, sincere condolences to the friends, family, and loved ones of those two poor boys.

To be fair, a person stating to use caution or be proactive when doing certain activities isn’t necessarily judging the victims. Some might be trying to foster an environment where there are less potential victims.

 

[swiftwin]

This thread sounds like many many people have never drove after 5 beers - that is a positive surprise out of this terrible news.

The fact that you find this surprising is concerning to me. I think I've only ever known one person to do this.

To be clear I'm not implying that you do this.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I mean, if I were in that situation I’d be absolutely mortified and despondent over taking the lives of two people due to my own recklessness, I wouldn’t be responding with an exacerbated sigh as if I were a teenager that just got told I couldn’t go out with my friends tonight

I have no remorse at all for this guy, but it didn’t seem like a petulant sigh to me. Remember this isn’t his first DUI, he was probably expecting to be out on bond within a day or two. You could see it in his expression when he realized the local law + weekend + holiday add up to a full week before he’ll even talk to a judge.

Obviously he’s facing a whole lot longer than that when all is said and done, but that expression was more like surprise that he won’t be walking away from that building any time soon.

 

[karhukissa]

Johnny Hockey was a household name even for super casual hockey followers in Europe. Small, babyfaced player among bearded monsters in the one of the toughest sports out there.

It's crazy to think how small decisions in life can lead to total destruction of so many lives. His son and daughter never gets to see him play, he'll be only living in stories and videos where they can watch their dad fly on the ice.

RIP Johnny and Matthew.

 

[LGBlues]

The fact that you find this surprising is concerning to me. I think I've only ever known one person to do this.

To be clear I'm not implying that you do this.

I do not - but being older I know many who did. Younger people are getting smarter.

 

[Acallabeth]

Yeah that was a shocker. Lots of former NHLers on that plane. An entire pro team wiped out.

The hardest part about Lokomotiv crash was that the news came out around an hour before the KHL season opener, and while the commentators and players were aware of the tragedy, the fans in the attendance were not. KHL then-president Medvedev had to stop the game early in the 1st period to announce the news.
KHL season starters have never carried the same air of a celebration afterwards. I can't imagine what poor Katie is feeling