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

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Jumptheshark said:
Where do we have HIS lawyer chiming in? We do not have the entire picture--we do have the cops and DA building a slam dunk case. Before the statements given was his rights read to him. Did he suffer any injuries at the time of the accident that could have affected his mind--like a concussion? I was in an accident a few years ago and suffered a concussion that caused me some harm. Has the doctors released the drivers medical results.

So no we do not have all the information. We have only one side
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RIP Johnny Hockey. Not sure this is the right thread for your questions at this time.

Not up to me. I do not disagree with wait for more info but there's a lot out there already.
 
Johnny was a very likeable player on and off the ice.

I will always admire that his decision to move out east was purely out of desire to be closer to his family. RIP Johnny and Matthew.
 
swiftwin said:
Except we don't have any facts. For all we know, they could have had full reflective gear, lights and everything.

Unless your suggestion is simply to not bike at all?
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This I agree with, we don’t have any facts yet.

But I also don’t think it’s fair to label everyone who offers sincere words of advice as victim blaming.
 
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swiftwin said:
Except we don't have any facts. For all we know, they could have had full reflective gear, lights and everything.

Unless your suggestion is simply to not bike at all?
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They were likely also hidden behind the SUV that moved over to give them a wide berth. I can actually visualize the exact scenario that happened and be about 100% certain it's exactly what happened, and lights, reflective gear, and helmets wouldn't make a difference in it.

Drunk driver sees two cars going slower (on account of the two on the bikes on the edge of the road). He has a passing zone(or doesn't) and goes to pass said two cars. He gets past the first one, and the other SUV moves over as it's passing the Gaudreau brothers. He gets pissed, and flips back into the right lane thinking the SUV just didn't want him to pass, because the brothers were hidden from view behind the other SUV. If he was passing on a two lane road, where speed limits are generally 55 or 60mph, he was probably doing 70-75, maybe more. As soon as he gets back to the right to try and pass the SUV, the brothers appear into his view from behind the SUV, and are hit.

That's, in my mind, exactly what happened.

He needs to spend a long, long, long time in jail.

I've had situations like this on a road I take to get to my parent's house a lot. It's two lanes, and about 7 miles through the woods. I've gone to pass someone doing 40 in a 55mph zone, in a legal passing zone, only to have them smash the gas pedal to prevent me passing, all the while I now have a car coming at me head-on that I normally would have no problem avoiding had this guy not purposely tried to prevent me from passing, and I'm essentially racing said asshole to avoid a head-on collision. And I had my kids in the car. I did get by him, but it took everything in me not to come to a complete stop in front of him and beat the everliving shit out of him for almost killing me and my kids out of some stupid sense of pride or ego.
 
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TheNumber4 said:
Possibly the saddest event in hockey history?

The tragedy of this whole situation, the wedding, the pregnant widow, two brothers… it’s just so unbelievably tragic.

RIP Johnny and Matthews. Condolences to the Gaudreau family. God damn this whole situation sucks.
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Its up there. Gaudreau (who I always thought reminded me of Thomas Ian Nicholas from the American Pie movies, it is uncanny) wasn't quite in his prime anymore like, say, Pelle Lindbergh, but he certainly had a lot of hockey left. Was probably going to be on the U.S. Olympic team in 2026 still. How many people know Gaudreau finished 4th in Hart voting twice?

I don't know where to rank the saddest moments in history, but off the top of my head I am not sure if there is one bigger than this at the moment. Dan Snyder was a sad incident, especially since it involved Heatley just hitting his stride. Tim Horton, Lindberg, Steve Chiasson all died in car accidents caused by them. I don't know if being at the end of one's career makes it less sad but Horton definitely was there as was Chiasson. Lindbergh had won the Vezina prior to this. I can also remember a picture of Chiasson's son at his funeral who literally looked like a boy who had just lost his father.

Maybe Bill Masterton in 1968 is one of these moments?

But when you put it all together, Gaudreau and his brother both die, the sister is awaiting her wedding the next day......................oh man, count your blessings people and hug your loved ones tonight.
 
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Absolutely senseless tragedy.

Condolences to the Gaudreau family, friends and CBJ fans.

Have a good journey, Johnny :(
 
TheNumber4 said:
Possibly the saddest event in hockey history?

The tragedy of this whole situation, the wedding, the pregnant widow, two brothers… it’s just so unbelievably tragic.

RIP Johnny and Matthews. Condolences to the Gaudreau family. God damn this whole situation sucks.
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I mean.. I’d say there are other equally as sad deaths, but I don’t want to compare which deaths are sadder than others.
 
New User Name said:
What really gets me is fate. Had the brothers left 5 minutes earlier, or later. The driver 5 minutes earlier or later this wouldn't have happened. Never been able to understand being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just bad luck.

We see it every day, mind boggling.
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Ironically, had the driver decided to be even drunker and had a 7th or 8th beer they'd still be alive.

I don't like chalking things like this up to wrong place at the wrong time though, even though it can be tempting.

The Gaudreau family is devastated, children are without fathers, a father is without sons, and wives are without husbands.

It's not because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not because of fate. It's because some asshole was being an asshole.

I hope he gets a decently strong prison sentence, but what I hope for even more (although I'm not hopeful) is that he spends every single day of the rest of his life completely guilt-ridden over the anguish he's caused.
 
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ijuka said:
So as I understand it, a car was passing the Gaudreau brothers while this Higgins guy was trying to pass it from the left, and then he had the genius idea to pass it from the right and thus hit the bikers?

That's such dumbassery it's hard to even begin to imagine.
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Its not even all about the alcohol. Some assholes just need to pass a slower car and they need to do it now - before the slower car forces them to slow down. Its just the sort of aggressive, careless driving that we're seeing more and more on the roads.
Obviously the alcohol is a factor, but this prick would have likely done the same thing if he was cold sober. I hope he receives a penalty that will actually make other drivers think twice about this.

Rest in Peace Gaudrea boys. Peace to family and friends.
 
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Cloned said:
I don’t necessarily agree.

We tell our children to be careful around strangers. We tell adults to hike in groups. These aren’t statements made in judgment, they’re words of advice given in the hopes of avoiding tragedy and grief.
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Do you tell your children that right after getting them back from being abducted by a stranger?

Do you tell people to hike in groups when they're in the hospital after being mauled by a mountain lion?

This isn't directed at you but there's people in this thread who've made endless posts trying to justify how focusing on the ways the Gaudreau's may have put themselves in a dangerous situation isn't victim blaming. What exactly is it they think they're accomplishing? Do they really think this is the place and time to talk about bike safety?

No matter how much they deny it, the most obvious implication is "yes but..." They were hit by a drunk driver. Yes but.. by cycling on a rural road at dusk they put themselves in danger. Like, what other f***ing point could there be to make?

Two young men were just killed while biking. But they think someone needs to point out right now that it can be dangerous?

Seriously people. Do a little f***ing self reflection. Go read the posts from Gaudreau's family. Go look at all the tributes. Then go back and read your stupid posts about bike safety and walking in the park at night analogies. See how you feel about them.
 
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Fish on The Sand said:
I hope he gets a decently strong prison sentence, but what I hope for even more (although I'm not hopeful) is that he spends every single day of the rest of his life completely guilt-ridden over the anguish he's caused.
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He will. I don't feel glad that someone will have to deal with that, because irresponsible jackass or not, that dude has family that loves him too that are besides themselves at the moment. Unless he is a sociopath a la Michael Myers or something he will definitely carry this for the rest of his life. It is impossible not to.
 
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Fish on The Sand said:
Ironically, had the driver decided to be even drunker and had a 7th or 8th beer they'd still be alive.

I don't like chalking things like this up to wrong place at the wrong time though, even though it can be tempting.

The Gaudreau family is devastated, children are without fathers, a father is without sons, and wives are without husbands.

It's not because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not because of fate. It's because some asshole was being an asshole.

I hope he gets a decently strong prison sentence, but what I hope for even more (although I'm not hopeful) is that he spends every single day of the rest of his life completely guilt-ridden over the anguish he's caused.
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Can't say I disagree completely.

What I'd like to see is auto manufactures putting systems on vehicles that deter those inclined to drive drunk, high or cognitive deficiencies. Yes, it's an added cost but one that in the long run would save lives.

Obviously it wouldn't stop all but enough to prevent tragedies like this one.
 
Nut Upstrom said:
Its not even all about the alcohol. Some assholes just need to pass a slower car and they need to do it now - before the slower car forces them to slow down. Its just the sort of aggressive, careless driving that we're seeing more and more on the roads.
Obviously the alcohol is a factor, but this prick would have likely done the same thing if he was cold sober. I hope he receives a penalty that will actually make other drivers think twice about this.

Rest in Peace Gaudrea boys. Peace to family and friends.
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Honestly, based on the road, and having driven a 7 mile stretch of similar road thousands of times back and forth to and from my parents, my scenario I posted above is probably the exact scenario. He tried to pass, the SUV moved over left at that exact moment as they were passing the Gaudreau brothers on the bikes, and he was coming up to pass it on the left, so he immediately flipped back right, and the brothers came out from the blind spot hidden from the other SUV, and he hit them square in the right lane where the other SUV had just vacated.
 
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ChiHawks10 said:
They were likely also hidden behind the SUV that moved over to give them a wide berth. I can actually visualize the exact scenario that happened and be about 100% certain it's exactly what happened, and lights, reflective gear, and helmets wouldn't make a difference in it.

Drunk driver sees two cars going slower (on account of the two on the bikes on the edge of the road). He has a passing zone(or doesn't) and goes to pass said two cars. He gets past the first one, and then other SUV moves over as it's passing the Gaudreau brothers. He gets pissed, and flips back into the right lane thinking the SUV just didn't want him to pass, because the brothers were hidden from view behind the other SUV. If he was passing on a two lane road, where speed limits are generally 55 or 60mph, he was probably doing 70-75, maybe more. As soon as he gets back to the right to try and pass the SUV, the brothers appear into his view from behind the SUV, and are hit.

That's, in my mind, exactly what happened.

He needs to spend a long, long, long time in jail.

I've had situations like this on a road I take to get to my parent's house a lot. It's two lanes, and about 7 miles through the woods. I've gone to pass someone doing 40 in a 55mph zone, in a legal passing zone, only to have them smash the gas pedal to prevent me passing, all the while I now have a car coming at me head-on that I normally would have no problem avoiding had this guy not purposely tried to prevent me from passing, and I'm essentially racing said asshole to avoid a head-on collision. And I had my kids in the car. I did get by him, but it took everything in me not to come to a complete stop in front of him and beat the everliving shit out of him for almost killing me and my kids out of some stupid sense of pride or ego.
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I agree that's almost definitely what happened. The report from the trooper says the guy even admitted that's exactly what happened.

That's why I think it's stupid to blame the cyclists. That driver was a reckless road raging idiot.

The fact that he admitted to it and seems to be showing no remorse proves that he's either a sociopath or he genuinely believes that it was an "accident", and that the cyclists probably shouldn't have been there, so it's not his fault.
 
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LeonDraisaitl said:
This tragedy has really been bothering me in the sense of how fickle life is. Life can be so disgustingly short so just live in the moment
I don’t drive drunk but at the same time I have to chill out on getting upset at slow drivers, pedestrians, just life in general.
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100%

Don't just let it be a tragedy, learn something from it. Call your mom and tell her you love her, don't freak out at slow drivers. Spread love.
 
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