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

[TheBeard]

Yuck, ya sorry, bad verbiage

lol. No big deal. I feel dirty for laughing at it.

 

[HFpapi]

Its also the climate.

When I see someone cycling in the winter with ski goggles on, while the road is 2m more narrow on either side thanks to massive snow drifts, it makes me wonder.

Great point, climate also for sure.

The Dutch are legitimately insane and will bike through a monsoon in November but that's still a far cry from trying to bike when it's -23 and the roads are icy and snow covered in Ontario. Biking as the primary means of transport as it is here doesn't apply to great lake winters.

 

[HabsAddict]

As far as I'm concerned, it should be mandatory jail for texting or drinking and driving.

On my motorcycle height advantage, I can't tell you how many times I've seen people text. These people can kill me by the next light. Even worse on a bike. At least with the motorcycle a can disappear ahead of them, but on a bike, fully crushable at their first mistake.

As for Johhny Hockey, his family was ready to celebrate, now complete devastation. The trash of a human needs to made an example. 20 years should be minimum.

 

[I Hart Conor Garland]

One thing I will always remember about Johnny is that he is the guy from this era that I think of first when picking the corners. He was a very pretty finisher of the puck.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The answer is almost certainly that he’s just an entitled, selfish shitbag, which would also have a lot to do with his decision to drive drunk in the first place.

It’s hard to come up with a scenario where he’s not a shitbag, and somehow still finds himself weaving through cars on a rural road while pounding his 7th beer and killing two people.

 

[Cloned]

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.

Is there ever a good time?

People grieve differently - different ways, different rates, different recoveries. What is good timing to one person is terrible timing for another.

As long as the intention of the comment is sincere and well-meaning, I don’t mind it.

Those that are purposely cynical to incite a reaction, that’s a different story entirely.

 

[Garbageyuk]

It’s hard to come up with a scenario where he’s not a shitbag, and somehow still finds himself weaving through cars on a rural road while pounding his 7th beer and killing two people.

Essentially “why are some people the way they are?” - always a valid question, but unfortunately, there’s never a good answer.

 

[Stuzchuk]

I havent logged in, in a year or so... came here to say RIP Matthew & Johnny Hockey! I woke up to this in the AM...

I only wish the best to the Gaudreau family... and my most sincere condolences...

 

[HabsAddict]

Well the 2 counts of vehicular manslaughter carry a max term of 10 yrs each. If the judge makes it concurrent, it’s 10 yrs max, 7/8 yrs max. When this trial is done and over, there will be a lot of dissapointed people on the sentence I’m thinking.

In UK they are handing out 2 years for offensive memes, here we can't jail drunks and texters?

30 days mandatory jail first offense and one year driving ban.

1 year mandatory second offense and 5 year driving ban

5 years for third offense and lifetime driving ban

I don't care if they need their car for a job. Two man just died because one ahole never paid the price of his reckless decisions. There tens of thousands more out there.

 

[AKL]

It’s not particularly intuitive to swerve right when someone cuts in front of you. The intuitive thing would be to brake.

I don't think it was a situation where he was cut off last second and tried to avoid an accident, but I don't think it's entirely unintuitive either if you're cut off to swerve into where the most road is in an attempt to avoid an accident. Braking is one route you can go, but depending on the distance and the speed, braking still may result in an accident. If you think you can avoid an accident entirely by swerving right, that seems at least somewhat intuitive.

I don't think that's what happened here at all, but I don't think the only option is to just slam on the brakes either.

That said, I also want to make it perfectly clear (to others, not you) that I am in no way defending the drunk driver's actions or decisions, I am simply having a discussion about a hypothetical with this post.

In this specific case, I agree with you that the drunk driver made a reckless and indefensible decision to try to pass on the right because he felt slighted by the front car, and that's why he needs to be held accountable for this.

 

[Soundwave]

One thing is sure, athletes who make a lot of money, nhlers specifically, who have biked on the road will be thinking twice. You can bike on the road lawfully, but you’re putting your life at the hands of the driver. Just takes one bad decision by someone.

Being that this was at night, I’m wondering if the brothers were wearing any reflective gear or lights, that might be an angle for the defence.

I think they grew up in that area? They probably rode their bikes up and down those streets all the time as kids in the summer like most of us did in the neighborhoods we grew up in.

You don't ever think you're going to get hit by a drunk driver. It's just a massive tragedy.

 

[Crow]

Not sure how that makes any kind of sense, but okay. Stick to defending the wreckless remorseless murderer, I guess.

Im not defending his actions at all I just am questioning if the punishment fits the crime among some posts here.

 

[David71]

awful awful news. rip to johnny gaudreau and his brother matthew and their families during this time.. i remember watching him play alot for calgary and he always always scored against vancouver. quite a shifty little player. their version of patrick kane imo. dekes and alluding bodychecks. the hockey community is mourning the loss of 2 young human beings with a young family.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Rip to the Gaudreau family. That’s all that should be said in this thread.

 

[Crow]

More people have driven under the influence than will admit it. Drinking a few drinks and then driving is a pretty big societal norm in North America

I guess that was the main part of my point and I appreciate you recognizing it.

I would take solace, however insignificant, that he never has another opportunity to do this again.

i agree that measures need to be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again but I would stop far short of killing him

 

[TheBeard]

Im not defending his actions at all I just am questioning if the punishment fits the crime among some posts here.

I’m not for capital punishment, but some cases deserve harsher punishments than similar cases. The fact he was literally drinking while driving is so far beyond the realm of “oopsie”. You can convince yourself you’re ok to drive and rationalize it internally, but if you still can’t stop drinking to the point where you have to continue doing it while operating a motor vehicle, well I have far less compassion.

 

[Oddbob]

More people have driven under the influence than will admit it. Drinking a few drinks and then driving is a pretty big societal norm in North America

And this is a massive problem.

 

[Devilsfan992]

More people have driven under the influence than will admit it. Drinking a few drinks and then driving is a pretty big societal norm in North America

I have and regret it. I was under 21 years old. I drove super careful because I knew what I was doing was wrong. Even with that, it was probably less than this guy.

What this guy did was different. He's been an adult for a long time. He drove aggressively when there was no reason to.

He deserves everything which comes his way.

 

[SI90]

Watching him at BC was unbelievable. He was so electric in college( NHL too) but he burst onto the scene and took the NCAA and hockey world by storm. I take huge pride in USA hockey and I loved that he was ours.
I’ll never forget him in the world juniors. Littlest guy on the ice but he was an absolute beast. Scoring machine. I think he lead the team in goals or scoring that year.

Also, respect to him for being loyal to Calgary and signing with them. They drafted him and he could have held out and forced his way to any team but he was loyal to the team that took a chance on him. We’ve seen other guys from the NCAA route leverage their position. Speaks the the character of Johnny.

I’m an isles fan when we signed Matthew out of college I was pumped to have Johnnys brother. Didn’t get to see him much but everyone always said how great he was as a person. Not surprised in the least that he ended up going the coaching route and started at their former High school.

This is such a tragic blow to the hockey world and Gaudreau family. Such a senseless act as well. I been sick to my stomach over this since last night.

The best thing about the hockey community is it’s extremely tight so I know the NHL and all its teams and players will honor Johnny and Matthew the best way possible.

 

[mix1home]

Didn't see that in the police report, but the speed limit is 50 and iirc it said the two other cars were already slowed down for the bikers, when the drunk driver approached from behind "at a high rate of speed", which may or may not have been around the speed limit given the context of the other cars having slowed down. But given the drunk drivers history, it may well have been over the speed limit too.

50 mph in USA is 80.4 km/h. Just for our friends in other parts of the world.

 

[Fan from AK]

The game of hockey lost a true talent and soul. RIP Jhonny and Mathew My heart bleeds for his family and the Blue Jackets.

A few drinks is over the limit unless he's 400 pounds.

And no, admitting to his faults doesn't mean anything. You think the driver who killed the Gaudreaus isn't sorry now?

Speaking from experience, I won't get into details, but you could not be more right.

 

[Hippasus]

Great point, climate also for sure.

The Dutch are legitimately insane and will bike through a monsoon in November but that's still a far cry from trying to bike when it's -23 and the roads are icy and snow covered in Ontario. Biking as the primary means of transport as it is here doesn't apply to great lake winters.

I can rollerblade on icy conditions. Just got to slow down.

I don't think it was a situation where he was cut off last second and tried to avoid an accident, but I don't think it's entirely unintuitive either if you're cut off to swerve into where the most road is in an attempt to avoid an accident. Braking is one route you can go, but depending on the distance and the speed, braking still may result in an accident. If you think you can avoid an accident entirely by swerving right, that seems at least somewhat intuitive.

I don't think that's what happened here at all, but I don't think the only option is to just slam on the brakes either.

That said, I also want to make it perfectly clear (to others, not you) that I am in no way defending the drunk driver's actions or decisions, I am simply having a discussion about a hypothetical with this post.

In this specific case, I agree with you that the drunk driver made a reckless and indefensible decision to try to pass on the right because he felt slighted by the front car, and that's why he needs to be held accountable for this.

One shouldn't be driving at a high speed in the first place. What is intuitive for you may be unintuitive for someone else and vice versa.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Is the BAC limit in North America really still 0.08%? I’ve been in Australia last 15 years so just been used to 0.05, assumed other places had come to their senses.

Hopefully some change and awareness can come out of this tragic event. Your planning changes drastically when you know you can only have 2 drinks before being illegal behind the wheel, either you skip it all together or organize DDs or Ubers.

I saw a 90% reduction in the after work/sporting event drinkers pushing the boundaries coming here from Calgary and they have check stops everywhere

 

[Devilsfan992]

Is the BAC limit in North America really still 0.08%? I’ve been in Australia last 15 years so just been used to 0.05, assumed other places had come to their senses.

Hopefully some change and awareness can come out of this tragic event. Your planning changes drastically when you know you can only have 2 drinks before being illegal behind the wheel, either you skip it all together or organize DDs or Ubers.

I saw a 90% reduction in the after work/sporting event drinkers pushing the boundaries coming here from Calgary and they have check stops everywhere

In the United States, yes. North America is a continent and every country will have different laws.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Do you think he knows the gravitas of the situation? That he killed an athlete who made millions of dollars? Feels like he’s acting like he just ran over two random nobodies.

Forget the fact that they're athletes. He killed two people because of his reckless and selfish behavior and he was in trouble for it before. Everyone knows better than to drink and drive but when you get caught for it, you should be smarter about it even more. He killed two people and acted like it was an inconvenience he was stuck in jail longer because of a long weekend. Well being stuck in jail is gonna be his norm, because f*** him.

He didn't seem worried he murdered two people because of his stupidity.