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

[InfinityIggy]

JG had the 9th most points in the NHL in the last decade.

Seems like better than OK to me.

In a similar vein, only 8 players have outscored him (in points) since he entered the league.

 

[hangman005]

In a similar vein, only 8 players have outscored him (in points) since he entered the league.

He was on track to top the Flames points leaders if he stayed wasn't he.

 

[InfinityIggy]

He was on track to top the Flames points leaders if he stayed wasn't he.

He certainly had a shot, he is already top 5. Would've needed ~500 to catch Iginla, though.

 

[Voight]

Matthew Gaudreau's wife is not the beneficiary of whatever money Johnny Gaudreau had from his career.

Secondly - a gofundme is a way for people to show love and support. If any part of that can offer even an ounce of solace to the family right now...sounds like a worthwhile thing to me.

Yea the most she can do is sue the driver but who knows if he has any money. Regardless, it would take years for it to make its way through the courts.

 

[Voight]

Johnny’s number should be retired in Calgary and Columbus.

His pure talent was top 5 in the league and he made the league accessible for smaller players. Perhaps the most talented player to ever play in Calgary.

The driver….well… I’m curious to see the actual sentencing. What he deserves and what he gets may diverge significantly.

Not sure if either team will retire it but you can guarantee 13 will never be worn again for either club.

 

[Toby91ca]

He was on track to top the Flames points leaders if he stayed wasn't he.

Not sure what "on track" really means in this context. He had 609pts with the Flames....scoring leader had 1,095pts, so probably a bit too early to discuss whether he was on track or not....ultimately, he didn't stay with the team, so never would have gotten there.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I understand that this is fresh in people's mind and it was certainly tragic given the timing of his sisters wedding and his brother being with him but it seems like many are going over the top with wanting to change awards and retire his number. He was a ok player, nowhere close to a great and it seems silly to go over the top just because he died tragically.

(mod)

Just three seasons ago Gaudreau put up 115 points in 82 games. That was good enough to be tied for second in points that season behind McDavid. He had 743 points in 763 games in his career.

To call him an "ok player, nowhere close to great" is not only ignorant and inaccurate, it could easily be seen as trolling in a thread about his death.

 

[Toby91ca]

Just three seasons ago Gaudreau put up 115 points in 82 games. That was good enough to be tied for second in points that season behind McDavid. He had 743 points in 763 games in his career.

To call him an "ok player, nowhere close to great" is not only ignorant and inaccurate, it could easily be seen as trolling in a thread about his death.

I tend to agree.....calling him an "ok player" seems to be a bit of a slight, but really depends on what someone means by that. My qualifications for what is a "good player" vs. "great player" or "elite", "star" or "superstar" is different from what someone else might think. For me, he's been a very good player. His 115pt season seems to be a bit of an outlier, or certainly was an outlier. If I'm asked to come up with my top 10 players off the top of my head, he wouldn't have been a guy I'd think of, but there are a lot more than 10 players that I'd consider a lot better than "ok players".

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I understand that this is fresh in people's mind and it was certainly tragic given the timing of his sisters wedding and his brother being with him but it seems like many are going over the top with wanting to change awards and retire his number. He was a ok player, nowhere close to a great and it seems silly to go over the top just because he died tragically.

(mod)

Wild comment... Outside of just looking at his statistics on paper, he was a huge inspiration to under-sized players. An entire generation of smaller built players looked up to him for his success in a sport often described by the strength, size, and toughness of its players... And by all accounts (even before this untimely event) was a consummate professional.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Pay no attention to that troll. Doesn't have a single clue about anything hockey related.

 

[Primary Assist]

Rest in peace to an undeniably great player, Johnny Gaudreau.

And rest in peace to two by all accounts great men, Johnny and Matthew.

 

[Johnnybegood13]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1831021627766689960

 

[HighAndTight]

Wild comment... Outside of just looking at his statistics on paper, he was a huge inspiration to under-sized players. An entire generation of smaller built players looked up to him for his success in a sport often described by the strength, size, and toughness of its players... And by all accounts (even before this untimely event) was a consummate professional.

Huge inspiration to undersized players? Come on now. It's not like he was Muggsy Bogues.

Gionta, Fluery, Marchand, Roy, St. Louis, Chico, Gump, Vachon, Keon, Dionne, Richard.

Johnny was by all accounts a great person and a very good player, but let's serve his memory properly by not inventing narratives.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Huge inspiration to undersized players? Come on now. It's not like he was Muggsy Bogues.

Gionta, Fluery, Marchand, Roy, St. Louis, Chico, Gump, Vachon, Keon, Dionne, Richard.

Johnny was by all accounts a great person and a very good player, but let's serve his memory properly by not inventing narratives.

How do those guys diminish Johnny's legacy? Why can't he also be an inspiration? He was the shortest in his draft year.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Strange coincidence Brittanie was there to watch the Jackets and the Flames....

Even worse was I was reading an article about how Chara and his cycling was getting more players into cycling and this was 2 days before the Gaudreau incident. It also sucks knowing if one lazy f*** Cop shows up to court during a DWI citation, maybe none of this ever happens.

 

[red devil]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1831071998379712949

https://x.com/i/web/status/1831063549797679274

 

[Crosby2010]

Was anything lost when the Lester B Pearson was renamed to Ted Lindsay? Just out of curiosity. A lot of these trophies were also named after politicians and just honouring legends that they felt they wanted to honour and now seems outdated.

Btw a gripe about The Masterton trophy (btw, I don't think renaming that one is the move, Byng - yes) is that it has become a joke for what it gets awarded for nowadays. If you're a player that toiled around the league and has a great run, cool you just won the award. You were old and a HHOF'er that put up 60pts at 44? Cool, you won the award. It became less about going through something and just random bs.

No one fussed about it, no. It is an NHLPA award, so it does make sense that Ted Lindsay would have it named after him. The thing is Masterton literally died on the ice and I don't think you touch that name at all. The Byng is fine the way it is, but as I was mentioning a while back there are tons of names of players you could pick to have it named after them. If Gretzky won it 5 times and they never named it after him then I don't think anyone has a case for it. Gaudreau won it once and we all know this is a horrific tragedy but what is most likely to happen is something like retiring his number regionally on either Calgary or Columbus (or both). I can see that for sure. Shocking to some that Jean Beliveau never won the Byng as he is what the epitome of gentlemanly would be. But even with him he most likely had too many penalty minutes per year to be considered, he surprisingly has almost as many career penalty minutes as games.

 

[red devil]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1831093857448296621

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Huge inspiration to undersized players? Come on now. It's not like he was Muggsy Bogues.

Gionta, Fluery, Marchand, Roy, St. Louis, Chico, Gump, Vachon, Keon, Dionne, Richard.

Johnny was by all accounts a great person and a very good player, but let's serve his memory properly by not inventing narratives.

Those guys are in different generations, Gaudreau is this generations’. Closest one is Marchand, but he’s hardly someone that most kids outside of Boston would idolize. Also I’m not sure how that list excludes Johnny either. He can be added to that list.

I saw many players on social media noting this after his passing, I didn’t just invent it out of no where.

 

[93LEAFS]

Huge inspiration to undersized players? Come on now. It's not like he was Muggsy Bogues.

Gionta, Fluery, Marchand, Roy, St. Louis, Chico, Gump, Vachon, Keon, Dionne, Richard.

Johnny was by all accounts a great person and a very good player, but let's serve his memory properly by not inventing narratives.

Wait, did you just list a ton of inspiring undersized guys and somehow miss Stan Mikita and Ted Lindsey.

 

[MM917]

Just three seasons ago Gaudreau put up 115 points in 82 games. That was good enough to be tied for second in points that season behind McDavid. He had 743 points in 763 games in his career.

To call him an "ok player, nowhere close to great" is not only ignorant and inaccurate, it could easily be seen as trolling in a thread about his death.

No it was accurate.

Wild comment... Outside of just looking at his statistics on paper, he was a huge inspiration to under-sized players. An entire generation of smaller built players looked up to him for his success in a sport often described by the strength, size, and toughness of its players... And by all accounts (even before this untimely event) was a consummate professional.

What players??? An entire generation?? Come on. We can be respectful of him without the hyperbole.

 

[super6646]

No it was accurate.



What players??? An entire generation?? Come on. We can be respectful of him without the hyperbole.

Jesus Christ. It’s one thing to be the flames board’s resident negative Nancy (yes this man is actually a flames fan), but reaffirming your take that he’s merely “an okay player” is embarrassing.

 

[JurassicTunga]

 

[Bear of Bad News]

And as for Gaudreau it isn't my take it is fact.

Maybe save it for another week, okay?

Especially since you clearly don't understand the difference between opinions and facts, yet decided to double f***ing down in an obituary thread. JFC.

 

[God]

Hilarious to see people say Gaudreau isn't an inspiration to undersized players and show their age by listing dudes from the 2000s and before. We've already seen players like Caufield and Zegras show how much Gaudreau inspired them, and I bet a bunch of 8 year olds in Calgary and Columbus were more excited to watch Gaudreau come into the league over a 40 year old Marty St. Louis.