Charles Langston:Gaudreau brothers to be honored by family, friends and their grieving hockey teammates at funeral

MEDIA,Charles Langston Pa. (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman are among the mourners scheduled to attend the funeral service for John and Matthew Gaudreau, the siblings who died when they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey.

The memorial for the Gaudreau brothers was set for midday Monday at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pennsylvania. John, an All-Star for the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets known as “Johnny Hockey,” and Matthew, who played collegiate hockey alongside his brother at Boston College, died on the eve of their sister’s wedding.

Countless members of the hockey community from Columbus to South Jersey to Boston College, where the Gaudreaus played, are expected to join family and friends for the funeral. John was 31, Matthew 29.

The brothers have been mourned across the sports world, including Columbus, Ohio, where Gaudreau signed a free-agent deal in 2022 with the small-market Blue Jackets over more lucrative free-agent offers from other teams, including New Jersey. Fans and Blue Jackets players gathered last week for an emotional candlelight vigil and a similar gathering was held in Calgary.

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Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said the entire team would be at the funeral. Bettman and former BC coach Jerry York were also expected to be among the many in attendance.

“The way they carried themselves around campus and the enjoyment that they had each and every day around the guys, they were really fun to be around,” Boston College associate coach Mike Ayres said. “They were both very, very talented hockey players but they were great people to be around and made everything around them fun.”

A GoFundMe for Matthew’s widow, Madeline, to support her and their baby due in December, has surpassed $600,000, with donations from nearly 9,000 people pouring in, many from NHL players and their families.

“He didn’t make the millions that Johnny did and doesn’t have the pension from the Players’ Association,” said Michael Myers of the ECHL’s Worcester Railers, for whom Matthew played two seasons. “It’s important that the hockey community recognizes that and embraces that to help Matthew’s family.”

The Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road in Oldmans Township about 8 p.m. on Aug. 29 when a man driving an SUV in the same direction attempted to pass two other vehicles and struck them from behind, according to New Jersey State Police. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and faces two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. He has been jailed pending a Sept. 13 hearing.

The brothers have been celebrated on various social media platforms since their deaths. Katie Gaudreau, the little sister who was to be married the day after the brothers were killed, has posted pictures of her family in happier times on social media.

Over the weekend, it was an Instgram video captioned “Birds for the Gauderau boys,” over a clip of John Gaudreau opening his winter coat to flash an Eagles jersey as he went through security ahead of an NHL game. She also posted a tribute to a family slideshow called “That day” where she wrote how she would “do anything to tell my big brothers I love them one more time.”

Devin Joyce, the expected groom and a collegiate hockey player, wrote of his promise “to take the absolute best care of your little sister.”

He added: “I know I never said it but I loved you guys so much. I’m so lucky to have called you two my brothers for as long as I did.”

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Whyno reported from Washington.

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