“Always my hero”: Cole Caufield mourns the death of his childhood idol

Since this morning, it’s been hard to find the words to explain the sadness surrounding the deaths of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew.

It’s surreal… and makes you realize how fragile life is.

The hockey world is in mourning, and the Montreal Canadiens organization shared a message on Platform X to send its deepest condolences to the Gaudreau family.

A statement from the Montreal Canadiens pic.twitter.com/Xt9QxlS1ZB

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) August 30, 2024

There’s a big wave of love for the family on social networks right now, and that goes without saying.

Several Canadiens players have also decided to share story posts on Instagram and of the lot, there’s Cole Caufield, who had the opportunity to rub shoulders with Johnny at the last World Hockey Championship.

Caufield shared two photos on Instagram… And the second is incredibly sad.

He wrote “my hero forever” in reference to his compatriot… Because Cole used to look up to Johnny when he was younger for inspiration because of their physical similarities.

Cole Caufield posted this in memory of Johnny Gaudreau. They were teammates for Team USA just this past summer at the World Championships. pic.twitter.com/Bm1QVNUsxd

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 30, 2024

Cole Caufield posts another photo of fellow American Johnny Gaudreau writing “Always my hero ” pic.twitter.com/RS9GsZuedi

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 30, 2024

Patrik Laine also chose to speak out.

He played with Johnny in his final years in Columbus, and he paid tribute to him on Instagram :

Patrik Laine posted in memory of his former CBJ teammate Johnny Gaudreau pic.twitter.com/OmCNnetdmo

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 30, 2024

What’s happened today is bigger than hockey.

To see all the players and all the clubs in the same boat right now shows that there’s a huge amount of respect across the league.

After all, two men lost their lives in an avoidable tragedy, and there’s a great deal of sadness throughout the NHL right now.

The important thing now is to find a way to honor Johnny’s life and Matthew’s life.

No one is going to forget them.

Extension

When I say it’s bigger than hockey…

Major League Baseball also shared a message on Twitter to send its best wishes to the family and organization of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This is truly a beautiful gesture :

pic.twitter.com/EWlDm4RXwJ

– MLB (@MLB) August 30, 2024