Less than a year after they tragically died, over 1,000 people gathered to honor the memory of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. On Saturday morning, the inaugural Gaudreau Family 5K Walk/Run and Family Day was held at Washington Lake Park in Southern New Jersey.
Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau visited Washington Lake Park many times as children. It was right around the corner from Hollydell Ice Arena, where they began playing youth hockey as children.
An estimated 1,100 people participated in the walk in person with over 1,300 taking part virtually across the United States, Canada, and around the world.
“I think it speaks to them as a family, how close they were and how everybody loved being around them,” Ottawa Senators star Brady Tkachuk said, who was one of several NHL players that attended Saturday’s event. “You just see the support from this community and from other players as well that are here and traveled in. It just says a lot about Johnny, Matty, their legacy and this family as a whole, how much support they have because they’re such amazing people.”
Tkachuk, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson, Blue Jackets forward Zach Aston-Reese and New York Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo were among the NHL players in attendance at the charity event honoring the Gaudreau brothers, who both died when they were struck and killed by a car in a bicycling accident last year.
“Our family wouldn’t have missed this,” Gudbranson added. “Hockey’s a very tight community. It’s still a tragedy. We miss the boys.”
The goal of the charity event was to raise money for an accessible playground at the Archbishop Damiano School in nearby Westville, where Jane Gaudreau and her daughter, Kristen, work. Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau had both volunteered at the Southern New Jersey school in the past.
Archbishop Damiano School is a nonprofit school that is home to 135 students with disabilities. However, the school was in dire need of a new playground.
“I’d like to thank everybody for coming,” Johnny and Matthew’s father, Guy, said after the race. “It really means a lot to Jane and the girls and the family. We miss the boys, and it really means a lot for us to have you here to honor my boys. Thank you.”
The Gaudreau family wants to make the charity event an annual occurence with future installments potentially being held in Calgary and Columbus. Johnny Gaudreau played for the Blue Jackets in his final two NHL seasons after spending the previous nine campaigns with the Calgary Flames.
Many people in attendance donned gear that paid tribute to the Gaudreau brothers, including Tkachuk wearing a “Johnny Hockey” hoodie with a No. 13 on the back. The event also included an auction of NHL memorabilia, which included signed jerseys from various NHL players.
The Gaudreau family entered Saturday with $400,000 raised, and certainly could’ve reached their $600,000 goal that was set prior to the event.
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