COLUMBUS, Ohio — On the eve of training camp, Columbus Blue Jackets players said Wednesday they’ve embraced a simple but powerful question — “What would Johnny want?” — to help them prepare to play the 2024-25 season. That’s a reference, of course, to fallen teammate Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed, along with his younger brother, Matthew, when they were struck by a car while riding bicycles on a country road in suburban New Jersey on Aug. 29.
Advertisement “He’d want us to play hockey, and he loved every second he was at the rink — practice, games, sharing time with the guys,” Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner said. “The last few weeks, it seems like when we get on the ice (for captain’s skates), we can go be ourselves and have a good time. “It’s time to push ourselves, work hard and get ready.
But also to just enjoy being out there. It’s helped us prepare for the season.” Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets announced preliminary plans to honor both brothers beginning immediately and lasting throughout the season, including a sticker on their helmets and a No.
13 patch on their home and away sweaters. General manager Don Waddell said the club will maintain Gaudreau’s locker stall in the Blue Jackets’ dressing room, and they’ll take his No. 13 sweater with them on the road to maintain his spot in the road dressing rooms, too.
The helmet sticker, which will debut with the Blue Jackets’ first preseason game Monday in Buffalo, has Johnny Gaudrea.