Johnny Gaudreau remembered: Blue Jackets fans mourn NHL star at home opener

The Columbus Blue Jackets ' home opener Tuesday was much like the first holiday without a loved one.

The rituals were all familiar, the traditions locked in over more than two decades of NHL hockey at Nationwide Arena. Fans in Jackets jerseys and hoodies swarmed in, lined up for burgers and beers, and snatched up new merch. They shouted "Leo!" for National Anthem singer Leo Walsh. They chanted "CBJ! CBJ!" and "Let's go, Jackets! Let's go, Jackets!"

But nothing at all was the same. Many people wore No. 13 Tuesday night as the Jackets started their 41-game home schedule for 2024-25. But No. 13 himself was missing on the ice.

"I'm gutted," Cathy Kaplan said as she fought back tears that she said she has shed often since the death on Aug. 29 of Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew , who were struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver while riding their bicycles near their family's home in New Jersey.

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Tuesday was an emotional night for many who lingered near a tribute to the Gaudreau brothers on the arena's lower concourse. Four jerseys — from their days at Boston College, Johnny's time on a U.S. national team and with the Dubuque Fighting Saints — flanked his Jackets' No. 13. More than 100 hockey sticks that had been left outside the arena after the star's death leaned against a window. Signs, hockey pucks and other tributes were on display as well.

"It's not the normal uplifting opening night," said Paula Hammer, who was with her husband and daughter. But it was comforting, she said. "We're all sort of here for Johnny."

There were happy memories, too, though. As Jacob Barker looked over merchandise in a lower-concourse kiosk, he recalled buying a Blue Jackets jersey with Gaudreau's name and number in the summer of 2022 and getting it signed at a preseason meet-and-greet.

Gaudreau’s wife, Meredith, was expecting their first child at the time, and when Barker got his moment at the autograph table, he told Gaudreau that he was a new father, too.

“His face lit up,” Barker said. “He was a family man."

“It was right over there,” he said, gesturing toward the area that now houses the Gaudreau memorial.

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One of the biggest cheers during a pregame video tribute to Gaudreau came when the images switched from his time with the Calgary Flames to the day in July 2022 when he got off a private plane in Columbus and put on a Blue Jackets jersey for the first time.

Three years after Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky got off a plane in Miami and leading scorer Artemi Panarin landed in New York, Gaudreau was a top free agent who decided to come to Columbus. And he did it for a reason that earned him a place in the hearts of Jackets fans forever.

He liked it here.

Among the hockey sticks, pucks and posters that are part of the memorial to Gaudreau, a few were inscribed with the same message from fans.

“Thank you for choosing Columbus,” they said.

rvitale@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Johnny Gaudreau remembered: Blue Jackets fans mourn NHL star at home opener