MONTREAL — When Vincent Trocheck thinks of the late Johnny Gaudreau, the Rangers ahead is transported again to once they had been roommates taking part in for Crew USA on the 2013 World Junior U20 Championships in Ufa, Russia.
He remembers how Gaudreau lived on bread and Nutella for 2 weeks. How he wanted to have “Mates” taking part in on the TV when he fell asleep.
Gaudreau tragically died alongside along with his brother, Matthew, this previous summer season after they had been struck by an alleged drunk driver in New Jersey.
He has seemingly touched each participant representing the USA on the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off match in a roundabout way.
That’s why his No. 13 jersey hangs of their locker room.
It wasn’t placed on show due to a person initiative, however a mutual understanding between the 23 NHL gamers and USA Hockey is that they’ll play this match for Johnny Hockey, Matthew and the Gaudreau household.
“Everyone is aware of that Johnny can be right here proper now,” Trocheck instructed The Submit after Crew USA’s apply in Brossard, Quebec, on Wednesday. “Everyone, I really feel like, on this workforce has in some unspecified time in the future crossed paths with him, been in a position to play with him, been fortunate sufficient to get to know him somewhat bit. In the event you knew Johnny, he was such an easy-going man.
“Everybody liked him. It’s good to have a chunk of him right here. We all know he’s right here with us in spirit. Simply making an attempt to honor him as greatest as we will.”
The legacy of Gaudreau has been a notable presence as Crew USA has ready for its opening sport towards Finland on Thursday night time at Bell Centre. Practically half the roster was teammates with one or each Gaudreau brothers in some unspecified time in the future.
Along with hanging his jersey and a poster of the USA crest with Gaudreau’s title beneath, Crew USA invited Gaudreau’s father, Man, to take part in apply with them Tuesday.
That’s additionally once they took workforce pictures. And sure, there was Man Gaudreau standing subsequent to Devils star Jack Hughes as a part of the group shot.
“When he was a freshman my junior yr [at Boston College], I all the time form of felt like [he was] somewhat brother who was an terrible lot higher on the sport of hockey than I used to be,” Kreider stated with a smile. “He was sensible, however he simply had a lot enjoyable doing it. Handled everybody the identical. He was simply Johnny.
“He was variety to everybody, he all the time had a smile on his face. There’s quite a bit that I bear in mind, however he was only a comfortable child.”
Along with a charming 11-year profession within the NHL with the Flames (9 season) and Blue Jackets (two), Gaudreau gained a gold medal with the U20 nationwide workforce in 2013, a silver medal within the 2010 Hlinka Gretzky Cup match and a bronze medal within the 2018 IIHF World Championships.
His demise might have transcended the game of hockey, but it surely has consumed those that shared his love for the sport. The younger U.S. gamers who skated to gold on the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship final month additionally hung Gaudreau’s jersey of their dressing room for all the match. After they gained the entire thing, the workforce posed for a photograph with it.
Something is feasible when a workforce rallies round a goal. And for the U.S.-born NHL gamers who will likely be competing in Montreal and Boston, that goal is honoring Gaudreau.
“He’s right here in spirit,” Kreider stated. “The most important factor I took away from taking part in with Johnny and attending to know Johnny is how a lot enjoyable he had taking part in the sport of hockey. How humble he was. I imply, he was a famous person. He didn’t assume much less of himself, however he simply thought so extremely of everybody else. He simply liked taking part in the sport of hockey. The best strategy to honor him, exterior of successful, is to get pleasure from each second.”