The Gaudreau family is thinking about their time to go to the 2026 Winter Olympics one year from now. Johnny again Matthew Gaudreau they were brutally killed.
“When we were first invited to Milan for the Olympics, we said no. It was like it was beyond our control,” the Gaudreau family wrote in a statement to X on Saturday, February 28. “But we kept thinking about what John and Matty would say if they knew we refused. We knew the answer. John loved representing his country. Since he was young, he dreamed of competing, working harder than that Olympics. Everything he had to get a place on that list he would be there.
He continued, “Sitting with that knowledge while watching the Games wasn’t easy – but being there, surrounded by people who really cared about John and Matty, made it something we’ll always cherish. Everyone we met took the time to ask about the boys—who they were, what they meant to us, the kind of people who were away from the ice.”
News broke in 2024 that Matthew and Johnny — a forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets and a favorite for the 2026 Olympic hockey team — had died at the ages of 29 and 31, respectively. The brothers were riding their bikes the day before the sister Katie GaudreauA New Jersey couple was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver.
Last month, Johnny and Matthew’s parents, Jane again Guy Gaudreauwent to the 2026 Winter Olympics where both the men’s and women’s team hockey teams took gold. After the men’s team won their first gold in more than 40 years, the players appeared to raise Johnny’s jersey before his children were brought onto the ice to celebrate. (Johnny then Noah, 3, and Johnny Jr., 2, and wife Meredith. She gave birth to the couple’s third child, son Carter, in 2025.)
Saturday’s message noted that the family was “deeply touched” to realize that John and Matty’s “impact” reached far beyond [they] sometimes you see in [their] his sorrow.”
“They are worn by so many people – in locker rooms, in interviews, in quiet moments that we will never know about. That means everything to us. And then Team USA wins gold,” the statement read. “When Zach [Werenski]Austin [Matthews], again Matthew [Tkachuk] they carried John’s jersey in that snow, we got a load — they made sure he was there.”
The statement continued, “And then we see Noah and Johnny – on Johnny’s second birthday – on the ice to be part of that gold medal photo – there are no words for what it sounds like. John and Matty should have been there, and at that moment, they were.”
The family went on to thank “every member of that team for loving John & Matty,” and “making sure they were a part of something historic.”
“And thank you to everyone at @NBCOlympics and @usahockey for your kindness, generosity, and bringing our family to Milan to witness it. You gave us a gift we didn’t know we needed,” the statement concluded.
The message was signed, “With love and gratitude, The Gaudreau Family.”
