Sports News
“I feel like he’s following us.”
(Left to right) Auston Matthews, Zach Werenski, and Matthew Tkachuk. Jamie Squire
February 23, 2026 | 8:26 AM
2 minutes to read
MILAN — Noa and Johnny Jr. are probably too young to remember it, but the world will.
The US men’s hockey team had just finished posing on the ice, draped in gold medals and American flags, when Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski told them to wait just a moment as they fetched the children from the sidelines and carried them into the fray.
Johnny Gaudreau should have been in the photo with his teammates. Instead, his 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son were there instead.
The memory of Gaudreau and his brother Matthew hung heavy around this team as it chased this Olympic triumph without them. The former Boston College hockey players were killed in August 2024 by a drunk driver while biking in their home state of New Jersey the day before their sister’s wedding.
Johnny was projected to make the roster for this Olympic team, US head coach Mike Sullivan told his parents Guy and Jane.
“He was one of America’s very best,” Sullivan said earlier this week. “He’s just a good person on the ice and off the ice, and I think he’s an inspiration to our players to this very day.”
Instead, his No. 13 jersey has hung in the locker room, just like it did at the 4 Nations last year and at the 2025 world championships.
So it was no surprise, but emotional nonetheless, to see Werenski, Auston Matthews, and Matthew Tkachuk skate with Gaudreau’s jersey in their hands as they celebrated their win. And as the players received their medals, there was No. 13 hanging over the boards in front of the US bench.
Matthew Tkachuk carries Noa Gaudreau after winning gold on Sunday. – Petr David Josek
Werenski hasn’t let Johnny Gaudreau’s memory fade. His closest friend in the NHL and a teammate in Columbus for Gaudreau’s final two seasons, Werenski said he knew Gaudreau’s presence was with the team in Milan.
“It honestly felt like that the whole tournament. Felt he was here,” he said after winning gold. “I felt that feeling a lot in Columbus, and I felt it at the world stage, world championships last year, now here at the Olympics.
“I feel like he’s following us, and he’s got our back.”
Also in attendance was Gaudreau’s family: his parents, his widow Meredith, and his two children, the youngest of whom was born two years ago Sunday — after Gaudreau died.
They almost didn’t make it to Milan.
“Our two daughters, for 24 hours, they just kept at us: ‘You have to go. The boys would want you to do this. This would mean so much to John,’” Jane told the Associated Press on Saturday. “It just means so much to our family, and we’re so excited to remember what our boys meant to hockey.”
As if anyone could ever forget.
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