Sports

Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau memorial service takes place Monday

Family and friends of the Gaudreau brothers will say goodbye at a private funeral service Monday.

The service begins at 10 a.m. MT, at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pennsylvania.

Those in attendance have been asked to wear bright colours to celebrate the lives of Johnny and Matthew.

The Calgary Flames will livestream the funeral on their website and the Flames app.

The brothers died on Aug. 29, when they were struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver while riding bikes.

The collision happened in their home state of New Jersey the night before their sister’s wedding.

The brothers have been mourned across the sports world, including Columbus, Ohio, where Gaudreau signed a free-agent deal in 2022 with the small-market Blue Jackets over more lucrative free-agent offers from other teams, including New Jersey. Fans and Blue Jackets players gathered last week for an emotional candlelight vigil and a similar gathering was held in Calgary.

Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said the entire team would be at the funeral. Bettman and former BC coach Jerry York were also expected to be among the many in attendance.

“The way they carried themselves around campus and the enjoyment that they had each and every day around the guys, they were really fun to be around,” Boston College associate coach Mike Ayres said. “They were both very, very talented hockey players but they were great people to be around and made everything around them fun.”

The driver, Sean Higgins, 43, appeared virtually at his first pretrial hearing on Thursday.

See also  Staff shortages 'jeopardizing' Nova Scotia's 811 service, union says

The judge postponed the hearing to Sept. 13, to give both attorneys more time to prepare.

Higgins is charged with two counts of death by auto, reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.

He’s being held in a Salem County jail.

With files from The Associated Press and TSN.ca

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button