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There will be two iconic images of the celebration after Team USA’s overtime gold medal victory Sunday in hockey. In one, the man who scored the golden goal, Jack Hughes, smiles at the stands, his front teeth shattered, his fist raised in celebration and a flag draped over his shoulders – the image of courage and glory.
But at that moment, on another part of the ice, two of his teammates were planning the second iconic photo. After the star-spangled banner sounded, the team gathered to shoot at center ice. Zach Werenski and Dylan Larkin skated into the stands, pointing to the family of their fallen former teammate, Johnny Gaudreau. Each man lifted a dark-haired boy onto the rails and placed him on the ice. They incorporated Gaudreau’s children, 3-year-old Noa and 2-year-old Johnny Jr., into the team photo while Gaudreau’s widow, Meredith, and her parents watched from the stands.
Auston Matthews (34) of the United States, Zach Werenski (8) of the United States and Matthew Tkachuk (19) of the United States hold up John Gaudreau’s jersey after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026. (Amber Searls/Image Images)
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Sunday’s hard-fought victory against rival Canada felt fated in many ways. It was played on George Washington’s birthday, America’s 250th day. It was a year after the United States lost to Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, creating an Olympic matchup for the ages. It also coincided with the 46th anniversary of the 1980 Miracle on Ice, the last time American men won gold in hockey, at the Lake Placid Olympics. And for many in the arena, it was played for Johnny, whose family had been enveloped in this way by the “hockey brotherhood,” as Hughes called it in a post-game interview, since his tragic death in 2024.
On August 29, 2024, Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were taking a bike ride in New Jersey when life took a horrible turn. The Columbus Blue Jackets phenom, known as “Johnny Hockey,” was in town with his family for his sister’s wedding when an allegedly drunk driver tried to pass a slower car and hit the Gaudreau brothers, ages 31 and 29, who were traveling on the right side of the road. Johnny and Matthew died at the scene, leaving behind Johnny’s two wives, two sisters, two parents, and two young children. The driver will face trial this month in New Jersey.
At the brothers’ memorial service, we learned that life had taken another turn before their deaths. Meredith Gaudreau, Johnny’s wife, announced that she was pregnant with their third child, “a total surprise.”
Team USA poses for a group photo Johnny Gaudreau’s children during the men’s gold medal match between Canada and the United States on day sixteen of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (RvS.Media/Monika Majer/Getty Images)
“John and I had the best six months as a family of four. This will always be the best six months of my life,” she said at the memorial service. “There is specifically one week that I will cherish forever: it will be my favorite week of my life of those six months. We are actually a family of five. I am in my ninth week of pregnancy with our third baby.”
Madeline Gaudreau, Matthew’s wife, was pregnant with their first child.
Since then, Carter Michael Gaudreau, Johnny’s son, and Tripp Matthew Gaudreau, Matthew’s son, have been added to the family list. The family marvels at how much they look like their parents, so much so that their mother Jane told the AP last year that she felt a little like God had given them “John and Matty” back.
Added to the list of those who survive are the Gaudreau brothers, two children whom they will never meet. But when the brothers couldn’t be there for them, the brotherhood was.
Johnny Hockey was a star, a decorated collegiate player at Boston College before turning pro with the Calgary Flames in 2014, where he scored the only goal of the night in his first career game. He represented the USA on several World Championship teams and would have been on the 4 Nations team in 2025 and the Olympic team in 2026 if his life had not been cut short.
USA Hockey didn’t forget. Instead, they took Johnny with them wherever they played. Gaudreau had a locker at the 4 Nations Face-Off and his jersey was hanging inside. Before that final game of 2025, a devastating 3-2 overtime loss for Team USA, Mike Eruzione of the 1980 Olympic gold medal team wore Gaudreau’s jersey as an honorary captain.
There were 5K races to raise money for his childhood school, which needed a new playground, tributes at NHL games in Canada and the United States, with chants of “Johnny Hockey.” His father, Guy, remained involved with the national team and with the Blue Jackets, who donned Johnny’s signature jeans, boots and Avalon Surf Shop hoodie for one of their games this year. Those same teammates insisted that Jane attend the annual Blue Jacket Mom bonding trip in 2025.
But the road has not been easy. Her sister Katie rescheduled her wedding 10 months after the day that changed their lives, and her mother encouraged her not to let the man who took her brothers take away another important thing from her family. When it was time for the Olympics, Katie returned the favor and urged her parents to go to Milan.
“Both of our daughters, for 24 hours, kept telling us, ‘You have to go. The boys would want you to do this. This would mean a lot to John,'” Jane told Newsweek. “It means a lot to our family and we are so excited to remember what our guys meant to hockey.”
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We talk a lot these days about what masculinity means. The discourse devolves into caricatures of low-T latte drinkers versus over-the-top looking commercial chads. But Team USA displays a model that has always existed among the Poles: tough men who enjoy getting up at 4 a.m. in freezing temperatures to get stronger, who will happily hurt their country and their friends, who are uncomplicated in their pride in Team USA. That such men can also be the ones who protect widows and comfort children is no surprise if you’ve met real men who were raised well (in this case, by moms and dads). tough, loving hockey dads in the stands).
American Matthew Tkachuk (19) charges Noa Gaudreau after a men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
These men are also shameless in their love for the achievements of the women around them. Hughes said one of the first things she thought about after scoring the game-winning goal in the back of the net was her counterpart on the U.S. women’s team, Megan Keller, who did the same thing in their gold medal match. He had congratulated her in the cafeteria the day before her big moment arrived. Megan’s teammate Haley Winn received raucous support from her three older brothers, who became viral stars wearing screaming eagle masks, matching stars and stripes outfits, and pulling light beers from their frat tactical tool belts. These ‘Merica-maxxing’ men also left their little sister a touching voicemail, declaring her their hero now that she had achieved the goal they had seen her work towards since she was on roller skates before she could walk.
On the ice after the Gold Medal ceremony, the brothers reunited again, displaying that mix of toughness and tenderness that the world really needs to keep living well, even after life knocks your teeth out.
“We thought about him, we played for him and we tried to make him proud,” Werenski said of Gaudreau. “It was an amazing moment to have his kids on the ice and that was for him.”
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