Team USA Is Honoring Johnny Gaudreau At 4-Nations Tournament

Johnny Gaudreau is being honored at the 4 Nations Tournament by Team USA

Team USA is honoring the late Johnny Gaudreau in their locker room at the 4-Nations Tournament.

The team has hung a Team USA jersey with his name and number 13 in their locker room as a reminder that they want to win this tournament in his honor.

Johnny and his brother, Matthew, died on Aug. 29, 2024, after a tragic accident while riding their bikes.

Since their passing, the hockey community has found ways to honor him. The U.S. World Junior team hung his jersey in their locker room and went on to win gold.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames, the two NHL franchises he played for, honored him when they played this season.

The Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers wore Gaudreau #13 jerseys in the pre-game warm up in their first meeting of the year.

Now, Team USA at the 4-Nations tournament is doing the same. They not only want to honor him but also win the tournament for him.

Gaudreau's former teammate, Zach Werenski, spoke with Dan Rosen of NHL.com about Johnny:

"He's a guy that went to a ton of World Championships, scored big goals, big goals in the World Juniors," Werenski said. "He was a USA Hockey legend. He's a guy that probably would have been on this team. It definitely gives us some extra motivation."

USA's GM, Bill Guerin, took it one step further and invited Guy Gaudreau, the father of both Johnny and Matthew, to the team dinner.

Guy spoke with Rosen to share his excitement about the invitation:

"I called my wife, I said, 'This is crazy. They wanted me in the team picture,'" Guy said. "I was just honored that my son was that good that they respected him enough to say, put his dad in the picture."

After the dinner, the team surprised Guy by inviting him out to practice the next day.

Guy truly enjoyed his time with Team USA and wrapped up by sharing some thoughts about his sons, Johnny and Matthew:

"He was a good person," Guy said of Johnny. "He loved the game. He loved his teammates, loved being with his teammates. Matt in the same way. He didn't reach quite the levels that John did, but he played semipro for a little while. They were good boys, and I miss them a lot."

Regardless of what team or country you are cheering for, the USA 4-Nations team honoring Johnny is why we love the game of hockey.

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