Blue Jackets raise Johnny Gaudreau's #13 to the rafters in front of his wife, children, parents and siblings

In the six weeks that have passed since the tragic deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau the Columbus Blue Jackets have done an admiral job of memorializing the two young men. 

The outpouring of emotions from the team and its fanbase has been truly a sight to behold. It's clear that the love and admiration for Gaudreau is genuine and the team is doing everything they can to memorialize him.

With the Blue Jackets officially dropping the puck on their home opener this evening, they took the opportunity to memorialize Gaudreau with a beautiful pre-game ceremony. In addition to both teams wearing #13 Gaudreau jerseys for warmup, the Blue Jackets released a beautiful memorial video, raised Gaudreau's #13 to the rafters and released a beautiful statement from Meredith Gaudreau, Johnny's widowed wife.

Check it all out below:

And then when the puck dropped, both teams waited a full 13 seconds before commencing play, which prompted the crowd to break into a very lively "JOHNNY HOCKEY!" chant:

Johnny Hockey forever.

Read below for our earlier report on this game and Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk's absence from the evening.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are set to host their home opener against the Florida Panthers this evening where they will hold a brief memorial for the lives of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.

Both teams will take to the ice wearing Gaudreau jerseys for warmup and there will be a special ceremony before the puck drops.

Absent from the Panthers' lineup and from the ceremony though will be Gaudreau's long-time teammate Matthew Tkachuk. The pair were absolutely dynamic together during their time with the Calgary Flames, but an illness (suspected flu) for Tkachuk has prevented him from traveling with his team. As such, he won't be able to attend the game this evening and was forced to release a public statement on the matter.

From Tkachuk:

Anyone who was witness to the Tkachuk, Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm line in Calgary knows how close Gaudreau and Tkachuk were. The pair were like brothers and they both became major stars together as young men. 

All the best to Gaudreau's family, friends and teammates this evening... it's going to be hard to get through the evening without a box of tissues.