Connor McDavid opens up on the loss of former rival Johnny Gaudreau

The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames have never been friends. However, Oilers captain Connor McDavid is grieving the loss of Johnny Gaudreau, who, along with his younger brother Matthew, were stuck and killed by a drunk driver while riding bikes in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, on August 29, on the eve of their sister’s wedding. Sean Higgins was arrested and charges with the brothers’ deaths.

Earlier this week during the NHL North American Player Media in Las Vegas, McDavid spoke about Johnny Hockey and how the world not only loss as great player, but also a tremendous person.

“The whole hockey world will miss him,” McDavid said. “I will miss him.”

So many times in the past with Gaudreau playing his first NHL nine seasons with the Flames, did McDavid get the chance to face off against him. 34 times that is. He was also a teammate of Gaudreau at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey on Team North America, a squad made of up players 23-and-under from the United States and Canada.

The Oilers’ captain opened up on the loss of Gaudreau and how terrible the tragedy is on the hockey world, but especially on everyone who loved Johnny Gaudreau.

“I’m grateful I had the chance to play against him, played playoff series against him, played many heated battles in the Battle of Alberta against him, and got to know him a little bit,” McDavid said. “I’ll miss him a lot. He was a great player and great person, and obviously was taken away way too soon.”

Johnny was 31 years old at the time of his death, while Matthew was 29. In her eugoly on Monday, Johnny’s wife Meredith Gaudreau revealed she is currently nine weeks pregnant with the couple’s third child. She and Johnny also shared daughter Noa, 23 months, and son Johnny, 6 months. The couple married three years ago. Matthew Gaudreau’s wife, Madeline, is also expecting a child, the couple’s first, a son due in December. A GoFundMe has been set up to support Madeline and their son, who will be named Tripp.

It is just very moving to see players from rival clubs talking about the man behind the player, and McDavid and other superstars across the NHL were honestly speaking about Johnny Hockey, “not just a superstar on the ice, he was one off of it as well.”