{"id":459801,"date":"2026-02-16T14:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/459801\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T14:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:54:15","slug":"hes-here-with-us-team-usa-hockey-carry-johnny-gaudreau-jersey-to-winter-olympics-after-shock-death-at-age-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/459801\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;He&#8217;s here with us&#8217; &#8211; Team USA hockey carry Johnny Gaudreau jersey to Winter Olympics after shock death at age 31"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TEAM USA hockey are quite literally carrying the legacy of Johnny Gaudreau with them to the Winter Olympics. <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/hockey\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hockey<\/a> star and his brother Matthew were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/12331994\/drunk-driver-hockey-johnny-gaudreau-brother-sighs-court\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">killed by an alleged drunk driver<\/a> in August 2024 just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/12388196\/johnny-gaudreau-sister-katie-wedding-instagram\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hours before their sister\u2019s wedding<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Sport newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Johnny Gaudreau\u2019s No.13 Team USA jersey was seen hanging in their locker room at the Winter Olympic gamesCredit: NBC<\/p>\n<p>Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed by an alleged drunk driver in August 2024Credit: AP<\/p>\n<p>Johnny was 31 years old while his brother was only 29 when they were killed before what was meant to be a special family occasion.<\/p>\n<p>Gaudreau played for 11 seasons in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/nhl\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NHL<\/a>\u00a0as a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/hockey\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">left-wing<\/a>\u00a0for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/13025293\/johnny-gaudreau-death-nhl-hockey-calgary-flames\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Calgary Flames<\/a> before his tragic passing. <\/p>\n<p>He and his brother were fatally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/12335069\/johnny-gaudreaus-brother-matthew-wife-child-crash\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hit by alleged drunk driver Sean Higgins<\/a> while cycling in their home state of New Jersey. <\/p>\n<p>In honor of their fallen teammate, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/team-usa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Team USA<\/a> hockey team have carried his jersey with them to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/winter-olympics-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026 Winter Olympic Games<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREAD MORE ON THE OLYMPICS\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-readmore__text-anchor-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/15948276\/chemmy-alcott-winter-olympics-bra-size-ban-vancouver\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"240\" width=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AH-SPORT-PREVIEW-Chemmy-Alcott.webp.jpeg\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-kicker\">BOOB-GATE<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-headline\">I was nearly banned from Winter Olympics over my bra size, reveals BBC pundit<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-readmore__text-anchor-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/15947767\/skier-elias-lajunen-motionless-fall-big-air-winter-olympics\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"240\" width=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DF-US-OP-ELIAS.jpg\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-kicker\">Slope scare<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-headline\">Moment skier lies motionless on slope after slamming head down in brutal fall<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>His No.13 jersey was spotted on the walls of the Team USA locker room live on NBC\u2019s broadcast. <\/p>\n<p>They also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/13602246\/johnny-gaudreau-wife-emotional-canada-usa-ice-hockey\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">took his jersey with them to the Four Nations<\/a> tournament this time last year.<\/p>\n<p>The legacy of Gaudreau has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/13025293\/johnny-gaudreau-death-nhl-hockey-calgary-flames\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stood strong with his former teammates<\/a> as they make their way into the quarter-finals. <\/p>\n<p>Team USA defeated Germany 5-1 on Sunday to finish group play unbeaten and clinch the second seed in the knockout round.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Tkachuk, a former Calgary Flames teammate of Gaudreau, felt that his close fallen friend was \u201chere with us\u201d in Milan Cortina. <\/p>\n<p>He told NBC, \u201cWe know he\u2019s here with us, cheering us on and rooting for us. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got his own area in the locker room and it\u2019s always nice to see that as a reminder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another former teammate, Zach Werenski, who played with Gaudreau on the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2022 -2024, also felt his presence.<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cI know how much Johnny wanted to be here for the Four Nations and the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-23bd57\">He and Gaudreau represented Team USA together at the 2024 men\u2019s World Championship, where they finished 5th.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a965ad\">\u201cIt\u2019s super special to see his jersey hanging, and we\u2019re playing for him and trying to make him proud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tHow to watch Milan-Cortina 2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-official-megastore-located-piazza-1049960390.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-boxout__content__intro\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t*If you click on a link in this boxout we will earn affiliate revenue\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>THE world\u2019s best winter sports athletes have descended upon northern <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/where\/italy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Italy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/where\/milan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Milan<\/a>-Cortina plays host to the 25th edition of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/olympics\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Winter Olympic Games<\/a> from February 6 to 22 \u2013 and here\u2019s how to watch it all LIVE.<\/p>\n<p>NBC is the official Olympic broadcaster in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The network will show action daily on it\u2019s stable of platforms \u2013 including USA Network and Peacock.<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com?id=34784X1601670&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peacocktv.com%2Fsports%2Folympics%23ib-section-section-8&amp;sref=how-to-watch-winter-olympics\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"HERE  (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">HERE <\/a>to Peacock to watch all the action from Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEAM USA hockey are quite literally carrying the legacy of Johnny Gaudreau with them to the Winter Olympics.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[895,26,5294,18397,896,5,285,4,3255,31286],"class_list":{"0":"post-459801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary-flames","8":"tag-calgary","9":"tag-calgary-flames","10":"tag-calgaryflames","11":"tag-celebrity-deaths","12":"tag-flames","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-national-hockey-league","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-team-usa","17":"tag-winter-olympics-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116080887356019554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}