Funeral services for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau are scheduled for Monday at a church in suburban Philadelphia, while the driver who has been accused of killing them remains in jail awaiting his next day in court.
The funeral for the two Gaudreau brothers will be held at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in suburban Media, Pennsylvania.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, the team Johnny Gaudreau last played for, said they will stream the service on their website.
Johnny Gaudreau, affectionately known in the sport as ‘Johnny Hockey’, and his brother Matthew died last Thursday night when they were struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver.
They went for a bike ride early in the afternoon the day before her sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, Sean Higgins, appeared virtually at his first pretrial hearing on Thursday. The judge in his case postponed the hearing to Sept. 13 to allow attorneys more time to prepare.
Funeral services for Johnny (right) and Matthew (left) Gaudreau have been scheduled for Monday.
A graphic shows the crash that killed Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau Thursday night.
Higgins, 43, is being held in a Salem County, New Jersey, jail and has been charged with two counts of death by motor vehicle accident, as well as reckless driving, possession of an open container and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
Attorneys Matthew Portella and Richard Klineburger III, who had been retained by Higgins, said in a statement: “This is a tragedy that involves a great deal of emotion and affects many people. It is too early in the stages of the legal process to make any comments outside of court.”
An untold number of members of the hockey community are expected to join family and friends for the funeral.
That includes people from Columbus and Calgary, where Johnny played, to South Jersey and Boston College, where both brothers went to college.
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said the entire team would be there and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to be in attendance as well.
Fans, as well as current and former players, paid tribute to the brothers at candlelight vigils held in Columbus, Ohio, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Wednesday night.
Outside Nationwide Arena in Columbus, there was a silent 13-minute, 21-second remembrance of the two brothers (13 and 21 were the numbers played by Johnny and Matthew respectively).
A slideshow featured photographs of the brothers as they grew up, grew up, and played college hockey, the pros, got married, got baptized and more throughout their lives.
A large crowd of supporters turned out at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday night.
The Blue Jackets, Johnny’s last NHL team, invited fans to honor the Gaudreau brothers
Johnny leaves behind his wife Meredith, one-year-old daughter Noa and six-month-old son Johnny.
To add insult to injury, Matthew’s wife Madeline is currently expecting the couple’s first child.
Outside the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, bagpipes played as thousands gathered to commemorate Johnny, whom the Flames selected 104th overall in the 2011 NHL draft.
Lewis Gross, the brothers’ agent, said Thursday that it had taken him some time to write about what it has meant to him to represent the brothers over the past 15 years.
“Hockey may be over, but my commitment to John and Matt will last a lifetime,” Gross wrote on social media. “These guys taught me so much. They taught me what family really means.”
Other tributes to the brothers came from NHL legends Jaromir Jagr, as well as Johnny’s wife, Meredith.
Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield announced Tuesday that he will change his number from 22 to 13 in memory of Johnny.
TO GoFundMe page has been created to support Matthew Gaudreau’s wife, Madeline, who is currently pregnant with their child.
At the time of writing this post, the $30,000 target has already been surpassed and the $620,000 mark has been breached.
