Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau (Tkachuk) killed by DUI driver while cycling a day before their sister Katie’s wedding as Sean Higgins of N.J is arrested and charged with vehicular homicide.
Define tragedy? Columbus Blue Jackets National Hockey League (NHL) star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed in a bicycle accident close to their hometown in New Jersey on Thursday night.
The brothers’ death at the hands of DUI driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of Woodstown, N.J, came just hours before the siblings were set to attend their sister’s wedding.
Gaudreau, a 31-year-old NHL veteran who had spent the last two seasons with the Blue Jackets, was believed to have been cycling with younger sibling Matthew, 29, in Oldmans Township, Salem County, when they were involved in a fatal crash just before 8:30pm.
The two brothers were struck and killed by another vehicle on Pennsville Auburn Road near Stumpy Lane, 6 ABC reported.
Police told NJ.com that the alleged drunk driver tried to pass two other vehicles before hitting the brothers on County Road 551.
Higgins was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. He has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide with no bail or bond.
It is believed the Gaudreau brothers died on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding, where they were expected to be both groomsmen on Friday.
Johnny leaves behind wife Meredith, whom he married in September 2021, and two young children in one-year-old daughter Noa and baby boy Johnny, who has born just six months ago.
It is believed Meredith was due to be a maid of honor at her sister-in-law’s wedding this weekend.
Matthew, meanwhile, leaves behind wife Madeline just over three years on from their wedding in New Jersey.
Columbus released a statement confirming their player’s passing on Friday morning, stating that they were shocked and devastated and that they will ‘miss him terribly’ while expressing their sympathy for Johnny’s family.
Johnny had played 11 professional seasons in the league and was going into his third with the Blue Jackets. He played his first nine with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
At 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, he was part of a generation of hockey players who thrived in an era of speed and skill that made being undersized less of a disadvantage. He scored 20-plus goals six times and was a 115-point player in 2021-22 as a first-time NHL All-Star when he had a career-best 40 goals and 75 assists.
Gaudreau helped Boston College win the NCAA championship in 2012 and in 2014 took home the Hobey Baker Award as the top college player in the country before becoming a fourth-round pick of Calgary’s in 2011.
As a professional, he finished was part of the NHL all-rookie team during his first season in the league and was third in voting for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2014-15.
Gaudreau was a point-a-game player with 642 points in 644 regular-season and playoff games since breaking into the league. He most recently signed a seven-year contract in 2022 worth nearly $69 million that put him and his young family in central Ohio, closer to his family in New Jersey.
He holds the men’s world championship records by a U.S. player with 30 assists and 43 points, earlier this year breaking marks previously held by Patrick Kane.
Matthew, meanwhile, was a professional hockey player in the ECHL, most recently playing for the Worcester Railers in the 2021-22 season. He also spent a season with the Reading Royals.
Johnny and Meredith tied the knot just over a year after the hockey forward proposed, though it is unclear when or how the couple first met.
They welcomed their first child, daughter Noa, in October 2022 before Meredith gave birth to son Johnny in February of this year.
The accident remains under investigation.
