Cole Coffield to honor Johnny hocky by switching to number 13 for Canadians Montreal Canadians forward Cole Coffield will be switching his jersey number from 22 to 13 this season to honor the late Johnny guro as he announced Tuesday Johnny along with his brother Matthew tragically lost their lives last Thursday in a traffic accident while riding bicycles in New Jersey a devastating event that sent shock waves throughout the hockey Community this tragedy resonated deeply with Coffield who had always looked up to guro as a role model proving that Size Doesn't define success in the NHL during his time with the US national team development program in 201819 Coffield wore numbers 13 and shattered the program's single season goal record previously held by Austin Matthews in an in post shared Tuesday evening carfield revealed that he initially wore number 13 at the usntdp because of Johnny hocky whom he admired greatly I wore number 13 at a point in my career because of Johnny and now I will be wearing it again to honor him carfield wrote he paved the way for smaller players and proved we had a future in this game at the highest level I will forever be grateful to to him for inspiring me and others Coffield made his NHL debut on April 26th 20121 and in a memorable moment he lined up for the opening Faceoff in Calgary across from Johnny earlier this year Coffield had the chance to share the ice with Johnny as teammates on Team USA at the IIHF men's World Championships getting to play with your hero is something that most people only dream of I was lucky enough to be Johnny's teammate this past summer and it didn't take long to realize how great of a person he was carfield expressed he was the most welcoming genuine and funniest guy I have ever met he was someone everyone gravitated towards and I took every chance I could to be around him Not only was he an amazing hockey player and teammate but he was down to earth and truly cared about every person he encountered here's what Cole Coffield wrote on his Instagram about Johnny hockey we all lost an amazing person both on and off the ice in last week's tragedy my deepest condolences go to the entire godo family especially Johnny's wife and two kids who I had the pleasure of meeting nothing will be able to fill the void in their families and loved ones Hearts but I hope it provides some comfort to know how these two positively impacted the lives of so many they will truly be missed getting to play with your hero is something that most people only dream of I was lucky enough to be Johnny's teammate this past summer and it didn't take long to realize how great of a person he was he was the most welcoming genuine and funniest guy I have ever met he was someone everyone gravitated towards and I took every chance I could to be around him Not only was he an amazing hockey player and teammate but he was down to earth and truly cared about every person he encountered the last few years playing as number 22 have been some of the best years of my life it truly has been a dream come true and I will forever hold those memories and that number close to me I wore number 13 at a point in my career because of Johnny and now I will be wearing it again to honor him he paved the way for smaller players and proved we had a future in this game at the highest level I will forever be grateful to him for inspiring me and others rest in peace Johnny hockey for