Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau, brother killed when bikes hit by car on eve of sister's wedding

Well, tonight, the hockey world is grieving the loss of Columbus blue jacket star Johnny Goodreau and his brother Matthew. They were killed last night by a suspected drunk driver while they were riding bikes in New Jersey. This man, 43 year old Sean Higgins has been charged in connection to their deaths after police say he went to pass another car and hit them. Both brothers were in the area to be groomsman in their sister's wedding today. Uh Now we want to show you the scene in Columbus right now. This is where fans have been coming to pay respects for Johnny. He's been with the team since 2022 Adam King with our sister station WBNS has more. Flowers continue to pour in here at Nationwide Arena. A day of tragedy for the Blue Jackets and for the hockey world as the fifth line tries to mourn the loss of Johnny Gure one by one. They all come here embracing and remembering a man known as Johnny Hockey who was so much more than skates. Well, he was just so friendly and just a regular person would talk to anybody and everybody. Johnny Hockey was a big inspiration for me. We welcomed him as if he was our brother, another member of our family. In the midst of a shocking silence, you can hear one thing, the squeak of markers 13. Forever gone too soon. Thank you Johnny. In a time when finding words is impossible. These are the fifth line's farewell. So he wanted to raise his family or he talked about that all the time. And so as a community, I felt it was important for him to, for us to back him up and show him support and his family support. One very simple message tells the bigger story. Thank you for believing in us. Johnny Goodreau chose the Blue Jackets. He chose Columbus to build a family and a franchise as a franchise. We've been through some tough times and um you know, there was always that image that no star players wanted to sign with Columbus and then Johnny came and it, it gave us hope one by one. They come to the doorstep of the arena where he so often brought joy with. Thank yous a moment to remember a father, a son, a husband and a brother and the Cavaliers are one of many teams paying tribute to Johnny and Matthew. The team released a statement today saying in part, we send our deepest condolences and endless love and support to Johnny and Matthew's family, friends, fans, teammates and colleagues with the Columbus Blue Jackets and across the hockey world and tomorrow, Ohio State and the Columbus crew will honor Goodrow. The Buckeyes will have a moment of silence before their first game of the season. That's against Akron. The crew will do the same with the 13th minute in their match, paying tribute to his number.

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