Remembering Johnny Hockey: Johnny Gaudreau and brother Matthew shined on and off the ice

Hockey

Gaudreau brothers mourned

The Canadian Press - Aug 30, 2024 / 5:08 pm | Story: 504170

Photo: The Canadian Press

CALGARY — Calgary Flames fans joined in an outpouring of love and sorrow for the family of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau with a makeshift tribute at Scotiabank Saddledome.

NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed Thursday night when they were hit by a car while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey. Johnny was 31, Matthew was 29.

Affectionately known as “Johnny Hockey,” Johnny Gaudreau starred over parts of nine seasons with the Calgary Flames before joining the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2022.

Flames fans laid out a team jersey and hat, while others stopped by to leave flowers and handwritten notes on the steps outside Calgary’s home arena — where Gaudreau became an NHL star.

“Thanks Johnny for making the Flames great again,” someone wrote.

Jeremiah Nudd, wearing a signed jersey with Gaudreau's No. 13 won in a raffle, said he was feeling raw as he came by to drop off a bouquet.

“I didn’t know Johnny, but this just feels different. I’ve never had a celebrity death or something like that impact me the way this has,” he said.

Nudd said he’s been a lifelong Flames fan and remembered some “dark years” after longtime captain Jarome Iginla’s departure in 2013.

“But when this little guy from Boston College came to Calgary, the future just looked so bright,” he said.

The hockey-crazed fan base also left bags of Skittles candy and bottles of purple Gatorade.

Gaudreau's father, Guy, famously threw Skittles on the ice to help teach him to skate. The purple Gatorade was a nod to a goal celebration between Gaudreau and his linemates.

Inside the Saddledome, the Flames projected a tribute on the jumbotron. An image of Gaudreau celebrating a goal was next to the words “In Loving Memory, Johnny Gaudreau, 1993-2024."

“Completely gutted. The world just lost one of the best. RIP Johnny,” Flames forward Blake Coleman, who played with Gaudreau during the 2021-22 season, said on social media.

“Trying to find the right words today is not easy,” added defenceman Rasmus Andersson with a picture of him with Gaudreau. “You were a hell of a hockey player but it’s the person Johnny that always is going to be with me, one of my closest friends.

“There hasn’t been a dry eye in the Andersson house today. We all love you Johnny."

Flames great Lanny McDonald posted a lengthy tribute to the Gaudreaus on Instagram Friday evening. McDonald said the news of their deaths hit his family "like a ton of bricks."

"Let the hockey world rally around the Gaudreaus, their families and friends, and although we can’t even start to understand the depth of their shock and pain, I hope they are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support," wrote McDonald.

"Go easy on those legends up there in heaven’s hockey rink, boys. You’re getting there earlier than expected, but they’ll take good care of you."

The two brothers were in Carneys Point, N.J., for their sister Katie's wedding scheduled for Friday in Philadelphia, at which they were to be groomsmen.

New Jersey State police said Friday the Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road when a man driving in the same direction attempted to pass two other vehicles and struck them from behind, causing fatal injuries.

Police said the driver, Sean M. Higgins, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and charged with two counts of death by auto and jailed at the Salem County Correctional Facility.

Johnny Gaudreau was a seven-time NHL all-star and a Hobey Baker Award winner as the top men’s player in college hockey, despite being undersized at five-foot-nine and 180 pounds.

Longtime NHL executive Brian Burke, who was the Flames’ president of hockey operations from 2013 to 2018, highlighted Gaudreau’s passion for the game, and dedication to his family and the Calgary community.

“Johnny was always the first to raise his hand to give back to the community. When we had any charity requests, we always knew he would say yes, without hesitation,” Burke wrote in a statement on social media. “His love of his family, friends, and alma matter was always apparent and was clearly the driving force in his life. What I will remember most was his happiness, enthusiasm, and kindness that radiated out through the locker room every day."

Flames fan Kevin Smith, after giving a silent prayer at the Saddledome memorial, said Gaudreau’s presence in the community converted him from a diehard Detroit Red Wings supporter.

“Of course he’s a great hockey player,” Smith said. “But just what he gave back to the community… That’s what brought me to him.”

Gaudreau is survived by his wife, Meredith, and his children, Noa and Johnny.

The Tsuut’ina Nation, located southwest of Calgary, mourned the death of “an instant fan favourite.”

“Tsuut’ina is in a state of shock at the news of the tragic deaths of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew. It’s no secret that most Tsuut’ina people are rabid hockey fans, and this news hits hard,” Tsuut’ina Chief Roy Whitney said in a statement.

“Johnny was simply magical on the ice. I cannot remember another player with such skating skill and such mastery of the game, and yet with a gentle demeanour and humility."

Former Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent, now the coach of the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket, said it was a privilege to get to know “the real Johnny Gaudreau — the person behind the hockey player.”

“He was a humble and unassuming young man with extraordinary talent, who never sought to be in the spotlight,” Vincent said in a statement through the Montreal Canadiens. “His passion for the game and exceptional hockey sense allowed him to achieve greatness, yet he remained grounded and true to himself."

Matthew Gaudreau played four seasons as a forward at Boston College, joining Johnny on the Eagles during the 2013-14 campaign. He went on to play professionally in the AHL and ECHL.

The tributes extended beyond the hockey world, with NBA star LeBron James, MLB star Mike Trout and politicians across Canada sending their condolences to the Gaudreau family.

“Johnny Gaudreau may have come up from the States, but hockey fans in Calgary, and across Canada, will remember him as one of our own,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote.

One of Gaudreau's most memorable moments as a Flame came on May 15, 2022, when he scored the Game 7 overtime winner to help Calgary eliminate the Dallas Stars in the first round of the NHL playoffs.

“His thousand-watt smile and infectious personality were matched only by his love for his family, friends, and those close to him,” said Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, GM of the Flames from 2014 to 2023.

“He brought joy to everyone around him and to the many who never knew him but marvelled at his excellence on the ice.”

— With files from reporter Lauren Krugel in Calgary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 30, 2024.

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The Canadian Press - Aug 30, 2024 / 3:32 pm | Story: 504138

Photo: The Canadian Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Johnny Gaudreau was finally home in New Jersey, the NHL star with showstopping skills back again this week for a big assist for his family as a groomsman in the wedding of baby sister Katie.

Little brother Matthew was part of the wedding party, too. So was the eldest of the four Gaudreau siblings, sister Kristen, the maid of honor. All were looking ahead to one more glorious day in a life seemingly filled with them as the first family of hockey in South Jersey.

The wedding was set for Friday at a Catholic church in New Jersey. Tragedy came the night before when Johnny, 31, and Matt, 29, died after they were hit by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in the Delaware River country south of Philadelphia, police said.

The wedding was put off in a hurricane of grief and shock. Far beyond the rink, the siblings had been as intertwined as any family could be, united as they were while smiling in the upper deck of a 2014 Philadelphia Phillies game. Or at a Boston College hockey game from earlier that same year, when the two brothers played for the Eagles.

Katie Gaudreau’s Instagram page is dotted with photos of the siblings goofing off at games, posing next to a Christmas tree, enjoying a day at the New Jersey shore — snapshots of a tight-knit family whose bond stretched far beyond memories cheering on Johnny and his rise to NHL stardom with Calgary and Columbus.

Fans called him “Johnny Hockey,” a moniker earned for his infectious spirit for the game and eye-popping skills. On NHL rosters, he was simply Johnny Gaudreau.

And on that wedding party list, he was just John Gaudreau. Little Johnny Gaudreau, all of 7 months old, was set to be a ring bearer alongside sister Noa, who turns 2 in October. She was to be a flower girl for her aunt.

Now there would be no reception or after-party in Philadelphia, the city whose teams Johnny rooted for even into adulthood; he once told reporters at an NHL All-Star game once he still rocked a “ lime green ” beanie in the winter of his support for the Eagles.

Philly hockey fans yearned for years for Gaudreau to come back and play for the Flyers, always hoping he would sign a free-agent deal or for management to acquire him in a trade. His home-state Devils even thought they had Gaudreau, only for him to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets two years ago.

“I felt that we were going to be a destination for him," Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said.

The idea of playing for the Flyers always held some appeal for Gaudreau, whose parents, Guy and Jane, moved the family from Vermont to New Jersey before the boys were born.

“I have a ton of family here, all my friends,” Gaudreau told a Philadelphia sports radio station in 2017. “All my good friends and kids who I have played with all my life are from South Jersey, so it would be sweet to play here someday.”

The tug came harder after his father had a heart attack in 2018. After eight full seasons in Calgary, he decided to return to the U.S., not in New Jersey or Philadelphia but with Columbus.

“(A)s much as I love hockey ... family is everything to me," he wrote in The Players' Tribune. “It’s the most important connection I have. And a few years ago, I think I started to realize how much you sacrifice when you give 100% to your career. I felt like I needed to do more to center my family in my life after we experienced some hard times.”

Columbus was more of a fit for his growing family — where perhaps he could walk downtown in anonymity — rather than the ticket and autograph demands, the friends who wanted just a few minutes before the game, the good times often overwhelmed by the distracting pull of playing for one of the hometown teams.

“I always said I wanted to play closer to home, but (Columbus) isn’t too close to where I would get bombarded with friends and family nonstop,” Gaudreau said on the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast in 2022. “(It’s) basically an open-door policy (where you) come in whenever you want. That’s kind of how we are down the Shore, but if we did it all year, I think it would have gotten a little out of hand at times.”

Gaudreau, though, remained true to his South Jersey roots. He supported area youth hockey programs, including the 43 Oak Foundation, which focuses on furthering education through the sport of ice hockey for underprivileged and diverse youth.

“Johnny, you are a core reason we have been able to get to where we are today as a foundation,” the foundation wrote on Instagram. “Spending time with the kids. Vocalizing your opinions on changing the game. You will be surely missed.”

In tribute to both brothers — Matthew played in the American Hockey League — the statement said it would “keep the sticks out at the door step.”

Gaudreau had hosted a golf tournament in New Jersey to raise money toward scholarships at Gloucester Catholic High School, which he attended and was a centerpiece for the family. Matt coached the Gloucester Catholic hockey team, a program his father helped found, and the brothers and Katie were all graduates.

Gaudreau's last trip home should have been one to savor for all the right reasons. Dances and toasts. Pictures in front of Philly landmarks. Maybe even a late-night cheesesteak run — both Gaudreau and the expected bride and groom were “team Geno’s!”

What's left instead for those who knew him, who chanted for “Johnny Hockey,” is sadness for a family forever shattered.

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The Canadian Press - Aug 30, 2024 / 1:49 pm | Story: 504112

Photo: The Canadian Press

Getting a nickname in hockey is not only a sign of affection but a sense that a player has really made it. Wayne Gretzky became the “Great One,” Mario Lemieux was “Super Mario” and the late Gordie Howe remains “Mr. Hockey” to the sport's players and fans everywhere.

“Johnny Hockey” was the one bestowed on Johnny Gaudreau, and it stuck to the talented, beloved player wherever he went. It was a reminder of his skills and unselfishness on and off the ice that made it all the more painful when word spread that the 31-year-old standout for the Columbus Blue Jackets died Thursday night along with younger brother Matthew when they were struck by a suspected drunken driver near their childhood home on the eve of their sister's wedding in Philadelphia.

Gaudreau never got the chance to put together a full NHL career like Gretzky, Lemieux or Howe, yet everyone in the sport knew who he was: A kid from Carneys Point, New Jersey, who thrived despite being well under 6 feet tall, a pioneer of sorts for players who make up for a lack of size with skill, speed and energy.

The brothers grew up in hockey, playing for the Little Flyers and even getting to spend a year together as teammates at Boston College in 2013-14. It was the season Johnny Gaudreau won the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA player in the country, and his brother was there to be a part of it.

“Both Matty and Johnny were terrifically admired by all of us: Wonderful young guys, and they impressed a lot of us off ice," recalled Jerry York, who coached them at BC.

The eldest Gaudreau brother, Johnny was picked by Calgary in the fourth round of the NHL draft in 2011. His boyhood team, the Philadelphia Flyers, were interested but only in later rounds, considering he was at the time about 5-foot-7 or so.

Flames head scout Tod Button had no trouble making a case for Gaudreau to then-general manager Jay Feaster, who knew all about undersized players from running the Tampa Bay Lightning when they won the Stanley Cup with dynamic — and small — Martin St. Louis as one of their best players.

“Tod and his staff had seen him play a lot, and he just felt that he was a special player: his hands and his vision and his hockey sense,” Feaster said Friday. “He was convinced, even though he’s a small guy, that he was going to be able to play. ... I said: ‘I believe in you. If you believe in him that strongly, then let’s do it because I know that small guys can play in the game.'”

Feaster and assistant Craig Conroy the next couple of summers visited with Gaudreau and his family at Hollydell Ice Arena, which father Guy managed, to encourage Johnny to turn pro. His mother, Jane, wondered about her son's size at the NHL level and had many questions about the next step.

Family, as always, came first.

“When it came around that his brother was going to be going to BC to play as well and they’d play together, Craig and I knew we weren’t going to get him out early,” Feaster said.

Following his college stardom and a year on campus together with his brother, Gaudreau broke into the league at 5-foot-9 and less than 180 pounds. He was voted to the all-rookie team in his first season. He made seven All-Star Weekend appearances over a decade with the Flames and Blue Jackets.

NHLer Gaudreau dead

The Canadian Press - Aug 30, 2024 / 6:20 am | Story: 504025

Photo: The Canadian Press

NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother were killed on the eve of their sister’s wedding when they were hit by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey, police said Friday.

New Jersey State Police said the Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road in Oldmans Township on Thursday night when a man driving an SUV in the same direction attempted to pass two other vehicles and struck them from behind about 8 p.m., less than a half-hour after sunset. They were pronounced dead at the scene some 35 miles south of Philadelphia.

Gaudreau, 31, and brother, Matt, 29, are Carneys Point, New Jersey, natives and were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding that was scheduled for Friday in Philadelphia.

Police said the driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Higgins told a responding officer he had five or six beers prior to the crash and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press. He failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said, though his blood-alcohol level was not immediately available.

Higgins was jailed at a Salem County facility and will remain there until his pretrial detention hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 5. A court spokesperson said Higgins at his first appearance Friday was represented by a public defender but indicated he planned to hire his own attorney. Public defenders in New Jersey do not comment on cases.

Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.

“Just devastating news for all of us connected with the Gaudreau family,” Jerry York, who coached the Gaudreau brothers at Boston College, said in a phone interview with the AP. “Both Matty and Johnny were terrifically admired by all of us. Wonderful young guys, and they impressed a lot of us off the ice."

York raved about parents Guy and Jane and the family's dedication to their children and hockey. Gaudreau had been married to his wife, Meredith, since 2021, and they have two children under 2, Noa, who was born in September 2022, and Johnny, who was born in February.

“We want to let everyone know we are receiving your messages of love and support, and we appreciated your continued thoughts and prayers,” an uncle, Jim Gaudreau, said in a statement on behalf of the families involved. “We ask for your continued respect and privacy during this very difficult period of grief.”

Fans laid flowers and hockey sticks for Gaudreau outside Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus and outside the Flames' home rink in Calgary. Tributes reverberated near and far, with moments of silence in Cincinnati before a Major League Baseball game between the Reds and Milwaukee Brewers and prior to an Olympic qualifying hockey game between Slovakia and Hungary in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.

The Blue Jackets said Gaudreau “was not only a great hockey player, but more significantly a loving husband, father, son, brother and friend.”

“Johnny played the game with great joy which was felt by everyone that saw him on the ice," the team said in a statement. “He brought a genuine love for hockey with him everywhere he played.”

Gaudreau’s death is the latest off-ice tragedy for the Blue Jackets. Goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died in July 2021 when he was struck in the chest by a firework while attending the wedding of then-Blue Jackets goaltending coach Manny Legace’s daughter in Michigan.

Gaudreau, at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, 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. Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy in 2017 for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of play, 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.

“While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey,’ he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

NHL Players' Association executive director Marty Walsh said players and staff were devastated by these losses, calling Johnny “a beloved teammate and friend in both Calgary and Columbus (and) a joy to watch during his 10 years and 763 games in the NHL.”

A fourth-round pick by Calgary in 2011, Gaudreau had helped Boston College win the NCAA championship in 2012 and took home the Hobey Baker Award as the top college player in the country in 2014 — a season he and his brother played together for the Eagles.

Gaudreau was a nearly point-a-game player with 776 points in 805 regular-season and playoff games since breaking into the league. In 2022, he left the Flames to sign a big contract with the Blue Jackets that put him and his young family in central Ohio, closer to his family in New Jersey.

Social media was full of messages about Gaudreau, from USA Hockey to the Flames and beyond the sport itself. Former Flames teammate Blake Coleman posted that he was “completely gutted. The world just lost one of the best.” Retired goaltender Eddie Lack called Gaudreau one of his favorite teammates.

“Always happy, always spreading positivity around him," Lack said. "Rest in Peace my friend and prayers for your wonderful family."

NBA superstar LeBron James, who is from Akron, Ohio, said he instantly got sad after seeing the news.

“My thoughts and prayers goes out to the Gaudreau family,” James said. “May Johnny and Matthew fly high, guide/guard and bless their family/s from the heavens above.”

The tragedy comes as the Blue Jackets and other NHL teams prepare to open training camp for the season in about three weeks.

“We will miss him terribly and do everything that we can to support his family and each other through this tragedy,” the team said.

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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston, Associated Press writer Bruce Shipkowski and AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed.

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The Canadian Press - Aug 30, 2024 / 5:40 am | Story: 504022

Photo: The Canadian Press

NHL player Johnny Gaudreau of the Columbus Blue Jackets was killed Thursday night when he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle in his home state of New Jersey. He was 31.

New Jersey State Police said Gaudreau was one of two cyclists struck and killed by a car in Salem County, New Jersey. Gaudreau's younger brother, Matthew, 29, was the other victim in the crash, police confirmed.

The Carneys Point, New Jersey, natives were in the area for their sister Katie's wedding scheduled for Friday in Philadelphia.

According to police, the Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road when a man driving in the same direction attempted to pass two other vehicles and struck them from behind. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the driver, Sean M. Higgins, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and charged with two counts of death by auto and jailed.

Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” has played 11 professional seasons in the league and was going into his third with the Blue Jackets.

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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed.

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Are the Canucks cursed?

Daniel Wagner / Vancouver is Awesome - Aug 29, 2024 / 6:15 pm | Story: 503996

Photo: EA Sports.

Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes in between his brothers, Jack and Luke Hughes, on the cover of NHL 25.

Are the Vancouver Canucks the most cursed franchise in NHL history?

Fans in Vancouver might think so, considering a pretty significant string of bad luck dating back to the spin of a wheel that cost them a Hall of Famer. Then again, there are a number of teams that simply do not exist anymore, whether because they are defunct or got relocated, so one could argue that they’re a little bit more cursed than the Canucks.

But among active teams, the Canucks have a pretty good argument to be the most cursed, with no Stanley Cups in their entire franchise history despite twice getting to Game 7 in the Cup Final.

So, how do the Canucks break the curse? Perhaps with another, entirely different curse.

Enter the NHL 25 cover.

Quinn Hughes is a cover-of-a-video-game level star

There’s no better sign that an athlete has “made it” than getting on the cover of a video game. With that in mind, Quinn Hughes has definitely made it.

The Vancouver Canucks’ captain will be on the cover of EA Sports’ NHL 25 alongside his younger brothers, Jack and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils. It’s the first time more than one NHL star has appeared on the same cover since they moved from in-game action shots to cover athletes starting with John Vanbiesbrouck on NHL 97.

The uniqueness of the cover, which has been in the works since the 2024 All-Star Game, was not lost on Hughes and his brothers, who grew up playing the game against each other.

“We feel incredibly honoured to be on the cover of NHL 25,” said the elder Hughes. “Being featured alongside my brothers is the sort of thing you dream about as a kid but could never imagine happening in real life.”

But the honour comes with some superstitions, as some have argued that the athletes who appear on the cover of EA Sports’ NHL games are cursed.

Is there an EA Sports NHL cover curse?

EA Sports’ Madden NFL games have what’s known as the Madden Curse, as the athletes often suffer a serious injury after being featured on the cover or see their careers sharply decline. For instance, Michael Vick suffered a fractured fibula less than a week after the game’s release when he was featured on the cover of Madden 2004, which is definitely the thing he’s most known for now.

Does EA Sports’ NHL series have a similar curse? Maybe.

The NHL’s cover athletes haven’t been known to suffer catastrophic injuries but hockey culture has always been more about the crest on the front of the jersey rather than the name on the back. With that in mind, the NHL cover curse seems to affect the team rather than the individual player.

While the series was initially sold with action shots from games on the cover, it switched to individual cover athletes with John Vanbiesbrouck for NHL 97.

Since then, of the 29 NHL stars featured on the cover, just three have made it out of the first round of the playoffs in the season the game was released — four if you count Joe Sakic, who replaced Dany Heatley on the cover of NHL 2004, who himself had replaced Joe Thornton.

Just one athlete has won the Stanley Cup the season after appearing on the cover of an EA NHL game and it was Patrick Kane with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, which is its own unique brand of cursed for Canucks fans.

13 of 29 stars saw their team miss the playoffs entirely after they were featured on the cover. In other words, 44.8% of the time, the cover athlete for EA’s NHL games doesn’t even make the playoffs.

Is that a curse? After all, in today’s NHL, 50% of the league misses the playoffs. But one would hope that a team featuring a superstar worthy of a video game cover would be more likely to make the playoffs rather than less likely. Consider that 25% of NHL teams get to the second round of the playoffs each season compared to just 10.3% of cover athletes and things start to look a little more cursed.

A little Canucks’ history with the EA cover curse

Canucks fans get a little extra cursed along the way, aside from Kane and the 2010 Blackhawks being the lone exception to the supposed curse.

Before there were individual cover athletes, the cover of NHL 95 for Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo featured the New York Rangers’ Alexei Kovalev scoring a goal on the Canucks’ Kirk McLean during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. That’s a little bit extra salt in the wound for Canucks fans, who might have hoped for better treatment from the franchise considering EA’s NHL games are made in Vancouver, their own backyard.

The one time a Canuck was the cover athlete for an NHL game was Markus Näslund for NHL 2005. That game was released on September 14, 2004, two days before the start of the lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 NHL Season.

When the NHL returned for the 2005-06 season, the Canucks missed the playoffs by three points. It was the end of the West Coast Express era, as Todd Bertuzzi was traded to the Florida Panthers as part of the trade for Roberto Luongo after the season.

Now, Quinn Hughes will be the second-ever Canuck on the cover of an NHL game, albeit accompanied by two Devils.

Will the curse, if it exists, get Hughes and the Canucks? Or will multiple Hugheses diffuse the curse, spreading it between two teams on opposite sides of the continent? And how will the cover curse affect the already cursed Canucks?

Can the Canucks transfer the very real, very serious curse to the Devils?

Sports curses are fickle beasts, so it’s hard to say what the interaction will be between the two curses. But one way to get rid of curses, at least in fiction, is to pass the curse on to someone else, like in The Ring, It Follows, or Drag Me to Hell.

So, what if the unusual circ*mstance of the Hughes brothers all appearing on the same cover allows the curse to pass from the Canucks to the devilishly-named Devils?

One might ask how that would work, considering the Devils missed the playoffs last season. They seemingly have nowhere to go but up after finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference, ten points out of a playoff spot.

But the Devils are a popular pick to significantly improve next season, as they made some big additions in the off-season, in particular trading for Jacob Markstrom to be their number-one goaltender. In fact, according to PlayNow, the Devils have the fourth-best odds to win the Stanley Cup next season at 13-to-1, just behind the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, and Dallas Stars.

In fact, the Devils, despite winning just one playoff round since 2012, have better odds than the Canucks, who are 16-to-1 to win the Cup.

Certainly, the Canucks seem like a likely candidate to regress after so much went right for them to finish first in the Pacific Division. It’s not that they’ll necessarily be a worse team than last season but they might not be able to match their 50 wins. It’ll especially be tough if their number-one goaltender isn’t 100% and their backup has a bad knee.

But do the Devils really have a better chance of winning the Cup next year than the Canucks?

That’s the kind of hubris and pride that typically leads to some kind of curse — perhaps a Canucks curse more than five decades in the making, passed along via a video game made in Vancouver?

Not that Hughes would wish that fate on his brothers but he would just be an innocent bystander in this curse transference. It wouldn’t be his fault. It would be the fault of NHL 25.

What would it be like for the Canucks to be curse-free? Maybe we’re about to find out.

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Remembering Johnny Hockey: Johnny Gaudreau and brother Matthew shined on and off the ice - Hockey (2024)

Gaudreau brothers mourned

NHLer Gaudreau dead

Are the Canucks cursed?

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