Halford & Brough in the Morning - Johnny Gaudreau’s Impact In The Game

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

In hour two Mike Halford and Jason Brough continue the conversation on the tragic news of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew’s passing. They are joined by Aaron Portzline who discusses his impact on the game and his time covering him in Columbus.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

702 on a Friday you're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650 we are now entering hour two of the program of a very different sort of program here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. For those that might be awaking to the news, I will pass along. It is a tragic story. Columbus Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew Gaudreau were killed Thursday evening when they were struck by a vehicle while riding as what is referred to as pedal cyclists, so bicycle riders in New Jersey. New Jersey State Police confirmed their passings in a release early Friday morning. The news was confirmed by New Jersey State Police and then the National Hockey League and the Columbus Blue Jackets organization very early this morning Pacific time.

Johnny Gaudreau was 31. His younger brother Matthew was 29. According to police, a driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee hit the Gaudreau's from behind while trying to pass an SUV on the right that had moved over to make way for the two cyclists. Police who responded to the scene said both Gaudreau's suffered fatal injuries at the scene and also passed away at the scene. The driver is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and has been charged with two counts of death by auto, police said. They also said the investigation is still ongoing.

We have been speaking about this for the first hour of the program and we will continue to discuss it throughout the following two hours of the halford and brough show this morning jason and i got word of this story very late yesterday evening so thursday evening knowing that it was the possibility of us coming in very early Friday morning and having to discuss just a massive, massive tragedy, but also news that was going to be met with a lot of people for the first time this morning because of the hours in which it occurred. We will be resetting throughout the next couple of hours.

We have lined up and are trying to continue to line up as many guests as possible to speak about this again, unspeakable tragedy, but also Johnny Gaudreau's impact on the game of hockey, what he meant to markets in Columbus and Calgary. Aaron Portsline from the athletic in Columbus is going to join us at seven 30 to discuss. Ryan Leslie, who covered Johnny in Calgary for close to a decade, working as a ringside reporter for the Calgary Flames, will be joining us at 8.30.

So a lot of our regularly scheduled programming will be put on hold today. As we remember Johnny Gaudreau, as we mourn Johnny Gaudreau As we remember Johnny Goudreau, as we mourn Johnny Goudreau and his brother, Matthew Goudreau, who had a professional hockey career of his own and shouldn't be an anecdote or footnote to this story. The brothers passed together. And if we want to talk about not trying to add or,

you know, compound this unspeakable tragedy, but the Goudreau family was gathered in their hometown in New Jersey this weekend for their younger sister Katie's wedding. Both Johnny and Matthew Goudreau were set to serve as groomsmen at that wedding. We've spent a lot of this morning's show talking about the way that people are responding to this news. And I think a lot of people are going through what Jason and I went through last night, which is just complete and utter bewilderment and shock. You spoke eloquently about this in the first hour that at times professional athletes do seem as though they're on a different plane

than us normies, that they're almost invincible, and that they've got these idyllic lives, and that the day-to-day that we go through maybe doesn't necessarily affect them. This is a very sobering reminder that tragedy, it's not selective. It doesn't pick and choose. It can happen to anyone, and this is a truly massive tragedy. Jason from Penticton texts in saying, I remember seeing Johnny Goudreau at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton in 2014.

Wow. You could even then tell what a talented star he was going to be. I was shocked to see the news this morning and immediately tuned into your show to get the full perspective. Thanks for the focus and the tenor. Yeah, this is one of these things where it's tough, but it's understandable.

We're going to change things up. We've had a few people text in and hope that we can get back to the Halford and Brough ways for the rest of the show. We're not going to. So, um, you know, other people are learning this news, uh, and they're going to learn

it and they don't want us, um, they don't want to turn on the station. Maybe they've heard it. They don't want to turn on the station and listen to the regular Halford and Brough stuff. So. And it wouldn't feel right to do it as well.

And I understand, I understand that, understand that If you've heard the news You yourself Have heard the news And you've taken it in And you're sad And You want to talk about something else Maybe this is a distraction

I apologize But it's not going to happen on this show These are always very tricky shows To To do And not to put this It's not about us the show. These are always very tricky shows to do and not to put this, it's not about us, but we had to completely change this whole thing. We were going to talk about, we were going to

do some NFL football. We're going to talk about Deion Sanders of all people on this show. We're really going to look forward to the Lions game, which is a big Lions game. But I just don't want to. I don't want to right now. To put it in perspective of what we're feeling,

and I think I can speak on your behalf here, is two days ago we were doing our show as per usual, and we had Johnny Goudreau's general manager, Don Waddell, on the show. General manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Don Waddell was gracious enough to join us. And the stark contrast in conversations within 48 hours is what's really jarring to me.

We were talking to Don Waddell about the optimism for this season. And after two years in Columbus that were pretty tumultuous how he was looking forward to this year because he spoke with Johnny Gaudreau about what kind of coach that they wanted in Columbus and how one of the first conversations that Johnny Gaudreau had with Don Waddell was about who his favorite coaches were and his favorite coaches he said the first one was Daryl Sutter and the second one was Bob Hartley.

And Don Waddell said, I'm familiar with both of those guys. I think I understand what kind of coach you're talking about. And then he subsequently went out and hired Dean Evison. And Don Waddell spoke with his show about putting Goudreau

in a different environment this year. It was a new regime. It was, there was optimism. That was 48 hours ago. That was two days ago that we were having that type of conversation. And now we're having this conversation. So I think that's part of what,

I'm trying to get to the genesis of what we were talking about there is it does feel pretty hollow to talk about anything else other than this true, like this is a truly shocking story. Truly shocking story.ye guy texts into the dunbar lumber text line he says good morning as someone who is actively in recovery from substances addictions i can empathize with the guilt and shame of the consequences of my selfish actions while under the influence of those substances i will pray for all affected by

today's tragedy. If you are using alcohol or drugs, please plan ahead not to drive. If you wait until after to make that decision, you have waited too long. J-Dog texts in, man, I'm just watching my two young boys sleep in their bed and I can't help but think what this news would do to their world. If I went for a bike ride and never came home, that's what hits hard is the family aspect. I just can't stop thinking about how in any way I can help them. The only thing I can think of is to pray for them. Yeah, I think praying might help.

There's not much you can do. praying might help. Um, it is, it is, it's, there's not much you can do. Like this Goudreau family is going to have to go through the stages of grief and it is going to be absolutely devastating for them. And I know there are people listening right now that have experienced personal tragedies of their own and loss. And we all deal with loss in our lives. But some of them hit more suddenly.

Some of them, because of the age of the loss, hits differently. And this seems to be, this is going to be one of those cases. I think, um, if you're thinking of anything, and I mentioned this in the first hour, have some gratitude for, for what you do have and it will help you on a day-to-day basis to have gratitude. And, uh, you know, I'm, I am repeating myself a little bit, but. That's fine.

But, you know, I, and I think, you know, we all go through this, right? In life, like little things start to bother us. We get worried, you know, about job stuff and, and some of it is a big deal, right? Like, you know, you're worried about, maybe you've lost your job and, you know, you're,

you're upset about where you are in life and that sort of stuff just overtakes everything in your life and then you don't have time you haven't left yourself time to appreciate what you do have that you live in a country that you know doesn't have a war going on it or we you live you live in a country where, or in a city in a place like Vancouver, where you can go outside and on a beautiful day like this and look at the mountains and look at the ocean and, and just appreciate living in a, in a city like Vancouver and a country like Canada, even though

we do have our issues. But if you've only focused on the issues, if you only focus on the problems, it's not a very good way to, way to go through life. And I think tragedies like this offer us an opportunity to have the gratitude because, you know, in the Goudreau family, I can tell you that the day-to-day isn't top of mind right now. Yeah. I do have a statement here just released from the NHL Players Association. This one comes courtesy Executive Director Marty Walsh. This is the following statement on the passing of

Johnny and Matthew Goudreau. The NHLPA joins the hockey community in mourning the tragic loss of Johnny Goudreau and his brother Matthew. Johnny was a beloved teammate and friend both in Calgary and Columbus, and he was a joy to watch during his 10 years and 763 games in the NHL. He enjoyed a decorated college career at Boston College where he played together with his brother Matthew, who also went on to play professional hockey in the American Hockey League and the ECHL. The players and staff of the NHLPA are devastated by these terrible losses.

We express our sincere condolences to the entire Goudreau family, Johnny's wife, Meredith, their children, Noah and Johnny, Matthew's wife, Madeline, their parents, Guy and Jane, and their sisters, Kristen and Katie. And that's a statement from NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh on the passing of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau we're going to have Aaron Portsline join the program

at 7.30 from Columbus we've had Aaron on the show countless times he's a long long standing Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer and that organization has undergone just two massive, massive tragedies in the last three years.

Johnny Goudreau's passing. And three years ago, Matisse Kivlenic, the Latvian goalie, who, I mean, it's stunning to me that this is actually, I don't want to try and draw commonalities between two tragedies, but Kivlenic died in a tragic fireworks accident, also wedding related because he was at the wedding of goalie coach Manny Legacy's daughter. And the grief that I remember having Aaron Portsline on the show after that He was at the wedding of goalie coach Manny Legacy's daughter.

And the grief that I remember having Aaron Portsline on the show after that and the grief that that organization went through, it's, I mean, again, you throw around words like unthinkable and unimaginable, but it really truly is just to have two players fully in the prime of their careers in the case of kivlenic's having not even really got there being uh younger than goudreau um it kind of goes back to what we were saying off the top of this hour that you do sometimes think that you know professional athletes all run the same path and they go to their professional leagues and they make it and they achieve the dream the dream that the the one percent only gets to achieve but the 99 percent of all wanted and it's all gravy from there you know you get the millions of dollars

and the fame and you get to play a sport for a living and you have these great lives and it does seem at times that you know a lot of the guys that we cover on a daily basis live in a different existence, different world. And then things like this happen. And that's, I think, a big reason why it's so shocking is that it just snaps you back into reality. Well, we all focus on our societal stature way too often. And I think it's a cause for a lot of, um, a lot of our issues.

Um, you know, where are you in society? Where do you rank? And in North American society, there's not many that rank higher than professional athletes. The guys that are, think of all that they've got going for them. They're young, they're healthy.

Uh, they make a lot of money. They have popularity. You know, that's near the top of the list. But at the end of the day, we're all human beings. Mike from Brockville texts in, adding on to that, we're all just human beings mourning a loss today that makes us acutely aware of how lucky we all are to be on this earth right now.

And Mike continues, I think just remembering that you're not entitled to your life and time with your family. It can be taken away in an instant, in an instant, so appreciate it. It doesn't matter if you think you deserve or are owed a certain amount of time on this earth. Sometimes your time comes way too soon and it's

completely out of your control. And I think that's what so many people find so jarring about tragedies like this. And I would add that, you know, Mike writes, it doesn't matter if you think you deserve or are owed a certain amount of time on this earth, that goes for your loved ones too. And this is, I have said this so many times, but, you know, I've been fortunate enough not to have to deal with a tragedy like this in my life. Maybe I will one day.

Maybe I will today. We don't know. Um, but I always just, I always think about the reaction when you first hear the news. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and that's first like, you know, you're what? And I can't, until I've experienced it, I don't think I'll ever truly know what that's like.

And again, I'm sure there are listeners who have experienced tragedy. And for those of you who might be remembering that tragedy right now and might be affected by this, I feel for you. I apologize if it brings up bad feelings. Sure. But I also think that people who have experienced that can provide a lot of wisdom in this situation. And I do want to hear from our listeners today because I know on this show, um, our, our loyal listeners mostly appreciate the show because we get some laughs.

Yep. Um, but I think, um, you know, when it comes right down to it, we're also all, all together in this life thing. And when moments like this do happen, we are able to focus on the important things in life. JD and Coquitlam text in a reminder. If you do want to weigh in, and in case you're possibly just hearing this for the first time,

Columbus Bluehead Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau passed away on Thursday evening, along with his brother, Matthew Goudreau. If you want to weigh in with your thoughts, memories, if you want to grieve or share what you're feeling and what you're thinking, the Dunbar-Lumber text line is 650-650. We are monitoring it closely, and there have been a lot of people that have been weighing in, even maybe just to process the shock and the stunning nature of the news.

J.D. and Coquitlam writes in, I woke up today feeling excited about the Brandon Ayuk signing and transfer deadline day. But within minutes of turning on my radio, I was in tears. I never met Johnny Gaudreau. I wasn't necessarily a fan. But the brutal, senseless loss of his family and what they're going through is just overwhelming. It's too hard to listen to right now. Not sure how you guys are able to talk about it at length and still hold it together.

I'd be breaking down. I'll tune in and talk to you guys on Monday. Have a good day and be safe. That is an absolutely fine, fine response to this. JD, everyone processes things differently. And I think the important thing is to not project how you would like someone to process or what you would like the process to look like. We made a choice that we're going to talk about this all morning until we're out of here at nine o'clock. And that is for us, for sure, because we feel a certain way about

what direction the show should go in. But we also think that this is for the listeners as well. Like you said, our loyal listeners, we think we've got a pretty good feel of what they're thinking and what they're feeling and what they're going through. And there's also an obligation that, you know, for as lighthearted and is not serious that we take ourselves as

broadcasters. There are moments where you kind of have to snap out of that. And I think this is one of them because this is news that people are going to be waking up to. And people didn't know happened last night and didn't know it was confirmed this morning. And it's our job to walk everybody through it and try and give as much information,

as much detail and, uh, pass along as many condolences as possible. Um, so we are going to speak with, uh, Aaron Portsline, uh, in just a few minutes. And it's incredible that Aaron is taking the time to speak with us. You can imagine what, uh, he's feeling and what his day looks like. Um, all the writing he's going to have to do, all the people that he's going to have to do, all the people that he's going to have to talk to, and he's going to take the time out of his day to speak with us here in Vancouver.

Ryan Leslie is also going to join us at 8.30. Ryan covered Johnny Goudreau when he was in Calgary. One of the biggest stars that the Calgary Flames have ever had. And one of the reasons it was such a big deal when Johnny Gajot chose to go to Columbus and sign with the Blue Jackets. And I remember my reaction when he made that

decision and went to Columbus. Yeah. You know? Mm-hmm. And, you know, a lot of it was. One of the biggest surprises ever in the history of free agency, I would say. Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, it seems kind of trite now to talk about it, but, you know, changed the Calgary Flames, his decision really changed the trajectory of the Calgary Flames because Matthew Kuchuk followed out the door shortly thereafter. Who was first? Was Johnny first to leave?

But they both left. Yeah, I don't have the chronology in front of me. Matthew goes to Florida, ends up winning a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers, and the Calgary Flames are now in a rebuild. So we'll talk to Aaron Portsline at 7.30. We'll talk to Ryan Leslie at 8.30. I want to continue reading your text into the Dunbar Lumber text line.

It can be what you're feeling right now. It can be any wisdom that you've acquired through the years about how to process this type of information? Maybe if you can relate to what the Goudreau family is going through right now, because I can only say, I can't imagine it so many times. We're going to keep talking about this for

the rest of the show. Again, like JD and Coquitlam, if you had we're going to keep talking about this, uh, for the rest of the show. Um, again, like JD and Coquitlam, if you had enough, turn it off. And, um,

you know, my only piece of advice is something I've already said, try and today of all days, you should do this every day, but we realize it's impossible. Uh, well,

not impossible, but it's hard. Just have some gratitude for what you do, do have in your life because tragedies like this happen every day. They might not be as public as this, but every day within our country, within the world, there are horrible, unspeakable tragedies that occur

where people, um, have to deal with loss. And, um, you know, it's easy when it's not a high profile nature, like the loss of the Goudreau brothers, and you just put it out of mind. Because you can't, because you have to. Yeah. You can't, you can't process every loss

in the world and you just can't do it. But these are reminders to look around at what you do have in life because there are good things in everyone's life. And, um, it should get you thinking, even if it's uncomfortable to be thinking that way. You're listening to the Huffington Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Well, Gary, we were talking about Woodrow, how good a job Ferris State's done controlling him.

But right there, you see what makes this kid special. He's tiny. He looks about 12 years old. He's got hands of silk. He's got hockey sense. 731 on a Friday. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. That audio clip that we just played coming back from break, that was recently posted by ESPN's John Bucciagross on social media. It was one of the early famous goals that Johnny Gaudreau scored

as a member of Boston College's men's hockey program as a freshman. That year that Gaudreau was at BC was also, that freshman year was the first year, his on campus, and they won the national title that year. And I apologize to anyone that's just waking up to this news right now, and that's the preamble, but I do need to let everybody know that is unaware that early this morning, NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother were confirmed dead after they were killed Thursday night when they were hit by a suspected drunken driver

while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey. Gaudreau, 31, and his brother Matthew, who's 29, are New Jersey natives and were in the area for their sister Katie's wedding, which was scheduled for today in Philadelphia. Johnny and his brother Matthew were set to be groomsmen for that wedding. New Jersey State Police said this morning that the Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road when a man driving in the same direction attempted to pass two other vehicles and then struck the Goudreau brothers who were on bicycles from behind causing fatal

injuries. The brothers passed away at the scene. Police said that the driver was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and was charged with two counts of death by auto and was jailed at a local correctional facility so jason and i have been on the air since 6 a.m this has been the entirety of the show discussing a truly tragic horrific senseless unthinkable tragedy the passing of two hockey players, brothers, sons, husbands, brothers, with the added context of that they were back in their hometown of Salem, New Jersey, to serve as groomsmen in the wedding of their younger sister. It does seem hollow to even try and think or talk or discuss anything else in the world of sports, which is a far cry from the usual Halford and Brough Friday,

especially Friday hijinks. I just say all this for those that might be tuning in or those that have been tuning in for an hour and a half. And you want to know what direction the show is going to go in. This is the direction it's going to go in, and will continue to go in. I'm going to read a few texts into the Dunbar Lumber text line. 650-650 if you want to share anything.

This is an unsigned text. My cousin who won the Memorial Cup with the Red Deer Rebels in the early 2000s passed away unexpectedly at 26 years old. He was from Kamloops and was a very popular figure in Kamloops and in the hockey community. Remembering how hard that was for me and my family, it's a horrible knowing what the Goudreau's are going through right now.

One thing I won't forget though, is how not only the community in Kamloops, but the whole hockey community came together to show their love and support as well as amazing stories and experiences they shared with my cousin. I know people will be doing the same for the Goudreau boys.

It's not much of a silver lining, but seeing everyone come together and show their love is a touching tribute to a couple wonderful humans. Right. I do want to just quickly interject here. Goudreau played at Boston College. He spent a long time in Calgary, and he was in Columbus.

So in light of that text, there are numerous markets that his style of play and his particular way that he played diminutive five foot six, just a wizard with the puck on a stick. It endeared himself to a lot of people in a lot of different places, including most recently Columbus. We are trying to get Aaron Portsline on the show. We've been in contact with Aaron. He's been on the show a number of times. We're also acknowledging the fact that he is in the process of work and trying to cover an absolutely massive, important and tragic story. So if he is unable to join us today, it is completely understandable. But I just want

everyone to know, since we've been talking about it for the better part of an hour and a half, we are trying to get a hold of Aaron. We are hopeful to have him on in the next 90 minutes, but if not, it's kind of understandable why. Here's a text from Steve in White Rock. It's easy for us to allow our thankfulness to become passive,

but the act of taking time to be thankful every day has a much deeper meaning. Be specific in your thankfulness. Today, I'm thankful for getting to watch Johnny. He always reminded me personally of my friend that I thought would make the NHL, but it was always told he was too small. I'm thankful we get to wake up and chase our dreams another day like Johnny and Matthew Goudreau did. May Johnny and Matthew rest in peace and condolences to their family. Yeah, I think this, you know, in addition to tragedy,

a lot of what's coming through the Dunbar Lumber text line and what we've been talking about today is, man, these stories remind you to have some gratitude in your life. I'm not going to, I'm trying not to get on a soapbox here, but so often I see with the discourse that we have, especially politically in this country, uh, one of the greatest countries in the world, um, a beautiful country, um, that does have its problems, but people just get so focused on how bad it is.

I'm like, it's not that bad. Think of what this long weekend that we're going to have coming up. You know, hopefully you're going to get some time to rest and relax with, with your family. The weather's going to be beautiful. You know, I've, I've been trying to have a little more gratitude in my life and I'm telling

you, it makes a difference when I'm out with my family or when I'm out on the golf course with my buddies and looking around and it's a beautiful day and I'm just like, man, like, yeah, there's some things that I have to deal with in life. Yeah. This is an expensive city to live in, you know,

um, it's, it's hard. And, uh, you know, man, like certain things bug me about this world, but you know, know, I'm out there with my family or all my great friends. I mean, if you take a time to, if you take the time to actually be thankful for that and not be like, yeah, I have the, yeah, but like all this other bad stuff, I'm like, yep, you can acknowledge the bad stuff, but have some time to be appreciative of what you do have.

And I think that's a message that we're receiving in the Dunbar-Lumber text line. And I'm really glad to hear it, glad to read it on such a tragic day. Yeah, I think another thing that is absolutely appropriate for today is to understand part of the magnitude of this loss is what Goudreau meant to the different places he played,

to his fans, and acknowledging that this was a very unique and inspiring hockey player from where he came from, being a sort of undersized USHL player that, as you alluded to earlier earlier countless interviews with both him and his father so there were numerous occasions where he was told he wasn't going to be able to make it there wasn't going to be a next level for him he wasn't going to fulfill that dream of being an nhl player because he was five foot six and a hundred some odd pounds um there i know for a fact that um there's a lot of parents out there that have kids playing hockey that are on the smaller side that would probably be like be like that one there number 13 for the flames and then number 13 for the blue jackets and i think that there's a lot of people that um probably related to him more than other players because he wasn't getting by on a lot of the attributes that we kind of associate with an older version of the game. Either the high flying speed or the brute strength or a physicality. He wasn't blessed with incredible height and incredible strength.

He was. Most people don't have the physical attributes to make it to the NHL. That's why Johnny Goudreau and players like him are relatable. Yeah, and to really go back to the origin story of his professional hockey career, this was a guy that coming out of the USHL

was moderately regarded by NHL scouts, but he was a fourth round pick of the Calgary Flames and you know we played the audio coming back from break about his time at Boston College and that also coincided with when you and I were working

at NBC and covering the sport from a definite more American lean and American slant in hand part and parcel with that was covered a lot more college lean and American slant in, you know, hand part and parcel with that was covered a lot more college hockey than I ever had prior. And the star and the impact that he made with the style of play and the diminutive nature and the Johnny hockey nickname, um, and just the star just burst onto the scene at BC. I like going back to those ones because it's,

I think, I think the origin stories is always really cool, right? Well, how did these players get to, you know, at 29 or 30 making this multimillion dollar decision to switch NHL teams? Well,

it starts because the kid found that first platform and, you know, the time at Boston college where he's going to be remembered fondly. And I also bring back the Boston College thing because I know that he spoke about it publicly on a number of occasions. Getting to play with his brother, who also tragically passed in this incident, was one of the highlights of his hockey career. The last year that Johnny played at Boston College College the year that he won the Hobie Baker was also the year that he got to play that one year of collegiate hockey with his brother Matthew Thatcher Demko was a teammate of the Goudreau brothers at Boston College and Thatcher

Demko has shared on Instagram a picture of the Goudreau brothers and he adds genuine, genuinely some of the sweetest people I've played with and gotten close with, rest easy fellas. We've talked a lot about Thatcher Demko over the last couple of weeks and you know, it's about, well, is he injured? What's going on with him? What's going on with Ian Clark?

And, uh, that's, you know, it's not dumb that we spoke about it. Like that's life, that's, you know, it's not dumb that we spoke about it. Like that's life, what we're talking about, but these are always such a good reminder that, you know, sports in general, it's okay to have sports love and even some sports hate and sports jealousy and sport, you know, sports feelings, but it's separate from real life.

Like it's all separate. And at the end of the day, you know, I remember when we lost Botch and I wrote something for The Athletic and I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but the whole crux of it was like, hey, I made my whole media persona on like this guy that always cheers for sports teams that lose. Right.

And, you know, the Canucks have never won a Stanley Cup. And, and I wrote at the end of it, I was like, you know, you know, the, the little secret that I won't, you know, that I'm going to share right now is like, it doesn't matter. Right. It doesn't matter if the Canucks ever win the

Stanley Cup or not, you know, um, life is about going through the journey and some things that we want to see in life we'll see. And some things that, you know, we want to see, we won't see those, those won't happen. Um, and it's really just about, it's not about, it's life shouldn't be about trying to get somewhere to that point.

And God, I'm sorry to be sounding so trite and cliche, but like, it really is about the journey. It's about the day to day. It's not about like that one moment that you get, um, when we're going to see the Canucks hoist the Stanley cup. Sure.

Because the next day you're going to wake up and you're going to be like, that was fun. Life is still the same. Yeah. Well, you know, it's, as you talk about the subject of journey i'll use it as a jumping off point because uh the gadreau story as it goes from boston college to calgary to columbus um really there's there's so many highlights along the way that you want to try and remember you want to remember first and foremost what he means to his family to his wife to his son and daughter you know all those things he's a father he's a brother he's a husband um the intersection of sports and life which where we're at right now um you do remember the sporting side of it. And you talk about the impact that he made in Calgary

and how good he was and how much he meant to the team. And you go back and you look at some of the accolades and bursting onto the scene as a rookie, winning a Lady Bing, having that tremendous final year where he had 115 points and was named an NHL first all-star. All of these things led, and that journey took him to Columbus.

And joining us now on the program, very happy to have him on the program. I know it's an incredibly busy day, an incredibly emotional day, and a tragic one, but Aaron Portsline from The Athletic joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Aaron, I'm going to bypass usual. Good morning. How are you? I think I've got the answers to all that, and it's not an especially good morning.

But first, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this this morning. How are you doing? Oh, I mean, you know, not great, but I can't stop thinking about E and Jane Gaudreau and their daughters. I can't stop thinking about Johnny Gaudreau's wife, now widow, two kids under the age of two. I mean, this is a devastating story however you

look at it. But some of the stuff around this story, the fact that his sister was to be married today, and that the two sons, her brothers, were to be groomsmen, just, I mean, it's hard enough to process this stuff.

Anyway, that makes it next to impossible. And again, I just can't imagine what the Goodros are going through right now, just how utterly devastating this must be. Well, Aaron, I want to really thank you for taking the time out of your day to chat with us. I know it's going to be a busy day for you because you've got a professional obligation to cover this story. And I imagine you're going to write about this story and you're going to be talking to people about this tragedy. Um, how do you plan to, to cover this? Who are you going to reach out to?

Who are you going to chat with? Um, and I'm sure you're going to write something special. Well, thanks. Yeah, I mean, we have an entire editorial team that's already had two meetings today to discuss the way to do this appropriately. We were engaged last night when the rumors began, and we decided that we weren't going to say anything or do anything until we could confirm it with either the club, Johnny's agent, the league, or the police. There's just no, there's no race to have a story like this first.

So, but yeah, there's obviously a lot to put your arms around here to capture the spirit of Johnny Hockey, one of the few hockey players certainly in this country to transcend the sporting world. That nickname was recognized by people who weren't even necessarily big hockey fans. There are, I would safely guess, hundreds of kids in Columbus, Ohio. Probably kids waiting on that growth spurt, which may never come, who are inspired by Johnny Goudreau to play and give this game a shot and maybe make a difference as he did.

Yeah, it's just there's a lot there to write about, to cover, to capture, and we'll try to do it all in a way that is respectful to the situation, which is one of the things I really respect about this outlet. That was really well put about the impact that he had that sort of transcended hockey, and we've talked quite a bit about that with the nickname and the diminutive

nature and how he might've had players or younger players or aspiring players gravitate more towards him because of the way that he played and the way that he was built. And then there was the local aspect for Columbus that he chose the city and the market in free agency. With those two things in mind, can you put into words what Goudreau's impact was on Columbus? Yeah, well, if you think back to 2022, it was still fresh, the departures of Bobrovsky and Panarin.

It was still fresh. I believe Seth Jones had been traded at that point. It was gaining a reputation as a city, fairly or unfairly, I think, that players didn't want to be in, and players wanted to leave as soon as they could. And now here is the most sought-after free agent in that summer, 2022, who, honestly, the Blue Jackets really,

they were well underway with the rebuild. Johnny Gaudreau was not on their radar. Johnny Gaudreau sought them out. And if you don't think that means a lot to people in Columbus, Ohio, I don't think you understand the marketplace here. The team literally thought they were being brought into this as just a way to get more money out of the devils or the flyers. They were deeply suspicious. And then after a conversation

with Johnny Gaudreau himself, they became convinced that, my God, he is serious about this. He wanted to be closer to his family, but not too close. And so that, that, that really, really resonated with the people here who I think their feelings were bruised a bit, given the departures of those great players I mentioned. And now here's the guy who says, yeah, yeah, I'm picking Columbus. And so he immediately, I just wish the last two seasons could have been a little bit more successful so people could really celebrate him.

But he immediately embedded himself into the hearts of many Blue Jackets fans just by that simple act. I'm thinking about a lot of people today, as I'm sure we all are. Thinking about Sean Monaghan, former teammate of Johnny Goudreau's in Calgary. And then he signs with Columbus to provide some leadership on the team. And I'm reading a quote from him when he signed that contract. He said, I'm really looking forward to being teammates with Johnny again. Johnny is motivated to have a big season and be a huge part of the team.

And I'm excited to have the opportunity to reign be a huge part of the team. And I'm excited to have the opportunity to reignite the chemistry we had for close to a decade. He's an amazing teammate, person, and friend. I'm looking forward to these next five years. It really is incredible how quickly everything can change in just an instant. Yeah. And, you know, I think back, I have to think back too far, but just a little more than three years ago, this franchise lost goaltender Matisse Kivleniak to a tragedy on the 4th of July, this country's Independence Day. state of shock that really fell upon the franchise, but really hit again at training camp when the players, you know, showed up at camp and realized there's a player that should have been here that is. It was almost a second wave of grief.

This is going to be a devastating loss to so many in that dressing room I think first as I mentioned earlier his family his siblings, his wife his kids but then of his friends

and the people who knew him best and grief is handled differently by everybody. There's not going to be a set date where everybody's good to go. It'll be different for everybody, but it's going to be difficult

for a lot of people in that room. There's a part of them that will never be the same again. We're speaking to Aaron Portsline from The Athletic in Columbus here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Aaron joins us after news that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Goudreau and his younger brother Matthew Goudreau were killed Thursday night when they were hit by a suspected drunken driver

while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey. Aaron, it's been two years that Johnny's been a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. I just wanted to ask you, what are some of your memories of covering goudreau speaking with him on the regular getting to know him outside as a guy who visited with the calgary flames but as a full-fledged member of the columbus blue jackets yeah well you know the one thing that stood out to me is how he had an aura about him as Johnny Hockey, as an elite player in the National Hockey League. I think all players looked up to him, especially the young players and especially the players who were diminutive in size.

They saw him as as their inspiration um but he never wanted that aura in fact he could be really disarming with it and uh did his best frankly to to sort of brush that stuff aside in a room full of millionaires, multi-millionaires, guys wearing $800 sweatshirts and $2,000 sneakers. The drill on an off day would have a t-shirt that probably should have been retired seven years ago. He was just a low-key guy. Those shirts almost always represented some small business back in New Jersey

or Philly. Yeah, flip-flops, just a low-key guy, found joy in all of this, didn't want to be special even though he was. And I think that humility really landed with a lot of young guys too. Here's how to carry yourself, not just as a hockey player, but as a human being. Aaron, really want to thank you for taking the time today. I know it's going to be a busy day for you and a hard day for you.

And I'm grateful that you were able to spend a few minutes with us. Yeah, well, I appreciate it. Thanks for the conversation. Thanks for coming on. That's Aaron Portsline from The Athletic in Columbus here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We're going to go to break. The final hour of the program, like the first two hours of this program,

will be solely dedicated to remembering Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau, Johnny Hockey, who passed away Thursday evening. We will talk to Ryan Leslie, who covered Johnny for an awfully long time as a Calgary Flames ringside reporter. Johnny, of course, started his career in Calgary back in 2013, 2014, making his debut against the Vancouver Canucks, ironically enough, as we are on Sportsnet 650, your home of the Canucks. So we'll talk to Ryan Leslie coming up next.

At 8.30, we will read your texts like we normally do on a Friday, but we will be reading your texts about this tragedy. If you want to weigh in, if you feel like you need to mourn or grieve or get something off your chest or say something or text something, thoughts, memories, prayers, condolences, anything. Dunbar-Lemmer text line is 650-650. We're here for one more hour. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.