NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother were killed Thursday night, the eve of their sister’s wedding, when they were struck by a suspected drunk driver while riding their bicycles in their native New Jersey, police confirmed.
New Jersey State Police said Friday that the Gaudreau brothers were riding their bicycles on a highway in Oldmans Township Thursday night when a man driving a pickup truck in the same direction tried to pass two other vehicles.
The car ended up hitting the cyclists from behind at approximately 8 p.m., a little less than half an hour after sunset. A doctor certified them dead at the scene of the accident, some 35 miles south of Philadelphia.
Gaudreau, 31, and his brother Matt, 29, grew up in Carneys Point, New Jersey. They were on site for their sister Katie’s wedding on Friday in Philadelphia, where they were both scheduled to be groomsmen.
Police said the driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins, was suspected of being intoxicated. He was charged with two counts of death by vehicle and is being held in Salem County.
He also faces charges of negligent driving, possession of an open container and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
Higgins told a responding officer that he had consumed five or six beers before the crash. He admitted to drinking alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press.
He failed a sobriety test, the complaint said, although his blood alcohol level was not released. He will appear at his detention hearing on Sept. 5.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the NHL and is about to begin his third campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He spent his first nine seasons with the Calgary Flames, where he became one of the league’s best players, as well as one of its most beloved.
“Devastating news for all of us involved with the Gaudreau family,” Jerry York, who coached the brothers at Boston College, told AP by phone. “Both Matty and Johnny were hugely admired by all of us. Incredible young men and they were impressive on the ice.”
York praised the dedication Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jane, had shown to their family and to ice hockey. Gaudreau and his wife Meredith had been married since 2021 and had two children under the age of 2.
Noa was born in September 2022 and Johnny was born in February.
Jim Gaudreau, uncle of the deceased, spoke out in a statement issued by the family.
“We want everyone to know that we are receiving your messages of love and support, and we appreciate your thoughts and prayers,” she said. “We ask for your respect and privacy during this very difficult time of mourning.”
The Blue Jackets called the incident “an unimaginable tragedy.”
“Johnny was not only an incredible hockey player, but more notably a loving husband, father, son, brother and friend,” the team said in a statement. “Johnny played with a great joy that everyone felt when they were on the ice with him. He brought a true love of hockey wherever he played.”
Gaudreau was part of a generation of players who thrived in an era where speed and skill meant being undersized was no longer a disadvantage.
He scored at least 20 goals six times and was an All-Star, 115-point player in the 2021-22 season with 40 goals and 75 assists.
Fans laid flowers and hockey sticks in tribute to the player outside Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus and outside the Flames’ home in Calgary.
There were minutes of silence in Cincinnati before a baseball game between the home Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers, and before a pre-Olympic game in Bratislava between the host team Slovakia and Hungary.
