NHL fans call out the Colorado Avalanche after they refused to pay tribute to Johnny Gaudreau against Columbus
The Colorado Avalanche kicked off their 2024/25 season at home on Saturday, but are now under fire after forgetting to pay tribute to the fallen Johnny Gaudreau.
On Saturday night, the Colorado Avalanche officially started the new season with a home matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and while their opponent has been banged up in the past few weeks, no one expected them to fall in dominant fashion against Columbus. There's many storylines coming out of this game, however the most intriguing may come from social media, as the team is now under fire for not honouring the fallen Johnny Gaudreau before the game.
Before the contest began, the team brought out NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets to present Nathan MacKinnon with his Hart Trophy, in what was a very special moment for both men and the crowd in attendance. Unfortunately, they're now being called out on social media, as every other team in the league has honoured Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau with a 13-second moment of silence before their games whereas the Avalanche did not.
Sure, against any other team this may be able to be passed off as simply wanting to honour MacKinnon and give him his moment, but given how much the NHL was hurting this off-season after the tragic passing, and how they were playing against Gaudreau's former team, this is simply inexcusable. It's unclear if the team will opt to do this going forward, and it's unclear if most teams will do this throughout the year or simply for their home opener, but given how beautiful the tributes around the league have been, Colorado have no excuse for forgetting this on such a big occasion.
