Florida Panthers pay tribute to Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau before today's puck drop

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Cooper Godin
September 22, 2024 (4:32 PM)

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The Florida Panthers paid tribute to Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau before today's puck drop against The Florida Panthers.

As we close in on the one month mark since the passing of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, teams across the National Hockey League continue to pay tribute to the brothers and will do so throughout their respective preseason openers.

During their first game of a split-squad doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, the Florida Panthers shared a video on the jumbotron that featured highlights of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, followed by a 13 second moment of silence, in reference to Johnny's number he wore with the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets.

It's been a tough time for the hockey world and for all of Johnny and Matthew's friends and former teammates as we get closer to opening night for the 2024-25 season. Johnny's former teams, Calgary and Columbus, will have special plans to honour his legacy throughout the 2024-25 campaign, some of which from the Blue Jackets has already been released, including keeping his stall in the locker room intact for the entire year.

One big way to honour Johnny Gaudreau that fans have been calling for is the retirement of his number 13. It's something that doesn't need much debating on, especially in Calgary where he registered 609 points in 602 games. Gaudreau's 609 points are good for 5th all-time in Calgary Flames franchise history.

We'll have to wait and see what both teams have in store to honour the brothers this season, but it wouldn't be a surprise in the least to see Johnny's number 13 in the rafters at the Saddledome and Nationwide Arena.

The tributes from around the NHL has been touching, thoughtful and meaningful to the Gaudreau family as well as fans around the hockey world, the void the loss of the Gaudreau bothers created is nothing short of crushing.