The tragic news of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau’s death broke late Thursday night. Two days later, his wife Meredith Gaudreau shared her first social media posts since the incident.
Gaudreau and his younger brother Matthew were involved in a fatal accident while cycling in their hometown of Oldmans Township, N.J. A drunk driver crashed into the Gaudreau brothers as the former was switching lanes on a highway.
On Saturday, Meredith uploaded two separate posts on Instagram to honor her late husband. The first focused on their relationship, which she wrote felt “too good to be true” at times.
“Thank you for the best years of my life,” Meredith captioned the post, which included several pictures of them as a couple.
“Despite losing you, I am still the luckiest girl in the world to have been yours. I love you so so much. You were perfect. Some days it felt too good to be true. I love every single thing about you. You are my forever and I can’t wait to be with you again. I love you so much forever and ever.”
The second was about Johnny as a father and how he was the “best partner” for Meredith to go through parenthood with.
“The absolute best dad in the world,” Meredith wrote.” So caring and loving. The best partner to go through parenthood with. John never missed a single appointment. Was the best at putting the baby to sleep and the Apple of Noa’s eye. I love how much she looks like him. We are going to make you proud. We love you so so so much daddy.”
The couple shared two young children — Noa and Johnny.
Johnny Gaudreau played 11 seasons in the NHL. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames.
Gaudreau played nine seasons for the Flames before signing a seven-year, $68.25 million contract with Columbus before the 2022-23 campaign.
In his final season with the Blue Jackets, Gaudreau recorded 12 goals and scored 60 points in 81 games played. He finished with 243 goals and 743 points in 763 career NHL games.
