Former Rangers captain pens heartfelt tribute to Johnny Gaudreau
The stunning death of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau last week has impacted members of the hockey community at all levels. That includes Jaromir Jagr, the former New York Rangers captain and second-leading scorer all-time in NHL history.
Jagr played his final NHL season with the Calgary Flames in 2017-18 and was Gaudreau’s teammate there. The hockey icon scored just one goal that season in 22 games, a 2-on-1 break with Gaudreau, who assisted on the 766th goal of Jagr’s NHL career.
Following Gaudreau’s untimely death, Jagr posted a heartfelt message on Instagram, one that included a clip of that final goal.
“I honestly never thought I’d write a text like this to a post,” Jagr wrote in his native Czech. “Yea that was my last NHL goal Yes, that was a pretty nice goal. Yes, it was a beautiful pass above all. Unfortunately, life can sometimes be incredibly cruel. Thank you Johnny Gaudreau for being there and giving hope to all the guys with your incredible performances that though they are not the biggest and toughest, they can succeed at the NHL world class just like you did. My condolences to the whole family. R.I.P. to you and your brother.”
Gaudreau, who was 31, and his 29-year-old brother Matthew, sustained fatal injuries when struck by a passing car as they were biking in southern New Jersey last Thursday evening. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that the brothers were set to be groomsmen at their sister’s scheduled wedding on Friday.
“John and Matty. U don’t hear one name without the other. Always side by side. Even in large group settings, u can find them hip to hip,” Johnny’s widow, Meredith, wrote on Instagram. “John’s younger brother- but he looked up to Matty and relied on him for everythinggg. And Matty was always there. Absolute best friends and biggest fans of each other despite polar opposite personalities. Everyone wanted to be around them, including me.”
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Rangers legend mentored Johnny Gaudreau in their 1 season as teammates
Though Jagr and Gaudreau weren’t teammates for long, it’s clear that the veteran thought highly of the younger star, who had 84 points (24 goals, 60 assists) in that 2017-18 season. Jagr, who was 45 then, took Gaudreau under his wing and pumped him up. He even told reporters that Gaudreau could be a perennial Art Ross Trophy candidate, to lead the NHL in scoring on a regular basis.
That support moved Gaudreau to say at the time, “It’s pretty special when someone says something like that to you. Because it’s not every day that someone as good as him says something about a player that has only been in the league four years.”
Gaudreau never led the NHL in scoring, but did tie for second in 2021-22 when he had an NHL career-high 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists). That total trailed only Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid (123).
Johnny Hockey had 743 points (243 goals, 500 assists) in 763 NHL games with the Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Jagr, who won the Art Ross Trophy five times and had 1,921 career points, is surpassed only by Wayne Gretzky (2,857 points) in NHL history. The two-time Stanley Cup champion played for nine NHL teams, including three-plus seasons with the Rangers, where he was also captain.
In fact, Jagr holds the Rangers records for most goals (54) and points (123) in a single season (2005-06). He played all 82 games in each of his three full seasons with the Rangers, and had 319 points (124 goals, 195 assists) in 277 games with them.
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