Jagr writes beautiful tribute to late teammate Gaudreau
Jagr writes beautiful tribute to late teammate Gaudreau
Late forward, killed in crash Thursday, had assist on legend's final NHL goal
© Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images
The entire hockey world is still shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew.
Johnny and Matthew were struck by a car and killed while riding bicycles near their home in Salem County, New Jersey, on Thursday night. After the tragedy, NHL players, fans and friends took to social media to recount the incredible career of the man dubbed “Johnny Hockey.”
One clip making the rounds was of Jaromir Jagr‘s final NHL goal — the 766th of his astounding NHL career — which of course was set up beautifully by Gaudreau in a 2-on-1 break against the Detroit Red Wings during the 2017-18 NHL season.
It was the only goal Jagr would score for the Flames and obviously a fond memory for him. Gaudreau had 60 assists to go with 24 goals that season.
On Monday, Jagr shared the highlight on social media and posted a heartfelt message to go with it. Jagr, who is second in NHL history in points (1,921) and fourth in goals (766) had kind words for his former teammate.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Jaromír Jágr (@jj68jaromirjagr)
The original message (posted in Jagr’s native Czech) was a beautifully written tribute to his former teammate.
“I honestly never thought I’d write a text like this to a post,” Jagr wrote. “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.”
