For the Columbus Blue Jackets, this season was unlike any other. “It’s a lot of stuff. Right? A lot of stuff. So, yeah … It’s just a lot of stuff that we’ll go over here, but we’re very proud of how this team played,” said an emotional Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason after the Blue Jackets finished their season with a 6-1 win over the New York Islaners on Thursday. A valiant 6-game winning streak brought him within inches of the playoff spot. And through it all—through all the highs and lows—lingered the memory of Johnny Gaudreau, who was taken away too soon.

Evason had tried his best to hold back his tears through the chants of ‘Johnny Hockey’ that reverberated across Nationwide Arena. Until he couldn’t.

“He will not leave our dressing room as long as I’m here. He will be in there, and he’ll be a presence, and he’ll help us win hockey games, and he’ll hopefully get us to where we want to be, and that’s to win a Stanley Cup,” an emotional Evason was quoted by journalist Nicole Kraft shared on X. The post featured the Johnny Gaudreau jersey hanging in the Blue Jackets locker room. Perfectly placed in his usual spot—in between where  Sean Monahan and Sean Kuraly sit.

“I wasn’t sure, to be honest. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was in Columbus for a while, and I couldn’t bring myself to the rink. It was hard,” Monahan shared with the NY Times, stating how difficult it had been for him to play without his best friend. After all, Monahan perhaps wouldn’t have joined the Blue Jackets had it not been for Gaudreau. “We were looking forward to playing together again, of course. But we were both really excited to raise our kids together,” shared the two-way center. But that was not to be. On August 29 last year, when Monahan was on his way to Columbus with his family to start training camp with the Blue Jackets, he received the call. Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew had lost their lives after being hit by a car while riding bicycles in Oldmans Township, New Jersey.

The tragedy left the Gaudreau family devastated. Yet, they found strength in the memory of the brothers and in how they have been honored by the entire NHL community.

Johnny Gaudreau’s wife joins the Blue Jackets’ tribute game

Among the 18,874 fans who chanted ‘Johnny Hockey’ was Gaudreau’s wife, Meredith. She was there to support her husband’s team in the final game of the season, whose emotions were captured in a montage video that played during the final TV timeout—before the Blue Jackets celebrated their 40th win of the season and red streamers started raining.

The whole grit and grief the team experienced while honoring their No. 13’s legacy that was on display was shared by Meredith on her Instagram story. “So much love,” she wrote, as Matthew’s wife Madeline also shared a picture of his brother-in-law’s jersey hanging in the Blue Jackets locker room.

For the Blue Jackets, it has all been about carrying forward Johnny Gaudreau’s pride and legacy. Because that is where the team found its strength to compete in their matches despite being under the heavy weights of sorrow. And it means more than their stats and standings, right? After all, it wasn’t about the lack of achievement this season that mattered most, but rather, who they played for.