The Columbus Blue Jackets paid an emotional tribute to and in the team’s first regular season home game since the brothers were killed.
The tribute began with a video montage of Johnny’s career and life. The clip featured interview snippets of Johnny sharing what hockey meant to him.
“Growing up my dad had me on the ice, and I think I was two or three days old,” Johnny said of how he got his start skating. “He put me right in the skates as soon as he could and he put my younger brother in skates as soon as he could as well. We have kind of been a hockey family ever since.”
The video showed highlights of Johnny throughout his career with the Calgary Flames and the Blue Jackets. Johnny gushed about how he enjoyed the team’s “close knit” nature and how he grateful he was to join the organization as a free agent.
“Change is hard sometimes but when you have familiar faces it makes it so much easier,” he said. “You want to surround yourself with people who make you better not only on the ice but off the ice and that’s something I tried to do all my life.”
In the final moments of the video, Johnny shared that he wanted his legacy to not be just about his career milestones but about his family as well.
“Growing up you look back at your childhood and you see this is what I was meant to do,” he reflected. “I think when it’s all set and done I want to be remembered as a guy who just wanted to be around the rink and around his friends around his family. I could go on and on but being a hockey guy I guess.”
After the video, Johnny’s parents and sister took the ice with the Blue Jackets and the Florida Panthers. Johnny’s wife, , also joined the team with her and Johnny’s two children: daughter Noa, 2, and son Johnny, 7 months. Teammate and close friend, , stood beside Meredith and held Johnny Jr. The Blue Jackets also hung up a pennant with Johnny’s name and number in the arena. After the emotional moment, fans chanted “Johnny Hockey” in the late player’s honor.
Johnny, 31, and Matthew, 29, were killed by a suspected drunk driver while riding their bicycles in Oldmans Township, New Jersey on August 29.
, the man charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths, remains in jail. He faces up 20 years in prison if convicted.
Johnny signed a seven-year contract with the Blue Jackets in July 2022 after spending the first nine years of his NHL career with the Calgary Flames.
During her emotional eulogy at Johnny’s memorial service in September, Meredith talked at length about the couple’s love for the city of Columbus.
“You so quickly became home and became our family,” Meredith said. “The memories we made in Columbus as a growing family are the best years of my life.”
During her speech at the funeral, Meredith revealed she is pregnant with the couple’s third baby.
“To Columbus and our Blue Jackets family, I can’t describe how shattered I am that I don’t get more time in your amazing city with John,” Meredith continued. “Most underrated city. I’m so glad we got to learn the hidden gem that is Columbus, Ohio together.”
Since Johnny’s death, his former Blue Jackets teammates and coaches have shown up for his family in a big way. Earlier this months, dozens of his friends and their partners showed up to daughter Noa’s birthday. Prior to Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers, Johnny and Matthew’s father skated on the ice with the team.
Matthew, who coached minor league hockey after a playing career with his brother at Boston College, was survived by his wife . Shortly after Matthew’s death, Madeline revealed she was pregnant with the couple’s first baby.
“Matt will surround his son for the rest of his life,” Madeline said of their son, who will be named Tripp, during her eulogy.
She added, “I’m so thankful God gave us a child, a little Matty, to run around for life, to carry on his legacy. Tripp will know how much his father loved him, and I promise to do all the things with him we talked about.”
