The funeral for NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, has been scheduled for Monday at a church in suburban Philadelphia while the driver charged with killing them remains in jail awaiting his next court appearance.
The memorial service for the Gaudreau brothers is set to take place at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pa. The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, for whom Johnny Gaudreau played and was known around the sport as “Johnny Hockey,” said the team will stream the service on its website.
The Gaudreau brothers died last week when they were struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver while riding their bicycles in their home state of New Jersey on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding. Sean M. Higgins appeared virtually at his first pretrial hearing Thursday. The judge postponed the hearing to Sept. 13 to allow attorneys more time to prepare.
Higgins, 43, is being held at a Salem County jail. He is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container, and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.
Attorneys Matthew Portella and Richard Klineburger III said Higgins had hired them to represent him.
“This is a tragedy involving a great deal of emotion and impacting many individuals,“ they said in a statement. ”It is too early in the stages of the legal process to make any out-of-court statements.”
Countless members of the hockey community from Columbus to South Jersey to Boston College, where the Gaudreaus played, are expected to join family and friends for the funeral. Blue Jackets General Manager Don Waddell said the entire team would be there, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is also planning to be in attendance.
Rev. Eric J. Banecker in a letter to parents said school at St. Mary Magdalen would be closed Monday because of the service.
“This will be an extraordinarily large funeral for two young men, one of whom was a professional hockey player,” Banecker wrote in the letter that was posted on social media. “The fact is we cannot ensure a safe school day and dismissal given the expected crowd. I ask you to consider this inconvenience a small sacrifice that will help ease the pain just a bit of John and Matthew’s parents, wives, children, siblings, relatives, and friends.”
Fans and current and former players paid tribute to Johnny and Matthew in candlelight vigils in Columbus, Ohio, and Calgary, Alberta, on Wednesday night. There was a 13 minute, 21-second silent remembrance outside the Blue Jackets’ downtown arena while a slideshow played of photos showing the siblings from childhood through their teenage years and into college hockey, the pros, marriages, baptisms, and lives filled with joy and love.
The crowd outside the Flames’ arena in Calgary, where Johnny began his NHL career and rose to stardom, grew to thousands, with fans breaking out into chants of, “Johnny! Johnny!”
Lewis Gross, the brothers’ longtime agent, said Thursday it had taken him some time to write about what the 15 years representing them meant to him, including becoming part of the extended Gaudreau family.
“I never thought the bad would come as it has,” Gross wrote on social media. “The hockey might be over, but my commitment to John and Matt will last throughout my life. These boys taught me so much. They taught me what family really means.”
Obituaries published Thursday directed contributions to the John & Matthew Gaudreau Foundation, care of Gross at Sports Professional Management in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Pat Kelleher, USA Hockey’s executive director, opened remarks about the 2024 class of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame with continued thoughts and prayers for the Gaudreau family. Kevin Stevens, one of the inductees, played at Boston College three decades before the Gaudreaus.
“The last week has been awful,” Stevens said. “It’s just gut-wrenching. It’s unimaginable—something that you never want to have to try to deal with. We all come together and try to do the best we can to make this go by somehow.”
