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NHL Player Johnny Gaudreau, Brother Matthew Killed While Riding By Suspected Drunk Driver

RIP Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau
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Terrible news out of New Jersey today: two more cyclists have been killed by an impatient, possibly drunk, motorist. Those cyclists include Johnny Gaudreau who played in the NHL for the Columbus Bluejackets, and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau. Making the tragedy even more painful is the fact that the brothers were in New Jersey for their Sister’s wedding the following day.

According to the reports, 43 year-old Sean M. Higgins of Woodstown, New Jersey was traveling North when he tried to pass a slower-moving sedan and SUV by pulling into the Southbound lane. Higgins passed the sedan, but then the SUV moved out into the Southbound lane as well to give the cyclists room while passing. That’s when Higgins, who police suspect was under the influence of alcohol at the time, decided to try to pass the SUV on the right, plowing directly into the brothers riding from behind.

Not only is this not an accident as suggested by many headlines this morning (including the Columbus Dispatch which has now changed its headline), but it seems the Gaudreau brothers’ deaths were the result of alcohol-fueled road rage, if not worse. According to the police affidavit, as reported by 6 ABC out of Philadelphia, Higgins admitted to having “five to six” beers before the crash and told investigators he thought the SUV was trying to stop him from passing. Higgins also failed a field sobriety test.

Higgins has been charged with two counts of death by auto and is currently being held at Salem County Correctional Facility, but if it’s like any other cyclist’s death by auto, he’ll probably get off with a slap on the wrist.

Our thoughts go out to the Gaudreau family, and all those before Johnny and Matthew whose lives have been cut short by inattentive, impatient, or outright impaired motorists. Update: an official Gofundme has been set up for Matthew’s Wife who is currently pregnant with their future son.

From the NHL:

NEW YORK (August 30, 2024) – National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman released the following statement on the passing of Johnny Gaudreau:

“The National Hockey League family is shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew. While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey,’ he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path.

“Gaudreau often told the story of how his father taught him to skate as a child in his home state of New Jersey and he carried that same youthful passion throughout his 11 NHL seasons. A skilled playmaker, Gaudreau participated in the NHL All-Star Game seven times where he was always a fan favorite, particularly while showcasing his talents in the various skills competitions for which he was so well suited.

“He will be remembered fondly in Calgary, where he played his first nine seasons with the Flames from 2013-14 to 2021-22, emerging as one of our League’s brightest young stars while compiling the franchise’s fifth-highest career points total. His loss also will be felt profoundly in Columbus, the city in which he chose to settle his family and where he was one of the respected, veteran leaders of a club building toward the playoffs. And both Johnny and Matthew will be mourned at Boston College, where they were teammates the year Johnny won the Hobey Baker Award in 2013-14, and at Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey, where both played and where Matthew was the head hockey coach following his own five-year pro playing career.

“We send our most heart-felt condolences to his wife Meredith; their children, Noa and Johnny; his parents, Guy and Jane; and sisters Kristen and Katie. And we grieve alongside his teammates, members of the Blue Jackets and Flames organizations, his many friends in hockey and countless fans around the world for whom he created indelible memories on and off the ice.”

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Tom
Tom
3 months ago

Honest question – what the hell do you do with guys like Higgins? If he’s not a complete psychopath, I don’t see how he can live with himself. Prison might be the penance he needs for himself, but supporting this guy for the years he has ahead of him is an utter waste. Wish there was a way ship him off to a place where he would commit himself to pure service, like a convent. One slip up, and he goes to super max prison for 20 years where he can live out his remaining years in pure purgatory.
My heart is broken for the family.

jim
jim
3 months ago
Reply to  Tom

Supermax? That’ll never happen. I’ve been hit, injured, and sent to the hospital by drunk drivers, and there was never any discussion by authorities of an assault or battery charge of any kind. Maybe it’s my cynicism showing, but it always painted as just an “unfortunate accident”, and cyclist injuries or deaths are accepted outcomes, apparently unless the victim is a celebrity of some note.

Marc Smith
Marc Smith
3 months ago
Reply to  jim

Any wise mafia hitman would use a car to kill, even with a hit and run, he would walk away with any good lawyer because, you know, “it was just a car”. THe irony is also with all them hockey fanboys with their massive pick up just realizing that most NHL players ride bikes to stay fit.

IF NHL HAD ANY MESSAGE TO GET OUT IS TO TELL PEOPLE THAT HOCKEY PLAYERS USE BIKES AND WOULD LIKE TO LIVE, JUST LIKE OUR SON AND DAUGHTERS.

Watch a hockey game on TV, all you see are adverts for pick up trucks burning through roads at high speeds. Watch the hockey fan gathering by the incident site: guys with massive Suburban behemoth used to get a crate of milk…

what a sad sad story.

craig
3 months ago
Reply to  Tom

Complete psycopath? His behavior, as described, sounds to me too much like that of a lot of other drivers on the road. We’ve spent decades conditioning people to the idea they should be able to drive as fast and as easily as they want from point A to point B, and as a result they get angry and often aggressive about anything that slows them down. I’m confident Mr. Higgin’s attorney will observe that the “poor man” thought the SUV was in the process of turning off the road to the left, and thus Mr. Higgins did what “any driver” would do and passed on the right, and “though this might be ‘technically’ illegal, we all do it, making this just an unfortunate accident.” And worse, I can envision a jury of drivers buying this bullshit. Or, even worse, a DA deciding a jury would buy this line of bullshit and subsequently deciding not to prosecute as in Arizona where a driver killed two and injured 17. https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/11/30/goodyear-man-avoids-felony-charges-in-fatal-cyclist-crash/71759787007/

Marc Smith
Marc Smith
3 months ago
Reply to  Tom

If you want to kill someone in American and walk away, use a car, the most celebrated right to being a proper citizen is to own a car and be an asshole behind the wheel. Look at all the car adverts… freedom, speed, liberty, rights. What an absolute disaster.

bill
bill
3 months ago

This really sucks…

Deputy Dawg
Deputy Dawg
3 months ago

Tragic. As an avid cyclist and former hockey player, my heart goes out to his family and friends.

Reformed Roadie
Reformed Roadie
3 months ago

So sad, on so many levels.
Road riding is so much more dangerous now than it was when I became a serious “roadie” in the mid-90s. I’m not sure which is a greater part of it, the distracted driving or the aggressive, speeding, rush that everyone is in. If he pauses for what…10 seconds to follow the passing car, instead of trying to get around, this doesn’t happen.
He may have guilt, but he’s still here.

Mitch Erwen
Mitch Erwen
3 months ago

And if it wasn’t Gaudreau but just another cyclist and their brother, it would barely make the news. Cyclists are third rate road users. Permanently injured, too bad so sad.

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