Team USA wasn’t playing for themselves. They played for country and NHL great Johnny Gaudreau, also known as Johnny Hockey.
If you don’t know the story of Johnny Gaudreau, he had been working his tail off to make the 2026 Olympic team.
The 31 year old 11-year NHL veteran along with his 29 year old brother Matthew, were killed by an alleged drunk driver while cycling on a rural road in New Jersey on Aug. 29th, 2024.
With his family in Milan, his former U.S. teammates dedicated their gold medal triumph to him.
Johnny would have wanted nothing more than to be with and play with them.
Team USA Hockey invited the family to attend the Games.
When it came time for the Gold Medal pictures, Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski went into the stands and grabbed Johnny’s children, Noa Guadreau, age 3, and 2-year-old Johnny Jr., whose birthday was Sunday, and took them to center ice for the team picture, along with Johnny’s sweater.
If this doesn’t make you proud of America, nothing will. 🇺🇸
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