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Blue Jackets Fans Sing 'Happy Birthday' to Johnny Gaudreau's Son in Heartwarming Moment
Johnny Gaudreau's son was in attendance for Saturday night's Chicago Blackhawks-Columbus Blue Jackets game and the crowd gave him a special present for his first birthday. During a stoppage of play, fans at Nationwide Arena were encouraged to band together to sing "Happy Birthday" to the youngster.
And they were more than happy to oblige.
Join us in wishing a very special boy a very special 1st birthday!
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 23, 2025
Happy birthday, Baby Johnny ❤️ pic.twitter.com/nKYaKq94V1
Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed in August after they were struck by a car while riding bicycles.
Team USA honored Gaudreau by having his jersey in the locker room at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and American fans chanted Gaudreau's name during games. Honorary captain Mike Eruzionealso wore the No. 13 sported by the former Blue Jackets star.
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Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.