Johnny Gaudreau's widow Meredith writes touching letter to Calgary and Flames fans
Before Meredith Gaudreau ever met her late husband Johnny while he was starring for the Calgary Flames, he was simply just some guy at her sister’s birthday party.
In an article published Thursday on the Players’ Tribune, Meredith spoke about her relationship with the former Flames and Blue Jackets star, who was tragically killed last summer along with his brother Matthew by an allegedly drunk driver while on a bike ride in their home state of Pennsylvania.
While most pieces on the site are written from a first-person view from an athlete, Meredith wrote about the connection she had to Calgary, and later Columbus, with her late husband.
The pair met in 2018 and quickly launched into a long-distance relationship, with him in Alberta and her working as a nurse at a Pennsylvania Children’s Hospital.
“One of the first nights after we hung out I went to YouTube. I typed in ‘johnny gaudreau hockey,’ and there you were. There were all these people in red, in Calgary, and you were their guy. I couldn’t believe it,” Meredith wrote. “You were just John to me. The shy boy from the house next door who was afraid of the Atlantic Ocean. The boy who hated to sleep alone at night.”
Meredith documented her first travel north of the border to Calgary to watch her then-boyfriend play, with admittedly little knowledge of what would eventually become her new home.
“Gosh, do you remember my first trip there? How I had to ask my mom where my passport was? Because I had never been to Canada…. We had to check that it wasn’t expired. I landed in Calgary and I didn’t know what customs were, or why my cell phone wasn’t working, or how I’d ever find your friend to pick me up. I was so worried, and then I remember looking at this billboard and there you were, number 13, in your Flames jersey. The coolest guy in town… I was thinking, What in the world…….. Where am I?”
The couple was engaged in 2020 and married in 2021, eventually moving in together full-time in Calgary.
“You loved Calgary so much. And I loved that about you,” she added. “You were so proud to be a Flame. You showed me around town with a big smile on your face. All your favorite spots, your favorite people. I liked hearing all the Alberta accents — it still cracks me up to this day. I think we walked every inch of that city together. Pretty soon I fell in love with it, too.”
But less than a year after their wedding, the couple made the emotional decision to leave the Flames and Calgary behind in order to move back east to Columbus.
“I know how hard it was on you. You weren’t eating like usual, you barely slept. I’d feel you leave the bed at night and go to think about it. You loved being a Flame. I know that. And you knew how painful it would be to leave. I kept telling you, ‘Whatever you choose, John, I will be happy.'”
The decision was one that drew a strong reaction from most Flames fans, particularly due to how dismantled the team had become that summer. After winning the Pacific Division that year, both Johnny and Matthew Tkachuk left town: the former via free agency, the latter via a trade request that saw him end up in Florida.
“I told you I loved Calgary, too… You told me it was our choice. I appreciated that. It was hard on us both that we didn’t get many visitors. We missed our families so much. It was difficult to get to Calgary for our siblings with their kids, and our parents with their grandchildren. COVID just made it worse. And family meant everything to you. It was one of the hardest decisions we ever made,” Meredith added. “Calgary will always — always — be a part of who we are.”
While Johnny was initially booed upon his return to Calgary with the Blue Jackets, the massive outpouring of support outside the Saddledome following his death shows that the bond between him and his former home will remain an eternal one.