Democracy Dies in Darkness
NHL

What the NHL’s Blue Jackets, still mourning a teammate, carry with them

The Columbus Blue Jackets, a team trying to cope with the death of star forward Johnny Gaudreau, play their first home game of the season Tuesday.

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Johnny Gaudreau, a star forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and his brother, Matthew, were killed in August while riding bikes in New Jersey. (Joe Maiorana/AP)
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was love, in its purest form. That was how Johnny Gaudreau played hockey, Erik Gudbranson said.

Gaudreau was Gudbranson’s teammate twice over: once with the Calgary Flames, then again on the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was Gudbranson who told the Blue Jackets that Gaudreau — one of the NHL’s brightest stars — was interested in making Columbus his home. And it’s Gudbranson, along with a host of others, grappling with an incalculable loss.