‘You loved being a Flame': Meredith Gaudreau reflects on Calgary years in Father's Day love letter to Johnny Hockey
A few days before Father's Day, Meredith Gaudreau penned a love letter to her late husband Johnny that included plenty of fond memories of their time together in Calgary.
The article, published Thursday in The Players' Tribune, is a loving reminiscence about her relationship with the former Calgary Flames star, who was killed along with his brother Matthew, struck by a vehicle while cycling on a highway in New Jersey before their sisters' wedding on Aug. 29, 2024.
Meredith's article starts at the moment the two met, when Meredith, who was working an all-night shift as a waitress at a Philadelphia diner, opened the door to discover Gaudreau, who she said, 'wasn't much bigger than me.'
'Hey, I'm Johnny,' he said.
Johnny Gaudreau
algary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau celebrates his goal on Minnesota Wild goalie Cam Talbot during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 28, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Craig Lassig, File)
He's there to meet his buddies and they all end up at a bar in Avalon, a beach town in New Jersey, where Meredith discovers that everyone gravitates toward John, who ends up buying 40 vodkas and sodas for everyone in the bar.
'And I was like, Who is this guy?" she writes. "I didn't know a thing about you.
'But without words, you said so much to me,' she adds. 'I just got to see you and to see the way people saw you.'
Eventually, she learned that Gaudreau was a pro hockey player.
'You told me about a place called Calgary,' she said. 'I'd drive to Philadelphia for my night shifts. Seven at night to seven in the morning. I'd come home, sleep for as short as I could, then I'd go find you.'
Eventually, Meredith googled Gaudreau and discovered who he was in Canada.
'Eventually I learned all about hockey, and how you were a good player. Sorry, John — but my first thought was, Really? You're not much bigger than me.
'One of the first nights after we hung out I went to YouTube. I typed in 'johnny gaudreau hockey,' and there you were,' she said. 'There were all these people in red, in Calgary, and you were their guy. I couldn't believe it."
'My cell phone wasn't working'
Her first visit to Alberta was also her first visit to Canada.
'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,' she wrote. '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?"
That first night in Calgary, Meredith went to her first Flames game.
"You scored a goal,' she said. 'You were the first star of the night. I saw hundreds of people in GAUDREAU jerseys. It was all so surreal."
'You loved Calgary so much,' she said. 'And I loved that about you. 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,' she added. '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.'
Eventually, the two got married and Meredith moved to Calgary, where Johnny starred for eight years, but the pandemic kept them apart and it was difficult for all their various family members to travel to Alberta, so in July 2022, Gaudreau signed with Columbus to be closer to the east coast.
Along the way they had three children -- the youngest, Carter was born seven months after Gaudreau died on Aug. 29, 2024, which was also the fourth anniversary of the day he proposed to Meredith.
Gaudreau has been honoured in Columbus, Calgary, at Boston College where he played NCAA hockey, at his high school -- and at the world hockey championships, where the gold-winning USA team brought his jersey on the ice as a tribute when they received their medals.
Now, Meredith said their son Noa watches videos of Johnny playing hockey.
'You were humble, you were responsible, you were hard-working. You were the sweetest boyfriend, the greatest husband, and the best father,' she said. 'You wanted everything to be about me and the kids.
'You would have done anything for them. I know that. And they will know it, too. I promise, John."
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