At 8:19pm on August 29, 2024, brothers John Gaudreau and Matthew Gaudreau were cycling on County Route 551 in Oldmans Township, New Jersey when they were struck and killed by the motor vehicle driven by a 44-year-old man, Sean M. Higgins, who had a blood-alcohol level of 0.087. August 29, 2024 was the day before John and Matthew's younger sister's wedding which was scheduled to take place in the area.

John was 31 years old and had a wife and 2 children and one expected child (born in April 2025, after his death), Matthew was 29 years old and had a wife and one expected child (born December 2024, after his death).

John played professional hockey for the NHL Calgary Flames from 2014 to 2022 and the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets from 2022 to 2024. He was a 7-time NHL All-Star and won the 2017 NHL Lady Byng Memorial Trophy awarded to "the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability." He also played for Team USA at the 2018 IIHF World Championship, 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship, and 2010 U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and Team North America U23 at the 2016 NHL World Cup of Hockey. In his teenage development years, he played for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL in 2010-11, and the Boston College Eagles of the NCAA Division I from 2011 to 2014.

Matthew played minor professional hockey between the years 2018 and 2022 for the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Stockton Heat, and the ECHL Worcester Railers and Reading Royals. In his teenage development years, he played for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL from 2011 to 2013, and the Boston College Eagles of the NCAA Division I from 2013 to 2017.

Read more about their deaths, legacy, and the family left without them here:

• https://www.nhl.com/news/johnny-gaudreau-dies-at-31

• https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets/2025/10/29/sean-higgins-due-back-in-new-jersey-courtroom-in-fatal-johnny-gaudreau-crash/86928699007/

• https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/sean-higgins-court-setback-johnny-and-matthew-gaudreau-deadly-crash-new-jersey/4334207/

• https://www.usahockey.com/news_article/show/1319811

• https://people.com/johnny-matthew-gaudreau-parents-hospitalized-after-sons-deaths-11798981

• https://abcnews.go.com/US/gaudreau-brothers-widows-speak-1-year-after-deadly/story?id=124540139

• https://thehockeynews.com/news/news/shut-up-about-the-johnny-hockey-trademark