Both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames held vigils on Wednesday night to remember Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. Thousands of fans showed up at each vigil paying their respects to not only two hockey players, but two great people.
One thought prevailed in Columbus as the night went on. Thousands of fans came to pay their respects to a player in Johnny who left an indelible mark on them. He played two seasons for the Blue Jackets. Although they didn’t know him personally, he was like a member of their family.
All of the stories that have come out about Johnny and Matthew have pointed to one major theme. If you saw one brother, you likely saw the other not far away. To those that knew the brothers personally, they got to see their bond in action. It was unbreakable.
Johnny made some important decisions in his life based on wanting to be with his brother Matthew. That’s true love in its purest form. It’s one of the greatest things anyone can do.
Johnny carried over that spirit to the way he played the game of hockey. He brought fans out of their seats. He may have been small in size but you couldn’t measure the size of his heart. He played the game in a way that had highlight reels constantly rolling while also respecting the game and playing it the right way.
With that said, a question pondered on Wednesday night as the vigil took place was how can the NHL ensure that Johnny’s legacy is honored and never forgotten? Here’s my proposal. Given the way he played the game at the highest level of skill and respect, the NHL should rename the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy to the Johnny Gaudreau Memorial Trophy.
The Ultimate Honor
Johnny gave everything to the sport he love growing up. That’s all he wanted to do. He wanted to play as much hockey as he could.
Although the odds may have been stacked against him at the outset, Johnny overcame every obstacle thrown his way. He was able to adapt his game to the NHL and did it in such a way where he was consistently one of the most gentlemanly players. Sportsmanship topped the list of attributes that made him a superstar.
The Lady Byng Trophy has been a fixture in the NHL going back to the 1924-25 season when it was first awarded. The trophy was donated by Marie Evelyn Moreton (known as Lady Byng). She asked the first winner Frank Nighbor of the Ottawa Senators if she thought the NHL would accept it as an award for the most gentlemanly player. When he said yes, she awarded him the trophy.
New York Rangers’ Frank Boucher won the trophy seven of eight years to which Lady Byng eventually allowed him to keep the original trophy. This led to a second trophy being donated during the 1935-36 season. Upon her passing in 1949, the NHL presented another trophy and officially changed the name to the “Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.” That has been in place since.
Occasionally, new awards are introduced for a variety of reasons. Given how Gaudreau played the game, both with high skill and high sportsmanship, there is a strong argument for his name to carry on the legacy of what it means to play hockey with good sportsmanship.
Making Argument to Update Name
While there is a lot of history around Lady Byng and how the trophy came to be, most fans today are not able to relate to something that took place before they were born. A name change here would allow fans to be able to relate to the magnitude of a move like this.
Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau tragically passed away on the night of Aug 29 due to being hit while riding bikes by a suspected drunk driver. Given the overwhelming outpouring of support throughout the hockey world especially in Columbus and Calgary, a name change would allow fans to remember Johnny’s legacy and the impact he had on the game of hockey.
In parts of 11 seasons between the Flames and Blue Jackets, Johnny scored 243 goals along with 500 assists for 743 points in 763 games. He is considered one of the greatest U.S. born players of all-time.
Johnny accomplished all of that while never taking more than 26 penalty minutes in a season. He won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2016-17 when he took just four penalty minutes in 72 games.
In all, Johnny finished with a total of 176 penalty minutes in his 11 NHL seasons. Not counting 2013-14 when he made his NHL debut, that’s an average of 17.6 penalty minutes per season or under 10 minor penalties taken. That is the very definition of gentlemanly play. He averaged almost 19:00 per game he played in as well.
Final Thoughts
If there was one thing that was clear being at the Columbus vigil and watching the Calgary vigil, it’s that the Gaudreau’s were universally loved in the hockey world. Not one bad thing was said about them in the midst of all the outpouring of love and support.
The Gaudreau’s were gentlemen on the ice. They were more so off the ice. Johnny played his NHL career and lived his personal life in the most gentlemanly way possible.
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That’s why the NHL should consider changing the name of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy to the Johnny Gaudreau Memorial Trophy. His life and legacy along with Matthew deserve to be remembered in the highest regard. Renaming this major award would accomplish that while giving current-day fans a way to continue to celebrate who they were on and off the ice.
Let’s hope the NHL agrees with this eventually and gives the Gaudreau’s the ultimate honor of being the namesake on one of the game’s greatest trophies.