Widow of NHL Star Recounts the 'Indescribable' in an Essay

Meredith Gaudreau thanks Johnny for being 'perfect'
Posted Jun 13, 2025 3:22 PM CDT
Widow of NHL Star Recounts the 'Indescribable' in an Essay
Mourners including Meredith Gaudreau, second from left, at the funeral for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pa., Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Last summer, NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother, Matthew, were struck and killed while riding their bikes in rural New Jersey, where the family had gathered for the wedding of their sister. Johnny's wife, Meredith, was expecting their third child at the time, and she has now written an amazing tribute to her husband and their life together in the Players' Journal. "Thank you for being perfect, John," is the headline. She recounts their courtship and marriage in detail (and humor) before getting to the day of the men's deaths.

  • "Katie called, and she said something had happened but she didn't know what exactly. My dad drove me over to your parents', and I was thinking the whole time about how I was going to help you through whatever it could be that had happened to Matty. And then I walked up the front porch and learned the absolute worst had happened and that it was both of you."
  • "There aren't any words to go here," she adds.

Meredith recalls being "keeled over for days sick to my stomach" as she and Matthew's widow, also pregnant, attempted to get through what is "completely indescribable." The essay ends with her gratitude to her husband—the phrase "I love you" is repeated 26 times times before the word "forever"—and doesn't leave out her brother-in-law: "Tell Matty I say Happy First Father's Day!" (Read it in full here.)

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