Johnny Gaudreau's passing shocks the sports world, teaches us a ...

The passing of professional athletes and prominent figures always shocks communities, and the Columbus Blue Jackets and National Hockey League (NHL) communities recently lost one of their most beloved members.

In the early morning of Aug. 30, the team and league announced the passing of Jackets star forward Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and his brother Matthew Gaudreau, 29, in a drunk driving collision in their home state of New Jersey.

The two brothers were back home to be groomsmen in their sister’s wedding, which was scheduled for the next day.

Reports have surfaced that the brothers were cycling on a roadway when a driver in an SUV passed two slower-moving cars on the right shoulder, striking the two cyclists. New Jersey State Police later reported the driver had “five or six beers” before the collision, failed a sobriety test and was consuming alcohol while driving.

With this one decision to drive under the influence Ohio and Columbus lost one of its most prominent and well-respected athletes, but more importantly, a family lost two sons, brothers, cousins, uncles, nephews, husbands and fathers.

Gaudreau was a talented player and was beloved by everyone who knew him. His former teammates, coaches and executives spent hours following the announcements remembering the star forward, his contributions to the teams he played on, his family and the community.

The best part of his story is that Gaudreau rose to prominence at the highest level of hockey despite his perceived physical limitations. There was no lack of skill in his game, but Gaudreau, who stands at just 5-foot-9 and weighs 165 pounds, was overlooked by many executives and organizations due to his size.

The Calgary Flames selected Gaudreau in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft after emerging as a star with the Boston College Eagles. In his first year at Boston College, he scored one of the most memorable goals in college hockey history in the national championship game, which the Eagles went on to win.

Gaudreau went on to win a Hobey-Baker Award in 2014 with the Eagles, three years after another player smaller in stature, Miami University’s Andy Miele, who stands at 5 feet 8 inches, won it.

If you’re not a hockey fan, or even a sports fan, this news might not hit home as hard as it does for others. However, it’s a tragic event that highlights a terrible piece of our society and remains prevalent on college campuses.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 37 people in the United States die due to drunk driving every day. That’s one person every 39 minutes. Additionally, according to CollegeDrinkingPrevention.gov, there are an estimated 1,519 college students who die from alcohol-related injuries every year, including car crashes.

As someone who grew up watching Gaudreau’s growth in the NHL, my heart hurt when the news was announced. And as someone who has been deeply affected and knows people who have been deeply affected by drunk driving, it hurts even more. 

With today’s technology, finding an alternate way home is incredibly easy. Uber, Lyft, taxis, friends and family are all viable options to avoid getting on the roadways after an alcohol-filled night. But instead of utilizing the technology we have, many still decide to “tough it out” and drive home instead of the “inconvenience” of leaving a vehicle in a location overnight.

In a case where the option is between inconvenience and prison, the inconvenience wins every time.

While the number of alcohol-related deaths for college students might seem low, there are still families, friends and communities affected by those events, just as they were with Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau’s deaths.

We may not all be hockey fans, and some of you reading this article may not even be college students, but the effect that alcohol has on our lives in one way or another has ripple effects. 

Learning about drunk driving, protecting yourself and your friends from making bad decisions and looking out for those in potentially dangerous situations will help us all ensure that tragedies like what happened in Oldman Township, New Jersey, and in hundreds, if not thousands, of other places around the United States happen less and less frequently.

The Gaudreau brothers will be missed by all who knew them and those who were positively impacted by their work on and off the ice. The tragic events that occurred should be a foundation for change in the narrative. 

Driving drunk is not OK, especially with the technology we have available. Learn about the best ways to prevent friends, family and those around you from doing it. And, most importantly, hold your loved ones close. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

@jjmid04

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Jeffrey Middleton is a junior journalism and sports communication and media double major from Nashville, Tennessee. He has been writing for The Student since his first year and is the assistant editor for the Sports section. He has also written and spoken about sports on various websites and podcasts, including as a color commentator and play-by-play voice for the hockey and baseball teams on RedHawk Radio.