Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13 and the Family Moment that Defined Team USA’s Olympic Gold

The immediate human impact of the win landed on family and teammates first: johnny gaudreau’s jersey was carried onto the ice and his young children were brought into the team picture after the United States beat Canada 2-1 in overtime at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. That ritual underscored how the gold medal — the nation’s first men’s hockey Olympic crown in 46 years — became a public act of remembrance as much as a sporting triumph.

Impact-first: teammates, family and the moment on ice

Here’s the part that matters: Matthew Tkachuk, Zach Werenski and Auston Matthews carried Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13 onto the Santagiulia Arena ice in Milan, then paraded the jersey after the victory. The Gaudreau family attended the game, and teammates made sure Johnny’s son and daughter were part of the team photo — Dylan Larkin holding Johnny Jr. and Werenski holding Noa — a deliberate inclusion that players described as deeply meaningful.

What’s easy to miss is that this wasn’t a one-off tribute: Johnny’s jersey had already been hung in the U. S. locker room at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February and at the 2025 IIHF World Championship in Denmark and Sweden, where the Americans also won gold.

Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13, the parade and the family photo

In the hours before the gold-medal game, Werenski and Dylan Larkin conceived the plan to get a team picture with the Gaudreau family if the U. S. won. Gate constraints meant the players instead brought Johnny and Meredith Gaudreau’s children — 3-year-old Noa and son Johnny Jr., who turned 2 on Sunday — onto the ice for the photo; their parents, Guy and Jane, were also present at the arena.

Players spoke about wanting to play for Gaudreau and make his family proud; Werenski said the moment “meant everything, ” and Matthew Tkachuk and others emphasized that Johnny had been with the team in spirit throughout the tournament.

The game details embedded in the tribute

The United States defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime at Santagiulia Arena in Milan. The Americans were outshot dramatically, and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was described as valiant in net. Canada squandered multiple chances late; one notable miss came when Nathan MacKinnon hit a wide-open net in the waning minutes. Players linked some of the close escapes to Gaudreau in an emotional way, saying they felt his presence throughout the tournament and even invoking him in moments when the puck didn’t cross the goal line.

Career and prior international moments that shaped the tribute

Johnny Gaudreau represented the United States multiple times: he led the tournament with seven goals when the U. S. won gold at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Russia, and he helped the U. S. win bronze at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark. In the NHL he compiled 743 points (243 goals, 500 assists) in 763 games for the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets from 2014-24. From 2014-15 through 2023-24 he ranked second in points among U. S. -born players to Patrick Kane, who had 791 points (293 goals, 498 assists) in 715 NHL games for the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings. The player known as "Johnny Hockey" would have been 32 today.

Aftermath, emotions and legal status noted in the record

Players were open about grief: Brady Tkachuk said the team missed Johnny and his brother Matty dearly and that the tribute was intended to show support to the Gaudreau family. Brock Faber was visibly moved; teammates said Johnny’s jersey will remain hung in the locker room and that his legacy will be a continuing presence on the squad.

Gaudreau and his brother Matthew died on Aug. 29, 2024, the night before they were to attend their sister Katie’s wedding. They were riding bicycles near their home in Salem County, New Jersey, when they were struck by a car. An alleged drunk driver has been charged with two counts of death by auto. Johnny was 31 and Matthew was 29.

• Key takeaway: The medal ceremony doubled as a public remembrance — teammates actively involved the Gaudreau children and family on the ice.
• Key takeaway: The team connected this Olympic gold to prior moments where Johnny’s jersey hung in the locker room at the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2025 IIHF World Championship.
• Key takeaway: The victory narrative included strong emotional threads — players said they felt Johnny’s presence through the tournament and linked that to on-ice results.
• Key takeaway: The record of Gaudreau’s international and NHL accomplishments was frequently cited by teammates as context for why the tribute mattered.
• Key takeaway: Legal proceedings are noted in the record as an alleged drunk driver charged with two counts of death by auto; other details of that case are unclear in the provided context.

The real question now is how the team and the family will steward that legacy moving forward; players framed the Milan gold as both a championship and a promise to remember. A short timeline in this story: Aug. 29, 2024 (the brothers’ deaths), 2013 (Gaudreau’s seven-goal World Junior performance in Russia), 2018 (bronze at the World Championship in Denmark), 2025 (IIHF World Championship gold), and Milano Cortina 2026 (Olympic gold and the Milan tribute). The sequence shows how repeated gestures — jerseys in locker rooms, banners and now the on-ice family photo — accumulated into an unmistakable team ritual.

It’s easy to overlook, but the continuity of remembrance across tournaments helped shape the moment in Milan; players repeatedly referenced previous displays of Johnny’s jersey as part of the emotional buildup to this victory.