Late Johnny Gaudreau’s Wife Gets Emotional About Team USA’s Special Gesture as 92-Year World Championships Drought Ends

It took the USA almost a century to get back on the top of the ice hockey world. But better late than never. The much-awaited moment came on Sunday at the Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, where the USA defeated Switzerland 1-0 to win the gold-medal game of the 2025 IIHF World Championship. With that, the 92-year-long drought of winning gold at the tournament finally came to an end (they last won it in 1933). And surely enough, Johnny Gaudreau, even in the afterlife, was there to be a part of the celebrations.

In August last year, the 31-year-old Johnny Gaudreau, along with his brother, was killed by an alleged drunk driver while they were cycling in their home state of New Jersey. And yet, as the USA reclaimed its top seat in hockey, the former Columbus Blue Jackets star wasn’t absent from the minds of his colleagues on Sunday. Naturally, the late hockey star’s widow, Meredith Gaudreau, couldn’t hold back on her heaving emotions.

In her Instagram story from May 25, captioned “Congratulations!“, Meredith noted her elation at seeing Team USA members accepting the IIHF World Championship trophy with Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey in their hands. “Proud of everyone in this photo,” she wrote in her IG story, justifiably over the moon seeing that her late husband was given a nod of the hat by his teammates.

Posing for the photos post-victory, Team USA members dropped Johnny’s #13 jersey on the IIHF Cup, making sure that his legacy wasn’t forgotten. A classy way to remember their fallen brother. “Johnny Hockey Forever,” she announced triumphantly on her latest Insta story.

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