New Washington Capitals forward Andrew Mangiapane played his first seven seasons in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, notching a career-high 31 goals during the 2021-22 campaign. During that time, one of Mangiapane’s closest friends on the team was Johnny Gaudreau.
In late August, Gaudreau, along with his brother Matthew, died after they were struck by a suspected drunk driver while bicycling together. The pair was in New Jersey for their sister’s wedding.
The tragedy hit particularly close to home for Mangiapane, who posted emotional tribute to Gaudreau on Instagram.
“There are no words, we’re all going to miss you,” Mangiapane wrote on the social media site. “Love you little guy. ❤️”
Mangiapane further addressed Gaudreau’s passing during his first press conference with Capitals media on Friday — the second on-ice day of Training Camp — becoming visibly emotional when discussing his longtime friend.
Obviously it was a really tough loss with Johnny. You were close with him.
Andrew Mangiapane: Yeah, it’s still kind of — it’s unbelievable. Johnny was one of my best friends in hockey. So definitely very sad. And yeah, I’m going to definitely miss him. I was able to go to the funeral and get some closure in there and give my condolences to his family and everyone there. Still doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t think it ever will, but he was a great person, great guy, and great hockey player.
Was he a guy, with his smaller size, that gave you confidence that you could succeed in the NHL?
Andrew Mangiapane: Yeah, 100 percent. When I first got drafted, I was thrilled because the organization obviously doesn’t care that you’re kind of a smaller player because they have Johnny there. So every time I stepped out on the ice with him, I looked up to him. He’s a big role model for me. And yeah, I just tried to — we played kind of different games. But there was a lot of similarities, just kind of how we played, just because we were both smaller. So we had to be quick, kind of in and out, have a good stick, little things like that. So he definitely helped my game a lot, more than I think. It’s still unbelievable that he’s gone.
He was at your wedding?
Andrew Mangiapane: Yeah, he was one of my best mans there. It’s definitely pretty sad.
The Gaudreaus’ funeral was held on September 9: Mangiapane was one of many players to attend the memorial service, including Sean Monahan and Kevin Hayes, as figures from around the hockey world came to pay their respects.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, who Johnny Gaudreau played his final two seasons with, will honor both brothers with helmet stickers and a jersey patch this season.
