Andrew Mangiapane has a touching tribute on his hockey sticks this season. Deeply affected by the tragic death of his close friend, former Calgary Flames teammate Johnny Gaudreau, Mangiapane began writing Gaudreau’s initials on the tape of some of his sticks. On others, he’s including hearts.
Mangiapane’s markings, made overtop of white tape, are located on the back and the bottom of his handle’s tape job.
“He was a great person on and off the ice,” Mangiapane said of Gaudreau after practice Wednesday. “Always happy, always joking, always messing around. We were pretty close friends. We played together for so long. I’m still in disbelief.”
Mangiapane credited Capitals equipment manager Craig “Woody” Leydig for suggesting he involve Gaudreau on his sticks, believing that the gesture could help the Capitals forward deal with the tragedy and play for his fallen friend moving forward.
“It’s a good way to honor him,” Mangiapane said. “He’s always with me on the ice and his legacy will go on forever.”
Mangiapane’s first five seasons in the NHL came alongside Gaudreau on the Flames, and although Johnny and Andrew didn’t spend much time on the ice together — they only assisted on each others’ goals six different times — they became close off of it. Mangiapane saw the high-scoring yet undersized Gaudreau as an inspiration. Both players were under six feet tall and 200 pounds.
“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,” Mangiapane said in September. “I looked up to him. He was a big role model for me.”
Even after the pair stopped playing together, their friendship held fast, with Gaudreau serving as a best man in Mangiapane’s wedding in mid-July. Nearly two months later, Mangiapane was a pallbearer at Gaudreau’s funeral after he and his brother Matthew were killed by a suspected drunk driver while bicycling.
And though Mangiapane now plays nearly 2,000 miles away in Washington, his thoughts haven’t strayed far from his former hockey home, Calgary, or Columbus, where Gaudreau signed as an unrestricted agent ahead of the 2023-24 season.
On Tuesday night, the Flames held an emotional tribute for the Gaudreau brothers when they faced off against the Blue Jackets at the Saddledome. Mangiapane watched highlights from DC after his game against the San Jose Sharks was over. He was warmed by how both teams honored his friend.
Blue Jackets and Flames players all wore number 13 during warmups. During a special pregame ceremony, a tribute video aired highlighting Gaudreau’s time in Calgary as Flames anthem singer George Canyon sang a cover of Johnny B. Goode. Gaudreau’s family members were then introduced and participated in the ceremonial faceoff.
Johnny’s father (Guy), mother (Jane), wife (Meredith), two children (Noa and Johnny Jr.), and sisters (Kristen and Katie) dropped the puck between Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan (a close friend of Gaudreu’s) and Flames captain Mikael Backlund. Players from both teams surrounded the family, posing for a powerful photo.
“We have like 50 of us out here so everyone’s doing it all together, which has been really nice and it’s exactly how John would have wanted it,” Meredith Gaudreau said to the Flames.
To conclude the night, Johnny was named First Star of the Game, and his father, Guy, took the ice with Rasmus Andersson and Mikael Backlund.
“They did a great job honoring him,” Mangiapane said. “It was definitely a touching ceremony. It was good that you get to see the whole family there. It was awesome that [Rasmus Andersson] and [Mikael Backlund] were hugging Guy. Seeing Jane and little Johnny and Noa and Meredith. It was just good, and they all were doing well, and they all looked great. It was just an awesome thing that happened that night.”
