National Hockey League star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother were killed in a car accident in New Jersey on Thursday night.
The Columbus Blue Jackets player – who was 31 – and his younger brother Matthew, 29, were riding their bicycles on a rural road in Oldsman Township when a car struck them, New Jersey police told the BBC.
The driver of the car, Sean Higgins, 43, has been arrested and charged with two counts of death by auto, according to officials.
Gaudreau’s team called the incident an “unimaginable tragedy”.
“Johnny was not only a great hockey player, but more significantly a loving husband, father, son, brother and friend,” the Columbus Blue Jackets said.
Gaudreau’s brother Matthew was also a professional hockey player who previously played for the Reading Royals team in Pennsylvania.
In a statement on behalf of the family from Jim Gaudreau, Johnny and Matthew’s uncle, he thanked people for their love and support.
“Last night we lost two husbands, two fathers, two sons and two brothers-in-law, two nephews, two cousins, two family members, two teammates, two friends but truly two amazing humans,” he said.
Gaudreau’s wife, Meredith, dedicated two social media posts on Saturday to her husband.
“Thank you for the best years of my life. Despite losing you, I am still the luckiest girl in the world to have been yours,” she wrote in one of the posts, showing a photo of the couple and their two young children.
In another, she called him “the absolute best dad in the world.”
The Gaudreau brothers were in New Jersey to attend their sister’s wedding on Friday in Philadelphia, where they were supposed to be groomsmen, according to the Columbus Dispatch, a local outlet.
@Columbus Blue Jackets
