FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk estimated that he tells a story about Johnny Gaudreau's exploits, both the on-ice and off-ice variety, to somebody at least once a week.
And he's not going to stop, either.
Tkachuk spoke Wednesday about the death of his longtime friend and former teammate, calling Gaudreau “the most offensively talented player I've ever seen.” Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed on Aug. 29 when police said they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding bicycles on a rural road in New Jersey.
“It was such an honor to play with him,” Tkachuk said at Florida's media day, the first formal event of the new season for the Panthers as they prepare to open defense of the Stanley Cup. “And you guys all saw what he did on the ice. I was the lucky one out of everybody in this room to have a great relationship with him off. So those are the memories I will take. But it’s been terrible. It really has.”
Gaudreau and Tkachuk were teammates in Calgary for six seasons. Tkachuk was traded to Florida in the summer of 2022, the offseason in which Gaudreau left the Flames to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Gaudreau and his younger brother were killed near their childhood home in South Jersey the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding. The driver who police say struck them is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.
“It's been terrible,” Tkachuk said. “It really has.”
The tributes for Gaudreau and his brother have been constant since their deaths and won't end anytime soon. Tkachuk and the Panthers will be the opponent in Columbus on Oct. 15 when the Blue Jackets play their first regular-season home game since Gaudreau was killed, a game certain to be incredibly emotional.
“Johnny is one of my favorite teammates that I’ve ever played with. Such a great friend," Tkachuk said. “It doesn’t matter if you knew them or played against them or even if you just have a sibling, everybody can relate to this. And it’s been terrible. I’m always going to carry something around where he’s always with me.”
Tkachuk was one of many in the hockey world who attended the services for the Gaudreau brothers earlier this month. He said he constantly has been thinking about Johnny Gaudreau's wife, Meredith, their children who lost their father and the parents who lost their sons.
“I think everybody has an amazing job of telling stories and keeping him present, because that’s exactly what he would want is for us to smile about him and tell the fun stories about what a great player and teammate he was — and a better guy,” Tkachuk said. “My memory of him will go on forever.”
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Shown is a makeshift memorial for NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew who were killed by a suspected drunken driver as they bicycled on a rural road, Sept. 5, 2024, in Oldmans Township , N.J., Thursday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk speaks during NHL hockey media day, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
A mission specialist for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year told the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday that the firm was staffed by competent people who wanted to “make dreams come true.”
Renata Rojas was the latest person to testify who was connected to Titan owner OceanGate. An investigatory panel had previously listened to two days of testimony that raised questions about the company's operations before the doomed mission. OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush was among five people who died when the submersible imploded en route to the site of the Titanic wreck in June 2023.
Rojas' testimony struck a different tone than some of the earlier witnesses, who described the company as troubled from the top down and focused more on profit than science or safety.
“I was learning a lot and working with amazing people,” Rojas said. “Some of those people are very hard working individuals that were just trying to make dream come true.”
Rojas also said she felt the company was sufficiently transparent during the run-up to the Titanic dive. Her testimony was emotional at times, with the Coast Guard panel proposing a brief break at one point so she could collect herself.
“I knew what I was doing was very risky. I never at any point felt unsafe by the operation,” she said.
Earlier this month, the Coast Guard opened a public hearing that is part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. The public hearing began on Sept. 16 and some of the testimony has focused on problems the company had prior to the fatal 2023 dive.
During the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.
“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge testified. “There was very little in the way of science.”
Also expected to testify on Thursday is former OceanGate scientific director Steven Ross. The hearing is expected to run through Friday with more witnesses still to come and resume next week.
Lochridge and other witnesses have painted a picture of a company led by people who were impatient to get the unconventionally designed craft into the water. The deadly accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.
During the submersible’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan’s depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual recreation presented earlier in the hearing.
When the submersible was reported missing, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Four days later, wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said. No one on board survived.
OceanGate said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began. The Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.
This June 2023 United States Coast Guard still frame from video provided by Pelagic Research Services, shows remains of the Titan submersible, center, on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard Video courtesy Pelagic Research Services via AP)
This June 2023 United States Coast Guard still frame from video provided by Pelagic Research Services, shows remains of the Titan submersible, center, on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard Video courtesy Pelagic Research Services via AP)
In a still from from a video animation provided by the United States Coast Guard an illustration of the Titan submersible, right, is shown near the ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean, as June 18, 2023 communications between the submersible and the support vessel Polar Prince, not shown, are represented at left. (United States Coast Guard via AP)
This June 2023 image provided by Pelagic Research Services shows remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (Pelagic Research Services via AP)
