Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield will now wear number 13 to pay tribute to his childhood hero, Johnny Gaudreau.
Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, tragically died last Thursday evening when they were struck by a vehicle while riding their bikes in New Jersey.
“We all lost an incredible person, on and off the ice, in last week’s tragedy,” Caufield wrote on his Instagram account.
“My most sincere condolences go to the entire Gaudreau family, especially Johnny’s wife and his two children, whom I had the pleasure of meeting.”
During his first four campaigns in the National Hockey League, with the Habs, Caufield wore No. 22.
He will become the ninth player in the history of the organization to wear No. 13, which has notably been worn by Alex Tanguay, Mike Cammalleri and Max Domi in recent years.
“Playing with your hero is something most people only dream about,” Caufield added. “I was lucky enough to be Johnny’s teammate last summer [au Championnat du monde] and it didn’t take me long to realize what a great person he was.
“The last few years as number 22 have been some of the best years of my life. It’s truly a dream come true and I will always hold those memories and that number close to me. I wore number 13 at one point in my career because of Johnny and now I will wear it again to pay tribute to him.”
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