Zach Werenski was slightly annoyed. The Columbus Blue Jackets were in a tailspin and on the way to another playoff-less spring.
The defenceman was spending hour after hour at the team's practice facility searching for answers.
Star forward Johnny Gaudreau? He was doing the opposite.
"Used to drive me nuts," Werenski recalled. "He was always the last one at the rink and he was one of the first ones to leave. We weren't playing well and I was like, 'Why is John showing up late? Why is he leaving first?'"
The answer would eventually become clear.
"Because," Werenski continued, "he wanted to be with his family."
Columbus has been playing with heavy hearts this season — and playing well. Gaudreau and younger brother Matthew died in August after they were hit by a suspected drunk driver while riding bicycles in New Jersey the night before their sister's wedding.
The tragedy stunned hockey and shook the Blue Jackets.
Gaudreau spent two seasons with the organization after eight with the Calgary Flames. His influence in Columbus, much like southern Alberta, lives on.
"A really hard subject to talk about," said second-year Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli. "I used to watch his highlights while I was eating cereal before school. For him, it was probably just playing with another rookie. But for me, it was a dream come true."
Gaudreau's former teammates have made a push in 2024-25 they hope would make him proud.
The Blue Jackets sat a point back of both Eastern Conference wild-card berths with a 22-18-7 record heading into Wednesday's action.
Columbus head coach Dean Evason, who was hired in July and then had to navigate the tragedy's raw emotion, didn't enter the season with any expectations.
"We wanted to just go day-by-day and get the group to compete their tails off," he said. "Everybody knows what's happened. The players have really bonded together."
Werenski said there was always belief for a franchise that has rarely tasted success.
"We knew we had skill, we knew we had talent," said the 27-year-old. "With the new coaching staff, we're playing the right way. I won't say we're surprised, but it's definitely been fun."
There have also been difficult moments with one locker room stall sitting empty, Gaudreau's bright smile no longer present.
"You lean on each other," Werenski said. "There's really no right or wrong way. It's just about being there for each other. There's still days where it hits you harder and you still can't believe it.
"We just want to go out there and play hard. That's what John would want."
Johnny Gaudreau played 161 games for Columbus. He left lasting impressions, including on Werenski when the blueliner stepped back to contemplate his teammate's rink attendance last season.
Following the tragedy, everything came into focus. Family made perfect sense.
"Something I've taken with me," Werenski said. "I don't spend extra time at the rink if I don't need to. I like to get home, be with my fiancée, be with my dog. We all spend as much time with our families as we can.
"Learned a lot from him in a short amount of time."
ATLANTIC AWAKENING
The Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs have dominated the top of the Atlantic Division in recent years.
This season has seen other clubs — finally — begin to close the gap, with the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings all challenging for playoff spots.
"Teams that were probably counted out have really made a charge," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "It's going to make one hell of an Eastern Conference race."
UNHAPPY CAMPER
Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere used a portion of his midseason media availability to criticize Hockey Canada's use of the organization's prospects at the recent world junior hockey championship.
Jett Luchanko, a forward and captain of the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm, averaged just over 12 minutes of ice time and registered one goal as the country finished a disappointing fifth for the second time in 12 months.
The 18-year-old selected 13th at the 2024 NHL draft has 25 points in 20 games this season after suiting up four times with the Flyers.
"We were disappointed in the role they gave him," Briere told reporters. "He barely played."
The GM was also confused by Canada's usage of Oliver Bonk. The minute-crunching defenceman occupies the bumper role on the power play for the OHL's London Knights, but was asked to quarterback his nation's top unit.
Bonk, who was picked 22nd in 2023, has 25 points in 28 games with London.
"He had a big role," Briere said. "But they put him in positions that are not really what is going to be his strength moving forward, which was really weird to us."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press