Brady Tkachuk mic'd up cheering for Johnny Gaudreau at 4 Nations final

The 4 Nations hockey tournament held special meaning this year as players honored the late Johnny Gaudreau. During the championship game between USA and Canada, chants of “Johnny Hockey” rang out through TD Garden as fans remembered the talented player whose life was tragically cut short.

On the USA bench, forward Brady Tkachuk decided to rally his team by invoking Gaudreau's memory. With the game tied, Tkachuk shouted to his teammates:

"Come on, do it for 'Hockey' here. Come on, let’s do it for Johnny.” Tkachuk wanted to motivate the players to win it for Johnny Gaudreau.

Players had been finding ways to pay tribute to Gaudreau throughout the tournament. The MVP of each game was awarded a Gaudreau USA jersey in the locker room after the final buzzer.

The pregame ceremonies also included a touching moment when Mike Eruzione, honorary USA captain, came out on the ice wearing Gaudreau's jersey.

In the stands, Gaudreau's wife Meredith was overcome with emotion seeing the outpouring of support for her late husband. Though USA ultimately lost 3-2 in overtime, the game will be remembered for the chants, tributes, and motivational words that showed Johnny Gaudreau's spirit living on.

Johnny Gaudreau’s sister Katie shares emotional message for late brothers

Johnny Gaudreau's sister Katie shared an emotional message ahead of the 4 Nations final between Team USA and Team Canada. She reposted a photo from NESN showing the memorial locker stall that Team USA had set up for Johnny on Instagram story.

Katie wrote:

"A reminder of who should be here. I saw firsthand how hard John worked this summer with Matty and Dad on the ice."

She went on to say:

"This has been such a hard week because I know how bad he wanted to be playing tonight. Matty would’ve been John’s most supportive tonight. I love you both more than anything."

via Instagram /@kgaudreau13

The memorial stall displayed Johnny's #13 jersey and an American flag, honoring Johnny.

Johnny and his brother Matthew tragically lost their lives last summer after being hit by a drunk driver while biking in New Jersey. The tragedy happened the night before their sister Katie's wedding, where they were both supposed to be groomsmen.