"He would text me, ‘I love Cole’": Johnny Gaudreau's wife opens up on late NHLer's heartwarming friendship with Cole Caufield

Late NHLer Johnny Gaudreau’s wife Meredith, on the Never Offside podcast with Julie and Cat, addressed Habs star Cole Caufield’s bond with her late husband.

She mentioned how Cole Caufield has been silently paying tributes to Johnny and how touched she was by his special gestures.

“He is so sweet. Like, I just, I see it, and he does it all, like, all behind the scenes,” she said. “Like, you know, you don't know until somebody catches him doing it, and then it, like, makes its way over across all social media, and you're just like—oh my god. Like, what a—that's really nice.”

She shared the story behind the nickname “ELOK,” which Johnny gave Cole during a trip when Team USA was in Ustara for a World tournament, and they were spending time doing typical "boy" stuff and playing video games.

Meredith described how John would text her during that time, telling her about their fun video game sessions and how much he liked Cole.

“I was actually trying to find our text messages about it too, cause he would text me being like—I was like, ‘How is it? What are you guys doing?’ Like, 'cause the time change was so weird’. He was like, ‘I love Cole’. And, like, I was like, ‘what are you guys doing?’ He's like ‘we just, like, play these video games’. Like, he's so funny.”

Meredith mentioned that she was happy they had that time because it helped them get closer, and John really liked Cole which she found sweet.

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Meredith Gaudreau reacts to Cole Caufield’s special tribute for Johnny Gaudreau

Earlier this week on Monday, Meredith shared a post from B/R Open Ice’s Instagram stories featuring Cole Caufield's stick labeled with "ELOC 13." This was a tribute to Johnny Gaudreau, who had given Caufield the nickname "ELOC," which is just "COLE" spelled backwards.

The "13" on the stick honors Johnny's iconic No. 13 jersey which is also identical to the Habs star’s number.

“Absolute Cole Caufield Stan over here,” Meredith wrote in the caption of the story.

Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew Gaudreau tragically died in August in a road accident. They were cycling when they were hit by a drunk driver near Salem County just a day before their sister’s wedding. The hockey community has paid tributes to the memory of the late stars.