Johnny Gaudreau's wife shares 1-word reaction to Elvis Merzlikins and his wife Aleksandra naming their newborn after late NHL star

Since the death of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew in August last year, the hockey community has been showing their respect to the late hockey players through their tributes. Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins recently joined fans and members of the hockey community in paying tribute to the seven-time All-Star.

Merzlikins and his wife Aleksandra welcomed their son Jaxon John Merzlikins on March 16. Jaxon’s second name “John” is a tribute to the late Blue Jackets star. On Friday, Johnny Gaudreau’s wife Meredith Gaudreau shared a post from the official NHL Instagram account on her Instagram story.

The post congratulated the Merzlikins family and mentioned the tribute they had paid to the former Blue Jackers winger:

“Congratulations to the Merzlikins family on the birth of Jaxon John! 💙 Jaxon's middle name, John, is in honor of Johnny Gaudreau."

As she shared the post on her story, Meredith Gaudreau reacted with a blue heart emoji and one word:

“Fam”

(Image via Instagram /@meredithgaudreau_)

Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were killed on August 29 last year in Salem County, New Jersey when an alleged drunk driver hit them with his truck when the brothers were out cycling in the evening.

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Johnny Gaudreau's wife recalls how Bonne Jenner made her son Johnny’s birthday special

Earlier this week, Meredith Gaudreau shared a heartwarming story on the Never Offside podcast about their son Johnny Gaudreau Jr.’s birthday party. She shared how Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner made it special.

The party had a Donald Duck theme because baby Johnny loves this character. Meredith Gaudreau shared how Jenner dressed up to the party as Donald Duck to surprise the kids.

“And Boone also is one of the neighbors that, like, lives right here," she said. "So he literally was walking down the street in this full-blown costume."

She also mentioned how excited the kids were and how when Jenner tried to remove parts of the costume due to the heat, they insisted that he keep it on.

“He was, like, sweating," Gaudreau said. "I felt so bad 'cause he would start to take off pieces of his costume. All the kids were like, "Put that back on!" Yeah! So he’s the best. It was so sweet, and he was in full character the whole party."