Sean Monahan Delivers Emotional Speech After First Win in Columbus, Reveals Tradition Honoring Johnny Gaudreau

The passing of the Gaudreau brothers at the end of August shook the hockey world. Things were especially tough for the Columbus Blue Jackets as this is the second time they have lost an important player after the passing of Matiss Kivlenieks.

The Blue Jackets came out flying and took the game to the Avalanche. A big night from Johnny Gaudreau's best friend Sean Monahan led to a massive victory for the Blue Jackets.

After the game the Columbus Blue Jackets followed the team as they went through a new postgame tradition. This year their winning tradition honors Johnny Gaudreau.

Each team in the NHL has a player-of-the-game item that is passed from player to player throughout the season. This season the Blue Jackets decided to honor Johnny Gaudreau. The player of the game now receives a donkey hat. This was inspired by Johnny Gaudreau who would joke with his teammates and call them donkeys.

The first recipient of the donkey hat after the Blue Jackets' first game was, of course, Sean Monahan. Monahan who signed with the Blue Jackets this summer was visibly emotional. After receiving the hat Monahan went on to make a beautiful heartfelt speech and thank his teammates.

Now the Columbus Blue Jackets will take on the Florida Panthers in a home game. The Panthers will likely still be without Aleksander Barkov and potentially without Matthew Tkachuk again. Barkov is dealing with an injury while Tkachuk is sick.

As the Columbus Blue Jackets organization continues to heal and grieve we wish them all the best going forward both on and off the ice.