Johnny Gaudreau’s widow recalls the man she loved in Instagram posts: ‘You are my forever.’

In a series of moving social media posts, Meredith Gaudreau paid tribute Saturday to her late husband, Johnny Gaudreau, remembering him not as an NHL superstar, but as a doting father. A caring, loving dad, who never missed a single doctor’s appointment and somehow always got the baby to sleep, she said.

“The absolute best dad in the world,” Meredith Gaudreau wrote on Instagram.

In her first public comments since Gaudreau and his brother were killed by an alleged drunken driver Thursday night in Salem County, Meredith Gaudreau shared photos of her and her late husband celebrating his 31st birthday earlier in August. In one photo, Johnny gireau smiles wide as he hugs the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, Noa, and infant son, Johnny. In another, Meredith Gaudreau leans in close to her husband. In yet another, Meredith holds her daughter up high so Johnny Gaudreau could say hello before a game.

“You are my forever,” Meredith Gaudreau wrote in what reads like a letter to her husband.

Johnny Gaudreau, an all-star forward with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and his younger brother Matthew, 29, a high school hockey coach, were bicycling along County Road 511 in Oldmans Township, not far from their childhood home in Salem County, when they were struck.

New Jersey State Police have charged the driver whose vehicle hit them from behind with two counts of vehicular homicide. Sean M. Higgins drank “five to six beers” before he got behind the wheel of his Jeep Grand Cherokee, police said, and his vehicle hit the brothers while he was passing a vehicle. Higgins is being held for a detention hearing Thursday.

Higgins’ employer, the substance use treatment center Guadenzia, where he worked as the director of financial operations, released a statement on Saturday that he had been placed on leave following the charges brought against him.

According to Higgins’ LinkedIn account, he is also a major adjutant general in the New Jersey Army National Guard.

The Gaudreaus were home to attend their sister’s wedding, scheduled for St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Gloucester on Friday. The wedding was canceled so the family could plan for two funerals, instead.

The deaths rocked the tight-knit South Jersey hockey community, which the Gaudreaus helped shape into a hotbed — and sent waves of grief through the NHL, where Johnny Gaudreau was a popular player. In an outpouring of tributes, players and coaches remembered the South Jersey native for his scrappy, goal-scoring style and good deeds off the ice.

Meredith Gaudreau simply recalled the man she loved.

“Some days it felt too good to be true,” she wrote. “I love every single thing about you.”

Gaudreau earned his nickname “Johnny Hockey” early on in his playing days. Even at 5′9 and 165 pounds, he scored goals at a dizzying pace. In 2010, he led Gloucester Catholic High School to a state championship. Two years later, he led Boston College to a national title as a freshman. Drafted into the NHL at 18, he quickly blossomed into a seven-time all-star with the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Despite his stardom, Gaudreau never forgot his South Jersey hockey roots. He and his brother raised money for Gloucester Catholic, where their father once coached, so more kids could play. He was close with Matthew, whom the family called Matty, and who had played in the American Hockey League. Following in his father’s footsteps, Matthew Gaudreau had been the head coach at Gloucester Catholic for the last two years. A GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $400,000 for his pregnant wife.

Johnny and Meredith married in 2021, with Meredith giving birth to the couple’s second child earlier this year.

In her posts, Meredith Gaudreau remembered Johnny Gaudeau as the “best partner to go through parenthood with.” At home, he was a star when it came to getting the baby to sleep. And he was the apple of his daughter’s eye, Meredith Gaudreau said, noting how much the little girl looks like her father.

“We are going to make you proud,” Meredith Gaudreau said. “We love you so so so much daddy.”

Staff writer Henry Savage contributed to this article.