'I'm just playing hockey, doing what I love to do': The early years of Johnny Gaudreau's career, as told by newspaper articles of the time (2024)

From his early years onward, the name of Johnny Gaudreau (1993-2024) began popping up in newspaper articles.

A search of North American newspapers shows that his first newspaper clipping actually occurred here in Alberta, in the Edmonton Journal, when he was just nine years of age — a few weeks before his 10th birthday in 2003.

Gaudreau was mentioned in the second-last paragraph of this article about the Brick — an invitational and hallmark hockey tournament in Edmonton for some of the best nine- and 10-year-old players around.

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Newspaper stories that mentioned Gaudreau’s early career showed up in the following years in the Bismark Tribune (North Dakota), the Concord Monitor (New Hampshire), and eventually The Boston Globe (Oct. 16, 2011), as he began his college playing days.

After getting ink about six times in the Globe, sportswriters there began referring to him as “the talented freshman” and “freshman phenom.” The following 2012 article, however, appears to be the first time he was the focus of a large feature in the esteemed Boston Globe.

Kudos continued for Gaudreau during that key year for him, as this March 2012 story from The Boston Globe indicates.

The Boston Globe made note of the poise Gaudreau showed at such a young age, while he explained to a reporter he didn’t get nervous on the ice: “I just live in the moment,” Gaudreau told the newspaper. “I’m just playing hockey, doing what I love to do and playing with guys I love to play with. I’m excited to get started.”

The joy Gaudreau played with is seen in this photo in The Boston Globe, as he is surrounded by teammates after this big win.

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With Gaudreau being a Calgary Flames prospect, the Herald was quick to publish the news when Boston College took the NCAA title.

Here is one of several stories The Boston Globe wrote about the NCAA game, with this one featuring comments from Gaudreau: “I scored one goal in the national championship. It’s a goal I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Newspapers across the United States carried stories about the NCAA champions. The Billings Gazette also included this great photo of Gaudreau scoring his goal in the game.

Gaudreau’s winning season led to this profile in the Courier Post in New Jersey.

This Boston Globe feature was published during Gaudreau’s second year playing for Boston College.

Here’s another 2013 feature, this one from The Daily News in New York.

The following 2014 feature about Gaudreau appears in The Boston Globe, as a potential, and largely expected, departure for the NHL and the Calgary Flames was on the horizon. He left Boston College as the top ten scorer in school history and won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award for being the outstanding college player in the U.S. He went on to become a Flames star and fan favourite.

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