The wildly-popular "Faceoff: Inside the NHL" docuseries is back for a second season on Amazon Prime Video, highlighting life on and off the ice for some of the world's greatest hockey player. Our Short Shifts team will recap each episode of the series, bringing you our favorite moments and highlights from the show.
Episode 2: "Johnny Hockey"
Teams featured: Columbus Blue Jackets
Episode synopsis: The Gaudreau Family and the Columbus Blue Jackets face the future without perrenial All-Star Johnny Gaudreau after the tragic accident that killed him and his brother, Matthew, just before the start of the NHL season.
Funniest moment: Meredith Gaudreau said Johnny was 'shy and humble' about his status as a hockey star and seemed to not mind the idea she didn't know who he was. "I had never heard of 'Johnny Hockey.' I thought it was a retired older hockey person moving in (next door) and then when I saw him I was like 'It can't be him.' One time I was at his house and his dad was watching the top ranked forwards for that upcoming season, and I was like 'Is that you?' And he was like 'No!'"
Moving moments: Home video of Johnny holding his daughter, Noa, with an ear-to-ear smile announcing to his family 'It's a boy!' after their second child, John Jr., was born is a thing of beauty. Gaudreau's excitement about being a father makes Meredith's announcement that she was nine weeks pregnant with the couple's third child while delivering his eulogy is so heartbreaking to watch. Later in the episode, Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan, who also played with Gaudreau in Calgary, reveals he still has a voice mail saved of Johnny celebrating Monahan signing with the Blue Jackets.
Quotable: "To be honest I feel his presence all the time," Monahan says responding to a question about Gaudreau during an interview before the Blue Jackets Stadium Series game at Ohio State's famed Horseshoe. "I don't know if he sends me signs or what it is but I feel like he's watching down on us and we're trying to make him proud for sure."
This is Hockey Life: Monahan said signing with the Blue Jackets was "an easy decision" due to both his on-ice chemistry and off-ice friendship with Gaudreau, who called him "every five minutes from the day our season ended in Winnipeg to the day of free agency." Meredith said the two were "like brothers" and that "when Sean signed in Columbus, it was one of the best days of John's life."
Hockey Players, They’re Just Like Us: A highlight clip of Gaudreau's first NHL goal with the Flames is shown and who is seen fetching the puck out of the net but Monahan. Because you always have to take care of your best bud.
