Johnny Gaudreau's mother Jane pens sweet message for his daughter Noa on her third birthday

Late NHLer Johnny Gaudreau’s mother Jane shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram this week to mark the third birthday of her granddaughter Noa with a collage of family photos.

The story set to Christina Perri’s song “Isn’t She Lovely” featured a series of touching snapshots from Noa’s early years to more recent family moments. One photo showed baby Noa wrapped in a blanket at the hospital while another captured her in a baby dress with a big smile.

In the caption, Jane wrote:

“Happy 3rd Birthday Noa. We love you so much!”

Other pictures included Noa sitting beside her brother Johnny Jr. and sharing sweet moments with her grandparents.

One sweet snap showed Noa dressed in a tiny Columbus Blue Jackets jersey in her grandma’s arms who was also dressed in a CBJ jersey. The collage had a throwback photo of Johnny Gaudreau holding his daughter and a summertime photo of Noa in a pink hat sitting on a golf cart with her grandfather Guy.

Noa is the eldest daughter of the late NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his wife Meredith. Johnny and Meredith had three children together, Noa born in September 2022, Johnny Jr. born in February 2024 and Carter Michael born in April 2025, months after Johnny’s death.

Johnny and his younger brother Matthew died on Aug. 29 last year in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, when they were struck by a vehicle while cycling the night before their sister Katie’s wedding. The driver Sean Higgins was later charged with multiple offenses including death by auto and driving under the influence.

Johnny Gaudreau and Erik Gudbranson’s daughters celebrated joint birthday bash

Earlier this weekend, the families of the late Johnny Gaudreau and his former Columbus Blue Jackets teammate Erik Gudbranson came together to celebrate their daughters Noa and Zoey’s third birthdays in a joint bash.

On Sunday, Meredith Gaudreau and Sarah Gudbranson shared a series of Instagram stories capturing the fairytale and ice cream-themed celebration. One story showed Zoey dressed as Snow White peeking into a display at “Zoey’s Enchanted Boutique.”

Another clip showed the birthday girls sitting side by side at a table decorating cakes with colorful sprinkles and frosting.

“The best day celebrating the ice cream princesses,” Sarah wrote in one of the stories adding a white heart emoji.

Noa was also seen pouring toppings over a cup of ice cream at a stand labeled “Ice Cream by Noa Girl.” Other stories captured the girls and their friends enjoying birthday cakes and running a soft-serve ice cream shop. In one adorable story, Noa was seen lounging on a pink settee decorated with boas and a toy telephone.

About the author

Anjum is an NHL reporter at Sportskeeda with over five years of professional experience in the spectator sports industry. Raised in Bahrain, Anjum grew up close to the Formula 1 and GP2 scene, but it was ice-sports that she truly had a chance to play at school.

Anjum prioritizes thorough research, fact-checking and verification of sources when reporting, and has worked for Oil on Whyte, Leafs Herald, the Nation of Blaugrana, Barca International Cules, FromTheBend, Last Word On Sports and NASA.

She got interested in ice hockey after watching the “MVP” trilogy as a second grader and has not gotten over the sport yet. Her favorite player is Alex Ovechkin, whose legendary one-timers live rent free in her heart. The iconic moment when Ovechkin reached 800 career goals with a hat trick in Chicago as the away crowd chanted “Ovi, Ovi” is probably her happiest memory from an ice-rink.

When not enjoying the game, Anjum can be found sailing, star-mapping or collaborating with fellow citizen scientists at NASA.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno