NHL override their own rule to allow Cole Caufield to honour his hero Johnny Gaudreau

The past week has seen many tributes to Johnny Gaudreau after his tragic passing, with his two former teams the Calgary Flames and the Columbus Blue Jackets both hosting vigils with incredible fan support to honour their former player. The outpouring of love has been nothing short of incredible, and now, Cole Caufield of the Montreal Canadiens has made a massive change to honour his hero, revealing that he will now officially wear No. 13 moving forward.

However, it wasn't as straightforward as you would have expected, as Caufield had actually missed the deadline to change his jersey, which makes sense as the move didn't even come to be until the tragic passing. Gary Bettman and the NHL obviously were aware of this, and overrode their own rule swiftly to make sure that Caufield could honour Gaudreau, who he passionately called his hero in the emotional post on Instagram.

While the NHL can be sticklers for the rules, it was great to see them allow it to happen in this case, given the emotional outpouring for Johnny Hockey and his family, and given Caufield's size and talent, it's safe to say that there's no one better to honour Gaudreau in this way than the Montreal Canadiens star.

Source: Hockey Patrol
Gary Bettman responds after Cole Caufield's jersey number change request is denied