There was no denying the speed, the hands, the abrupt changes of direction. Johnny Gaudreau was impossible to miss inside a hockey arena, listed at 5-foot-9 yet one of the most terrifying forces in the NHL.
Loose in open ice, anything could happen. Even worse for opponents was how Gaudreau redefined what open was, what possible was. He was at his very best finding creases no one else saw, taking the puck into places no one else imagined — before so often depositing shots in the back of the net.
"Johnny Hockey" they called this blur from South Jersey, who played with a bliss built on possibility.