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NEW YORK — Eyes on the Calgary Flames’ morning skate, Kevin Hayes scoffs at the controversy.

At how his friend was criticized for getting his nickname trademarked, meaning he’d suddenly become a spotlight-hogger, a me-guy.

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Ridiculous, according to Hayes, because Johnny Gaudreau is not like that.

Not even close.

“He’s probably the most low-key NHL player I’ve hung out with,” says Hayes, forward of the New York Rangers — and former Boston College teammate of Gaudreau. “He’s (so) low key — he doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s doing or to know who he is. He’s the opposite of T-shirts and people knowing his business.

“He’d rather be Johnny Who than Johnny Hockey, to be honest with you. He’d rather have no nickname than the one he has.”

But Johnny Who?

In this part of the world — the setting for the bulk of the Flames’ trip — there is scant chance of that.

Gaudreau, 21, was engulfed by reporters in the morning at Madison Square Garden. And this thing is just getting started.