Flyers Invite Guy Gaudreau, Father Of Johnny And Matthew, To Serve As Guest Coach At Practice

The Philadelphia Flyers made a special gesture to honor Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau by inviting their father, Guy Gaudreau, to practice on Monday.

Johnny, a forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Matthew, a former pro hockey player, died on Aug. 29 when they were struck by a car while riding bicycles near their home in Salem County, N.J., about 30 miles southwest of the Flyers' practice facility. The tragedy happened the night before their sister Katie was set to be married.

READ: Blue Jackets Announce Plans To Honor Johnny Gaudreau

The Gaudreau family has been a staple in the hockey communities of South Jersey and Philadelphia. Guy is a longtime former hockey coach who coached his sons at Hollydell Ice Arena and Gloucester Catholic High School.

"He's a coach, and he's done some great work with some of the youth out here," Flyers head coach John Tortorella said. "I figured it's perfect to get him in with us. He was hesitant at first, and we let him go at his timetable. I think it worked out really well today."

That even included banging his stick on the boards and criticizing how Tortorella was running practice.

"He's giving me [grief] that I was yelling at the players to skate harder," Tortorella said. "'You've only got three lines out here. How much harder can they go?' So, he's paying attention. It was good."

READ: Johnny Hockey: Johnny Gaudreau Was An Inspiration To An Entire Generation Before Tragic Death

After Monday's second practice session, the Flyers' players saluted Gaudreau and shook his hand.

"It's so tragic what happened," defenseman Nick Seeler said. "It just breaks your heart. To have Mr. Gaudreau out here and having him around the players, he's a coach himself I believe, just to have him around the guys and that coaching environment, hopefully there's some sort of healing in that. 

"It just breaks your heart. Many prayers to him and his family. ... It would be great to have him around, and it was great to meet him."

Flyers Welcome Guy Gaudreau With Open Arms

And this isn't just a one-time thing. Tortorella said he invited Gaudreau to travel with the Flyers for their preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Monday, but Gaudreau said that was a bit too much too soon. Whenever Guy is willing and ready, though, the Flyers made it clear he's welcome to come back and hang with the team.

"I gave him my camp book. We're going to check in next week and see if we can get him out here a couple of more times, have him be a part of it," Tortorella said.

"I don't want it to be just come out here, I want him to be a part of it. I think it would be therapeutic for him to be around us and run some drills. He has done it before, he's a coach. It was great, it was great to have him here."

Tortorella attended the funeral for the Gaudreau brothers in Pennsylvania on Sept. 9. He never had the chance to meet Johnny or Matthew, but with the family so close to Philadelphia, he believes it's important to make sure they feel like they are part of the Flyers organization.

"I'm hoping to get to know the family," Tortorella said. "I think a number of the coaches want to get to know the family. ... It's just horrible that it happened. It's still pretty fresh. It's here, it's with us, down the street. We just want to be part of it and help."