His brother was Johnny Hockey. He had the Matty Dance.
Ask any of Matthew Gaudreau’s childhood buddies about his strikes, they usually’ll chuckle knowingly.
Gaudreau and his group of mates, which included his older brother, John, beloved nation music, particularly Kenny Chesney. They commonly tailgated earlier than concert events in faculty and within the years that adopted. The group gathered early these summer season days. They ate Wawa breakfast sandwiches on the best way in. They sipped beer in stadium parking heaps, leaving pink plastic cups scattered close to the cooler, and grilled for dinner. These had been all-day affairs.
And sooner or later, certainly, Matty Gaudreau would discover his method onto the again of somebody’s truck, usually when a Chesney music blared over the audio system. He’d escape the Matty Dance.
“Simply swinging his arms round in a round, sluggish movement,” says buddy Eric Robinson.
“Some model of a windmill with a hip thrust,” provides Hunter Brody.
They will nonetheless see it.
That is who Matthew Gaudreau was: a life-of-the-party presence, arms waving by way of the air. When his widow, Madeline, spoke at his funeral, she described him as a lot greater than a hockey participant, coach and buddy. That’s a consensus amongst individuals who beloved him. He was somebody who made a degree to attach with others, be it his highschool lecturers or youthful teammates at Boston School. Somebody who by no means felt jealous of his older brother, a extra expert participant who turned an NHL star. Somebody who cried when he heard his unborn son’s heartbeat for the primary time.
On Aug. 29, Matthew and John — his closest buddy — had been biking in Oldmans Township, N.J., when a Jeep Grand Cherokee struck them from behind. Each had been pronounced lifeless on the scene. John was 31, Matthew 29. Their sister Katie’s marriage ceremony was scheduled for the subsequent day.
When speaking about Gaudreau, those that knew him usually slip into the current tense. His loss of life continues to be so current that, for some, it doesn’t really feel actual that he’s gone.
Maybe it by no means will.
The Gaudreau brothers grew up in a white, two-story home in Penns Grove, N.J., a small city southwest of Philadelphia. They commonly hosted their mates for bonfires and evenings on the yard pool. Brody, who grew shut with Matthew in highschool, felt like he was there each summer season evening when he was youthful.
Matthew and John shared a bed room overlooking the gravel driveway. Outdated hockey jerseys hung from the partitions. When mates spent the evening, the brothers pushed their beds collectively so extra individuals may match. Others would struggle over air mattresses, making an attempt to keep away from the one with a gap in it. They’d rise up within the mornings for coaching periods and skates, then usually discover themselves again on the home once more at evening.
The Gaudreaus had been as tight-knit a household as might be. Neighborhood mattered. Their home was the middle of all of it.
Matthew was slight in construct. Buddies keep in mind waking as much as Man Gaudreau, his dad, whipping up breakfast. He’d pile eggs and bacon on Matthew’s plate, making an attempt to assist him placed on weight. Typically Matthew would get so full he’d shove eggs to the household canine, Sadie, whereas Man was wanting away.
The load by no means caught. When groups took measurements, Matthew would generally stuff pucks in his jock strap to trick the dimensions. His spouse mentioned in her eulogy that she thought he appeared 90 kilos once they met as youngsters.
The Gaudreau title carries weight within the South Jersey hockey neighborhood. Man labored because the hockey director at Hollydell Ice Enviornment in Sewell, N.J., not removed from Penns Grove. Dan Spencer, now an emergency backup goalie for the Flyers, calls Gaudreau the most effective coach he ever had. John Gaudreau, Eric Robinson, Buddy Robinson and Tony DeAngelo performed at Hollydell rising up and went on to seem in NHL video games. Loads of different faculty gamers like Matthew began their careers there.
“There are a loopy quantity of people that got here out of Hollydell for being a small rink in South Jersey,” says Eric Robinson, now a ahead on the Hurricanes.
Boston School coach Jerry York as soon as requested Man how he taught Johnny and Matthew such good edge management. He replied that he skilled them with Skittles. He’d throw one on the ice, and the boys must skate to it. Then he’d throw one other.
On high of his obligations at Hollydell, Gaudreau coached the Gloucester Catholic Excessive group. In 2009-10, Matthew’s freshman yr and John’s junior yr, the group went 15-4-2 and made its first-ever state championship. Although the Rams misplaced, each boys had a degree within the remaining. Years later, Matthew would describe his days on the Gloucester group as essentially the most enjoyable he ever had taking part in hockey.
Shut as they had been, the brothers had completely different personalities. Principal Thomas Iacovone remembers John because the quieter of the 2. He needed to fade into the background. He needed to be like every other child.
“Matty needed you to know he was there,” he says. “He did it in such a method that you just couldn’t assist however to like him.”
Iacovone was a historical past trainer when Matthew was at school and taught him in first-period homeroom his sophomore yr. Matthew pulled his chair as much as Iacovone’s desk seemingly each morning. They chatted about Philadelphia sports activities whereas ready for the morning bulletins. Hardly ever did the conversations revolve round Gaudreau himself.
“He would interact me in what he knew I appreciated, and I used to be the trainer,” Iacovone says. “It ought to’ve been the opposite method round.”
As soon as class started, Iacovone sometimes needed to inform Gaudreau to sit down down and be quiet. That was tough, although; it often resulted in Gaudreau cracking a joke that made him chortle. He was too charming to get in hassle, remembers now-athletic director Ryan Murphy, then an assistant athletic director.
Matthew left Gloucester Catholic early to play junior hockey in Omaha, the place he met his spouse and skated for the Lancers, a United States Hockey League membership. Within the week earlier than shifting away from New Jersey, he and Brody launched into a morning fishing journey. They left at 5 a.m. Gaudreau was unhappy about leaving the buddies he made at Gloucester Catholic, Brody remembers, however he was excited, too. This was a giant step: at that age, junior hockey felt like the most important factor on the earth.
They stood at midnight, sneakers muddy. Bugs bit their uncovered pores and skin as they forged their strains into the water. Their futures lay forward of them.
Matthew Gaudreau together with his buddy Hunter Brody. (Courtesy Hunter Brody)
Matthew and John had been decided to play faculty hockey collectively, and John discovered himself in a lurch in June 2011, months earlier than his freshman yr. He had dedicated to Northeastern, however coach Greg Cronin had simply left for a job as a Maple Leafs assistant. The older Gaudreau brother bought out of his letter of intent due to the teaching change, however then he wanted to discover a new college — and quick.
Not lengthy after, the Gaudreau brothers and their mother and father had been on Boston School’s campus. Future NHLer Kevin Hayes confirmed the boys round, York remembers, whereas he talked to the mother and father. After they had been accomplished, they stood in entrance of the rink.
“Properly, what do you guys assume?” York requested. “Any questions?”
John turned to his youthful brother. That’s whose opinion mattered to him.
“Let’s go right here,” Matthew replied.
And they also did. Their mom, Jane, mentioned in a 2014 New York Occasions article that Matthew really most well-liked Boston College, however he selected the Eagles when John gave him the ultimate resolution as a result of he knew it was what his older brother needed.
“He was type of a dynamic presence of their relationship, nearly like he was the older brother,” York says of Matthew. “Johnny appeared for recommendation from Matty an terrible lot.”
The choice had a serious impression on each this system and the brothers. John was a point-per-game participant as a freshman, two years earlier than Matthew arrived on campus. The Eagles gained the NCAA title that season. The season Matthew bought to highschool, John gained the Hobey Baker Award because the nation’s high collegiate participant.
Matthew Gaudreau joined his brother John on the ice after Boston School gained the 2014 Beanpot Event. (Richard T Gagnon / Getty Photographs)
Matthew performed in solely eight video games that yr. Not as soon as, although, did he present a touch of jealousy.
“He was his No. 1 fan,” says teammate Mike Matheson, a now-Canadiens defenseman who was the grade between the brothers. “They had been simply inseparable.”
Although Matthew was not a lineup common, he nonetheless had an vital position with the group. Matheson remembers Matthew, aided by his relationship with John, performing as a bridge between the freshmen and upperclassmen. He made positive everybody was concerned and did so all through his time at Boston School. Classmate Ryan Fitzgerald describes him as “all people’s first name.” Every time somebody needed to do one thing, they referred to as Matthew.
“As cliquey as he may have been, he was all the time setting stuff up for everyone, ensuring everybody was there, ensuring each man was completely satisfied and cozy,” says Zach Sanford, who was a yr under Matthew.
Fitzgerald and Matthew lived collectively in six-person, on-campus suites their sophomore to senior years. In the future rolled into the subsequent: class, hockey after which hours on the sofa speaking the time away with their roommates. These, Fitzgerald says, are recollections he’ll all the time maintain shut.
Matthew and Madeline had been managing long-distance courting on the time, and she or he would go to steadily. Fitzgerald beloved seeing how his buddy’s face lit up together with her within the room. He jokes she was their mom roommate. The hockey gamers lived like, nicely, faculty boys. She was disgusted at any time when she arrived. She’d inform Matthew and his mates they couldn’t preserve residing like this.
They’d all agree together with her — briefly, at the very least.
“After which she’d come again a month later, and it’d seem like a bomb went off,” Fitzgerald says.
From a hockey perspective, sitting out most of his freshman yr couldn’t have been simple for Matthew, who performed greater than 50 video games every of the earlier two seasons in Omaha. He didn’t let that present. York remembers him focusing by way of video work and prescouts of different groups, remaining prepared always. This wasn’t a typical throwaway yr for a child who wasn’t taking part in a lot. He made positive to realize expertise. Matheson describes Gaudreau as “the most effective I’ve ever seen” at dealing with being a scratch.
Fitzgerald doesn’t assume he’d have dealt with it as nicely. However Matthew savored his yr as faculty teammates together with his brother.
Gaudreau’s angle finally paid off. He performed in most video games his sophomore and junior seasons, then by no means got here out of the lineup as a senior. He was almost a point-per-game participant by commencement, scoring eight objectives and 35 factors in 40 video games his remaining season with the Eagles.
Although his ability confirmed by the point he left Boston School, Matthew had completely different parts to his recreation than his brother. Regardless of his 5-foot-9, 137-pound body, “he was a little bit s— disturber,” Fitzgerald says. He didn’t draw back from scrums. His senior season — the identical yr John gained the NHL’s Girl Byng Trophy for gentlemanly conduct — Matthew was one among solely two Boston School gamers with greater than 50 penalty minutes.
Although equally small, John was higher at eluding contact, York remembers. Matthew would take enormous hits. However he all the time appeared to get proper again up, even when York ready to ship the trainers on the ice.
“It was like he had a coronary heart of metal,” the coach says.
By the point Matthew graduated, he was able to pursue skilled hockey — one thing York thought appeared inconceivable at earlier factors throughout his faculty profession. He willed himself to that time.
Commencement itself was memorable for Fitzgerald. The evening earlier than, the hockey gamers skipped the senior class celebration, as a substitute going out on their very own.
“I don’t assume any of us slept,” he says.
Carrying black robes the subsequent day, Matthew and Fitzgerald, each communication majors, joined their classmates for a procession by way of campus. As they waited, a girl got here by asking if anybody needed to steer the scholars whereas holding a big, maroon Boston School flag over their head.
“I’ll do it!” Matthew referred to as out.
Fitzgerald nonetheless laughs interested by it. All these communications majors had most likely spent the complete evening earlier than collectively, however there main the best way was Matthew Gaudreau, baggage underneath his eyes from one final faculty all-nighter together with his mates.
Matthew Gaudreau (left) carried the Boston School banner at commencement ceremonies. (Lee Pellegrini / Boston School)
Gaudreau carved out knowledgeable taking part in profession for so long as he may. Most of his video games got here within the ECHL, two rungs under the NHL, however he appeared in 21 AHL video games, too, and in addition had a quick stint taking part in in Sweden.
Gaudreau appeared like a hockey lifer, identical to his dad. Ryan Murphy, the Gloucester Catholic athletic director, remembers Man telling him at one level that Matthew would turn out to be an incredible coach. Whereas with the ECHL group in Worcester, lower than an hour out of Boston, he’d swing by his faculty to say hello to York and the Eagles. York, who was all the time impressed with how nicely Gaudreau noticed the sport, remembers his former participant asking questions on teaching on these visits.
“The promise of life he had coming …” York says, trailing off.
When John emerged as an NHL participant, he started internet hosting offseason expertise camps for youths at Hollydell. Robinson remembers going to the locker room with the brothers earlier than camps started. With out fail, John would ask Matthew what drills they need to do. The buddy group joked that the youthful brother was turning into his dad.
“He had a knack for it,” Robinson says. “For no matter motive, some guys who play, they’ll transition into that.”
Gaudreau bought his teaching begin with Philadelphia Hockey Membership, which practiced at — the place else? — Hollydell Ice Enviornment. The subsequent season, 2022-23, a brand new alternative arose: Gloucester Catholic wanted a brand new hockey coach. Matthew met with Iacovone and Ryan Meehan, then the athletic director, at an Italian restaurant close to Hollydell. They talked for 2 hours, primarily about life exterior of the game. When it got here to the job, Iacovone advised Gaudreau he was his No. 1 alternative — and he didn’t have a No. 2.
A number of days later, Gaudreau accepted the place his dad as soon as held. His objective was to make a profession out of teaching, and he was on his method.
Man joined his son’s employees as an assistant for 2022-23, and so did Spencer, his former Gloucester teammate. The group went 9-9-2 and made a run to the state semifinal. Billy Sheridan, a participant on that group, remembers he may stroll into Gaudreau’s workplace at any time and ask for assist.
Throughout his time as Gloucester coach, Gaudreau tried to get his gamers to acknowledge how particular highschool hockey is.
“You guys don’t understand it,” he’d inform them, “however that is going to be the most effective 4 years of your life.”
The subsequent season was harder. Key gamers graduated, and the group’s numbers dipped to round a dozen. It was arduous to carry full practices with so few gamers, and Gaudreau himself needed to miss at occasions due to commitments as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Rebels, the Hollydell-based junior group.
Gloucester didn’t win a recreation that season. After it ended, Gaudreau met once more with Iacovone. He felt it was greatest to step away. He couldn’t commit absolutely to the group and didn’t really feel that was truthful to the gamers. Plus, he had his first child, Tripp, on the best way. Life was going to get busy.
Madeline Gaudreau wore a pink costume with a white floral sample as she stepped to the marble podium at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pa. Throughout her eulogy, she spoke of her husband’s bond with John, how they beloved sharing a bed room rising up and by no means needed it to vary. It brings her consolation that they’re nonetheless collectively.
“Anybody who is aware of Matty is aware of he was born to be a dad,” she mentioned towards the top of the speech, stopping to compose herself.
The concept of fatherhood consumed Matthew. He requested John for recommendation, ordered books and researched diaper manufacturers. Iacovone remembers how excited he was when he noticed him over the summer season.
Matthew by no means bought to fulfill child Tripp, who’s due subsequent month, in line with Madeline’s Instagram account.
Tributes have rolled in since his loss of life. Hollydell held a memorial for the boys. Gloucester Catholic did, too, throughout which the hockey group offered Man and Jane with a jersey. Each the Flyers and Blue Jackets have given Man the possibility to assist with group practices.
The Gaudreau household needed family members to cease by their home within the days after John and Matthew’s deaths. Individuals introduced espresso and meals. Throughout one go to, Brody went upstairs to Matthew and John’s previous room, the location of their teenage sleepovers. It appeared unchanged from once they had been children. He bought the identical feeling Madeline experiences when standing in child Tripp’s nursery. They will really feel Matthew with them.
(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic. Photographs: Mike Stobe / NHLI through Getty Photographs; Richard T Gagnon / Getty Photographs)
