Family, friends remember Gaudreau brothers as 'amazing people all around'

DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — It was a somber Sunday in Broomall as family and friends of brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau gathered for their viewing at D'Anjolell Memorial Homes.

The brothers were struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver on Aug. 29 — the eve of their sister’s wedding — while riding their bicycles in Salem County, New Jersey.

Johnny and Matthew played hockey at Gloucester Catholic High School — where 29-year-old Matthew became the head coach after playing in the minor league with the Reading Royals. Johnny, 31, played 11 seasons in the NHL. They were also part of the Philadelphia Little Flyers growing up.

“They were amazing people all around. You never heard a bad thing about them,” said Ryan Vaites, from Mullica Hill, who was coached by both of the brothers.

“It still doesn’t, like, hit me that I can’t talk to Matty ever again,” he said. “Just those talks last year with him helped me so much. Seeing his dad today was really rough. He’s always been strong for us and providing us with the strength to move us along in hockey and now just seeing him like that, it’s just awful.”

Thomas Neu was also coached by Matthew. He said he was “awesome to everybody” and “such a great dude.”

“They just mean so much around here to everybody. Making it to the NHL, being a guy from South Jersey, really resonates with everybody from around the area,” Neu said.

A private funeral for the brothers is scheduled for Monday in Media.