Matthew Gaudreau, who, along with his brother, seven-time NHL-All Star Johnny Gaudreau, died tragically when an alleged drunk driver collided with the siblings during a bike ride in New Jersey, said he was excited about his future in a final chat with his former pro hockey roommate.
Gaudreau, a high school and junior hockey coach after his 160-game pro hockey career ended, recently accepted a position as a skills coach with a new junior team in West Chester, Pa.
The job would have allowed him to spend more time with his wife, Madeline, and their first child, who is expected to be born later this year.
His former teammate, Frankie DiChiara, said he would have also seen more of Gaudreau.
The two shared hotel rooms on road trips as members of the Worcester Railers and Reading Royals in the ECHL, two steps below the NHL.
Now, DiChiara coaches the Long Island-based PAL Islanders team, which competes in the same league as the Wolves.
“Matty and I always stayed in touch. He was one of my best friends,” DiChiara said. “I was at his wedding and visited him on the Jersey Shore two summers ago.”
DiChiara, 30, of Farmingville, Long Island, said that he spoke to his former teammate just a week before the tragic accident to “catch up and talk about hockey.”
He said the two were excited to reunite as coaches in the same league and about Gaudreau’s growing family.
“He’d been on the road a lot coaching juniors the last few years, and he was excited that this position would have allowed him to be closer to his wife and baby on the way,” DiChiara said.
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Gaudreau joined his older brother, Johnny, at Boston College for the 2013-14 season and played four seasons for the Eagles.
From there, Gaudreau played small parts of two seasons with the New York Islanders’ top affiliate in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but spent most of his career in the ECHL.
DiChiara remembers Gaudreau as a tough competitor and great teammate.
Boston College Eagles celebrate after the Eagles beat the
Northeastern University Huskies to win their fifth Beanpot
Championship in a row. Getty Images
“Matty was a hell of a hockey player, very similar to his brother on the ice; he was an excellent skater and could see the ice as well as anyone,” DiChiara said. “He totaled over a point per game in the ECHL; he could have kept playing.”
In recent years, Gaudreau served as the head coach of Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey and as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Rebels, a junior program that develops NCAA and pro prospects.
DiChiara said that he felt Gaudreau’s best days in the game were ahead of him because of his vast hockey knowledge.
“He had one of the highest hockey IQs I’d ever been around,” DiChiarra said. “He was a great coach.”
