A former teammate revealed his final conversation with Matthew Gaudreau following the former NHL star’s tragic death on Thursday night.
Matthew and his brother Johnny were struck by a vehicle while riding their bike in New Jersey. The siblings were killed the night before their sister Katie’s wedding.
After a 160-game professional hockey career, Matthew went on to coach a high school and junior hockey team. He recently accepted a position as a skills coach for a junior team in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
The new job would give him more time with his wife Madeline and their first child, who is expected to be born on December 31. Former teammate Frankie DiChiara was also looking forward to being close to Gaudreau.
“Matty and I always stayed in touch. He was one of my best friends,” DiChiara said. “I was at his wedding and visited him at the Jersey Shore two summers ago.”
Matthew Gaudreau’s former teammate revealed their heartbreaking final conversation
Frankie DiChiara shared hotel rooms with Gaudreau when they played together in the ECHL
The two shared hotel rooms as members of the Worcester Railers and Reading Royals in the ECHL, two levels below the NHL.
DiChiara now coaches the PAL Islanders team from Long Island, which plays in the same league as the Wolves.
DiChiara also spoke with his former teammate a week before his tragic passing to “catch up and talk hockey.”
He noted how excited they were to be working together again as coaches in the same league and was enthusiastic about Gaudreau’s growing family.
“He’s been traveling a lot in recent years coaching juniors, and he was happy that this position would allow him to be closer to his wife and baby,” DiChiara said.
DiChiara remembered Gaudreau as a fierce opponent and a great teammate, saying his best hockey years were yet to come, even though he was no longer on the ice.
Matthew and brother Johnny were hit by a vehicle while riding bicycles in New Jersey
Matthew is survived by his wife Madeline after his death on Thursday in New Jersey
A fundraiser to help Madeline and her family financially has raised more than $290,000
An image shows the crash that killed Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau on Thursday night
“Matty was a great hockey player, very much like his brother on the ice; he was an excellent skater and could see the ice as well as anybody,” DiChiara said. “He scored over a point a game in the ECHL; he could have kept playing.”
“He had one of the highest hockey IQs I’ve ever been around,” DiChiarra said. “He was a great coach.”
Gaudreau was the head coach at Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey and an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Rebels, a junior program that has produced NCAA and professional talent in recent years.