Family, friends, loved ones and beyond gathered Friday night for a vigil to mourn the death of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew a week after they were killed by a suspected drunk driver. Their alma mater, Gloucester Catholic High School, hosted the gathering. NBC10’s Brian Sheehan has more from the “Quiet Night of Remembrance.”
The NHL star, known as “Johnny Hockey”, was riding bikes with his younger brother, Matthew, last week when an alleged drunken driver struck and killed them in Salem County, New Jersey.
Johnny Gaudreau was a member of Gloucester Catholic’s class of 2011. Matty graduated from the Gloucester City School in 2013. The school released a statement after their deaths and said the school community is devastated by the "sudden and unspeakable losses."
“Johnny and Matt truly loved Gloucester Catholic, and the entire Gaudreau family have always been loyal and dedicated supporters of Gloucester Catholic," the school wrote on Facebook. "Along with their incredible talents on the ice they will be remembered even more by our GC Family as loving sons, brothers, fathers, husbands, friends and role models."
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"Johnny and Matt were incredible hockey players and students, but even more amazing human beings," GC Principal Thomas Iacovone, Jr. said. "Their loss will be felt forever by the entire Gloucester Catholic community and by me personally. I will continue to pray for them and their families during this unimaginable tragedy."
"They've done so much for the school since they left," Iacovone later told NBC10.
The "Quiet Night of Remembrance" was held in the GCHS gymnasium at the private school's Ridgeway Street campus on Friday, Sept. 6.
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Heavy hearts filled the gymnasium as friends and members of the South Jersey community and beyond gathered with the family.
“I don’t even know what to say. My heart is absolutely broken. Absolutely broken for all of them," Mary Kay Shea, who knows the Gaudreau family, said.
There was a long line outside of the school - a testament to the enormous impact the brothers had on this tight-knit community.
"The point of tonight is to help people come together, that's what Gloucester Catholic is," Iacovone said. "To help people pay tribute to John and Matt."
The event was open to anyone who wanted to honor John and Matty.
The funeral for the Gaudreau brothers will take place Monday at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pennsylvania. Their obituaries noted it would be streamed on the Columbus Blue Jackets’ website, given the number of people expected to attend.
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