Gaudreau family distraught as sons are honored on Friday.

This was a beautiful gesture on the part of the North American Hockey League and the Philly Rebels, but boy was it difficult to watch a family that is so clearly in so much pain.

In spite of the fact that neither Johnny nor Matthew Gaudreau had ever played in the NAHL or for the Philly Rebels, both parties went out of their way over the weekend to honor the two young men who were slain by a drunk driver on the 29th of August, 2024.

The two parties put together a beautiful tribute where both Johnny and Matthew were honored by both the organizations, the fans in attendance, as well as by members of the Gaudreau families themselves.

The tribute came as a result of how much the arena itself meant to both brothers as the Hollydell Ice Arena was their hometown rink and is where the boys started to learn to love hockey, playing at the rink regularly with father Guy Gaudreau.

In an incredibly beautiful and fitting gesture, one of the rinks will be renamed the Gaudreau Rink having previously been known as the Futures Rink.

One of the Gaudreau sisters even spoke at the event and expressed her gratitude for all of the support the family has received since the tragedy.

While it was a very beautiful moment my heart cannot help but break for the Gaudreau family, all of whom were understandably still very distraught over the loss of these two beautiful young men.

You can see a short clip of the Gaudreau family walking out with lovely jerseys paying tribute to both Johnny and Matthew in the video below.

Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau were riding their bikes home from their sisters wedding rehearsal (the wedding was originally schedule for the next day but was postponed as a result of the tragedy) when they were struck from behind by Sean M. Higgins, who was operating a motor vehicle at a high rate of speed according to at least one eye witness. Higgins admitted to officers that he had consumed alcohol and it was recently revealed that his blood alcohol level was above the legal limit of 0.08, with Higgins' blood alcohol level reportedly tested at .087.

I would like to once again extend my most sincere condolences to the entire Gaudreau family , all of Johnny and Matthew's loved ones, and the entire hockey community that i grieving over this senseless tragedy.