© Philadelphia Flyers

Guy Gaudreau, the father of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, served as a guest coach at Philadelphia Flyers training camp in Voorhees, New Jersey, on Monday.

Gaudreau was there at the invitation of Flyers coach John Tortorella.

Johnny, a forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Matthew, a former pro hockey player, died Aug. 29 when they were struck by a car while riding bicycles near their home in Salem County, New Jersey, about 30 miles southwest of the Flyers’ practice facility.

Guy Gaudreau is a longtime former hockey coach who coached his sons at Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell, New Jersey, and Gloucester Catholic High School.

“He’s a coach and he’s done some great work with some of the youth out here,” Tortorella said. “I figured it’s perfect to get him in with us. He was hesitant at first and we let him go at his timetable. I think it worked out really well today.”

That included banging his stick on the boards and criticizing how Tortorella was running practice.

“He’s giving me [grief] that I was yelling at the players to skate harder,” Tortorella said. “‘You’ve only got three lines out here how much harder can they go?’ So, he’s paying attention. It was good.”

The players spent time talking to Gaudreau on the ice and all shook his hand after practice ended.

“That was cool to have him out there,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “I think any way that we can help him out with what’s going on. I hope this was good for him as well. He’s done a lot for this area and this community. It was fun to have him.”

Tortorella said he invited Gaudreau to travel with the Flyers for their preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Monday, but Gaudreau said that was a bit too much too soon.

But Gaudreau has a copy of Tortorella’s schedule for training camp, and Tortorella hopes Gaudreau will return before camp ends, preferably with a drill or two for the players to run.

“We’re going to check in next week and see if we can get him out here a couple more times,” Tortorella said. “Have him be part of it. I don’t want it to be just come out here, I want him to be part of it.

“I think it will be therapeutic for him to be part of it, run some drills. He’s done it before. He’s a coach. It was great to have him here. We’ll see where it goes.”

Tortorella attended the funeral for the Gaudreau brothers in Media, Pennsylvania on Sept. 9. He never had the chance to meet Johnny or Matthew, but with the family so close to Philadelphia, he believes it’s important to make sure they feel part of the Flyers organization.

“I’m hoping to get to know the family,” he said. “I think a number of the coaches want to get to know the family. … It’s just horrible that it happened. It’s still pretty fresh. It’s here, it’s with us, down the street. We just want to be part of it and help.”