Hollydell Ice Arena and the Philadelphia Rebels honor the Gaudreau brothers: ‘They meant everything to this community’

At first glance, “shrine” could have accurately described the mountain of memorabilia that accumulated outside the Hollydell Ice Arena on Friday evening before the Philadelphia Rebels junior hockey team hosted the Northeast Generals in Sewell, N.J.

Closer inspection, however, revealed that a single word couldn’t possibly have captured the scene’s emotional heft.

More than 100 sticks, most carrying messages or names of hockey clubs, players, or high schools, stood upright against four sides of a pillar outside the arena, where Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, hometown hockey heroes, spent so much of their lives. Matthew had even served as an assistant coach with the Rebels in recent years after retiring from professional hockey.

Fifteen days after the brothers were killed by an alleged drunk driver while riding their bicycles north on County Route 551 in Salem County, the South Jersey hockey community created a physical representation of its shared love, grief, admiration, and gratitude.

“They meant everything to this community,” said Bill Malandrino, who has worked at the pro shop inside the arena for 35 years.

On the ground beneath the sticks, “we love you both,” bracketed by hearts, was written in blue chalk. On the opposite side was a heartfelt, handwritten letter. Several bags of Skittles, a favorite teaching tool of Guy Gaudreau, Johnny and Matt’s father, were tucked between flowers wrapped in cellophane.

Written on one hockey puck: “Always in our hearts.” On another: “RIP, Matty. Fly high.”

Scrawled on white tape with black marker, one hockey stick read: “from one Salem County player to another.” On an adjacent goalie’s stick: “God bless your family. Stay strong.”

On one side there was a sealed envelope addressed to “the Gaudreau family.” To the left, a well-known poem adjusted slightly with hockey lingo was written on unlined paper. Farther left, a photo collage of a child wearing a No. 13 jersey.

A second collage, this one accompanied by a psalm, was punctuated with gratitude: “Dear Mr. and Mrs. Gaudreau, thank you for raising role models.”

“I think it shows the impact that they had on this rink, this hockey community, and the whole area,” said Rebels coach Justin Hale. “They were just humble, salt-of-the-earth guys who happened to be good at hockey.”

Inside the arena, enlarged family photos set atop easels stationed on the concourse, leading a procession of viewers into the rink.

During the pregame ceremony on the ice, Flyers television voice Jim Jackson supplied a brief history of the arena, which opened in 1992 with the Gaudreau patriarch, Guy, as its hockey director.

» READ MORE: Family, NHL community provide moving send-off for Gaudreau brothers: ‘To know both of them was to truly love them’

Applause serenaded the Gaudreau family as it made its way to seats on the ice.

Jackson later requested 34 seconds of silence: the sum of the brothers’ most commonly worn numbers, 13 and 21. Both starred at Gloucester Catholic before Boston College and later the pros.

Then James “Jim” Mackey, owner of the arena, explained that the facility’s “futures rink,” where beginners learn the game, would be named the Gaudreau rink.

“In the midst of an awful situation,” Mackey told the near-capacity crowd, “I can smile thinking of our next generation of players learning the game and experiencing its joy on a sheet of ice named after Matthew and John Gaudreau. I have no doubt they’ll continue to inspire countless hockey players.”

Matthew’s wife, Madeline, who is pregnant with their first child, dropped the ceremonial first puck. The Rebels lost, 6-5, in overtime after Jake Gutwirth, a lefty who wears No. 13, scored the game-winning goal.

» READ MORE: Johnny and Matty Gaudreau were more than hockey. They were inspirations to their South Jersey community.

By night’s end, however, the game’s outcome wasn’t top of mind.

Jacob King, a sophomore goalie at the University of Delaware, stayed behind with some of his roommates after the team scrimmaged at the arena earlier in the day.

“Growing up in Jersey,” said King, a native of North Jersey, “[Johnny] was huge for the hockey community, so paying our respects was the least we could do.”

Though he grew up closer to New York, King said the Gaudreau family was well-known throughout the state.

“I’ve never met them, but the way I’ve heard that their family works; they’re very generous, very caring,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, they’re going to show love and care to you, and that’s what really matters, especially today. You can’t find that too often.”

Katie Gaudreau, whose wedding was scheduled for the day after her brothers were killed, closed the pregame ceremony flanked by family.

“This rink has been a home to our family for many years,” she said. “So many of you here today have watched Johnny and Matty grow up here on this ice. Hollydell Ice Arena will forever be a place where we feel closest to them. Thank you not only for being here, but for your love and support these past 15 days.”