Guy Gaudreau a Guest on Ice at Flyers Training Camp

As the Flyers prepared for another preseason game on Monday night, there was a familiar face to the South Jersey community on the ice with the players not participating in the game.

Guy Gaudreau, father of the late Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, was invited by Flyers head coach John Tortorella to assist at training camp.

"I called him," Tortorella said. "I wanted to know if he wanted to come out. It's pretty close to home here, as far as his family. He's a coach. First time I met him was today. He's done some great work with some of the youth out here. I figured it's perfect just to get him in with us. He was hesitant at first, and we kind of let him go at his timetable. I think it worked out really well today."

Gaudreau, a well-known coach in the local ranks, was engaged with several of the Flyers coaches throughout the session. As the players ran skating drills, Gaudreau slapped his stick on the ice in approval.

"He might have been a little nervous coming in the first day," Tortorella said. "I think the boys and our organization put him at ease right away."

"Coaches love that stuff," Nick Seeler said. "If he can be around that and it helps, that's great. We love to have him here."

It was less than a month ago, on Aug. 29, that Johnny and Matthew were tragically killed while biking on the evening before their sister's wedding was scheduled to take place. Funeral services for the Gaudreau brothers were held two weeks ago on Sept. 9.

For Tortorella and the Flyers players, reaching out to Gaudreau and trying to play their part in the healing process was important.

"I don't want it to be just come out here. I want him to be part of it," Tortorella said. "I think it will be therapeutic for him to be around us and run some drills. He's done it before. He's a coach. It was great to have him here and we'll see where it goes.

"I'm hoping to get to know the family. I think a number of the coaches want to get to know the family. It's just horrible what happened and it's still pretty fresh. It's here, it's with us down the street. So we just want to be part of it and try to help."

"Obviously, it's so tragic what happened. It just breaks your heart," Seeler said. "To have Mr. Gaudreau out here and have him around the players and that coaching environment, hopefully there's some sort of healing in that."

This may not be the only time Gaudreau joins the Flyers in a practice session. Tortorella gave Gaudreau a copy of the team's training camp schedule, and hopes that he can be around the team more in the future.

"We're going to check in next week and see if we can get him out here a couple more times and have him be part of it," Tortorella said. "He's developed some really good people out here in this area as far as players. I don't want it to be an everyday story. We just want to help. To be in a locker room, coach to coach, player to coach, and guys talking to him, I just hope it helps him a little bit."

As the practice ended, Tortorella acknowledge Gaudreau and the players lined up to shake his hand before exiting in the ice.

"That was cool to have him out there," Travis Sanheim said. "Any way that we can help him out, I hope it was good for him. He's done a lot for this area and this community, it was fun to have him."

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.