Guy Gaudreau was only three or four strides onto the Saddledome ice and already had Dustin Wolf wrapped in a hug.
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Albeit a brief one.
“The first thing he said to me is, ‘Spin around, let me see this mask,’ ” said Wolf, who has a tribute to Johnny Gaudreau — an iconic photo of No. 13, plus some Skittles and purple Gatorade — on the back-plate of his goalie lid. “I said, ‘Here, take a look, I think it looks great!’
“I heard he was coming out today and I wanted to give him a hug and let him know that we’re there for him, and I hope being out there, for him, made him super happy. And he scored a couple goals on me, too, so he’s still got it.”
Perhaps, there was a little magic in his stick. After all, it belonged to Johnny, taped up just the way he liked. Apparently, Calgary Flames equipment manager Mark DePasquale had it stashed in storage.
The Gaudreau family is in Calgary this week for their first visit since they lost both of their sons — Johnny and Matthew — in a heart-wrenching summer tragedy in their home state of New Jersey.
At the urging of Flames head coach Ryan Huska, Guy brought his skates with him. He was on the ice for Monday’s practice at the Saddledome, where his oldest boy made a habit of bringing the fans to their feet during a nine-season stint with the home team.
Johnny, who piled up 210 goals, 609 points and six all-star invites in the Flaming C, will be remembered with a special video tribute prior to Tuesday’s matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Members of the Gaudreau family — including Guy and Jane, sisters Kristen and Katie and Johnny’s wife Meredith and their two kids — will be at centre ice for a ceremonial faceoff.
“The circumstances suck, but it was good seeing him,” said Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson, who draped his arm around Guy at the beginning of Monday’s practice, the two laughing and smiling as they skated a couple of slow laps of the ice. “This is his therapy, right, to be around the rink? It will never be as it used to be, for him and for none of us, but he still loves being around rink and it was great seeing him here today.”
“Hockey is kind of family, and Guy and his family were a big part of this community,” echoed Huska. “Probably the most enjoyable times he’s had were around his family and around the rink, so it gave us an opportunity to bring him in and be around the players and, I know, around a game that he loves.”
Guy was, no doubt, feeling the love Monday.
Decked out in a Flames’ track suit, the 67-year-old also received hugs from Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Ryan Lomberg and Dan Vladar, who all played alongside his son in Calgary.
There was an enthusiastic fist-bump from Jakob Pelletier, freshly recalled from the AHL’s Wranglers.
There were handshakes from Kevin Bahl and Tyson Barrie and other guys he’d not previously met.
There was even a good-natured run-in with Coleman, who gave Monday’s guest coach a bump in the corner during the drills.
“And then he started chirping me — ‘That’s all you got?!’ ” Coleman said with a grin. “It’s good to see him back where he belongs — on the ice and laughing and helping out. I think it’s healing for everybody to be together and spend some time.”
Originally from Vermont, Guy is a hockey player himself. He is, in fact, in the Norwich University Athletics Hall of Fame, where he was also on the soccer team.
He is a hockey coach, too. He was the longtime skipper at Gloucester High School, where both of his boys attended.
And he is a hockey fan. He still keeps close tabs on both of Johnny’s former squads, the Blue Jackets and the Flames. According to Andersson, “he had his own conclusion why we were not scoring.”
Do tell, Guy. Please.
“We asked him to help teach our guys how to score,” said Huska, whose snakebitten squad has managed a grand total of eight snipes during a four-game losing skid. “He did a good job with his son, so we asked if he could help some of our players along.”
If the offence explodes Tuesday, that will be a bonus.
But the top priority, for the Flames organization and the 19,289 fans who will fill the seats on what will be an emotional evening, is to show love and support for a heartbroken family.
“We have a long history, me and Guy,” Andersson said after Monday’s practice. “It was good to see him and just to hug him. Just for him to be on the ice, it’s not easy. It’s not easy for any one of us and it’s definitely not easy for him. But I think this is his therapy and I told him, ‘Come out whenever you want. You always have a spot here on the ice whenever you want.’ ”