Flames star and South Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau is a pending free agent, and the Flyers need to try to sign him

After Johnny Gaudreau sniped the puck past Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger on May 15 to push the Calgary Flames into the second round of playoffs, young hockey fans in the Philadelphia area mimicked their hometown hero scoring that Game 7 overtime goal and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Johnny grew up in South Jersey, cheering on Philadelphia sports teams and eating cheesesteaks, preferably from Geno’s. He comes from where they come from and has comparable life experiences. So maybe, just maybe, if he could reach the highest level of hockey, they could, too.

“And that keeps the fire burning for development and the dream alive for people to see that that type of dream really can come true,” said Pat Ferrill, a coach with local youth club Flyers Elite, who has coached Gaudreau as well as against him.

However, when the Gaudreau family first moved to the area, there were few hometown hockey players for kids to look up to and fewer places for them to build the foundations for those dreams.

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That was years before Gaudreau was born, when his father, Guy, moved to the area from Vermont for his wife, Jane. Guy had played four years of hockey and soccer at Norwich University, and he was less than impressed with the Philadelphia area hockey scene upon his arrival.

“When I first moved down here 40-something years ago, youth hockey was awful,” Guy said. “They had teams — but they weren’t very good.”

Ferrill, who was the general manager of Ice Line rink in West Chester at the same time Guy was working as the director of ice hockey at Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell, said he can confirm that. Despite a surge of interest after the Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, there weren’t enough rinks for kids to take their street hockey to the ice. And for those who did make it on teams, there weren’t enough quality coaches.

Getting someone in the area like Guy was a “game changer,” Ferrill said. In addition toexperience, Guy brought a passion for helping youth and a talent for bringing the best out of players.

“Obviously, from the results that he had, he was really good at teaching kids,” Ferrill said. “And he always had that reputation for as long as I can remember in our marketplace of being a really good coach and really good instructor.”

Guy’s sons are two of the best examples of his work. Johnny, 28, finished second in the NHL in scoring this season with 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists). Matthew, 27, played five seasons of professional hockey, mostly in the AHL, and now is coaching like his dad — although he’s not quite as much as a dictator, Guy joked.

The elder Gaudreau got both of them on the ice early, an easier feat as an employee of an ice rink. He coached them through their youth until they reached an age where he was sure they loved hockey and had the fundamentals down. Then, he turned them over to other coaches, wanting them to experience other systems and philosophies.

“That was my plan, and it worked out pretty well,” Guy said.

As much as he loved coaching them, he enjoyed handing them over. Johnny and Matthew no longer were limited to the same ice time as everyone else to combat favoritism. Instead, their coaches played to win and gave them heavy minutes.

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However, Dad’s lessons stuck with them. Matthew has taken on a similar tough-love, tell-it-like-it-is coaching philosophy. And Johnny has flourished under Darryl Sutter, a hard coach under whom many thought Johnny would struggle to play. Instead, he says Sutter is just like his dad, and Johnny has developed into what former Flyer and NBC analyst Keith Jones describes as an “incredible talent.”

“To say he’s been impressive this year would be an understatement,” Jones said. “He has been an absolute superstar in a game that’s had a lot of players have big years this year. Johnny’s has been one of the best.”

On top of playing under a tough coach, Johnny played this season in front of tough fans and in a tough situation — his final year before free agency. Rather than let it get to him, he went out and proved his worth by posting a career season. Jones estimates that Gaudreau increased his potential contract by 30-35%. Given he is just 28 years old, Gaudreau likely will command a long-term deal with an average annual value of at least $9 or 10 million per year.

The Flames, who currently are down 3-1 in their second round series with the Edmonton Oilers, have made no secret that they want Johnny, a six-time All-Star, back. Guy said he knows as much as the next person but that Johnny loves Calgary. However, it’s impossible to ignore the not-so-quiet chatter from their hometown pleading for Johnny to come home and play for his favorite childhood team, the Flyers.

That would take a lot of salary cap maneuvering, Jones said, but it’s a possibility. The Flyers also would have to hope for a “hometown discount.”

“It’s kind of an unusual circumstance, but the fact that he is friends with a number of the players that are here in the organization now, and obviously has family here as well, should give the Flyers a bit of an advantage if and when they pursued him,” Jones said.

Gaudreau is especially close with Flyers center Kevin Hayes, with whom he won the 2012 NCAA championship with at Boston College.

If that came to pass, it would be a massive lift for the organization, Jones said. It would “correct something that they missed on back in the day” when they passed on Johnny, the 104th overall pick, multiple timesin the 2011 NHL draft. It would address the need for skill that general manager Chuck Fletcher mentioned at the end of the season. And it would create excitement among a community where many have turned to root for the Flames with the Flyers out of the playoffs. A community where hundreds show up whenever the Flames come to town and hundreds more can claim to have played with or against Johnny and Matthew or for or against Guy.

In a radio interview with WIP in 2017, Johnny even admitted the thought of returning to the Philly area had crossed his mind.

“All my good friends and kids who I have played with all my life are from South Jersey, so it would be sweet to play here someday,” he said.

But whether or not Johnny signs with the Flyers, his entire family’s influence on the youth hockey scene continues to be felt through the lessons Guy and Matthew teach the youth and the dreams Johnny dares them to dream.

“They’ve had an impact on the lives of so many youth hockey families in a very positive way, getting them involved in the game, teaching them the game to help them become better players,” Ferrill said. “And when you look back, as a coach, at everything Guy’s invested in the sport, he should look back and have a lot of pride at looking back and saying he’s impacted a lot of lives.”

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