Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Other NHL brother acts

The Courtnall brothers persevered and made the
NHL despite growing up in a town with no barbers.
The weekend's NHL draft unexpectedly turned into a family reunion, thanks to a pair of high-profile players being traded to the teams that already employ their brothers. The Penguins made the first move on Friday, dealing Jordan Staal to the Hurricanes where he'll team up with his brother Eric. The Maple Leafs followed suit on Saturday, finally pulling the trigger on a long-rumored trade that made Luke Schenn a teammate of brother Brayden on the Philadelphia Flyers.

But while it was an interesting quirk to have both deals made within 24 hours of each other, it's not all that unusual to see brothers sharing the spotlight in the NHL. From the Richards to the Espositos to the Sedins, the league has a long history of siblings sharing the ice as both teammates and opponents.

Here's a look at some of the other NHL brother acts that have played together or otherwise crossed paths during their careers.

Rich and Ron Sutter - Became the first set of identical twins to suit up for the same NHL team during the 1983-84 season in Philadelphia, marking the only time that Flyer opponents were able to see double without first getting sucker punched off the opening faceoff.

Rob and Scott Niedermayer - Won a Stanley Cup together in Anaheim in 2007 while establishing themselves as prototypical Brian Burke players, in the sense that neither one of them has any idea how to play goal.

Saku and Mikko Koivu - In addition to being brothers, both players have been NHL captains who've been criticized for not communicating properly in the local language; Saku in Montreal, because he could not speak French, and Mikko in Minnesota, because he is able to properly pronounce vowels.

Max, Doug and Reg Bentley - A goal by Reg in 1943 marked the first time in NHL history that three brothers all recorded points on the same goal and it will sure be fun to do the same thing in Carolina in a few years, says Marc Staal before realizing he probably wasn't supposed to say that last part out loud.

Peter and Miroslav Ihnacak - Grew up dreaming of playing together for an NHL team, but tragically had to settle for the Harold Ballard-era Maple Leafs instead.

Tomas and Frantisek Kaberle - The two brothers never got the chance to be teammates in the NHL, and since Frantisek now plays in the Czech league the only logical thing is for Tomas to go play there too, according to the steady stream of Habs fans constantly pulling up to him on the street and offering him a ride to the airport.

Paul and Gino Cavallini - The St. Louis Blues teammates each earned NHL honors in 1990, with Paul taking home the "NHL Plus-Minus Award" and Gino winning the "Name most likely to make you giggle uncontrollably whenever you say it because you are eight years old".

Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn - Have played together for both the Montreal Canadiens and the Nashville Predators and could do it again for a third team, assuming Sergei is willing to play for whatever Sunday night rec league team David Poile sends Andrei to.

Pavel and Valeri Bure - While he was excited to get a chance to play with his brother in Florida during the 2001-2002 season, Pavel admitted to being somewhat less enthusiastic to discover that the back of his Panther's jersey would read "DJ Tanner's Brother-in-Law".

Wayne and Brent Gretzky - Despite a short career that saw him record only four points, Brent co-holds the NHL record for most combined points by two brothers, with 2,861, as well as the record for most times being informed of this fact while politely gritting his teeth and pretending he's never heard it before, with a trillion.

Ulf and Kjell Samuelsson - Although many people assumed they were brothers when they were Pittsburgh Penguin teammates, they were not actually related in any way, according to the shrieks of a terrified Kjell as Cam Neely punches his way through his front door screaming "WHERE IS HE?".

Malcolm and PK Subban - First-round pick Malcolm has assured scouts that he's not as eccentric as his older brother, marking the only time in recent history that a Boston Bruins goaltender has been described as "the level-headed one".




38 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I was thinking the same thing.

      Delete
  2. At least Brent isn't Keith.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ALL GOLDEN!!

    But there are already 3 Staal brothers in Carolina. Just a matter of if Jared can live up to the name ... but it would be sick if Marc joined them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As a Rangers fan it would make me sick if Marc joined them. Stop the sacrilege!!!~

      Delete
  4. While they didn't play in a game together, Alain and Mario Lemieux were on the Penguins together briefly.

    ReplyDelete
  5. And the Red Wings came close to having a set of brothers of their own with the Filppulas. And then, of course, Toronto got in on the act of drafting Kronwall brothers, so that pairing got split up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I kept waiting for a sedins+diving chirp... never came :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That dead horse is sufficiently beaten, methinks.

      Delete
  7. Great post. Man, imagine being gretzkys brother. That's worse than being his smokin hot daughter. A lot worse.

    ReplyDelete
  8. DJ Tanner's Brother in Law...awesome

    ReplyDelete
  9. Why no Barc, Billy, Bob Plager love?

    I appreciate the Blues nod for the flying Cavallini brothers though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Samuelsson shrieks..classic

    ReplyDelete
  11. Man you're having a lot of fun with the Tim Thomas thing aren't you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The beauty of this one is that it works equally well as a Tuukka Rask joke.

      Delete
  12. I know there's a Lindros concussion joke in there

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's too soon. I'm still bitter about how the Isles and Nords worked over the Leafs for Brett at the '94 draft.

      Delete
    2. Same here! It was like you had totally forgotten that Eric Lindros had a brother.
      I suppose that's ok, though. So did Eric.

      Delete
  13. What? No gionta jokes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would've went right over their heads.

      Delete
  14. I think my favourite/favorite (besides the caption of course!) was the Kostitsyns. My rec league team could use a Kostitsyn; maybe you could put a word in with Poile?

    ReplyDelete
  15. What was that Mikko Koivu thing about?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. His english is better than people in Minnesota . i.e. he can pronounce vowels .

      Delete
  16. Oh, come on! I thought you were going to make a Chris and Sean Pronger joke for sure. Maybe like Chris and Sean crash the 2012 Draft party at Gary Bettman's hotel?

    ReplyDelete
  17. I was sitting at a Dallas Stars game when a 5 year old in front of us said loudly "Daddy, which is the Hatcher that sucks?". The entire section said Kevin!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What about Tuomo and Jarkko Ruutu?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hey, and what about the Hansens????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now I'm going to have MMMBop in my head for the rest of the day.

      Delete
    2. From Slapshot, not the music group..

      Delete
  20. The Carolina Hurricanes already have the rights to the 4th and youngest Staal brother. They don't need Marc.

    ReplyDelete
  21. You missed the 3 Stasny brothers who all played for the Nordiques.

    ReplyDelete
  22. don't forget the Folignos

    ReplyDelete
  23. Jarko and Teemu Ruutu - Kept the company that makes the letter "U" for NHL jersey's employed for several years.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Kenny Jonsson and his brother Jorgen.

    ReplyDelete
  25. lundvist twins...joel and henrik

    ReplyDelete