Some of the best athletes grew up playing with their siblings outside of organized practices, so it’s no wonder many of them chose the same sport to pursue.
In football, you have the Watt brothers who all played football at Wisconsin before going different paths in the NFL. On current basketball rosters, twins Caleb and Cody Martin both play at Nevada, while K.J. and Dedric Lawson play together at Kansas. And it turns out the story is no different for hockey brothers.
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Here are the Top 20 DI men’s hockey teams with brothers you should know about this season, as of November 8, 2018.
No. 1 UMD
The reigning national champions have brothers in freshmen forwards Jackson and Noah Cates.
Before coming to UMD, Jackson played for Waterloo in the USHL. He was named Forward of the Year and was fifth in all USHL skaters last season in scoring after recording 63 points in 57 games. Jackson’s USHL career started in 2016, where he would be teammates with current UMD teammate Nick Swaney.
So far this season, Jackson has recorded a personal high 5 shots and two goals versus Minnesota. He also notched an assist versus Notre Dame.
Jackson’s brother Noah played for Omaha in the USHL prior to making his debut at UMD. He finished the season with 21 goals and 34 assists in regular season games, finishing second on the team’s point charts. The Philadelphia Flyers selected Noah as the 127th pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Noah has also had successful since becoming a Bulldog, marking a personal high two assists versus Michigan Tech, four shots versus Minnesota and one goal in three games, including vs. Notre Dame.
The two are sure to turn into big contributors during their time with the top-ranking UMD Bulldogs.
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No. 2 St. Cloud State
The second-ranked Huskies have three brothers on their squad in Jack, Nick and Ryan Poehling. Jack and Nick are twins, who also played together for USHL team Green Bay Gamblers before joining St. Cloud State’s team. Ryan is their younger brother. All three brothers are forwards.
Jack played in 75 for the Huskies entering the 2018-19 season, scoring 12 goals across his two seasons on the roster. So far this season, Jack has taken 17 shots and recorded two goals.
Nick played in 70 games at St. Cloud State before entering his junior campaign. He recorded 10 goals in his first two seasons, three of which were game winners. So far this year, Nick has two assists.
Ryan rounds out the Poehling brothers for the Huskies. Ryan did not play USHL hockey, meaning even though he is younger than Jack and Nick, he is also a junior. He’s played in 79 games at St. Cloud State, scoring a whopping 24 goals, including six game winners. So far this season, he's scored three goals.
No. 6 Notre Dame
The Irish have two brothers in freshman forward Cam Burke and junior forward Cal Burke.
Cam spent the last two seasons in the USHL where he played for the Bloomington Thunder, Sioux Falls Stampede and Central Illinois Flying Aces. He recorded 50 points while in the USHL. Before that, Cam played with the Boston Jr. Bruins for four years. He has yet to record any goals for Notre Dame this season.
Cam’s older brother, Cal, also plays for the Irish. Cam spent two seasons in the USHL playing for Cedar Rapids. In his first two seasons with Notre Dame, Cal scored 17 goals — 3 game winners — and recorded 20 assists. His five goals recorded so far this season bring his total to 22 goals in the 81 games he’s played for the team.
No. 10 Bowling Green
The Falcons have a pair of brothers in sophomore forward Sam Craggs and junior forward Lukas Craggs.
Prior to coming to Bowling Green, Sam played for the Team Illinois U16 and U18 teams, as well as in the USHL. During his freshman season with the Falcons, Sam played in 38 of 41 games, recording six assists and three goals. He has taken seven shots resulting in two goals so far this season.
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Lukas played junior hockey with the Youngstown Phantoms prior to joining Bowling Green. In his first two seasons, Lukas appeared in 81 games. His freshman season resulted in seven goals, one game winner, and three assists. Lukas recorded 10 goals, one game winner, and nine assists during his sophomore campaign. So far this season, the older Craggs brother has scored five goals, one game winner, and two assists in nine games played.
No. 20 Wisconsin
The Badgers have a pair of sophomore forwards in brothers Jason and Sean Dhooghe.
Jason, who is older than Sean, played in the USHL for the Green Bay Gamblers for two seasons before joining the Badgers. In his first season at Wisconsin, Jason played in 19 games. He recorded 14 blocks, one goal and one assist. He has taken one shot in the two games he has played so far this season.
Sean played for the U.S National Team Development Program from 2015-17 and was invited to the San Jose Sharks development camp in 2017. Among other accolades, Sean won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2016 and 2017 U18 Five Nations Tournaments. He played in all 37 games for the Badgers during his freshman season, scoring six goals and recording 10 assists. Sean has seen time in eight games so far this season, and has already scored five goals and recorded two assists.
Jason and Sean have a special bond over the fact that they scored their first career goals on Nov. 4, 2017. They are the first brothers in Wisconsin history to accomplish that.
There are also a number of teams that fell outside of the Top 20, but who received votes in the USCHO poll, who have brothers on their roster.
Arizona State
Juniors Brinson, a defenseman, and Steenn Pasichnuk, a forward, skate together for the Sun Devils. The two played together with the Bonnyville Pontiacs for three years before joining Arizona State.
Brinson was selected to the College Hockey Inc. All-Underrated Team his freshman season after scoring seven goals and recording seven assists in the 31 games he played. He ranked second on the team with four power play goals during his freshman season. Brinson’s sophomore campaign concluded with four multi-point performances in the last six games. He played in every game, finishing with eight goals and 18 assists. So far this season, Brinson has taken 39 shots, scored three goals and marked three assists.
Steenn totaled two goals and five assists in the 24 games he played in his freshman season. An injury prevented him from playing the entire season. During his sophomore season, Steenn recorded one goal and three assists. He has taken 12 shots for one goal and has one assist so far for his junior season with Arizona State.
Dartmouth
Big Green lists brothers freshman forward Sam Hesler and senior forward Carl Hesler. Their father, Neal Hesler, also went to Dartmouth.
Last season, Sam played for the Wenatchee Wild in the BCHL. He hasn’t recorded any stats with Dartmouth yet, but is surely learning how to be successful from older brother Carl.
Carl also played in the BCHL before coming to Dartmouth, finishing third on West Kelowna’s team with 58 points. And he has had quite the career since joining Big Green. Carl was the only rookie to play in all 33 games in 2014-15, scoring three times and assisting three others. He was named winner as the Booma Award as the team’s Rookie of the Year. Carl’s sophomore campaign ended with being named the winner of the Manser Award as the most improved player after scoring 11 goals and notching 10 assists. The junior season meant two more goals and eight assists for a total of 10 points in 16 games played. He was also named team captain. Carl did not play during the 2017-18 season, and has since has played in three games for one goal and one assist on his senior season. He is currently an alternate captain.
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