Best hockey families of all-time? Or interesting stats/notes regarding family relations?

[mistaclick]

I just recently discovered that Peter Stastny also had 2 brothers that similarly came to play in the NHL in the 80’s and put up some really good numbers as well. I was born after they were all done playing and somehow never heard of this.

Peter had 1.268 pts/game over 977 games
Anton had 0.978 pts/game over 650 games
Marian had 0.913 pts/game over 322 games

And there is obviously Paul Stastny who just retired with 0.718 pts/game over 1145 games.

The three were some of the earliest to come from Czechoslovakia at the time. Really impressive numbers, and I was surprised that I had never heard about Peter having two brothers who also found a lot of *individual* success here. Now I’m thinking about other underrated or under discussed families in hockey.

Who is your top hockey family of all time, why? Could a family like the Tkachuks or Hughes one day make it there as a whole? Any unusual or interesting stories/stats in regard to family ties? Cheers

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[Staniowski]

In addition to the Stastnys, you have the Holik/Musil and Bubla/Slegr families connected to 1970s Czechoslovakia. All three families are multi-generational, and all three were represented on Team Czechoslovakia at the same time in the mid '70s.

 

[lionsDen]

Suters

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Give it 10 years and if they stay healthy, it will be the Hughes brothers, then all the rest.

As it stands, the Hulls might be the best family.

 

[BraveCanadian]

The Patricks obviously

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i always felt bad for the third conacher and the third boucher brother

i mean those were excellent players, stanley cup winners, peaked at 1st and 2nd in scoring respectively, but they both were definitely the third brother.

 

[Jumptheshark]

No love for the Sutters?

 

[BenchBrawl]

i always felt bad for the third conacher and the third boucher brother

i mean those were excellent players, stanley cup winners, peaked at 1st and 2nd in scoring respectively, but they both were definitely the third brother.

The third Boucher brother, Billy Boucher, was a good player. There was a fourth brother, Bobby Boucher, who also played professionally in the WCHL/NHL but had a short career and died at age 27 of tuberculosis.

Beyond Frank and George, there were also two other Boucher brothers, Carroll and Joseph, but they never played professional hockey as far as I know.

 

[BenchBrawl]

The Patricks obviously

Probably the right answer.

Another multigenerational hockey family were the Hextall's, with Bryan Hextall Sr., his sons Bryan Hextall Jr. and Dennis Hextall, and his grandson Ron Hextall. Even Ron's son, Brett Hextall, played in the AHL is now a development coach for Pittsburgh.

Bernie Geoffrion's son Dan Geoffrion had a short career in the NHL/WHA, and his grandson Blake Geoffrion played 55 games in the NHL. While Boom Boom Geoffrion isn't related to Howie Morenz by blood, he married his daughter, so his descendants share Morenz's bloodline.

 

[Crocodiligator]

The Bentley guys?

 

[frisco]

I know Ken and Dave Dryden faced each other in goal in the 70's a few times. Has it happened since? There doesn't seem to be too many (if any) goaltending brothers in history besides the Drydens (unless I'm forgetting someone, which is very possible).

My Best-Carey

 

[hypereconomist]

If cousins are included, the Fitzgeralds are the centerpoint of one of the best hockey families in hockey history. Members of that family:

Tom, Scott, Ryan, and Casey Fitzgerald
Keith, Brady, and Matthew Tkachuk
Kevin and Jimmy Hayes

They're currently at 4316 NHL games. The current generation of NHLers (Brady, Matthew, Kevin, and Casey) is still active with plenty of their careers left. Of the non-NHLers, Jimmy (RIP) was a good pro player, Ryan Fitzgerald has spent the last eight seasons in the AHL, and Scott is a long-time NHL scout (Jackets, Bruins, and Sharks)

On top of that, Brady is married to the sister of John Farinacci, who should eventually play some NHL games. Farinacci is a first cousin of Ryan Donato, which adds another 1165 NHL games (and counting) between him and Ted Donato.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

I know Ken and Dave Dryden faced each other in goal in the 70's a few times. Has it happened since? There doesn't seem to be too many (if any) goaltending brothers in history besides the Drydens (unless I'm forgetting someone, which is very possible).

My Best-Carey

I remember looking into this at some point.

Found the post:

Pretty interesting topic. I really doubt two brothers have dressed for the same NHL team in one season, as goalie brothers even facing each other from different teams are rare. The only ones I can think of are Ken and Dave Dryden, but I’m sure there’s more.

I began checking the Wikipedia for brothers in the NHL.

Brothers Len and Ken Broderick dressed for at least one game for the Toronto Marlboros junior team in the 1950s, and both had brief NHL stints, but never in the same season. Ken Broderick was the more accomplished of the two with the longer career, and was named best goaltender of the Olympic tournament backstopping Team Canada to a bronze medal in 1962.

If the Wikipedia page is complete, I’m pretty sure the Brodericks and Drydens are the only two brother pairs to make the NHL as goalies.

 

[Sanf]

I remember looking into this at some point.

Found the post:

I would say Chet and Calvin Pickard would qualify even if NHL does not officially count them because Chet made it as backup for Predators.

There is quite a few brothers that has been affiliated with NHL teams in way or another, but yes I believe only two pairs have played in game.

For the same time in a team Mike Karakas had brother named Luke who participated for Black Hawks camp while Mike was there too. Same with Dan Bouchards brother Guy with Flames.

 

[reckoning]

Unless someone else has done it recently, I believe there's only been four players to score a goal against their brother:

Paul Thompson on Tiny Thompson
Brian Smith on Gary Smith
Phil Esposito on Tony Esposito
Mathieu Biron on Martin Biron

I'm surprised the thread has gone this far without the Espositos being mentioned.

 

[Crosby2010]

Just on sheer volume you have to say the Sutters. 6 brothers, all made the NHL and all stuck around. Many championships too, some Canada Cups, but basically all the same mentality of player. No one passes up having a "Sutter" on their team. Ironically the 7th brother who never made the NHL won the lottery at one point.

The Staals have made their mark in the game as well.

Dennis, Brett and of course Bobby Hull.

Phil and Tony, and no I doubt I need to say their last name

Plager brothers trio

Give the Tkachuk family time and they could be up there. Ditto the Hughes family.

Have we gone this long and not mentioned the Richards yet? Or even the Howes? There are a combined 4 HHOFers in those families!

The Conacher family as well. Brian Conacher, the son of Lionel, was the only one not to make the HHOF compared to the other three. Lots of hardware from the other three too. Brian was on the 1967 Leafs and also along with Foster Hewitt called the 1972 Summit series in the booth

Mahovlich brothers

I know there are more, but I do have to mention the set of brothers that have the most combined points in NHL history..................the Gretzkys.............Wayne and Brent. By the way, just to give Brent some love here, he did have a nice junior career and routinely put up good points in the minors his whole career even if he only played 12 NHL games. Still had 4 points though and was in his early 20s. Not sure why he never got more of a shot.

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Related question: are we now in the Golden Age of "nepo babies" in the NHL?

 

[RegDunlop]

Just on sheer volume you have to say the Sutters. 6 brothers, all made the NHL and all stuck around. Many championships too, some Canada Cups, but basically all the same mentality of player. No one passes up having a "Sutter" on their team. Ironically the 7th brother who never made the NHL won the lottery at one point.

The Staals have made their mark in the game as well.

Dennis, Brett and of course Bobby Hull.

Phil and Tony, and no I doubt I need to say their last name

Plager brothers trio

Give the Tkachuk family time and they could be up there. Ditto the Hughes family.

Have we gone this long and not mentioned the Richards yet? Or even the Howes? There are a combined 4 HHOFers in those families!

The Conacher family as well. Brian Conacher, the son of Lionel, was the only one not to make the HHOF compared to the other three. Lots of hardware from the other three too. Brian was on the 1967 Leafs and also along with Foster Hewitt called the 1972 Summit series in the booth

Mahovlich brothers

I know there are more, but I do have to mention the set of brothers that have the most combined points in NHL history..................the Gretzkys.............Wayne and Brent. By the way, just to give Brent some love here, he did have a nice junior career and routinely put up good points in the minors his whole career even if he only played 12 NHL games. Still had 4 points though and was in his early 20s. Not sure why he never got more of a shot.

Was waiting for the Gretzky's!

 

[frisco]

Five of the top eight scorers in NHL history had brothers in the NHL (Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Mario Lemieux).

Brent Gretzky 13 GP--4 points.
Paul Messier 9 GP--0 points.
Vic Howe 33 GP--7 points.
Gilbert Dionne 223 GP--140 points.
Alain Lemieux 119 GP--72 points.

My Best-Carey

 

[57special]

Gotta be the Howe's. That's two HOF'ers, and one of them is in the conversation for best of all time. Marty was...ok.

Mahovlich's of course.

Lionel, Charlie, and Roy Conacher are all HOF'ers. His son, Brian, played in the NHL, as did his nephews Pete, and Murray Henderson.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

If we have to have it as a full roster from the family name, its hard to beat the Espositos. Even if grandma Espo is holding down the left wing spot on the third line, team sutters cant match the level of goaltending tony will provide

 

[rmartin65]

You have to like the Smith brothers here as well-

Alf Smith and Tommy Smith are in the HoF
Harry Smith isn't in the Hall, but has a decent case, IMO
Moxie Smith played the 1897 season with Ottawa HC
Jack Smith played the 1901 season with Ottawa HC
Billy Smith was a high scorer in the IAHU/IPAHU, much in the mold of Harry and Tommy, and finished a close second to Eddie Hogan in the 1909 FHL scoring race (and FWIW, I think Smith had the better season; using the stats (including split credit for contradicting sources) I have pulled from the papers of the day, Smith had 20 points while the closest teammate had 8, while Eddie Hogan had 20.33 points while the closest teammate had 17.5)

That is 6 brothers who played at least one season at the highest level of hockey available. Two HoFers, and another couple of very good scorers.

 

[Acallabeth]

Answering the second part of the question, my favorite 'family stat' trivia is that Bure is a 2-time Stanley Cup champion.
Not Pavel, and not his brother Valeri, but their dad Vladimir, who worked as a fitness coach for the Devils.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Five of the top eight scorers in NHL history had brothers in the NHL (Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Mario Lemieux).

Brent Gretzky 13 GP--4 points.
Paul Messier 9 GP--0 points.
Vic Howe 33 GP--7 points.
Gilbert Dionne 223 GP--140 points.
Alain Lemieux 119 GP--72 points.

My Best-Carey

No need to stop at 8 either. I thought Brian Sakic had played in the NHL, but he was only drafted and never played a game. Phil Esposito, however, at #10 of course has a brother with a decent HHoF career. Thus, 6 out of the top 10 had brothers in the NHL.

#11 through #20 however, there’s only Rocky Trottier: 38 6-4-10

 

[Voight]

Jonathan Quick & Matt Moulson are brother in laws.