By Amy Tennery
MILAN, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The Tkachuk and Hughes brothers will channel their sibling rivalry into a relentless quest for Olympic gold when the U.S. begin their men’s ice hockey campaign at the Milano Cortina Games on Thursday.
Wingers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk join centre Jack Hughes and defenceman Quinn Hughes in a powerful all-NHL roster.
“It helps us become a team even more. One of the things that we love about this group is there’s a lot of familiarity,” head coach Mike Sullivan said.
“The brothers is next-level familiarity. So I think any time you can add that element to your team it can only help.”
It marks only the third time overall and first since 1964 that the U.S. Olympic ice hockey team has had multiple sets of brothers playing together.
The Hughes brothers are reuniting on the international stage after Quinn, who was traded to the Minnesota Wild in December, missed the chance to compete in last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
The U.S., who finished second behind arch-rivals Canada in the competition, brought back 21 players from that roster for their 25-man team in Milan.
“There’s a certain chemistry that we believe this team has and has shown through the 4 Nations experience and now through the start of the Olympic experience that we think is helpful to us to become the kind of team we want to become,” said Sullivan.
The Hugheses have swapped their NHL lifestyle for a dorm experience in Milan, where they are rooming together in the Athletes Village across the hall from the Tkachuks, as rivals turned teammates set aside their NHL allegiances.
“There’s not a whole lot to do other than spend time together so we’ll get to know each other pretty quickly,” said alternate captain Jack Eichel, who added that the Tkachuks, in particular, bring a rowdy vibe to the village.
“If we hear somebody go through a wall in the middle of the night, we’ll probably know where it came from,” he said.
Brady, captain of the Ottawa Senators, and Matthew, who won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles with the Florida Panthers in 2024 and 2025, bring Olympic pedigree to the team, after their father, Keith, won silver with the U.S. in 2002.
The Americans begin their Olympic tournament against Latvia on Thursday at Santagiulia arena.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Milan, editing by Ed Osmond)
