SJHL ALL-TIME BROTHER COMBOS

By: Mike Stackhouse

Upon listing what I felt were the top SJHL teams since the turn of the century a couple of weeks ago, I ended up in a great discussion with a few of my long time SJHL friends, one of whom is current Battlefords North Star coach Brayden Klimosko. Brayden and I got to discussing who were the best brother combinations of the last twenty years and we, quickly, discovered there are a lot, I mean a lot, of excellent families who could qualify. 

Here are my top ten, followed by a list of other impactful brothers that have played over the last 20 years:

1-Rylan & Jaden Schwartz
Jaden played only one season in the SJHL (2009), but he fired 34-goals and 42-assists in 46-games as a 16-year-old with the Notre Dame Hounds and would eventually go on to be selected in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft by St. Louis.  Rylan, two years older, played in parts of three seasons with the Hounds and was better than a point per game in all of them, challenging for the league scoring crown while playing alongside Jaden in 2009, ultimately finishing with 88-points and then embarking on an NCAA career at Colorado College.

2-Chase & Brady Norrish
Twin brothers Chase and Brady played three seasons with Yorkton and dominated in two of them, leading the Terriers to Canalta Cup titles in both 2013 and 2014 before heading off to RIT in 2015.  It was often difficult to distinguish which brother was the better player as it seemed each would take turns dominating.  Chase had 45-points as a 20-year-old, added 15 more in 14 playoff games and reached the ECHL after university.  Brady’s best offensive season was 32-points as a 19-year-old and he excelled in the playoffs that season.  He ended up playing 13-games in the AHL with the Texas Stars.

3-Leigh, Sheldon & Wade Brookbank
The Lanigan trio weren’t necessarily known for their offensive ways as both Sheldon and Wade made the NHL via toughness.  Leigh played in the early 90s with Yorkton and logged over 300 penalty minutes per season.  Wade played with Melville and got as high as 412 penalty minutes in 1997.  He was never drafted, but found his way to the NHL with Nashville, Vancouver, Boston, and Carolina.  Sheldon collected 49-points in 59-games with Humboldt in 2001 and amassed close to 300 penalty minutes and would eventually carve out an NHL career Nashville, New Jersey, Anaheim, and Chicago to the tune of 351 career games.

4-Bear & Spencer Trapp
There is an 11-year difference between older brother Bear and younger brother Spencer.  The elder played with Melville and was their heart and soul in 2005 before getting moved to Estevan at the trade deadline in a move that would set up the Millionaires for future success over the course of the next three years in what was a massive future considerations haul.  He’d later go on to play at Sacred Heart and wrapped up his pro career in 2011.  Spencer dominated the blueline in leading the Notre Dame Hounds to the league finals in 2015 and scored 15-points in 17-postseason games after a 34-point regular season.  From there he went on to a four year stint in the NCAA with Holy Cross.  He played this past year at Wheeling of the ECHL.

5-Brad, Steve & Scott Schroeder
You won’t find a nicer family than the Schroeders from Drake.  Oldest brother Brad was a three year veteran defenseman for Humboldt and parlayed his SJHL career into a four year term at Princeton.  Twin brothers Steve and Scott (three years younger than Brad) also played for Humboldt, winning championships all three years, and, like the Norrishes, it was almost impossible to decide which one was better.  Steven had season point totals of 45, 43, and 57.  Scott went 39, 28, and 66.  Both scored 27 goals their final year.  They went to Norwich following the conclusion of their Junior A careers.

6-Dustin & Chad Nehring
The Springside brothers were tough as nails and oozed winning.  Dustin was a stocky defenseman who did whatever was asked and then some in order to succeed.  The 1985 born blueliner had 239 penalty minutes and 26 points as a 19-year-old and helped Yorkton win a league title.  The Terriers won again a year later with Dustin playing an even more integral role.  He found a way to spend less time in the penalty box (likely because nobody wanted to mess with him) too and racked up 43-points in 39-games.  Chad, two years younger, also won two titles by playing a fourth line role as an underaged rookie and then firing 57-points in 55-games as an 18-year-old.  He increased that to 61 as a 19-year-old and then left for Lake Superior State.  He had a 48-point year in the AHL with Hartford and has played the last three years in Germany.

7-Derek, Jared & Ryne Keller
The Wilkie trio were led by twins Derek and Jared (born in 1986), with both suiting up with the Battlefords North Stars and taking the Stars to the league finals against Yorkton in both 2005 and 2006.  Derek was a legit number one defenseman with 46-points in 53-games his final year as a 19-year-old before going to St. Lawrence (NCAA).  Jared had 34-points in 40-games that same year and also played one additional season in 2007, where he was a point per game player before also leaving for St. Lawrence where he also played four years of NCAA.  Ryne is eight years younger but he also made his mark with the North Stars, carving out a four year career, scoring a career high 32-points in 2014.

8-Elijah & Quintin Loon-Stewardson
The Sioux Lookout, Ontario brothers captured the hearts of many during the North Stars 2019 playoff run as they were heart and soul type players and both were poised to be impactful in the 2020 playoff run as well.  Younger brother Quintin (born in 2000) was blessed with a bit more skill and scored 30-goals this year but it was his coming out party in the playoffs last year (16-10-9-19) where he made his mark and may have been the most valuable forward on the team.  Elijah was no slouch either with 53-points in 49-games this past year and he was off to a good start in the playoffs with 4-points in 4-games.  In all, he played 177 SJHL games (regular season and playoffs) with Battlefords.

9-Lance & Logan Herauf
The Balgonie natives deserve more credit than perhaps what they are remembered for.  Their game was pretty simple and quite identical – all offense.  Lance turned in three point per game seasons with Yorkton and helped them win a league championship in 2005.  He was a model of consistency and even seemed to adapt to the Canadian university game quickly by notching 24-points as a rookie before leaving for a pro career that spanned three seasons.  Logan, born six years after Lance in 1990, was also right in the range of a point per game in each of his three years (two with Melville and one with La Ronge).  Like his older brother, he won a title in his final season.

10-Josh & Curtis Roach
1992 born Josh is one of the best offensive defensemen of the last twenty years in the SJHL and he helped Humboldt win a league title in 2012 when he scored 12-goals and 19-assists in 49-games before ripping off another 16-points in 16-playoff games.  The Saskatoon native was sent to Flin Flon in the summer and he was a big part of their team as a 20-year-old with 54-points in 53-games.  He played four years at U of S and has spent the last two in Europe.  Curtis, five years younger than Josh, blossomed as an 18-year-old rookie with the Bombers and expanded on a regular season in which he scored 26 points by adding another 12 in 16 playoff games as the Bombers reached the league finals against Melfort.  He finished his junior career in the AJHL and was every bit as dangerous offensively as his older brother.

Other brothers considered (no particular order):
Jeff, Devin, Cory, and Darcy Rask – I never got to see them play but, surely, belong on the list.   They are the SJHL version of the Sutter Family.

Chase and Easton Haygarth – They’ve still got another season to make their mark.

Keenan and Kaeden Taphorn – Like the Haygarths, we get to watch them again this year.

Shawn and Jamie Langen – Both played for Melville with Jamie being the one of two goalies on this list.  Most nights, Jamie was the only reason Melville managed to win the odd game.  Shawn was one of a number of highly skilled players the Mils had over 15 years ago.

Josh and Joel Belair – Josh was a fun power forward to watch for Nipawin.  Joel was a steady three year defenseman with La Ronge and Humboldt.

Derek, Brett, and Andre Parker – All three played for Melville.  Derek’s toughness and fighting is legendary.  Brett was more skill, but had some sandpaper to his game.  Andre had a short lived career but was best described as a mix between his two older siblings.

Trent and Jeff Cassan – Quality family with older brother Jeff anchoring Yorkton’s blueline through some trying seasons.  Trent was a skilled forward who played for three years and later coached the Terriers to two championships.

Dallas and Taylor Thiessen – Dallas was a solid winger with Nipawin who reached 49-points in his final year.  Taylor was an underrated skilled defenseman who had two 40-point years and toiled with the Hawks and Bombers.

Kyle and Wyatt Garagan – Summed up as quality character players who bled for their hometown while wearing the colors of the Estevan Bruins.

Joel and Jared Blaquiere – Gritty brothers from Edam who both played for La Ronge.  Jared had a career high 50 points with the Ice Wolves and Joel had 38.

Kirk and Clarke Byczynski – Kirk was a nasty defenseman with an underrated offensive game. Clarke was blessed with more skill, but didn’t have Kirk’s size. 

Justin, Jordan, and Dalton Menke – Shamrock brothers with older brother Justin having the most success, but all three had a second to none work ethic that got them further than their God given gift to play the game.

Carter and Mitch Berg – Older brother Mitch was a defenseman with skill, while Carter was a two-way forward.  Both played with Melfort and Mitch finished up with Battlefords while Carter also played in Nipawin.

Tad and Taran Kozun – Perhaps should have made the top ten, but Taran only played part of one season.  Tad produced better than a point per game for two seasons with his hometown Hawks before heading to U of Alaska-Anchorage.  Taryn, one year younger, played 16 games in net before leaving for the WHL.  Most recently, he was one of the top Canadian university goalies in the country with U of S.

Brett and Kurt Leedahl – Brett was one of the most exciting players in the SJHL over the last twenty years, putting up 78 and 84 points his last two years as a Klipper.  Kurt was a defenseman who also played three years in Kindersley.

Chris and Lucas Stubel – Both were defensemen who played for their hometown Bruins.  Chris loved to mix it up and was a solid contributor on offense.  Lucas, six years younger, didn’t have the same offensive ability but possessed great size and wasn’t afraid to use it.

Sanfred and Wheaton King – Manitobans with Sanfred playing in the WHL before landing in Kindersley, where he was a point per game forward.  Wheaton also played for his hometown Wheat Kings (was he named Wheaton on purpose?) before settling in the SJHL with the Klippers and later Nipawin.

Miles and Drew Warkentine – Miles was a member of Melfort’s 2016 championship team while Drew was dangerous with 24 goals in 33 games for Humboldt in 2019.

Jayden & Cody Davis – The book closed on older brother Jayden this season as a point per game player, while Cody is just getting started after completing his rookie year.  Both are members of the Bruins.

Feel free to add to the list in the comments section with anyone I may have missed as a lot of this was compiled by memory.  I realize not all families are represented and some may have been impactful and I’ve just made a mistake.  But I think I’ve covered most of the best in this article.