Tkachuk and Hughes brothers make U.S. Olympic men's hockey team a family affair

MILAN — Charlie McAvoy doesn't have any brothers. In his family, there were only sisters, so he can't truly understand what it would be like to play on a global stage with a brother as a teammate.

He does know this much: He's a little envious right now of U.S. teammates Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes, a foursome about to make this a brotherly Olympics in Milan.

''I can't imagine anything cooler in the world,'' McAvoy said.

Neither can the Tkachuk family. Neither can the Hughes family.

It's not unprecedented, brothers being teammates at the Olympics, but it is rare — and as if chasing what would be the first gold medal for the U.S. men since the ''Miracle on Ice'' in 1980 wasn't special enough for the next couple of weeks, it's a chance for those four players to do so alongside a sibling.

''This was a dream of ours at a young age,'' said Matthew Tkachuk, forward for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and the player probably most likely to be the fireplug for the U.S. in Milan. ''To be able to both live out our dream together, it's kind of like a whole family accomplishment really. And then if we can ultimately come home with the main goal of winning a gold medal, it'll be an absolute dream come true for the whole entire family.''

Dreaming, sure, but the first night there wasn't much time for sleeping. The Tkachuk and the Hughes brothers are roommates in the Olympic village, reminding Quinn of the time he and Jack shared lake house bunk beds growing up.

The Tkachuk brothers and the Hughes brothers all have a ton in common.

Each set of brothers has a father who reached the highest level of hockey — Keith Tkachuk is a four-time Olympian who, among American players, ranks second in NHL history in goals, sixth in points and fourth in penalty minutes; Jim Hughes was a longtime executive for the Toronto Maple Leafs. All four of the brothers were first-round draft picks, all of them going in the top seven selections overall.

And they've worn ''USA'' across the chests while their brother was on the same roster before.

But not on this stage. The Tkachuks were teammates at the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, and the Hugheses would have been had Quinn not gotten injured before the event.

Jack had two different stints of missing time because of injuries in recent months that endangered he and Quinn both being on the roster.

Brotherly ties have been part of special USA Hockey Olympic runs in the past.

Joe and Larry McCormick played together when the U.S. won silver in 1920. There were two sets of brothers on the 1960 team that won gold at Squaw Valley, California; Roger and Bill Christian, along with Bill and Bob Cleary. The Christians played together on the Olympic team again in 1964, when David and Herb Brooks (the one and same who would coach the 1980 team to gold) were another brother duo on that squad that finished fifth at Innsbruck, Austria. Mark and Scott Fusco were together on the 1984 Sarajevo Games team. Derian and Kevin Hatcher were teammates in 1998 in Nagano.

There have been other instances such as brothers playing in different years, cousins on the same team, fathers and sons in different Olympic generations, that sort of thing. Coach Mike Sullivan, McAvoy's father in-law, believes there's a tangible benefit to having brothers on the same team.

"The brothers is next level familiarity," Sullivan said. ''Any time you can add that element to your team, it can only help. ... It helps us become a team even more.''

The Olympics are special for anyone, and for those families, this one surely carries even more meaning.

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