Twice on Ice
BY CHRIS BARRIERE
One by one, Joe Devin and Mike Devin were called and the twins came forward to center ice. It was senior night at Lynah Rink and Cornell had just defeated Dartmouth in overtime. Joe and Mike began to weep as they embraced each other. The thought finally began to sink in that for the first time in 20 years of playing hockey, the brother’s relationship as teammates may come to an end.
From youth hockey at age four to Division I college hockey at age 24, the brothers have been best friends and teammates. They have never played a single game on separate teams. But now, with their final season of college hockey complete, the thought of being separated for the first time is at the forefront of their minds.
“Every year since we were four years old we always knew the next year we would be playing together,” Mike Devin said. “Right now, everything is unknown. It’s scary and has become a very emotional thing.”
On the ice and off the ice, Joe and Mike are nearly inseparable. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to tell the twins apart. They both wear the Boston Red Sox cap backwards, they both stand an inch apart at 6 foot 1 and 6 foot 2 and they both speak with a heavy accent found only in the greater Boston area. Mike wears No. 2 on his back while Joe wears No. 22.
When they came to Cornell, head coach Mike Schafer stuck masking tape to their helmets and labeled “Joe” and “Mike” with a sharpie during practice.
Greg Miller, Joe's linemate, can tell the two apart now but he admits could not do so when he met them four years ago.
“I had no idea who was who,” Miller said. “I just called ‘Devin’ and whichever one looked first that’s the one I talked to,” Miller said.
Staying together over the years hasn’t been easy for the twins. As freshmen at Catholic Memorial High School, Joe was afraid that he wouldn’t make the varsity hockey team while his brother Mike would. Their coach, Bill Hanson, decided to take both of them. He believed their competitive attitude towards each other was enough bring out their best skills.
“They really did push each other,” Hanson said. “One wasn’t trying to be better than the other, one was just trying to compete harder than the other.”
The Devins have always been spirited and always considered each other their biggest competition. Miller admits that the two are each other's toughest critic.
“There always at each other's throats,” Miller said. “If there is someone fighting or bickering back and forth at each other, it’s definitely the Devins.”
The two would often drop the gloves and fight each other during hockey practice at Catholic Memorial, not out of hate but out of competitive spirit. However, if someone on another team attempted to fight one of them that was a different story.
“They would go after each other but if you went after one of them, the other one had his brothers back,” Hanson said. “There were no two ways about that.”
The competitive twins won a state championship their junior year at Catholic Memorial, which helped them gain recognition from recruiting colleges. One interested school, Cornell, suggested they look into the British Columbia Hockey League for a year to develop their skills at a professional level. As fate would have it, the twins were both drafted into the BCHL by the same team, the Nanaimo Clippers. They packed their bags and continued their hockey journey together on the other side of the continent living with a host family.
“A lot of people get really home sick, but we always had each other,” Mike Devin said. “We didn’t miss home at all. We had a lot of fun.”
Part of that fun was playing in a league where fighting was legal for the first time in their careers. Joe Devin admits that on any team, most teammates will stick up for one another, but knowing his brother had his back at all times was a special feeling.
“If someone took a cheap shot at Mike, I would stick up for him and fight the guy,” Joe Devin said. “Mike, same thing, if anything happened to me. Mike would be right there, no hesitation.”
One game, Joe fought an opposing player and beat him up. Later in the season the foe looked to get revenge against Joe and fight him again. He mistook Mike for Joe, creating a humorous situation for the twins.
“Me and Joe both ended up beating up the same kid,” Mike said while laughing.
After their lone season with Nanaimo, Joe and Mike continued their quest to play college hockey. Cornell continued to show interest and the Devins made a verbal commitment to play there. But making that commitment wasn’t as easy as the twins had initially thought.
“It was a tough decision because we were actually in conversation with Northeastern at the time,” Joe Devin said.
Northeastern offered Mike an academic scholarship and Joe an athletic scholarship but the Devin’s decided they couldn’t pass up the education at Cornell, even though the school offered them no financial assistance.
“They are true to their word,” Hanson said. “They made a commitment and left an awful lot of money on the table but they had a commitment.”
Since then, the twins have been integral members of the Cornell Big Red. Joe was named captain in his senior year and earned the team’s MVP award. He led his team with 17 goals and 88 shots on the year. Meanwhile, Mike Devin led all defenseman with 66 shots and added 10 assists on the season as well, most of which were to his brother Joe. For the Lynah faithful fans, watching Nos. 2 and 22 on the ice together is a special treat.
“In college hockey, I think people like seeing us play together” Joe Devin said. “I love it when my brother scores and I get the assist or the other way around. We love playing with each other.”
Now the Devin’s are ready to make the next step in their hockey careers and sign a contract to play in the American Hockey League. If all goes according to plan, the twins hope to someday play in the National Hockey League.
The two were never drafted while in college but after their successful senior seasons, they feel confident that they can sign with a team as free agents. As for now, it’s simply a waiting game, waiting to get a phone call telling the twins where to pack their hockey bag and ship off to next. Various AHL teams are showing interest in signing both the Devin’s together, but playing on the same team for the twenty-first year in a row is looking unlikely.
“We know there is a pretty strong possibility that we may separate,” Joe Devin said. “There has been some interest by the same teams in both of us. It’s not impossible, it could happen.”
But if it doesn’t, the thought of looking across the bench and seeing the other twin in an opposing uniform is simply a surreal thought for both Joe and Mike Devin.
“That would be crazy.” Mike Devin said. “Playing against each other, that would be hilarious. I’m sure we would fight. I’m sure our mom would hate that.”
