Gibbons brother help USU hockey
The Utah State club hockey team is off to an undefeated 8-0 start, including two wins over the only team that managed to beat the Aggies in the regular season last year, the Arizona State University Sun Devils.
Utah State beat ASU twice on back-to-back nights by scores of 4-1 and 2-0, respectively, and it was in large part due to the play of brothers Brian and Shaun Gibbons.
The Gibbons brothers helped the Aggies record three road victories against Denver University, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado, beating all three Colorado teams for the second time.
Interestingly, the two didn’t have a big sibling rivalry growing up.
“I was always playing hockey,” Brian Gibbons said. “Shaun liked to try out different sports. He was a football player and a big-time lacrosse player, but we never had any rivalry. We’re two years apart, so it’s kind of hard to do that.”
Usually competitive people that live together have some sort of rivalry going on, but the Gibbons brothers were different.
“We haven’t really played with each other or against each other,” Shaun Gibbons said. “We just helped each other out growing up.”
Since they never had the opportunity to be on the same team growing up, they are both enjoying the new experience of playing together at Utah State. In fact, it was Brian Gibbons, who played for Utah State last year, who convinced Shaun Gibbons to play for Utah State.
“It’s really no different than playing with (Jordan Kerr) or Cooper (Limb),” Brian Gibbons said. “He’s just another guy on the team, but he’s my brother. It’s pretty cool.”
The fact that they know each other so well gives them an advantage on the ice.
“We haven’t played together before, but at the same time, it kind of feels like we have,” Shaun Gibbons said. “We know where each other are at all times.”
“We read the ice well with each other,” Brian Gibbons said. “It just comes natural for us.”
Reading the play isn’t the only thing the brothers do well together.
“We protect each other on the ice,” Brian Gibbons said. “It’s what we’re known for. If one person messes with the other one, that person is probably going to have to deal with the other brother. It’s been that way forever.”
This mentality was on full display in the last game of the ASU series. With less than four minutes to play, a brawl broke out on the ice. Both Gibbons brothers were involved. Brian Gibbons will have to sit out the next game for fighting, and Shaun Gibbons will have to miss the next three games for fighting two different Sun Devil players.
“It goes back to that saying that nobody can pick on my brother except for me,” Brian Gibbons said. “It’s a good thing; it could be a bad thing at times, but it’s fun. I like it.”
Even though Brian Gibbons already had a year in the system at Utah State, he didn’t have a whole lot of advice for his brother except to get him back into hockey conditioning.
“He’s actually taken about a year and a half off from competitive hockey,” Brian Gibbons said. “Coming up to the altitude and training with me all summer, I’ve been pretty impressed with him. Obviously everybody has a few things to work on, but so far I think he’s doing great.”
Even though the two brothers play different positions, they didn’t choose them so they could play against each other.
“He’s always been a faster skater, and I always liked to hit things, so I decided to play defense when I was a kid,” Shaun Gibbons said.
The Aggies’ next games are Friday and Saturday at the George S. Eccles Ice Center in North Logan. They play the University of Utah on Friday for the annual “Pink in the Rink” game. On Saturday, the Aggies will face off against the Weber State Wildcats. In both games, the puck drops at 7 p.m.
– sean.osullivan@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @seansy89