University of Minnesota Athletics
The Brothers Potulny: Forwards Grant and Ryan Potulny
1/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
As his friends waited for him to arrive, 13-year old Grant Potulny would appear with something in tow besides his hockey gear. There behind him would be little eight-year old Ryan Potulny, trying to keep pace with his big brother and stand tall even though he was about a head shorter as they grew closer to the pack of adolescents.
While some in the group may have moaned at the sight of the younger Potulny, Grant grinned knowing they would be silenced as soon as Ryan laced up his skates. The five year difference in age would mean nothing as Grant would proudly watch Ryan not only keep up with the older kids, but sometimes outplay them. In return, Ryan would play his hardest to prove his take-charge brother right and show the others that he belonged out there.
"When I was little he would always take me to the outdoor rinks," Ryan recalled of those days in Grand Forks. "I was so much younger than his friends. He would always make sure that I got to play with them and helped me out more then just playing with kids my own age. And I probably wasn't as good at the time as those kids and they probably hated me playing, but Grant made sure that I got to come with him and play. That is one thing I will never forget."
"When I was younger I would bring him with me when I'd skate," Grant said. "There aren't a lot of things to do back home when you're growing up, so you spend a lot of time at the local outdoor rink. I would bring him with me and just give him the opportunity to play with the older players. A lot of times people were upset about it, but then once they saw him play and he was better than them they were fine with it. He was always as good as everybody, so it never really was like him tagging along."
Those afternoons Grant and Ryan spent at the rink laid the foundation of a mutual admiration and respect between the two. It is a brotherly relationship built on the pride that they take in one another, not only for their hockey accomplishments, but for how each has developed as a person.
The winter days at the outdoor rink soon came and went, and after four years and three state championships with Red River High School, Grant left North Dakota for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL. It was 1999 and the start of a four year separation between the two Potulny brothers. When Grant graduated, it was Ryan's turn to begin at Red River, and he stepped right into his brother's spot as a freshman on the varsity team. As they talked on the phone and discussed their first seasons with their teams, both took pride in the other's successes.
After two years in the USHL, Grant moved to the collegiate level and donned the Maroon and Gold to play for the University of Minnesota. Ryan watched as the natural leader in his brother broke the 13-year-old "Minnesotans only" decree of the Golden Gophers and earned an alternate captain position as a sophomore. That year, Grant watched as Ryan followed his trail down to the Lincoln Stars where he developed his offensive flair and play making skills.
"I've always wanted to do what he's done. Just watching him play when I was younger, I saw how well he did playing in the USHL and then here," Ryan remarked. "I was worried about how he was going to do here, and how well he did in his career in Minnesota is unbelievable. To be able to look up to that, it really makes me strive to be able to do what he's done."
It was during Ryan's time in Lincoln that the brothers started to do some math. If Ryan played two years in USHL and then went to college, Grant would then be playing in his senior season. Not since the days on the local rink had the two Potulnys played together and even then, those were pick up games. This was the opportunity that they had both imagined since they were young. Going to the same rink, dressing in the same locker room, lining up to one another in the same jersey. The only catch was Ryan would have to play for Minnesota, which he could not have been more excited about. After all, when they were growing up, Grant usedto give Ryan grief for wearing a Gopher ski cap in Sioux country. Little did they realize then that Minnesota would be the bridge finally connecting their hockey paths.
"Right away when he signed here was exciting," Grant recalled with enthusiasm. "That was two years ago now. There was a full year in Lincoln that he was signed that we were just waiting for him to get here. Just this summer working out and being on the rink together was so fun because we had never done it before. It was just nice to be around him."
"It was like a dream come true." Ryan added. "It's always been a dream of mine to play with him and he's so much older that we really didn't think it was possible until he played two years in the USHL. Then we kind of started figuring it out, so when I was able to sign here it was unbelievable."
Both Potulnys had experienced great success with their teams heading into their first season as teammates. Grant, a three-time captain, had back-to-back NCAA Championships under his belt with the Golden Gophers along with 2002 Frozen Four MVP honors. Ryan helped lead Lincoln to the USHL Clark Cup and garnered the 2003 USHL Player of the Year title and was named the league's top forward as he led all players in scoring.
The summer going into the 2003-04 season, Grant again headed to the rink with Ryan in tow. This time the little brother was not that much smaller than the elder. But Ryan still had the same nervous excitement to prove to Grant and others what he could do, and Grant's proud grin returned when he thought about how Ryan would once again lace up and demonstrate his hockey talent.
The excitement of playing with one another maintained itself throughout the beginning of the season. But all the dreams of the Potulnys skating together were quickly dashed after Ryan suffered an injury in the November 6-7 series against North Dakota. At first it seemed as though he would be sidelined for just a few days, maybe a week or two. But MRIs revealed more damage to the knee than originally thought, and soon Ryan was in for surgery and Grant could only stand by. After an arduous season coming back from an ankle and ligament injury last year, he only knew all too well what lay ahead for his younger brother.
"It was one of the worst things that I'd ever heard," Grant recalled. "It was as bad as when I heard that I couldn't play last year. It was tough. It was a pretty emotional training room that day. I was in there with Ryan and the doctors and the trainers, and everyone was getting choked up."
While Ryan and Grant both head to Mariucci during the week, they split at the locker room, one heading for the ice while the other goes to the training room. This is not the way that they planned on spending their one and only season together, but in a way it has just strengthened their bond. Grant is the only other member of the team to have suffered an injury that sidelined him for months. Ryan credited his older brother for constantly supporting him through his recovery and reconditioning, and even though it is something he would never have chosen to go through, it has built yet another connection between the two.
It is not the season that they dreamed about, that they had imagined and anticipated for an entire year. But that does not mean that both Grant and Ryan haven't taken complete advantage of living in the same city for the first time in four years. Eating together, going out together, even just hanging out and watching TV together are all special events. While the brothers were close before, they now can communicate by just exchanging glances. Grant finally got to admire Ryan's "God-given talent that just makes him a better player than everybody else" and to watch him mature daily in and out of the rink. And Ryan has finally experienced first hand Grant's leadership and his knack for relating to others. "From the inside, it's unbelievable the kind of leader he is on this team. The skills he has - just people skills. He can relate to anybody and he's the kind of person that when he talks everybody listens. Everybody respects him so much," Ryan said.
As they travel throughout their hockey careers, Grant and Ryan Potulny are bound to head in various directions. But this one season together in which their shared dream of finally playing for the same team came true will always be a time that they cherish. It has connected the two siblings more than Grant could have imagined. "I think we've gotten way closer," he remarked, "so much closer."
And it has solidified in Ryan's mind what he thought when he trailed Grant to the outdoor rink so many years ago. "You couldn't ask for a better older brother."
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Courtney Walerius. She welcomes comments at gophers@umn.edu.
There they came, sprinting to the outdoor rink. On a cold, crisp January day an assembly of young teenage boys from the neighborhood would trek to this winter rec center, sticks and skates dragging behind them. There was no better way to pass the nippy Grand Forks afternoons than to play hockey for hours, working up a sweat under the layers of snowsuits and sweatshirts parents insisted on as protection from the cold and the puck.
As his friends waited for him to arrive, 13-year old Grant Potulny would appear with something in tow besides his hockey gear. There behind him would be little eight-year old Ryan Potulny, trying to keep pace with his big brother and stand tall even though he was about a head shorter as they grew closer to the pack of adolescents.
While some in the group may have moaned at the sight of the younger Potulny, Grant grinned knowing they would be silenced as soon as Ryan laced up his skates. The five year difference in age would mean nothing as Grant would proudly watch Ryan not only keep up with the older kids, but sometimes outplay them. In return, Ryan would play his hardest to prove his take-charge brother right and show the others that he belonged out there.
"When I was little he would always take me to the outdoor rinks," Ryan recalled of those days in Grand Forks. "I was so much younger than his friends. He would always make sure that I got to play with them and helped me out more then just playing with kids my own age. And I probably wasn't as good at the time as those kids and they probably hated me playing, but Grant made sure that I got to come with him and play. That is one thing I will never forget."
"When I was younger I would bring him with me when I'd skate," Grant said. "There aren't a lot of things to do back home when you're growing up, so you spend a lot of time at the local outdoor rink. I would bring him with me and just give him the opportunity to play with the older players. A lot of times people were upset about it, but then once they saw him play and he was better than them they were fine with it. He was always as good as everybody, so it never really was like him tagging along."
Those afternoons Grant and Ryan spent at the rink laid the foundation of a mutual admiration and respect between the two. It is a brotherly relationship built on the pride that they take in one another, not only for their hockey accomplishments, but for how each has developed as a person.
The winter days at the outdoor rink soon came and went, and after four years and three state championships with Red River High School, Grant left North Dakota for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL. It was 1999 and the start of a four year separation between the two Potulny brothers. When Grant graduated, it was Ryan's turn to begin at Red River, and he stepped right into his brother's spot as a freshman on the varsity team. As they talked on the phone and discussed their first seasons with their teams, both took pride in the other's successes.
After two years in the USHL, Grant moved to the collegiate level and donned the Maroon and Gold to play for the University of Minnesota. Ryan watched as the natural leader in his brother broke the 13-year-old "Minnesotans only" decree of the Golden Gophers and earned an alternate captain position as a sophomore. That year, Grant watched as Ryan followed his trail down to the Lincoln Stars where he developed his offensive flair and play making skills.
"I've always wanted to do what he's done. Just watching him play when I was younger, I saw how well he did playing in the USHL and then here," Ryan remarked. "I was worried about how he was going to do here, and how well he did in his career in Minnesota is unbelievable. To be able to look up to that, it really makes me strive to be able to do what he's done."
It was during Ryan's time in Lincoln that the brothers started to do some math. If Ryan played two years in USHL and then went to college, Grant would then be playing in his senior season. Not since the days on the local rink had the two Potulnys played together and even then, those were pick up games. This was the opportunity that they had both imagined since they were young. Going to the same rink, dressing in the same locker room, lining up to one another in the same jersey. The only catch was Ryan would have to play for Minnesota, which he could not have been more excited about. After all, when they were growing up, Grant usedto give Ryan grief for wearing a Gopher ski cap in Sioux country. Little did they realize then that Minnesota would be the bridge finally connecting their hockey paths.
"Right away when he signed here was exciting," Grant recalled with enthusiasm. "That was two years ago now. There was a full year in Lincoln that he was signed that we were just waiting for him to get here. Just this summer working out and being on the rink together was so fun because we had never done it before. It was just nice to be around him."
"It was like a dream come true." Ryan added. "It's always been a dream of mine to play with him and he's so much older that we really didn't think it was possible until he played two years in the USHL. Then we kind of started figuring it out, so when I was able to sign here it was unbelievable."
Both Potulnys had experienced great success with their teams heading into their first season as teammates. Grant, a three-time captain, had back-to-back NCAA Championships under his belt with the Golden Gophers along with 2002 Frozen Four MVP honors. Ryan helped lead Lincoln to the USHL Clark Cup and garnered the 2003 USHL Player of the Year title and was named the league's top forward as he led all players in scoring.
The summer going into the 2003-04 season, Grant again headed to the rink with Ryan in tow. This time the little brother was not that much smaller than the elder. But Ryan still had the same nervous excitement to prove to Grant and others what he could do, and Grant's proud grin returned when he thought about how Ryan would once again lace up and demonstrate his hockey talent.
The excitement of playing with one another maintained itself throughout the beginning of the season. But all the dreams of the Potulnys skating together were quickly dashed after Ryan suffered an injury in the November 6-7 series against North Dakota. At first it seemed as though he would be sidelined for just a few days, maybe a week or two. But MRIs revealed more damage to the knee than originally thought, and soon Ryan was in for surgery and Grant could only stand by. After an arduous season coming back from an ankle and ligament injury last year, he only knew all too well what lay ahead for his younger brother.
"It was one of the worst things that I'd ever heard," Grant recalled. "It was as bad as when I heard that I couldn't play last year. It was tough. It was a pretty emotional training room that day. I was in there with Ryan and the doctors and the trainers, and everyone was getting choked up."
While Ryan and Grant both head to Mariucci during the week, they split at the locker room, one heading for the ice while the other goes to the training room. This is not the way that they planned on spending their one and only season together, but in a way it has just strengthened their bond. Grant is the only other member of the team to have suffered an injury that sidelined him for months. Ryan credited his older brother for constantly supporting him through his recovery and reconditioning, and even though it is something he would never have chosen to go through, it has built yet another connection between the two.
It is not the season that they dreamed about, that they had imagined and anticipated for an entire year. But that does not mean that both Grant and Ryan haven't taken complete advantage of living in the same city for the first time in four years. Eating together, going out together, even just hanging out and watching TV together are all special events. While the brothers were close before, they now can communicate by just exchanging glances. Grant finally got to admire Ryan's "God-given talent that just makes him a better player than everybody else" and to watch him mature daily in and out of the rink. And Ryan has finally experienced first hand Grant's leadership and his knack for relating to others. "From the inside, it's unbelievable the kind of leader he is on this team. The skills he has - just people skills. He can relate to anybody and he's the kind of person that when he talks everybody listens. Everybody respects him so much," Ryan said.
As they travel throughout their hockey careers, Grant and Ryan Potulny are bound to head in various directions. But this one season together in which their shared dream of finally playing for the same team came true will always be a time that they cherish. It has connected the two siblings more than Grant could have imagined. "I think we've gotten way closer," he remarked, "so much closer."
And it has solidified in Ryan's mind what he thought when he trailed Grant to the outdoor rink so many years ago. "You couldn't ask for a better older brother."
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Courtney Walerius. She welcomes comments at gophers@umn.edu.
