For the Ruck twins, the draft ended with a call from Sidney Crosby and a lot of nerves.
Markus and Liam Ruck, twins from Osoyoos, British Columbia, were both drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins last week in Buffalo, New York. Liam went in the first round with the 22nd pick, and Markus followed in the second round at 39th.
After the draft, the two spoke with hockey legend and Penguins captain Sidney Crosby in a video posted by the team on X.
“That’s the most stressful thing I’ve done,” says one of the Ruck twins.
“That’s crazy,” says his brother.
Their parents, Derek and Nina Ruck, told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton they had always encouraged their sons to focus on their love of hockey, not numbers.
“It’s always been a passion for them,” Derek said. “We don’t really care about the stats and the points and how well they’re doing, as long as they’re having a passion for it, and they love the game.”
“Yes, there’s been times where we’re proud of their accomplishments, but we’ve always just told them [to] just have fun with it and we’ll keep supporting you.”
Both twins play for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League. Their parents said the brothers have almost always played on the same team, apart from camps.
Nina said hockey filled their home from an early age.
“Our garage is no longer a garage; it’s a shooting area,” she said.
“They definitely support one another,” she added. “When one’s down, the other one picks the other one up.”
Asked when hockey became serious for the twins, their parents said the boys had always thrown themselves into it.
“They were just loving it,” Nina said. “So even when we went to watch a game, let alone play a game, they would always take everything in.”
“They would watch every play, and then once they got on the ice and they had their opportunity, they just worked really hard and gave it their all every step of the way.”
The twins also call themselves “mirror twins,” something Nina said shows up in small details.
“They actually do everything opposite. One throws right, the other throws left. One shoots right, one shoots left. Their hair swirls opposite directions. So everything they do is actually opposite, yet they’re identical,” she said.
Derek put it more simply: “They’re essentially one person.”
The draft itself was not an easy day for the family. Nina said celebrating Liam’s first-round selection while waiting for Markus was difficult.
“It was actually a little bit difficult because we were celebrating with Liam, and we had to do a whole bunch of work with that,” she said.
“And then Liam was actually amazing. He kind of knew that his brother wanted to go about the same time. He just said, let’s get something to eat, and we’ll go back to the room, and we’ll celebrate when we’re all together. So we waited.”
Nina said the family got little sleep while waiting to see where Markus would land.
“We didn’t get much sleep. We just worried. We didn’t want him to worry,” she said.
“We thought, wow, this is just a privilege just to be here. But I think just the stress of him not knowing if he was going to be with his brother right away, and what, how far he was going to have to wait. That was a little bit stressful for him. But it all worked out. So it was amazing to celebrate on Saturday.”
Nina said the support behind the twins has stretched well beyond their immediate family.
“The boys’ stitching in their draft suits says: ‘It takes a village,'” she said.
“Grandparents have had to take them to the rinks, cousins have supported them, aunties and uncles have looked after them as well.”
“It truly takes a village because, living in a small town, we were always driving. It took the support of all our family members to get them where they are today.”
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