{"id":311940,"date":"2025-11-28T08:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T08:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/311940\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T08:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T08:27:07","slug":"michigan-harvard-hockey-series-stocked-with-nhl-family-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/311940\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan, Harvard hockey series stocked with NHL family ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Dakoda Rh\u00e9aume-Mullen plays during an NCAA hockey game for the University of Michigan. Rh\u00e9aume-Mullen’s mother, Manon Rh\u00e9aume, is the only woman to ever play in the NHL.Al Goldis\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

When he was young, Dakoda Rh\u00e9aume-Mullen would accompany his mother to hockey tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were always little girls coming up to meet her and get an autograph,\u201d the University of Michigan defenceman said this week.<\/p>\n

His mom, Manon Rh\u00e9aume, is the only woman to ever play in the National Hockey League, for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the preseason in 1992 and 1993. The former Olympic goaltender backstopped Canada\u2019s women to a silver medal in 1998 and also played against men in the East Coast and International Hockey Leagues.<\/p>\n

Rh\u00e9aume-Mullen is a sophomore for the No. 1-ranked Wolverines. The team travelled to Boston on Thursday and will face Harvard on Friday and Saturday. The Crimson is No. 18 in the latest USA Hockey poll.<\/p>\n

Between them, they have an extraordinary collection of elite talent, many of whom had a mother or dad or siblings that played or are playing now in the National Hockey League.<\/p>\n

Michigan has seven players on its roster whose lineage is linked to the NHL. Harvard has four. Combined the clubs have 23 players who have already been drafted by NHL teams.<\/p>\n

Rh\u00e9aume-Mullen was on skates even before his first birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty automatic for me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t really see so many players with so many family ties to the NHL. It\u2019s just Michigan hockey.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a testament to how good the program has become.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Harvard forward Marek Hejduk (13) and his brother David learned about the highest level of hockey from their father, Milan, who played for the Colorado Avalanche.Greg M. Cooper\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

It is for Harvard, too.<\/p>\n

Lucas St. Louis, a second-year defenceman for the Crimson, is the son of Hockey Hall of Fame member Martin St. Louis, the coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Fellow blueliner Mason Langenbrunner\u2019s father is Jamie Langenbrunner, who played for 16 years in the NHL and is now an assistant general manager of the Boston Bruins. <\/p>\n

The Hejduk twins, Marek and David, grew up while their father, Milan, was a member of the Colorado Avalanche. He led the league in scoring once.<\/p>\n

Harvard is also coached by Ted Donato, who registered 150 goals and 347 points during a 13-year NHL career, half of which was in Boston.<\/p>\n

Lucas St. Louis talks to his dad almost daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being in his locker room after games,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cI was kind of a fly on the wall. I feel like all of us that grew up this way understand at a young age what it takes to be a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvard (5-1-1) won three straight games on the road over the past two weeks. Michigan (13-3) beat Ohio State twice last weekend by a cumulative score of 13-3. That propelled the Wolverines to the top of the NCAA poll.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt times we definitely struggled in recent years but this year guys have kind of matured,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cThis will be the biggest home game for Harvard in a while but we are not scared a bit. We are playing really well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team that wins is not always the one that is the best on paper. It is the one that plays the best on any given day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan has 11 Canadian players, all but one from Ontario. <\/p>\n

Will Horcoff is second in team scoring with 14 goals and 21 points in 16 games. His dad, Shawn, is the former captain of the Edmonton Oilers and is an assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.<\/p>\n

Harvard\u2019s roster includes five Canadians, led by sophomore forward Mick Thompson of Mississauga, who is second in the country in points per game at 1.57. Goalie Ben Charette of Aurora, Ont., has played every minute and has recorded a .934 save percentage.<\/p>\n

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Marek Hejduk, who grew up in Colorado, is a fourth-year right wing.<\/p>\n

He remembers shooting pucks at tiny nets with other players\u2019 kids in the Avalanche dressing room.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were like little rats running around,\u201d Hejduk said. He thinks about his teammates that grew up like he did. \u201cIt\u2019s always cool within the team to have the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mason Langenbrunner is completing his fourth year at Harvard and is one of the team\u2019s captains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually talk about all of our guys with ties to the NHL in our dressing room,\u201d Langenbrunner said.<\/p>\n

His father played in more than 1,000 NHL games and won Stanley Cups with Dallas and New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s every kid\u2019s dream to have a dad that plays in professional sports,\u201d Langenbrunner said. \u201cIt was a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Dakoda Rh\u00e9aume-Mullen plays during an NCAA hockey game for the University of Michigan.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82,8023],"class_list":{"0":"post-311940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-topstory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}