Kostitsyn brothers struggle; Hockey’s funniest sibling combos

Montreal Canadiens’ Andrei Kostitsyn (46), from Belarus, defends his brother Sergei Kostitsyn, right, after he was hit into the boards by Chicago Blackhawks’ defenceman Aaron Johnson, left, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal Tuesday, March 31, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

AP

In the 2007-08 season, the Kostitsyn brothers burst onto the NHL scene and looked like they might be the non-twin answer to the Sedins before long. Since that nice introduction into the league, the two have struggled with inconsistency, scandal and bad vibes all around. The Canadian Press sets the scene around the most mercurial of the two, Sergei.

When backup goalie Carey Price, dripping with sweat, got to the Montreal dressing room after staying on late at the team’s game-day skate with others who won’t start Game 3 of their playoff series against Pittsburgh, fresh-looking Sergei Kostitsyn was walking by.

“Why weren’t you on the ice?” an angry Price asked Kostitsyn, who also won’t play.

Kostitsyn mumbled something and kept walking, and Price called after him “too good?”

The little incident underlined the tough times the Kostitsyn brothers, Sergei and Andrei, are going through.

Sergei has not played since Game 5 of the first round against Washington. Andrei has played, but was dropped down to the fourth line in Game 2 of the East Conference semifinal against the Penguins on Sunday. After being on the ice for Pittsburgh’s only goal, he got only 1:43 of ice time and didn’t play at all in the final two periods.

For every great sibling puck experiment, there’s often a semi-disaster. After all, not every hockey family can match the Sutters, Millers or Staals of the world.

My personal favorite moments come when there’s a wild gap in talent between siblings, though. The Kostitsyns give me an excuse to talk about the most giggle-worthy ones. I’m sure to miss a few of them, but here’s a handful off the top of my head.

• Sergei and Fedor Fedorov: One player is one of the greatest players of all time. The other is named Fedor Fedorov, which is akin to me naming a future child Brian O’Brien.
• Paul and Steve Kariya: For some reason that one always made me laugh.
• Eric and Brett Lindros: Hey, at least concussions run in the family, right?
• Wayne and Brent Gretzky: Even Frank Stallone deals with a smaller shadow.
• Pavel and Valeri Bure: As much as I want to mock Valeri, his wife starred on “Full House” and is extremely attractive. She’s no Anna Kournikova, but perhaps that’s just how their sibling non-rivalry goes?
• Marian and Marcel Hossa: Watching them in the Olympics, their resemblance is striking. Almost twin-like.
• Mario and Alain Lemieux: Obviously, Claude and Mario couldn’t have come from the same womb.
• Scott and Rob Niedermayer: Rob’s not a total waste, especially since his presence in Anaheim helped the Ducks land his brother Scott.
• Mark and Paul Messier: I must admit I wasn’t even aware Mark had a brother. Ouch.

Maurice (“The Rocket”) Richard and Henri (“The Pocket Rocket”) might be the best wombmates in NHL history, but they don’t make the list because they were both awesome. What are some of your favorite examples of sibling disparity in sports and beyond? Feel free to discuss them in the comments.