Spurgeon sibling rivalry paid off

KITCHENER, Ontario – Sticks were thrown often and refrigerators were disposable in the unfinished basement of their old Edmonton, Alberta, digs.

It was there in the cemented underground that Spokane Chiefs alternate captain Jared Spurgeon and his older brother Tyler spent countless hours in the throes of punching pucks – and each other – on their makeshift hockey rink. No ice, a net on one side of the room and a refrigerator on the opposite end – which served as the second net.

“(Tyler) got me into the game when we were young,” the Chiefs defenseman recalled. “We went through a couple of refrigerators just denting the crap out of them. Let’s just say my dad was more of a referee then a coach. We always had games going down there and ended up in lots of fights, I guess – you know, brotherly love.”

Jared hopes he can follow in his big brother’s footsteps on Sunday.

Tyler, a center for the Edmonton Oilers-affiliated Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League, played in three Memorial Cup tournaments with the Kelowna Rockets and won in 2004.

At the beginning of the Rockets’ postseason run that year, Tyler dedicated his playoff stick to Jared.

When the Chiefs began their Western Hockey League playoff drive in March, Jared stamped Tyler’s name on his stick. In three days, Jared will take his shot at winning junior hockey’s most prized piece of hardware.

“You pick who you’re playing for … it’s pretty special that we picked each other,” said Jared, who confirmed Tyler will fly into Kitchener on Saturday in time to catch Sunday’s championship game from the Auditorium stands. “He’s really excited for me.”

That’s not to say their sibling rivalry has ended.

The family moved to a different house when Jared was a rookie in Spokane during the Chiefs’ 2005-06 campaign, so the basement scuffles have ceased. When the two are away from home during the regular season, they engage in online encounters.

“The X-Box has taken over and that’s our rivalry now,” said Jared. “We play against each other online and just beat the crap out of each other.”

They squared off once on the ice, too.

When Jared was a 16-year-old rookie, Spokane played Tyler’s Rockets three times in the regular season. Ongoing rehab from shoulder surgery kept Tyler off the ice for the first two games. In the teams’ third and final meeting of the season, the Spurgeon brothers finally faced each other on the ice and at one point, the two engaged in a battle behind the net.

The younger Spurgeon figures he won.

“I took off his helmet by accident, I guess,” the Chiefs’ 10th-round pick of the 2004 Bantam Draft said with a roguish grin.

“Well, I ripped it off,” he said. “That’s a fun memory.”

Watching Tyler play in the Memorial Cup with the Rockets is also another one of Jared’s fond memories, and it’s proving to be a valuable one.

“It (isn’t) anything new to me, I definitely knew there was another level to the game and you only get one chance and it could be your last chance,” said Jared, who is eligible for the upcoming NHL draft in June. “You have to put everything you’ve got into this one chance.

“(Tyler) just told me to be ready for the adversity and whatever is happening just to stay calm.

“Other than that, you have to sort of realize he can tell me everything he wants but nothing could help me like first-hand experience.”

Now he has some.

After anchoring Spokane’s blue line and enjoying career highs during the regular season in points (43) and plus-minus (plus-36, which ranked third in the league), Jared has continued to provide stability for the Chiefs.

In the final home game of the regular season, Spurgeon was named Spokane’s Defenseman of the Year and Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year.

“There’s no doubt that the kid is very talented,” said Chiefs assistant coach Hardy Sauter. “If he was 2 or 3 inches taller, there’s no question as to how many chances he would get in the (NHL). He’s shouldered a lot of the load to get us this far, and he deserves any accolades or credit that comes his way.

“He’s just a good, smart, competitive kid.”

That would make pulling even with Tyler – in terms of junior hockey trophies – just as sweet as winning an old tilt in the cellar.