Troy Bourke wasn't the first member of his family to step onto the hockey ice in Prince George.
Before Troy began his Western Hockey League career with the Cougars during the 2010-11 season his older brother Bradley had already made the Bourke name famous in town when he manned the blueline for the Prince George Spruce Kings in the BCHL for the 2009-10 season.
"He's a good player," said Troy. "He's kind of an offensive defenceman."
After spending his 20-year-old season in Prince George, Brad headed to the University of Alberta's Augustana campus (near Camrose) where he's heading into his third season with the defending champion Vikings in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
In his first season with the Vikings, the six-foot-one defender, led the league in rookie scoring by a defenceman and was third overall in scoring for defencemen with nine goals and 18 points in 28 regular-season games. Brad had two goals and seven assists in six playoff games.
Brad was named hockey rookie of the year and male athlete rookie of the year for 2010-11 at Augustana, and was a second team all-star selection and ACAC rookie of the year.
Before playing with the Spruce Kings, Brad played with the AJHL's St. Albert Steel before being traded to the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL during the 2008-09 season.
Troy said the brotherly rivalry can sometimes get heated when the two practice together in the summer.
"We have pretty good battles in the summer, one-on-one stuff, and every now and then I get around him but he's a pretty shifty dude," said Troy. "We definitely have a few tilts too."
No connection
It wasn't easy for family, friends or members of the media to chat with Troy Bourke after he was selected by the Colorado Avalanche during the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in June.
That's because, unlike many of his teammates the 18 year old isn't connected to social media, or even his cell phone, all day long.
"I just got this new iPhone and I'm still trying to figure out how to work it," said Bourke. "I've just never been too much of a technology kind of guy. I try to stay away from it as much as I can because I might get addicted to it if I start getting into it."
Bourke said he has a Facebook page but no Twitter account - though brother Brad is pushing him to start tweeting.
"My brother's probably the worst for [razzing me]," said Bourke. "He really wants me to get it to try and bump up his followers."
