DENVER-
Air Force sophomore defenseman Greg Flynn knows all his brother’s moves.
Or so he thinks.
“I’ve been working on some new stuff that will hopefully fool him,” Minnesota freshman forward Ryan Flynn said with a grin.
The brothers Flynn will face each other in a first-round game of the NCAA ice hockey championships on Saturday as the top-seeded Gophers take on the Falcons. North Dakota will play Michigan in the second contest of the night.
Back home in Lino Lakes, Minn., Greg, 20, and Ryan, 19, have built a homemade ice rink in their backyard that they’ve dubbed The Flynn Forum.
Every winter since Greg was 6, their father would run a garden hose from the laundry room sink to the backyard and fill the rink, which is about half the size of a regulation ice surface.
Many an epic tussle between the two brothers has been waged on the sheet of ice.
“It’s great for shooting and practicing your skills,” said Greg, whose Air Force team is making its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. “We lived on that rink.”
The rink even had lights, so the two were out there at 3 a.m. trying to improve their skills. And before the school bus came to pick them up in grade school, they’d sneak in a quick game of one-on-one.
“We’d go out there and Greg would help me,” Ryan said. “And I’d help him. That’s what helped us progress.”
But never in their wildest dreams did the brothers envision playing against each other on this big of stage.
Greg called Ryan with the news that they’d be playing against each other last Sunday. Ryan was attending their younger brother’s state championship game in the bantam division and couldn’t believe it.
He still can’t.
“It’s really cool,” said Ryan, who has five goals and eight assists for the Gophers this season. “My parents (Jim and Theresa) will have a tough time cheering for either team.”
After all, one Flynn hockey player will be elated after Saturday, the other deflated.
“My mom just doesn’t want to see us fight,” Greg said. “She doesn’t want us to do something stupid. We told her, ‘Hey mom, if we go out there in warmups and fight, we could get on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.’ We like to give her a hard time.”
The last time the Flynn brothers played on the same team they led Centennial High School to a Minnesota state championship when Greg was a senior and Ryan a sophomore. Ryan, though, didn’t play in the championship game due to a separated shoulder.
“It’s still a special moment for me, playing that season with my brother,” said Greg, who has one goal and 13 assists for the Falcons.
Greg wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school, so he spent a year with the Billings Bulls of the North American Hockey League before joining the Falcons last season. He had three assists in 18 games for Air Force in 2005-06.
“He’s a fierce competitor and a tough kid,” said Falcons coach Frank Serratore, whose team is facing Minnesota for the first time in the program’s history.
Ryan was the sought-after hockey star. After his sophomore year of high school, he spent the next two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. The team won a gold medal at the 2006 IIHF world under-18 championships in Sweden.
Ryan considered Minnesota, Wisconsin and Boston College before deciding on his hometown team. The family lives 20 minutes from the Minnesota campus.
“I’m more of a role guy this year,” Ryan said. “I’m just happy to contribute.”
Minnesota coach Don Lucia has certainly been impressed with him.
“Ryan is a strong, physical presence,” Lucia said. “He’s had a real nice freshman year for us.”
Lucia can’t recall ever having brothers play against each other, but he likes Ryan’s approach to the situation.
“He told his parents that if they were cheering for Air Force, they would have to get tickets from somewhere else,” Lucia said with a laugh.
From years of playing hockey together at the Flynn Forum, Greg thinks he knows what to expect from his younger brother when he comes down the ice.
“He’ll pull the puck across his body and try to snap off a shot,” Greg said.
Ryan grinned.
“He has seen everything I have,” he said. “But I’ve been working on something new.”
