December 22, 2022
Duo Leading Way for Improving Tigers
by Cameron Levasseur/
They say that hockey teams are like family. Most of the time that’s in a figurative sense, but in the case of the 2022-23 Princeton men’s team, it’s literal.
Brothers Liam and Brendan Gorman, who grew up near Boston, make up two-thirds of the Tigers’ second line this season, leading one of the ECAC’s most potent offenses while fulfilling their childhood dreams.
“We had a backyard rink growing up,” Brendan said. “We’d be skating on that all the time and always dream of one day playing together, as every pair of brothers would. So now that we’ve gotten that opportunity, it’s really special.”
While Liam, a senior, and Brendan, a freshman, never played together on the same line growing up, the hours they spent together on the backyard rink and in practice built a natural chemistry that’s evident on the scoresheet. Each has produced nine points through the team’s opening 13 games, the highest total among Princeton linemates.
“Myself, Brendan and my younger brother Colin, we all played in the same youth organizations at the same times,” Liam said. “And my parents were busy people, so we would all go to the rink together and have different practice times at different hours. So Brendan and I would be skating together on Colin’s ice sheet, and then Brendan’s ice sheet and then during my practice Brendan would come out sometimes too.”
Though they trained in the same programs, each developed their own style of play which complements the other well as they try to solve opposing defenses.
“Bren is probably one of, if not the shiftiest hockey players with a puck that I’ve ever seen,” Liam said. “So combining that with myself who plays a big heavy, high pace, high energy, lots of drive kind of game (it) matches each other well because I’ll go in full speed and try to take a guy out, get the puck and then just feed him, try to get open and he’ll mess around with the puck until he finds somebody or something.”
Several prominent names in today’s hockey landscape helped develop the Gorman’s hockey skill sets, including current San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier, who was formerly an assistant coach of St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, Mass. – where both brothers attended.
“Mike Grier is awesome,” Liam said. “I still look at Mike as a mentor to…
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