March 17 and 18 will go down in the Samoskevich household's history books. Both Mackie Samoskevich with the NHL's Florida Panthers and Maddy Samoskevich with the PWHL's Vancouver Goldeneyes suited up in Vancouver bringing their pro careers together.
On March 17, Mackie Samoskevich and his Florida Panthers faced the Vancouver Canucks.
On March 18, Maddy Samoskevich and her Vancouver Goldeneyes took on the New York Sirens.
They’re the first pair of twins to play in both the NHL and PWHL, and this two-game stretch marks the first time the two have played for their respective teams in the same city.
As is the case with most hockey players, it all stemmed from days spent out on their backyard rink in Sandy Hook, Conneticut.
“We had the backyard rink outside, so that’s where most of our days were spent, screwing around out there and just enjoying it,” Mackie told The Hockey News ahead of his team’s game on Tuesday night. “Four of us with dad too, teaching us how to skate and stuff like that. A lot of core memories out there, for sure.”
The love for hockey had a bit of a trickle-down effect for both Mackie and Maddy, who first cited their father, Fred, as the main inspiration, but soon circled back to the impact it had on their older sister, Melissa, whose career ultimately inspired the two of them.
“We started playing because my older sister, Melissa […] was really big into hockey. She played at Quinnipiac, so she kind of got us into the sport. My dad played in high school, so that’s where it started. But my sister was really good at hockey and really dedicated to the sport,” Maddy explained in an interview. “My brother and I kind of grew up going to all her games and stuff, and fell in love with it.”
“Even growing up, she was playing boys hockey until she couldn't,” Mackie added. “She was really good at it too. She was one of the better ones out there. Watching her was the reason why me and my sister really loved it. She worked so hard, which was a big thing too. She put us through boot camps in the summer and stuff like that. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see.
“Whatever she was doing, we were doing, so we just followed her around,” he recalled of the boot camps the eldest Samoskevich sibling put them through.
For Maddy in particular, watching her older sister pursue a career in hockey as part of the PHF helped her realize that she could also take her career down a similar professional route.
“It was exciting. I remember I was so happy for her, and obviously she was so happy. I just remember, when I was in high school and stuff, there was only college that I could look at, but then seeing my older sister and the opportunities that she had after college, it was just really awesome. I was excited for the opportunity after college for me.”
Melissa’s hockey career undoubtedly had a major influence on the twins, though there was a bit more of a compete level between Maddy and Mackie due to spending virtually all of their time together. When Melissa went to Shattuck St. Mary’s for high school, it was just the twins who were left to train with and against one-another. While having someone to train with may have been fun, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows — particularly for Maddy.
“We’d go on the backyard rink, and he would always put me on defence and try new moves around me and stuff,” she chuckled. “I actually have a scar on my eyebrow from that. It was funny. We were outside, we weren’t wearing helmets. And he wanted to try this move on me, and he kept doing it over and over again, eventually I was like, ‘I’m going to bed, I’m done.’ And he goes ‘one more, come on, just one more.’ So I was like, ‘fine, one more.’ He goes, brings his stick up, nails me in the eyebrow, I’m gushing blood, I’ve got to get rushed to the hospital.”
“I think I tried to put it through her stick or something, and my stick came up a little too high,” Mackie added. “It’s one of those things probably where we should have worn a helmet, but we’re just having fun out there, and kind of got away from us, maybe a little bit having too much fun, but I guess that’s hockey.”
The twins ultimately ended up following in their sister’s footsteps by also attending Shattuck, where both played for the school’s respective men’s and women’s hockey teams. Moving away at a young age to attend school is always a hard experience, but for Mackie and Maddy, having each-other around made things much easier.
“It was really cool. Having her around was great to go through everything. You’re never really alone,” he said. “For a young kid going across the country, sometimes it can be a little scary, but to have kind of a friend to do it with was really cool, and I was definitely lucky to have her.”
“It made being away from home so young way easier,” Maddy echoed her brother’s sentiment. “When I first got there I didn’t have many friends, I just had him. So we were always doing homework together, we had a lot of the same classes together [...] He was always at my games, I was always at his games. We were like each other’s biggest fans in high school, it was awesome.”
Maddy and her family were in the stands when Mackie and the Panthers took on the Canucks on Tuesday night. While Mackie unfortunately wasn't able to attend Maddy’s game on Wednesday due to the Panthers’ travel schedule, as they'd play in Edmonton the next day, he did note that he’d planned on getting a Goldeneyes jersey before he left Vancouver.
That wasn't the only support he showed his twin sister, however, as he did remark on how proud he is of her for taking the steps she's taken to carve out a place for herself as a member of the Goldeneyes.
"I've been really proud of her. Obviously, it's very scary moving from Connecticut all the way out to Vancouver. I think she's done it very seamlessly," he said. "It's not an easy thing, moving out. She had some questions with stuff like that, and she handled it really well, and I think she's doing really well."