Brother acts: the Primeau brothers, Keith and Wayne, are the most recent set of siblings to find success in the NHL.

Publication: Hockey Digest

Publication Date: 01-SEP-04

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IT WAS MID-MAY AND ONLY FOUR teams remained in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. Wayne and Keith Primeau appeared headed for destiny. Keith, an All-Star with the Flyers, appeared to be carrying the team on his shoulders, scoring timely goals and battling it out with whomever Tampa Bay sent his way. He finished the Eastern Conference finals with 16 points. Meanwhile, Wayne, the checking role player with the Sharks, was trying to bully over some of the Flames for supremacy in the West.

Instead, both would soon be headed home rather than battling it out brother-against-brother for the mighty chalice.

Although Wayne outscored his brother this season for the first time in his career, 29-to-22 points, because of Keith's injury that kept him out for most of the season, it has been older brother Keith who has put the Primeau name on the hockey landscape. Keith has scored more than 600 points in his career while Wayne has barely more than 100. And while it's hard thinking of the 6'3" Wayne as a "little brother," the 6'5" Keith casts an imposing shadow over his little brother.

"I'm happy with how things are going," Wayne says. "We're different players, and we just go out there and try to do our best for our team. I think the comparisons bother Keith but it's just a part of life. There's a five year age difference and I've been hearing it all my life."

Wayne was considered a fourth-line center for most of his...

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