"As soon as we got home from school, we were out the door with our skates on," said Phil. "We would play until my father blew this whistle. That was what he used to tell us it was time to come home."

After playing for a few minutes after the whistle, the boys would race home on their skates and tip-toe across the linoleum to the dinner table. The food was quickly devoured before the boys ran back out onto the pond, playing well past dark.

"No lights. We didn't even have goals," said Phil.

But, they played on, honing skills that would lead each to greatness. It is a story told in household after household as generation after generation of young boys -- and now young girls -- chases dreams of hockey glory.

The Bures lived a similiar life, says Valeri.

"For my family, it was simple," said Valeri. "My brother was going to the hockey rink and my mother couldn't leave me alone, so I had to go to. When I was four or five, I started skating and they would tell me to go in the corner and skate and I would do that for an hour or so. As I got older, it became more competitive and we started testing and challenging each other."

Jay and Mike Pandolfo of Winchester, Mass., also know the story well. The two brothers spent each winter testing one another on the backyard rink erected painstakingly by father, Joe, each winter at their home, just outside of Boston.

"Growing up and having an older brother, you always want to follow him around and get in the street hockey games or whatever," said Mike, five years Jay's junior. "But, I always ended being the goaltender or getting beat up."

Those days are long gone. Today, Jay, a member of the Devils, is considered one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL and has a Stanley Cup to his credit. Mike, a fifth-round pick of Buffalo in 1998 now with the Columbus organization, is in his first pro season, playing for the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch.

"When I was younger, Jay would be playing on those travel teams," explained Mike, 24. "He'd go away for tournaments and I'd get dragged along with the rest of the family and it really caught my eye. It was something I wanted to do, too."

Pandolfo is just one of scores of younger siblings trying to follow in the footsteps of older brothers established in the NHL.

The success of Paul Kariya (center) on the ice has paved the way for his brothers Steve (left) and Martin.

Paul Kariya, 29, is an established star with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Middle brother, Steve, has had a taste of the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks and is now with the AHL's Albany River Rats, New Jersey's top affiliate. Youngest brother, Martin, 22, is finishing his senior season with the University of Maine, looking to continue his hockey career professionally next season.

"No matter the sport, we always enjoyed competing," said Steve, 25. "Hockey, soccer, lacrosse, we just loved to compete."

But, each found his way to hockey, following in the successful footsteps of Paul, who was All-America at Maine and a top draft pick in the NHL.

"You don't really think too much about it," Martin said on how Paul's success influenced his hockey dreams. "You're so happy for your older brother, especially because you could turn on the TV and see your brother playing hockey. You mentioned a role model, and I guess that is what it was mostly. It was just nice to see someone our size having success at the level and showing us how it could be done."

That process will surely continue as long as there are brothers in this world picking up sticks and testing each other in street hockey games or the local pond, assuring the NHL will remain a family affair for generations to come.