J.P. Darche Thrilled to Watch Brother “In His Element” as Isles GM

As a team physician for the Kansas City Chiefs, Jean-Philippe Darche doesn’t get a lot of time off during the football season.

But when New York Islanders General Manager and EVP Mathieu Darche asked his brother to join him for the team’s dads and mentor’s trip, it was worth trading downs for some down time.

"It's been a lot of fun, you meet so many good people, and especially now brand-new team,” J.P. Darche said. “So, it's been a good time and everybody's so friendly, it's so easy to hit it off."

The trip, where the Islanders bring their dads, brothers and mentors on the road, is centered around bonding and spending quality time with the team’s extended family. The Darche brothers keep their father Edward, who passed away last year, front of mind and in their hearts on the trip. J.P. became Mathieu’s go-to invite in recent years.

“Before, my dad used to come with my brother,” J.P. Darche said. "When he was sick, I started coming with my brother. So, we always think about my dad a little bit when we do these trips."

J.P. and Mathieu grew up in a sports household in Montreal, as they were huge fans of the Montreal Canadiens. Little did they know that Mathieu would lace up for the Habs from 2010-12.

“I remember the first time I went to see him over there,” J.P.Darche said. “That was a big deal for me. Growing up, you're such a big fan of that team, and to have my brother play for them, that was, that was huge."

They also fondly remember watching Patrick Roy's rise to stardom in the 1980’s, and all his success in the NHL. It’s a full circle moment for Mathieu that he and Roy are a GM and head coach duo – and for J.P., who got to officially meet Roy on the trip.

"I met him for the first time yesterday," J.P. Darche said. "He's a big deal, obviously, I was like 11 years old when he was a young guy coming up, won the Stanley Cup in ‘86 with Montreal. He was definitely one of the guys that that we kind of idolized, which is kind of funny, because now here he is."

J.P. Darche’s days of rooting for the Canadiens are long behind him, as he’s become a full-fledged Islanders fan in support of his brother in the GM chair.

“I remember growing up in the 80’s, they were winning cup after cup, that's my first memory of hockey,” Darche said. “Funny to say now, I'm an Islanders guy, I got the gear now, and I'm watching him every night when they got a game on.”

In addition to being avid fans, the brothers are passionate about playing hockey together whenever they got the chance.

"We were at the age where we'd come home from school and drop our bags, grab our skates and stick, go to the park and go play hockey,” J.P. Darche said. “He was better than I was, I can tell you that much."

J.P.'s calling was for a different sport, as he went on to have a professional football career. He spent one season in the Canadian Football League playing for the Toronto Argonauts, signed with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks in 2000 and retired with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009.

Throughout their playing careers (Mathieu’s professional hockey career spanned from 2001-12, where he played in 250 NHL games and 552 AHL games) they were each other’s support system. They called each other nearly every day, with a unique understanding as brothers and pro athletes.

"The whole time when he went through his career, all the ups and downs, I was going through mine too," J.P. Darche said. "Everybody thinks it's so glamorous to be a professional athlete, but there's a lot of grind. There's a lot of, you know, failures too, that you have to be able to deal with. It's been good to have somebody that knows what it's like."

In their post-playing days, Mathieu and J.P. concurrently rose the ranks. While Mathieu joined the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20 season as Director of Hockey Operations, J.P. was hired as a team physician for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020. The brothers have five championships combined – Darche won two Stanley Cups with Tampa (2020 and 2021) and J.P. won three Super Bowl rings with Kansas City (2020, 2023, 2024).

J.P. couldn’t be more thrilled for his brother’s success, especially getting to see him in action over the weekend with his new team.

“It’s a big job, a lot of time, lot of hours,” J.P. Darche said. “I know he's loving every minute of it. He’s in his element. You can tell he likes everything about it. It’s fun to watch him, and the Islanders are having some success so far.”

“I've always been a big hockey fan,” he continued. “Now I get to see the inside version of it. It's a lot of fun.”