Duane Sutter's road to the NHL would be one-of-a-kind, except for the fact that five of his six brothers, who also made the NHL, can tell a similar tale.
Sutter grew up in Viking, Alberta on a small farm with his parents and six brothers and credited his rigorous work ethic to his family upbringing.
"We had to roll our sleeves up and pitch in and help out with the gardens and the cattle and the crops and all that, so we learned to work hard," Sutter told the Talkin' Isles podcast. "Our parents instilled that into us. Once your work was done you could play. Once you played, you played to win, and that's probably what really paved the way for how we played the game."
He recalled what it was like playing hockey with just the seven of them on the farm. The brothers picked teams amongst themselves, inevitably leading to fights and a competitive atmosphere. Sutter explained that after a few bad fights, their mom confiscated the tennis balls they were using to play. Unsurprisingly, twin brothers, Ron and Rich, were sent on a mission to find the tennis balls so they could resume.
"It was competitive," Sutter said. "It really, really made us into the types of players that we became."
After playing hockey as a kid, and then on various junior league teams throughout the 1970s, Sutter received the call that would change his life in August 1979, but this is where his story diverges from his brothers.