Duke brothers go from collegiate rivals to teammates at Dev Camp

In the Duke household, it's all about hockey.

Steve Duke played college hockey at Western Michigan University from 1994-98 and was an alternate captain during his junior and senior seasons. He went on to play 149 career games in the ECHL with the Johnstown Chiefs, Mississippi Sea Wolves, Charlotte Checkers and South Carolina Stingrays before calling it a career.

The same year Steve retired, his wife Sharon gave birth to their son Dylan, who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Sixteen months after Dylan was born, he had a new baby brother in Tyler, who was invited to participate in this year's Lightning Development Camp, being held at TGH Ice Plex in Brandon this week.

"It's definitely really special," Tyler said. "Tampa obviously reached out, and there were a couple other teams I could have gone to, but I decided that this would be pretty special to come here and put on an NHL jersey with my brother.

"Not many kids get to do that, so I'm having a blast and it's been a great time so far."

Tyler just finished up his freshman year of college hockey at Ohio State University, while Dylan wrapped up his sophomore season at University of Michigan, falling just one game shy of becoming a national champion with the Wolverines falling to Boston University in the 2023 Frozen Four semifinal at AMALIE Arena.

"It was tough," Dylan said. "But things have been good. We obviously finished up at school and then we had a good spring term with our team.

"I've been working out and skating at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, so it's been a good summer. I'm just trying to get better and ultimately get back to where we were last year and finish the job."

Dylan and Tyler are similar in a lot of ways, but also different. Dylan is a 5-foot-10, 181-pound forward, while Tyler is a 5-foot-9, 179-pound defenseman. That made for plenty of fun matchups last season when the Buckeyes and Wolverines faced off in one of the best rivalries throughout college sports.

"It was so cool," said Tyler when asked about the games against his brother last season. "I played against him five times last year, so it was really cool for our family. We both scored a couple goals against each other, so that was pretty special."

Tyler describes himself as a two-way defenseman that's hard to play against, saying he likes to get up in the rush and make plays, but takes pride in being really tough to play against, particularly in the corners. But was he just as tough in the corners when it was his brother going in for a loose puck?

"Oh, yeah," said Tyler with a laugh. "I think I go a little harder against him. I gotta get the bragging rights."

Dylan agreed. There was no taking it easy on either side once the puck dropped for those rivalry games.

"He's a pretty feisty guy out there," Dylan said. "Good skater. Good shot. But, yeah, I'd definitely say he's really feisty.

"It was really fun though. He scored twice against us, and two of them were game winners, so it was pretty cool to play against him.

"Those games were games that we'll remember forever and be able to take with us wherever we go."

Next year, Dylan won't have to worry about his brother netting any game-winning goals against his team. They'll be going to war together with Tyler transferring to Michigan to join forces with his brother in the pursuit of a National Championship.

"It was a really good year," said Tyler. "Ohio State was great. It was a great year being a younger guy in college and playing a ton. We had a great team there.

"But I just felt it was the best decision for me and my family. To be able to play with my brother in college, that's something really special. Not many guys get the chance to do that."

As for Dylan, he can't wait for his brother to get to Ann Arbor. The two grew up playing youth hockey together and were able to get a couple games on the same team while both playing at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. But now, they'll get to team up and play an entire season together at the highest level of college hockey.

"We're definitely really close," Dylan said. "We've done everything together since he was born. We've played on the same youth hockey teams growing up. We had a similar path to college hockey, going through the NTDP, and we were able to share that experience together for a year.

"We go hand in hand. We're really close. We fight a lot, but at the end of the day, it's what makes us better and makes us good people.

"The excitement level is through the roof. It's a lot bigger than just me and him. It's huge for our family and our grandparents to be able to go to just one game and one place every weekend.

"Our parents are super happy and proud of us. It's just huge for our whole family. We're really excited."

The Duke brothers may go hand in hand, but make no mistake, Tyler wasn't invited to Tampa Bay's Development Camp because of his name. He was invited because he can play, and the Lightning scouting staff likes what the young defenseman brings to the table.

"Our scouts like him," said Tampa Bay director of player development Stacy Roest. "He's still draft eligible, but our scouts like him as a player. We don't do any favors and just invite players.

"If they're here, they're a prospect that we like. Our scouts do a great job of identifying the players. If we feel they're worthy of coming to a Development Camp, we'll invite them. It doesn't matter who they are."

As for Dylan, the Bolts have been happy with the 20-year-old forward's progress at Michigan, and everyone is looking forward to seeing what steps he can take heading into his junior year.

"He played a big role," said Roest when asked about Dylan's sophomore season at Michigan. "Big role on a good team. He really came on.

"Obviously, he's getting stronger and getting a little bit quicker. Hopefully another year of school and playing an even bigger role will help him more."

Once the week comes to an end, the brothers will head north to Michigan for some more summer workouts at USA Hockey Arena, where they hope to return with some new drills and exercises that they learned down in the Sunshine State.

"I just want to learn as much as I can," said Dylan. "Take as much as I can back home with me for the rest of summer and then into the school year. I want to keep getting better.

"I don't think there's a better place than here to get better and to work on our skills, skating, everything. Obviously, Barb Underhill is here and she's unbelievable. She's helped me a lot over the past couple of years, so I definitely want to take a lot from her this week.

"I'm just looking to take all that knowledge back to school and then try to just keep getting better."

With plenty of hockey minds in town for the week, there is plenty to learn and digest for all the prospects at Development Camp. It's a special experience for everyone. But for Dylan and Tyler, experiencing this one together makes it that much better.

"It's definitely really cool," Dylan said. "It's a great experience to be able to share Development Camp with him. It's just awesome to be in a situation where we could be here together and to see our names on a practice jersey is really special.

"I think it's even more motivation to one day have it on a game jersey. We're here to get better and ultimately, one day, hopefully see that name on a game jersey.

"Obviously, to be able to play on the same college hockey team as him next year and see it there, it's going to be really, really special.

"These are the things that we'll definitely remember for the rest of our lives."