It came to me on the long road trip to Europe and the U.S. Like Doug and Steve Butabi, Kailer Yamamoto and Evan Bouchard seemed inseparable. Always around each other. Hanging out, sharing a few laughs and it didn't hurt the visual comparison to see their heights were almost an exact match. Bouchard and Will Ferrell both standing 6-foot-3 while Yamamoto has a couple inches (5-foot-8 to 5-foot-6) on Chris Kattan. Just like the movie brothers, these hockey brothers also live together, just not at home. Instead, in Edmonton. "We're roommates on the road," explained Yamamoto, "but we're also roommates at home." The two are shacked up together at a local hotel while they await their season fate to be decided.
Now Yamamoto and Bouchard are not exactly into adulthood like Doug and Steve. Evan just turned 19 this week while Kailer recently turned 20. They don't work for their dad at a flower shop but they are working for the Oilers and both are starting to bloom in the NHL. It's been quite a week with Yamamoto scoring his first NHL goal and Bouchard playing his first regular season game at home and also coming close to his first NHL goal. They sit across from each other in the dressing room. Kailer on the forwards' side and Evan on side designated for the defencemen. Yet you'll often hear one yelling for the other. "Hey, Bouch,' or, 'Hey, Yamo.' a noticeable refrain in the room as one tries to get the other's attention.
It's interesting to see these two kids become so close so fast. " We really didn't ever know each other," explained Yamamoto. "With us being from different countries (U.S.A and Canada) and playing in different leagues (WHL and OHL) we never really crossed paths." That changed after Bouchard was drafted in 2018. Yamamoto was chosen the summer before in 2017 and they met up at development camp. "We had never met before," said Bouchard. "We just kind of had a connection at development camp and it's continued from there." It really has as these two future pillars of play for Edmonton seem almost inseparable. Kind of like the Butabi brothers.
It's really interesting to see them on the road as they experience things together and in some cases for the first time. "The guys told me it was going to busy with traffic," said Bouchard about his first ever trip to New York. "I figured that wouldn't be the case because we landed at 1:00 AM but they were right." He was also amazed by all the people in Times Square. It wasn't as much of a surprise to Yamamoto who visited the Big Apple with his family when he was just a kid. Despite the fact they are only 13 months apart in age, the teenager uses the 20-year-old as a reference point. "It's easy to talk to him and ask him questions," said the blueliner. "I know he's only played a little bit more than me. The older guys (veterans) have been great but sometimes I just feel a little more comfortable bothering or asking Kailer anything just because we're basically in the same situation."
They really are in the same situation. Young, talented, former star players in junior who now are expected to be pieces of the success puzzle for Edmonton. The Butabi brothers were part of a hit movie and these two Oiler 'brothers', minus the neck twitch, are also expecting to be a hit with the Edmonton Oilers.
