- Sidney Crosby personally called Liam and Markus Ruck to welcome them to Pittsburgh
- The Penguins drafted the twins at No. 22 and No. 39, the highest-drafted brothers since the Sedins
- Read below for what Liam and Markus said about hearing their names called together
Sidney Crosby wanted the Ruck twins to hear it from him.
The Penguins captain got on the phone with Liam and Markus Ruck after Pittsburgh drafted both brothers this weekend, telling them how excited he was to have them in the organization. Crosby let the 18-year-olds know they would be at development camp and that he would see them at training camp in September.
Pittsburgh posted the moment:
Liam came off the board at No. 22 on Friday night, and Markus followed with the seventh pick of the second round, No. 39 overall, on Saturday. They are the first set of twins drafted by the same franchise since Daniel and Henrik Sedin went second and third to Vancouver in 1999. We covered the moment Pittsburgh reunited the brothers on day two.
Markus talked about the wait on the draft floor, knowing six picks had already gone by in the second round before Pittsburgh called his name.
“It was stressful,” Markus said. “But yeah, I was just kind of praying and hoping that Pittsburgh would take me, and to have that happen, there’s not many words to describe it.”
Both brothers leapt out of their seats and hugged the second the pick landed. Liam said the whole thing came down to one goal.
“Relief, for sure,” Liam said. “Our biggest goal in this draft was to get drafted together. We didn’t have very much say, but we hoped it’d happen, and for a great organization like this to pull it off, we’re pretty thrilled.”
Here is the reunion the NHL captured:
The Rucks grew up in the Vancouver area idolizing the Sedins, so the comparison lands close to home. Liam is a goal-scoring winger who shoots right, while Markus is a playmaking center who shoots left.
They have skated together since they were two years old on a backyard rink. Now they get to chase the next part of it in black and gold, with the best player in franchise history already in their corner.
