The Middlebury College men’s ice hockey program has been around almost 100 years, and in that time the Panthers have won eight national championships and eight NESCAC titles and earned 47 All-American selections. As players come and go, there is one constant in the program that has contributed to these successes: brotherhood.
It is common in the men’s sports world to refer to a team as a brotherhood, but for the Middlebury program, that term is literal. Over the decades, the Panther rosters have been sprinkled with brother duos and trios, so much so that in the late 1990s, the line chart was almost entirely represented by three families. With familial bonds extending to Middlebury, it is no surprise that the program has boasted tremendous successes over its nearly 100 years.
As the first century of Middlebury men’s hockey comes to a close, we take a look back at a few key brother duos and trios who made their marks at Middlebury.
DATES ’63, BOB JR. ’61, AND JERRY ’61 FRYBERGER
If you look in the trophy cases that line the Middlebury athletics facilities, you’ll find one lone yellow sock. The story behind this article of clothing is one of love and character. When Dates, Bob Jr., and Jerry Fryberger were growing up, their father built an ice hockey rink across the street from their house in Duluth, Minnesota. The trio would play until the temperature dropped to minus-20 degrees, and they would only quit then because the ice would turn brittle. During that time, their mother would make them wear socks around their necks so they wouldn’t catch colds. Dates honored his mother by wearing a yellow sock around his neck for all four years at Middlebury, and now it sits in the trophy case as a reminder to all about grit and character.
“The character you build is yours forever.”
This is the quote that Dates lives by, and there is no doubt that Dates, Bob Jr., and Jerry built some of that character on the ice at Middlebury.
MARC ’91 AND RAY ’93 ALCINDOR
Sons of a Haitian immigrant father and a Quebec City native mother, Marc and Ray Alcindor grew up in Mount Royal, Montreal. As soon as the Alcindor brothers could walk, their mother had them in skates at the outdoor rink across the street from their home. They both began as figure skaters.
“We always joke around about our figure skating days,” said Ray. “In all seriousness, figure skating helped us progress into hockey. It was really special to experience the sport, and we thank our mom for getting us into it.”
As Marc and Ray transitioned to playing ice hockey, they began competing in minor leagues in Montreal. One summer, the duo had a chance encounter with Middlebury’s then head coach, Bill Beaney, at a camp. The organizer of the camp was passionate about bringing Canadian hockey players to the United States, something that wasn’t common back then. Marc applied to Middlebury and got in.
“Marc came at a time when we were trying to climb the standings and be the best,” said Beaney. “He brought confidence that not only he could be the best, but our team could too, and he brought that out in others.”
The three-year age difference between Marc and Ray prevented them from playing on the same teams growing up. So although Ray had several offers to play at the Division I level in college, he ultimately decided that he did not want to pass up the chance to finally play with his brother.
Middlebury was the first English-speaking school either of the brothers attended.
“At first it was a challenge academically because neither of us had studied English prior to Middlebury,” said Marc. “It helped me a lot to have my classmate and fellow Montreal native Kent Hughes.”
“When we were both on the team, there were a lot of Canadian players,” said Ray. “I think this not only helped with team building, but it also motivated positive team rivalries between USA and Canadian players, which ultimately made us better.”
The duo went on to lead Middlebury to the 1991 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship.
ETIENNE ’97 AND SEBASTIEN ’97 BILODEAU
Sebastien Bilodeau started his college hockey career at Kent State, despite being recruited by Middlebury. While Sebastien was excited at the potential of being a Panther, the full scholarship opportunity at Kent State was too good to pass up. But only a semester into his time at Kent State, he was so impressed by his brother Etienne’s experience at Middlebury that he transferred here. Etienne’s journey to Middlebury was different in that he was told his English was not good enough to come here. Growing up in Sainte-Marie outside of Quebec City, Canada, neither of the boys had gone to an English-speaking school prior to Middlebury. Etienne doubled down after receiving the news and learned enough English to eventually be accepted.
Etienne said, “Our parents always praised the importance of managing and combining education with athletics, so we were prepared. Ultimately, our Middlebury education was a golden opportunity to be together in athletics, academic, residential, and social settings.”
Sebastien recalls, “I remember one time we were on the bench and one of us had screwed up. We started having a heated discussion in French and then all of a sudden Beaney told us, ‘No more French.’ I think he just wanted to know what we were saying to each other.”
“I remember one year when we hosted the NCAA Semifinals in Nelson Arena as the #2 seed,” said Sebastien. “The other team was so mad, they made us sit on the visiting bench and wear our away jerseys. But we always had a tradition of playing the Canadian and United States national anthems before the two games, and the other team decided not to play the Canadian one since they were technically the home team. There were seven or eight of us on the team at the time, so we printed about 700 copies of ‘O Canada,’ and during the pep talk before the game the entire crowd erupted singing it, and then we went on to win the NCAA Championship.”
MIKE ’97 AND JEFF ’99 ANASTASIO
For Mike Anastasio, his best memory of being a part of the Middlebury men’s ice hockey program with his brother came two years after he graduated. Mike was playing for the Macon Whoopee in the Central Hockey League (CHL) and got traded to the Fort Worth Fire. But he had a major decision to make. If he reported to his new team, he would miss watching his brother Jeff play in the national championship.
Mike didn’t report. Instead, he made the trip from Georgia to host school Norwich in Northfield, Vermont, to watch his brother compete in the title game as a senior.
“When Mike made the decision to stop playing and come back to watch me, that moment was one of the most important moments in my life,” said Jeff. “The sacrifice he made at that time was unforgettable.”
Middlebury won its fifth-straight NCAA Championship, extending its record run with a 5–0 victory.
“Watching Jeff in that game was so special to me,” said Mike. “It reminded me how far he had come as a player, and I was just so glad I made that decision to be there.”
The duo reflected on their time together on the team recently.
“At the time, you didn’t realize how special it was to play together,” said Mike. “It is pretty remarkable to look at all of the brothers we were teammates with.”
“I always thought it was really cool to see brothers playing together at Middlebury,” said Jeff.
Mike added, “I remember one year we wrote a 'Captain’s Corner' in the Campus. It was us, the Bilodeaus, and the Goldmans. We had so much fun with all of the families, and it is awesome to see that the tradition lives on today within the program.”
RYAN ’98, CURT ’00, AND SCOTT ’01 GOLDMAN
Five straight NCAA Championships were claimed during the Goldman brothers’ hockey era. Add in another pair of national titles in lacrosse, a trio of NESCAC crowns across the two sports, and one NCAA title in field hockey for their sister Billie. There might not be another family to come through Middlebury and achieve that amount of athletic success.
Ryan arrived on campus first, with Curt and Scott following one after the other. Although the brothers had some overlap during their youth playing days, it wasn’t until they were all at Middlebury that the three of them played together.
“Those three brothers were as hard workers as anyone I have ever coached,” said Beaney. “There were many times in practice where we might have to break up a fight because they would get into it with each other because they were so competitive.”
The competitive nature of the brothers pushed them to be the absolute best they could be in hockey.
“Something I’ll never forget is playing with my brothers that year,” said Scott. “We all had our own roles. I went in and agitated and was fortunate enough to play as a freshman. In a sense, I knew I could be a troublemaker out there because I had a big defenseman watching my back.”
The three attribute their love of Middlebury not to the championships won, but to the supportive community around them.
“I can’t stress enough what the community was to our hockey program,” said Ryan.
Curt added, “Looking up in the stands, we had our parents who never missed a game. Our sister Billie was always there. But then we also had all of these incredible community members cheering us on.”
“I just remember when we won the national championship the year we all three played together,” said Scott. “We were posing on the ice for a photo with my dad, one of us had a split lip, and out there all around us were the Zamboni guys, the security guards, they were all on the ice with our team celebrating as one.”
BRET ’22.5 AND WYATT ’25 PASTOR
The brother tradition continues at Middlebury to this day, with the current team sporting a pair of siblings on the roster.
“Bret loved his first year at Middlebury, which intrigued me,” said Wyatt. “When I knew the idea of playing hockey here was an option, the thought of playing with him pushed me toward wanting to come here and play together.”
Bret added, “This is the first time playing at a competitive level together, so to end our hockey careers together is really cool.”
The brotherhood tradition has been so strong that Middlebury knows of at least six other duos to have played together throughout the last several decades. Due to the unreliability of early rosters, we may never know exactly how many sets of brothers have played hockey at Middlebury since the program was established. But the tradition of sibling teammates is one we hope continues long into the future.