ROADHOUSE BROTHERS SIBLING RIVALRY PUT ON ICE

Jake and Sean Roadhouse play for different teams.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- It will be brother vs. brother when the Mahoning Valley Phantoms and the Texas Tornado compete in the 30th annual North American Hockey League Robertson Cup Championship Tournament that begins Wednesday at the Ice Zone.
Brothers Jake Roadhouse, 20, a center for the Phantoms, and Sean Roadhouse, a forward for the two-time defending champion Tornado, will be playing on the same ice for the first time in eight years in the five-team, four-day meet that concludes Saturday.
Sean, 18, and the Tornado will open play Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against Southern Minnesota, after Cleveland and Bozeman square off in the opener at 2.
Then Jake and the Phantoms take to the ice Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against the lower seed of the Cleveland-Bozeman and Texas-Southern Minnesota winners, after the losers of the first two games play at 2.
Whether Jake and Sean actually play against each other will depend on how their teams fare in the eight-game, double-elimination tournament.
But regardless, it will be a long-awaited and much-anticipated reunion for the two brothers from Tulsa, Okla., who haven't played against each other since they both were in pee-wee hockey in Tulsa when they were 12 and 10 years old.
Parents joining reunion
Joining in the family reunion will be the brothers' parents -- father Brian and Connie Roadhouse and mother Rebecca and Ken Felty, all from Tulsa -- and two other Tornado players -- Ryan Fuller and Sean McCauley -- who both played with Jake on the same Dallas AAA Stars team in 2004.
Rounding out the family are brother Ryan Roadhouse and half-brother Quinn Roadhouse.
"I'm looking forward to this. I can't wait," said Jake after a recent practice session at the Ice Zone, a big smile crossing his face when talking about his family coming in. "This is going to be a good time."
Jake is a graduate of Union High in Tulsa and came to the Phantoms in November from Fargo, N.D. The previous season, he played in Springfield, Mo.
While playing for the Phantoms, Jake lives with Marc and Connie Hughes of Youngstown along with other Phantom teammates, Anthony Ciraulo and Marc Menzione.
Sean hopes to face Jake
Sean also happily is awaiting the family reunion.
"I am really looking forward to it. I can't wait until we play against each other," said Sean, who is a senior at Frisco (Texas) High.
But if and when the two brothers cross each other's paths on the ice in the tourney, it will be all business and competition, said Sean.
"We'll certainly be aware of each other on the ice," he said. "We are best friends and brothers off the ice, but playing a hockey game against each other is a different story. There will be competition and we will try to beat the other guy."
Sean said he always has admired his big brother and used him as a role model.
"I always played [in an older age group] so I could play with him and so that I can follow in his footsteps. He always has been very talented," said Sean. "I am looking forward to that competition."
Jake recalls Sean's skills
Jake said Sean knows how to play hockey. "He's good. He's a fast and physical player," said Jake. "When we were younger, he usually was the playmaker and I was the goal scorer. He plays wing. If we are on the ice at the same time, we probably will come in contact with each other."
Jake plays center on the Phantoms' third-line, meaning he is on the third team that takes the ice during the rotation. Sean plays forward on the Tornado's second line.
"There is a good chance that we might play against each other," said Sean.
Jake said that his father, who is from Windsor, Ontario, and played hockey as a youth, got Jake and Sean involved in ice skating and hockey at an early age.
"He took us skating and we started liking it," said Jake.
Father helped organize loop
But Jake said there wasn't a youth hockey program in Tulsa, so his father helped to start a program.
"Our family and another family from Tulsa, who also happen to be Canadian, got together to start a Tulsa youth hockey program," said Jake. And now, "It's grown pretty well. Five kids from Tulsa play in junior AAA hockey now."
Jake has two main goals playing for the Phantoms. "Obviously I want to win the national championship and hopefully get a college scholarship. I'm planning to come back next year," said Jake.
kovach@vindy.com