Brothers: The Conachers

One of the early great brother combinations in hockey was the Conacher family. All three brothers ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

There was Charlie Conacher. Back in the 1930s he starred on Toronto's Kid Line with Joe Primeau and Busher Jackson. He was Bobby Hull before Bobby Hull was even born. With his heavy shot they called him The Big Bomber.

Then there was Lionel Conacher, The Big Train. As good as he was at hockey, he was even better at other sports. He was so good at lacrosse, football, wrestling, boxing and baseball he was dubbed Canada's Greatest Athlete. That was confirmed in 1950 when he was named as Canada's athlete of the first half century.

Lastly there was Roy Conacher. The youngster played in the 1940s, in the shadows of his brothers. He was a goal scorer who retired in 1952 with 226 goals in 490 games. It was not until 1998 that he would be included in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Here's a YouTube clip on the Conacher brothers.





The Conacher's NHL family relations did not end there. Charlie's son Pete played in the NHL, while Lionel's son Brian did too. As did Murray Henderson, a nephew of Charlie, Lionel and Roy.