2012 NHL Draft Family Relations

Paul Reinhart was one of my favorite players back in the 1980s. He was a tremendous cerebral player who could have been a Hall of Famer had his body held up. A serious back problem really limited him throughout his short career, but you could just tell how intelligent and special this player was despite the pain.

Here's a photo of Paul with son Griffin, one of the top draft eligible prospects in the 2012 NHL draft.

Griffin appears to be a bit of a chip off the old block - a top junior defenseman with a promising NHL future ahead of him.

Griffin is a star with the Edmonton Oil Kings, and there is some speculation the Edmonton Oilers may be willing to trade the first overall pick to draft lower to land Griffin and whatever other assets come. What a way to rejeuvenate the Battle of Alberta. Place a son of a legendary Flames player on the Oilers. It would be even more interesting if Paul's first son Max also makes it to the NHL. He was drafted 64th overall by Calgary in 2010. 


(By the way, Paul's youngest son Sam is already being touted as a top prospect for 2014).


Here's a look at some of the other family relations among the NHL Entry Draft Class of 2012:

• Malcolm Subban, brother of Montreal's P.K. Subban, is one of the top goaltending prospects.
• Brock McGinn is the brother of Colorado forward Jamie McGinn. Another brother, Tye, was drafted by Philadelphia in 2010.
• The list of Sutters with NHL ties is about to get longer. Lukas Sutter is Rich Sutter's son. 
• Henrik Samuelsson is the Arizona born son of Swedish hockey torpedo Ulf Samuelsson. I don't think there's much chance Cam Neely's Boston Bruins will take him. 
• Stefane Matteau is the American born son of New York Rangers' 1994 hero Stephane Matteau. 
• Timothe Bozon is the son of former NHLer Phillippe Bozon, the best player in the history of hockey in France.
• Chris Calnan can call Jeremy Roenick his uncle. 
• Adam Pelech will be the third Pelech brother drafted, joining Matt in 2005 and Michael in 2009.
• Trevor Carrick is the brother of Toronto Maple Leaf prospect Sam Carrick. 
• Brendan Guance, Malcolm Subban's junior teammate, is the brother of Colorado 2010 draft pick Cameron Guance. 
• Zack Stepan is the cousin of New York Rangers' forward Derek Stepan. 
• Calle Andersson is the son of former NHLer Peter Andersson.
• Christian Djoos is the son of former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Per Djoos. His name was commonly pronounced "Pear Juice," making him permanent member of hockey's all name team.
• Alex Gudbranson is the younger brother of Florida dman Erik Gudbranson. 
• Max Iafrate is the son of skullet-famous Al Iafrate.
• Chase Hatcher is the son of former Dallas captain Derian Hatcher.
• Mark Jankowski is the grandson of Lou Jankowski and great nephew of Red Kelly
• Someone will be hoping Kristoff Kontos can score goals in bunches like dad Chris Kontos. 
• Lou Nanne Jr. will be chasing his own NHL dreams.
• Tim Boyle is the younger brother of New York Rangers forward Brian Boyle.
• Mile Koules is the son of former Tampa Bay Lightning owner Oren Koules. 
• Dominick Volek is the son of former New York Islanders' David Volek.