Matt and Jake Kustra have had Peaches and Herb's hit song Reunited on repeat on their iPods since the beginning of September. Well not really, but the brothers are happy to be living in the same town for the first time since 2011 as Jake joined Matt at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, SK., this year.
"It's nice to have him here," said Matt, who turned 16 in June. "Our dorms aren't that far apart so we see a lot of each other here."
Even though moving away from his home in Yorkton at the young age of 14 seems like a daunting task, Jake hasn't struggled with the transition from home life to dorm life largely because his older brother has helped him along the way.
"With Matt here I wasn't that nervous to move," said the Grade 9 student. "He talked about how he liked it here and stuff so I wasn't that worried about it. I knew I was coming to a great school."
Matt envies Jake for having an older brother to show him the ropes in the Catholic high school.
"He's got it easy - it would have been nice to have an older brother help me when I first came here two years ago," said Matt.
Ultimately, Matt and Jake Kustra are going to Notre Dame because of their second-to-none hockey program. Matt guards the blue paint for the Notre Dame Argos Midget 'AAA' team while Jake plays on the Bantam 'AAA' Hounds' blueline.
Although Matt originally hoped to crack the WHL's Prince George Cougars, who drafted him 167th overall in the 2012 bantam draft, or the SJHL's Yorkton Terriers, he believes returning to Wilcox for a second year of midget is best for his long-term development.
"I think it all worked out in the end," said Matt. "If I played for the Cougars or Terriers, I probably would have only played around 15 games. Here in Notre Dame, I will be playing quite a bit more than that. I think it's better for me to play a lot of games."
Matt has had a strong start to the season with the 9-1-0 Argos, posting a 4-1-0 record with a 2.47 average and .907 save percentage. His favourite personal performance thus far came on Oct. 9 when he led the Argos over his hometown Yorkton Harvest 2-1 by stopping 24 of 25 shots.
"I'm really happy with our start," said Matt. "We've been playing really well and it looks like we'll be one of the better teams in the league. The Yorkton game was a great game for us. I like playing in those low-scoring games. That game was definitely a favourite of mine this year against a team with a lot of guys that I know."
Even though Jake's team is called a bantam-level club, they play in the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Saskatchewan Midget 'AA' League because they are essentially an all-star bantam team. Throughout his first seven games, Jake hasn't had much trouble adapting to playing against players up to three years older than him.
"I think I was ready for midget this year," said Jake, who has two assists on the year. "We have good coaches and a good team (they hold a 6-1-3 record) so that makes it easier. We are playing against bigger players, but we are a quick and talented team."
Jake put himself on the 2014 WHL bantam draft map last year while playing for the Yorkton UCT Bantam 'AA' Terriers. He does see the possibility of going down the major junior route, but he isn't too worried about whether a team picks him in May.
"I try not to think about the draft," the defenceman said. "The WHL is a great league, but there are always college options if it doesn't work out. I'm just going to play out the year and see what happens."
