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Hockey, it’s all in the family
 Media Credit: Courtesy of Kathie Cullen The Cullen family has taken Division I hockey by storm in recent years. Here (L to R) Jon, Matt and Mark Cullen pose for a family photo. This hockey family already has one member in the NHL and has hopes that others will join him in the near future.
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Before the SCSU men’s hockey team hit the ice in the fall of 1995, the Huskies had landed a pair of blue-chip players from Minnesota’s high school system.
Matt Cullen and Mark Parrish had signed their names to letters of intent that previous year, sparking a trend that was sending some of the top players in the state to central Minnesota to play their college hockey.
A different type of trend was also sparked the day Cullen committed himself to SCSU, as the family name made it’s debut in Division I hockey.
Since then, three other Cullens have made it into college hockey’s top level, all coming from the same gene pool.
Matt’s brother Mark graduated from Moorhead High School in 1997. The following year, he moved on to play in the United States Hockey League for the Fargo-Moorhead Sharks. That year, he racked up 57 points for the Sharks and earned the USHL Rookie of the Year honor in doing so. Then in the fall, he found himself skating for the Colorado College Tigers and, then head coach, Don Lucia, who would bolt the following year for Minnesota.
Matt and Mark had another brother who was working his way towards Division I college hockey as well. Joe Cullen decided to forego his senior season at Moorhead High School to play for the United States Developmental team in Ann Arbor, Mich., where many top college prospects have gone in recent years. The youngest of the Cullen clan, Joe decided after that year to join his brother Mark on the lip of the Rockies and play for CC.
That’s three brothers, all in Division I hockey. The sport had not seen that since the days of the Broten family in the 1980s. Yet, there was one more Cullen that had aspirations of making it to the next level.
Husky captain Jon Cullen is a cousin to Matt, Mark and Joe. The family is not exactly average when it comes to relations between cousins. Jon’s father, Tim, has an identical twin brother, Terry, who is the father of the other three.
“Our families have always been real close,” said Jon Cullen, who is preparing to face his namesake in this weekend’s WCHA matchup in Colorado. “Hockey’s been a big part of all of our lives, we all love to play and we love to compete. We had back yard rinks when we were little and we would go play on Thanksgiving or over Christmas and it’s been nice to see that we all made it this far.”
One of the most interesting aspects in their careers to this point is how the four made it to this level. Jon and Mark both played in the USHL, Jon played for North Iowa, but neither Matt or Joe used the USHL to pave their way to Division I. Joe did the Under - 18 thing and Matt came directly out of high school.
“It is pretty unique that they mostly did take different avenues to get to college hockey,” said Tim Cullen, Jon’s father. “The bottom line though is that every one of the kids took their own route and did what they had to do to reach the goal of playing Division I hockey.”
Those routes have taught the kids some lessons that are literally unteachable unless you experience them. For instance, moving away from home early – Joe left when he was only a junior in high school.
There are also the rewards that come with those sacrifices. Matt has already reached the pinnacle of hockey, playing in the National Hockey League for The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Mark was a preseason pick to win the WCHA player of the year award and Jon is the first junior ever to be named captain of the Huskies.
All three Cullens still playing in the college ranks have looked at Matt’s success, both in college and the NHL, as an example of where their aspirations can lead them.
“It’s hard to use the term role mode but (Matt) kind of fits that to a ‘T,’” said Jon. “He’s kind of a leader to the boys and myself. We follow what he does and he obviously takes his hockey very seriously and it has paid off.”
Jon says his biggest critic is still his dad, and the two talk just about every night following a game.
“He was my coach all the way up until high school,” Jon said. “He still tells me what I did wrong after each game and I’m sure Terry is the same way with his kids. It really helps having someone to talk to after the game though.”
“I’ve always tried to instill in (Jon) that’s it’s all about hard work and being an honest hockey player,” said Tim, who along with his wife Kathie runs Cullen’s Home Center in Alexandria. “You have to make sure that you don’t leave anything on the ice and I think through all the experiences that the love of the game is something that has truly stuck out in him. If you play the game properly, it’s hard not to love it.”
Jon’s teammates have taken mental notes to the way he approaches each game or practice as well. With him out of the lineup for the majority of these first few weeks with a knee injury, his presence in the dressing room was felt immediately upon his return.
“When he was out of the lineup it felt like one of our wings was broken,” said Matt Hendricks following the Huskies 3-2 win over the Gophers in Minneapolis. “With him back in the lineup it gives some more speed and he has excellent stick handling skills but what is most important is his leadership. He gets the younger guys on the team going and he gets everybody up into it, it was a much different feeling in the locker room with him around.”
Hendricks felt that presence immediately following Saturday nights 2-2 tie with the Gophers. His captain made sure to give the sophomore an earful for celebrating an apparent goal with just over three minutes remaining that would have given the Huskies a sweep of the Minnesota.
When the Huskies meet up with Colorado College out west this weekend, Cullen will get his first opportunity to play against his cousins this year. He was out with that injury when the teams split last month at the National Hockey Center and, even though the Tigers are responsible for the only blemish on the top-ranked Huskies 12-1-1 record, he says revenge is the farthest thing from his mind.
“I can’t talk much until the season is over,” he said. “There is a long way to go and this is just another weekend and that is how I have to approach it.”
Proof that he has the same mentality his family has installed in him from the beginning. One step at a time and he wouldn’t have it any other way – it’s in his blood.
Nick Clark can be reached at: [email protected]
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