For Conor and Noah Geekie, the current two-game roadtrip for the Tampa Bay Lightning has allowed the brothers to reminisce and catch up.
Noah is one of the many added guests on the trip, which began with a 3-2 overtime win in Pittsburgh on Tuesday and ends tonight with a road game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
This week served as the 2024 Family Trip for the Lightning organization, where players bring family members to experience an NHL roadtrip firsthand.
This is the first siblings trip for both Conor and Noah, two of three Geekie brothers—Morgan Geekie is a forward for the Boston Bruins.
"I haven't seen him in a little bit, so having him stay with me and being able to kind of do what we used to do, I think it's just a nice touch to everything,” Conor said of having Noah with him.
The Geekie family group chat isn’t quiet often—they enjoy spending time together however they can and exchange texts or calls about five times a day, Conor said.
When 20-year-old Conor called Noah to ask if he wanted to tag along for this year’s family trip, the latter knew he had to go.
Noah had heard of NHL teams taking parents on roadtrips, but this was his first chance to take part.
"I was ecstatic, super excited to kind of experience his everyday life, especially on the road, and obviously getting to watch him play is another reward,” Noah said. “But even just being able to hangout with him—because I'm not able to see him a whole lot—has been awesome.”
Noah, who is four years older than Conor, also grew up playing hockey before opting to pursue a career in baseball. Noah played Division II college baseball at Emporia State University in Kansas and currently coaches at the Okotoks Dawgs Academy in the Western Major Baseball League in Canada.
Noah said aside from spending time with his brother, he’s enjoyed getting to meet other family members, talking about their different life journeys and making new friends.
The team gave them plenty to talk about on Tuesday, erasing a two-goal deficit after two periods before Conor assisted on the game-winning goal in overtime for a 3-2 win.
"Hanging out with them before the game, after the game, being able to go out and kind of get to know them, that's probably been the most fun part,” the older Geekie said. “And obviously getting to hang out with Conor every day and kind of see his routines have been good too, but definitely, I would say meeting and getting to know the other siblings as well.”
Conor said the duo being back together again this week takes him back to when they were kids. That includes some competition, too.
“Just playing in front of your brother again, it's always fun,” Conor said. “But I think the biggest part is we got a room together, so it'll just be kind of like old times hanging out, talking, joking around and probably playing a little bit of video games.”
The brothers play a variety of games, but their main play right now is the latest EA Sports NFL Madden game. As is on the baseball field, Conor said Noah has him beat in the game.
Conor gave his brother credit in hockey, too, saying Noah could have made a career in hockey if he had opted for one. Noah was drafted 42nd overall in the second round of the 2015 Western Hockey League (WHL) Draft before choosing to pursue baseball.
That doesn’t mean that Noah won’t text Conor or Morgan to give them a hard time after witnessing the occasional bad play by his brothers on the ice.
“Oh yeah, he gives us a hard time quite a bit,” Conor said. “So it’s good. It’s nice to have.”
When Noah was asked for his thoughts on his brother’s rookie campaign, though, he had nothing but good things to say about Tampa Bay’s youngest forward. He applauded Conor’s hockey IQ and ability to play any role asked of him.
Noah also said he is excited to see Conor play at AMALIE Arena in the future.
"It's been awesome to see him progress and get more and more comfortable in the league as a rookie, and I think he's progressed a ton so far. We're only like 15 to 20 games in already, so I think he's gotten a lot better, and I think he's just going to keep trending that way. But the experience has been really good. It really helps to be in a first-class organization like Tampa."
