By Brittany Burke

At first glance it’s hard to tell who is who. And if it wasn’t for the blue 12 and 18 printed across their CCSU hockey uniforms you may never be able to tell the difference. But for senior forwards Mike and Rob DiClemente, the twin thing can only work to their advantage on the ice.

“We find each other on the ice a lot better than we do other people. It’s kind of weird with that twin mentality we know where each other’s going to be so it’s fun,” said Mike DiClemente.

After five years on the CCSU hockey team the DiClementes are playing their last season for the Blue Devils, which has taken them to Nationals, but after eighteen years hockey becomes less of a hobby and more of a lifestyle.

“They’ve been playing since they were four and this is the end and it’s really sad,” said their mother, Annette DiClemente. “It’s really sad for us, we’ve made great friends, we have lifetime friends and even the boys have lifetime friends.”

It’s been eighteen years of early morning practices and hard work, but the brothers always had someone there for support, someone who wasn’t afraid to tell them off when need be, but would back them up if they ever got into any trouble.

At the last game of the ACHA Regionals their mother Annette DiClemente was reminiscing with the other hockey moms about the time her and her husband got to a game five minutes late only to find both of their boys dressed and ejected from the game. One of the boys had gotten into a fight, and his brother was there to back him up, which caused them both to get thrown out.

“We’re not afraid to tell each other how we feel so we argue a lot, but it’s fine, that’s how we communicate. There’s no real down side to playing together,” Rob DiClemente said.

The brothers even have eerily similar thoughts about their relationship proving that the twin mentality works on and off the ice. “It’s been great. I don’t know, we don’t hesitate to yell at each other,” Mike DiClemente said. It seemed as if their no holds barred form of communication with each other has become as much a part of the team dynamic as the two boys themselves.

“It’s funny because hearing them in the locker room going after each other. It’s kind of the brotherly love type deal, and they don’t like to admit it, but if anyone of them would get in trouble with anybody the other one would be right behind him, but they won’t admit that,” said fellow senior Joe Dabkowski.

Dabkowski and the DiClemente brothers have been playing together since the days of midget and junior hockey, where the twins opted to play for the Connecticut Lazers instead of their town’s combined team. They are three of 11 seniors leaving the team at the end of the season, and it is that group’s camaraderie that both brothers said they would miss the most.

“I’m gonna miss the family atmosphere, I’m gonna miss the 7 a.m. practices, it’s all gonna be missed terribly,” Mike DiClemente said. “All the guys, it’s been great, we’ve been growing up with them. A lot of the guys we’ve been playing with before this, before we made the Central hockey team…so we’re a close bunch of guys.”

“All the guys, we’ve gotten so close to all the seniors that are on the team. Now we do everything together, and that’s pretty much a big part of it and waking up in the morning and practicing, pretty much the whole game because we love playing it and nothing makes us happier,” said Rob DiClemente.

It is the little things about not playing hockey anymore that the whole DiClemente family will have to get used to once the boys hang up their skates. For the twins it’s the funny team rituals like teammate Erich Stoneman screaming to get everyone pumped up before a game or having to wear a pink helmet in practice if you’re last to score in a shoot out.

For their parents it’s not traveling to the games, something that has tacked on 165,000 miles on their 2005 car, and spending their weekends at a hockey rink.

“It’s very hard because I’ve made it to almost all of their games,” said Mrs. DiClemente. “It’s been a great experience, I can’t say enough about hockey.”

While the idea of trading in the skates for a job is daunting, the brothers will have a combined 36 years of memories, which includes winning the state tournament in their Bantam days and the many years playing for the CCSU Blue Devils.