The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Chasing hockey title twice as nice for Linder twins
The Linder twins did mostly everything together growing up. So it goes without saying they were at Yale’s Ingalls Rink as eighth graders on March 18, 2019.
Their older brother Billy, on his way to becoming Division II All-State and Defenseman of the Year as a senior, was on the ice as a sophomore when Branford defeated Glastonbury, 2-0, for the Division II hockey championship.
“It was electric, so cool to watch,” Jack Linder said. “We looked up to him.”
“Obviously I was very excited,” Michael Linder said. “I was yelling and screaming.”
Asked if she remembered that night, their mom Megan said, “Can we remember that night? It is forever etched in our memory.”
“It was unbelievable,” their dad Dennis said.
Glastonbury had beaten Branford at the start of the season and now here was Branford beating Glastonbury when it mattered most. To watch your child put in all that work, get up so early in the morning for precious ice time and be rewarded, mom said, was amazing.
“And the twins were loving it,” Megan said. “They actually enjoyed being rink rats until they were like, ‘OK, it’s our time now. We’re ready to play.’ We put them on the ice when they were four and they were like, ‘Yeah … no.’”
The twins, unequal in height yet equal in life experiences, were involved in all sorts of sports, but did not begin playing hockey until the fifth grade. That’s late in today’s world, but not too late for the chance at a CIAC Division II title.
Branford, under Jim DiNapoli, will face Woodstock Academy in the semifinals Tuesday and the winner will advance to the state championship
March 20 at Quinnipiac. The Linder twins are seniors. This could be twice as nice.
“I’d do anything to win this state championship,” Jack said. “It would mean everything to us. We got robbed our freshman year because of COVID. We were in the middle of the state tournament when they shut it down. We were No. 1 seed. It was heartbreaking. I felt especially bad for the seniors. It was rough.”
“We’re on a really fun ride,” Michael said. “We ended up the season on a seven-game winning streak. That’s got us really excited for the playoffs. It would be amazing to win it. I don’t want to end the season in tears. I’d rather end it with a ring.”
Michael was eight months old when he was found to have achondroplasia, the most common form of short-limbed dwarfism.
“The soft part of a baby’s head that closes seemed larger,” Megan said. “Because there was a twin right there, it didn’t seem typical. The doctor agreed and sent us to a specialist. That was the six-month check up. It kind of came out of nowhere. Thankfully, he was born healthy.” Michael stands 4-4. Jack stands 5-9.
Jack is 10 minutes older and he likes to joke that it was the best 10 minutes of his life.
It is here that he turns serious.
“Michael is a little guy,” Jack Linder said. “But he has a big heart.”
They played soccer and basketball. In Little League, Michael played second base. They played