#db52

briere: "i mean, it was a big plus. you never know how they're gonna react, you know— call denver barkey and i told denver, i said you're just gonna be here for the weekend, i think we had a couple games, and then you're gonna go back and we plan on playing you the next game in lehigh. and then he had the big game in new york, and then we had a couple injuries and we said well, you're gonna stick around for another week, and we're gonna send you for the olympic break, we're gonna send you before that. and then he had earned— you know, he was playing so well, he had earned it— next thing you know denver never returned. so i'm sure the guys in lehigh were not too happy with me.

anon i would literally love nothing more than to do that for you.

so denver barkey and easton cowan--individually given the nicknames barks and cowboy--were also called "the twins" pretty exclusively by the entire london knights team in 2024-2025 when they did their second championship run and took home the memorial cup. the team that barks himself has famously said all "fell in love with each other" during this time...because...yeah. duh. basically making out at center ice when they hoisted the memmer. much photographic evidence to be found of that. hence the polycule accusations. but also the duo nickname was clearly an organization-wide thing (also see: knightsmin saying "we call them the twins") so not just an in-team joke.

the origin of the name itself is all over the place though. some of the guys claim its because they look alike with their big earnest boba tea eyes and failblond stick straight hair; this pic specifically GAGS me. moreso it seems like a reference to twin telepathy because their playmaking at london was so dynamic and intuitive. or maybe a "close as twins" thing bc they spent so much time together. all three can be equally true.

some assorted funny moments as well;

both of them shaking their heads in sync when asked if they'll ever forget their london guys. also putting their hands over their mouths and scrunch-facing in the same way. mirror images.

cowboy sombrero-knighting barks for his hatty. additionally here i think the fact that barks was captain and cowboy was one of his alternates is important. team leadership is typically chosen based on existing chemistry--also why bonks, simmer, and jj were designated alternates--but im pretty sure that barks and cowboy were part of the longest tenured line at this point.

their chel rankings were the exact same in 2023 but barks pushed ahead by two points like a year later.

another part of this mic'd up when barks chirps cam allen (or maybe caleb mitchell?) during a dman drill saying "we're not twins" because he missed his shot at the net. the assumption being that cowboy would not have...