The Spire

Aiden Konold ‘26

Chief Sports Editor

It’s a rare feat for a pair of siblings to play sports together at the collegiate level. Ty and Brody Gagno, sophomores on the Holy Cross Crusaders’ Men’s Ice Hockey team this season, are rare exceptions. Ty is a forward and Brody a defenseman for a Crusader hockey program that earned the No. 2 seed in the 2023-24 Atlantic Hockey Playoffs. 

The Gagnos grew up in British Columbia, Canada, where they started playing hockey together as toddlers. Later on, they ventured into football, basketball, track, and baseball. 

“Our dad was pretty big on multi-sports,” Brody said, “so we always played everything.” 

As teenagers, though, Ty and Brody decided to make the leap and go all in on hockey. 

“Around [age] 13 or 14, you make that decision to go all into hockey,” Brody said. “Prep school, it’s a big time commitment. You got to be [all] in on that.”

Ty played one season of hockey at Burnaby Central Secondary School, where he served as an assistant captain and recorded 17 points. 

Brody, meanwhile, played three seasons of varsity hockey at Sardis Secondary School in Chilliwack, British Columbia. In three years, Brody played in 150 games and totaled 25 points. Just as Ty did at Burnaby, Brody served as an assistant captain his senior year. 

Shortly after completing secondary school, Ty and Brody joined the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). This league develops and prepares junior hockey players for the collegiate and professional ranks. 

Though Ty and Brody initially played in the BCHL together, they played on different teams for the majority of their time in the league. Ty played for the Prince George Spruce Kings with fellow Crusader forward Jack Stockfish, while Brody played for the Surrey Eagles. 

Ty first came onto the scene for the Holy Cross hockey program during his 19 year old season with the Spruce Kings. Over the course of two seasons and 95 games in the BCHL, Ty recorded 58 points. In his second year in the BCHL, Ty served as an assistant captain and received the Coaches’ Award. 

“We were watching him [Ty] a lot because Jack Stockfish was on the team, and we were just watching Jack a lot and we were like ‘Man, this other kid [Ty] on this team is pretty good, too,’ ” said Holy Cross associate head coach Castan Sommer, who played four years of college hockey on the Hill. 

Brody, meanwhile, played in 32 games for the Surrey Eagles, scoring one goal and recording eight assists over two years in the BCHL. For much of Brody’s time in the BCHL, injuries kept him off the ice. Shoulder injuries forced Brody to undergo several surgeries. 

“As an athlete, you’re gonna go through adversity and injuries and it’s just part of playing the high level sports,” Brody said, “so learning how to deal with it and come out stronger and better is a very important skill to have.” 

Despite the many injuries Brody suffered in the BCHL, Coach Sommer trusted what he saw in the games that Brody did play. 

“He [Brody] had a rough year. He was injured…a lot,” Sommer said, “but we had seen enough where we knew he was going to be an impact guy right away.” 

During juniors in the BCHL, Ty experienced several minor injuries, but nothing quite to the extent that Brody experienced. 

“You miss a couple of games here and there sometimes,” Ty said, “so you just have to deal with it and move on.” 

In December of 2022, Ty took an official visit to Holy Cross. Though Ty didn’t suffer as many injuries as Brody did in the BCHL, he arrived at Holy Cross injured for his official visit. 

Visiting Holy Cross’ campus gave Ty an opportunity to see what Crusader hockey was like, and meet members of the team. Ty loved what he saw, and committed to play at Holy Cross on the spot. 

Still, Ty never planned on playing at the same college as Brody. 

“It was just something that happened,” Ty said. 

In the same week that Ty committed to Holy Cross, so did Brody. 

“I got to hear from him [Ty] about the school and then it just seemed like a no-brainer to get the opportunity to play together,” Brody said. 

The first adjustment for the Gagnos upon arriving at Holy Cross was the academics. Prior to attending Holy Cross, the Gagnos hadn’t been in a classroom for nearly two years. After graduating from high school, Ty and Brody transitioned right into playing in the BCHL. 

“We’ve been trying to readjust ourselves this year, but it’s pretty fun getting to go to class, come up to the rink every day,” Brody said during his freshman season. “You just have to try to stay disciplined and take a chunk of each year day to get homework done and catch up on stuff and then just try not to let yourself get caught behind.” 

The increased physicality and pace of the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) initially startled Ty and Brody, similar to the academics. In the BCHL, Ty and Brody’s opponents and teammates ranged from sixteen years old to twenty years old. In the college ranks, players are very often upwards of 24. 

“I don’t know if the speed and the physicality surprised him a little bit, but I didn’t love his first few games,” Coach Sommer said of Ty last season. “And then every single game, he got better and now he’s having a huge impact on every game.” 

At the Hart Center, Holy Cross coaches hold optional individual skill sessions daily during the season from eight a.m. until noon. Ty and Brody attend these optional sessions three times each week. 

“We have to reel them back and make sure they’re not doing too much,” Coach Sommer said. “They probably would go out four times a week, if we didn’t pull them back a little bit.” 

In the BCHL, Ty and Brody lifted once a week. Upon starting at Holy Cross, Ty and Brody started lifting heavily at least twice a week. 

“We have all the time in the world for kids that are going to do that,” Coach Sommer said. “If they’re going to put a ton of time into us, it just makes us want to put even more time into them and spend more time on them and developing them for that next level.” 

The BCHL has a 54 game season compared to the 34 game regular season at Holy Cross. The fewer regular season games played at Holy Cross has given Ty and Brody more time to work individually with coaches. 

“You got time to do skills, work with your coaches, and you get really good lifts in throughout the week, which is important throughout the year,” Ty said of the difference between college hockey and the BCHL. 

During morning skills sessions at Holy Cross, the Gagnos work on growing comfortable in the offensive zone and adjusting to be able to make the small plays that make all the difference in college hockey. 

“They’re getting opportunities and they’re getting more and more results as the year’s gone along,” Sommer said late last season. “They’re starting to score a little bit more. They’re starting to play a little bit harder. They’re starting to have a little more success defensively. It’s all testament to how much time they put into it, which is really cool to see.” 

Brody totaled three assists in his first regular season as a Crusader defenseman, and Ty tallied three goals and nine assists. Ty added another assist in game two of the Atlantic Hockey playoff quarterfinals against the Canisius Griffins. 

“They’re really, really good dudes,” Coach Sommer said of the Gagnos and their underclassmen teammates. “We want guys that want to play pro hockey and have long pro hockey careers, so we put our time into developing them on the ice off the ice, getting them physically and mentally ready for professional hockey.” 

For years, Ty and Brody were never sure if they would be able to take the next steps of their careers together. They spent the majority of their teenage years living far away from each other when they played for different BCHL teams, and they never expected to play college hockey together. Now, at Holy Cross, the Gagnos spend the majority of their days together. 

“Just moving away from home and not living together, but being together in a different country,” Ty said of playing with Brody in college, “it’s been pretty special.” 

“To get to spend four years together, it’s pretty cool,” Brody said. “It’s definitely just exciting to share the memories.” 

Copy Edited by Lily Wasmund ’28