When Syracuse ice hockey coach Paul Flanagan began recruiting Isabel Menard, one of the most highly-touted prospects in the country, he knew very little about her twin sister, Talia.

But once he made the trip to Canada to watch the Ottawa Senators women’s club team, an idea popped into his head. The Orange needed forwards heading into the program’s second season, and coincidentally, both of the Menard twins played that position.

After Flanagan found out that the sisters were willing to stay together for college, he decided to bring both of them to Syracuse (4-5-1, 1-1 College Hockey America). This season, Isabel has become a big part of the Orange offensive attack, and Talia has played in all 10 games thus far.

Flanagan believes the timing of his recruiting find could not have been any better.

‘I think it was the perfect time for us, bringing in four or five forwards,’ he said. ‘The fact that we needed a lot of forwards made it pretty easy. We just felt that for all the different variables put together it just made a lot of sense for us.’

The Menards have never played on opposing teams. Still, they said the plan was not always to go to the same school. But after Syracuse gave both an opportunity to play for the Orange, the decision became very easy.

Both have different styles of play. After all, they are fraternal twins, not identical. The similarities on the ice include skating style and not much else.

Isabel, the older twin by two minutes, has a strong finesse game. Flanagan said she is very gifted with the puck, with quick hands and good instincts. She has played with the under-18 Canadian national team. This year at Syracuse, she has two goals and five assists in 10 games.

The younger Menard plays a more physical game than her sister. Her strengths are on the defensive end. Flanagan said he would like to see her continue to develop her offensive skills. She has played sparingly in all 10 games for the Orange this year, registering two shots.

‘We’re different players,’ Isabel said. ‘Tal (Talia) is hard on the puck, hard in the corners. I’m more of finesse.’

Flanagan made it clear, though, that he did not just bring in the younger twin to try and entice Isabel. He believes both Menards will be able to help the team.

‘What I like about them is that they’re both extremely hard working, and they like to have fun and laugh a lot,’ Flanagan said. ‘I think they bring a good sense of camaraderie to the locker room.’

The sisters believe that camaraderie extends to more than just the locker room.

They have not been on the ice at the same time yet this year, but they have noticed a connection in the past between the two of them.

‘We know where we are on the ice,’ Talia said. ‘We know where the other is, so we can move the puck quicker.’

They said that connection really stood out in their senior year of high school, when the duo led their team to the provincial championship. They hope that some time over the next four years they will get to be on the same line again.

The sisters have also learned to help each other outside of the hockey rink. When Isabel got sick earlier this season, Talia took care of her. She kept the team updated on what was going on, and her sister returned to practices without ever missing a game.

Flanagan said he also sees that the Menards are very good friends. But the older twin, of course, pokes fun at the younger one.

‘I’m more mature,’ Isabel said with a big smile and a laugh, citing her two additional minutes of life for the advanced level of maturity.

Talia simply laughed at her sister’s declaration.

Flanagan called the pair ‘a couple of jokers,’ but he did not have any issue with the mentality.

Over the next four years, he hopes the older Menard can maintain her role as one of the better scorers on the team. He also wants to see the younger sister continue to get better and take advantage of all her opportunities. To this point, he has been pleased with what he has seen.

‘They’re hockey players. They love their life,’ he said. ‘They’ve been around it all their lives. They understand it well, and I think they bring that to the rink each day.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on November 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm