Flames hockey brothers bond over playing together both on the rink and online

Hockey had never been a part of the Fricks family before – but brothers Jacob and Josh Fricks didn’t need much of a push to fall in love with the sport. Roller hockey in the garage as kids and NHL reenactments sped them toward dreams of playing NCAA DI hockey. And roller skates in their garage in Laguna Beach, California, soon transitioned to ice skates on the rink as their dreams grew. 

But constant practices and travel across America and Canada for youth teams as they grew older left the two disconnected.

“We didn’t really have a super close relationship growing up because hockey literally controlled our lives. We’d do it seven days a week, and we wouldn’t even rest in the summer,” Jacob said. “After school we’d go straight to practice, he’d go one way, I’d go the other way, we’d get home, go to bed and do the same thing the next day. So there really wasn’t a whole lot of time we actually spent together.”

The brothers never imagined having a close relationship, much less playing hockey together on the same team. But now, Jacob and Josh take the ice together for Liberty’s hockey team every week, slowly building a relationship through the sport that held them apart for so long. 

With their NCAA aspirations, the Fricks never really considered Liberty’s club hockey program throughout most of their early careers, but a series of circumstances and injuries led Jacob to call Head Coach Kirk Handy and commit to the team three years ago. Now a senior defenseman for the Flames, Jacob quickly developed into one of the team’s key leaders, and it only took a moment of reflection before a game last year for Josh, now a sophomore forward, to know he wanted to join his older brother at Liberty.  

“It was an instant decision, and I haven’t regretted it in any way,” Josh said. “I just left that team and came here the next semester, and I didn’t know why that happened – but I do now.”

Now playing on the same team and living in the same house off-campus, Jacob and Josh interact more regularly than they ever did as brothers growing up, and they’ve realized the differences they have to work through. 

“When we were home (before), it was just a battle – straight war most of the time,” Josh said. “Playing hockey here now and living together fulltime, we’ve been able to bond, which is how it should be. (We’re) still working on that process, but it’s in the process of getting a lot better.”

Liz Fitch | Liberty Champion
HELPING HAND — Jacob Fricks recorded three of his six assists against the University of Alabama Oct. 4.

Though both Jacob and Josh are driven to perform on the rink, Head Coach Kirk Handy sees the strong personality differences that led to their brotherly rivalry. 

 “When you’re separated for a couple years like they were, it’s going to take a little bit to get back together,” Handy said. “Jacob is a quiet leader, someone who thinks before he speaks and is consistent Monday through Friday. Josh is a little more intense . . . he’s a ball of energy on and off the ice.”

Sometimes the Fricks’ natural rivalry can spill over into antics, from food fights to good-natured locker-room spats. With Josh’s fiery disposition, Jacob takes on the older-brother role and finds pressure points to cause fights, with humorous results. 

“It doesn’t take Josh a whole lot to get him going, and I’m pretty good at knowing how to get him going, and I push the buttons to get him riled up,” Jacob said. “(I have to) just learn to know when I’m getting him fired up, and realizing, ‘Alright, I probably shouldn’t do that.’ But we still like to have fun every once in a while – there’s nothing wrong with some battles.” 

Even the popular video game Fortnite has grown their brotherly rivalry. An avid video gamer, Josh introduced his older brother to the game a couple years ago while the brothers were on opposite sides of the country – but Jacob has never been much of a gamer. 

“Especially starting out, I had no idea what I was doing and he would always get so mad,” Jacob said. “He would die (in-game) and expect me to save him, and I would have no idea what I was doing, and I would die and he’d just disappear off the screen because he just shut his computer off.” 

David Eppinger | Liberty Champion
POINTS LEADER — Through seven games, Josh Fricks’ 22 points leads the team.

As they have played and lived together at Liberty, however, their good-natured fights have developed into a deeper relationship within the family culture Handy has built for his team. 

“We want to continue to strive toward being a stronger family each and every day,” Handy said. “Each one of us as a coaching staff and players want to grow closer together and bond every day. … You want to be a cultural warrior, dialed in to making sure that what you’re doing here is bringing in the kind of players you want.”

The move from the cutthroat atmosphere of their previous junior hockey teams to Liberty has left a mark on the brothers, and they have grown to see the positives in each other as much as the negatives they poke fun at. 

“In juniors, some kids are nice but then they’re evil to you afterward,” Josh said. “In juniors, you may say, ‘I hope you have a good game,’ but you want them to suck because there are scouts in the crowd and you want their spot. But here, people care about you and they actually want you to do well when they
tell you so.”

As they look forward to the rest of their year playing hockey together before Jacob graduates, the Fricks hope that the relationship they build this year will continue long into the rest of their lives, regardless of the career tracks they take. 

“I’m looking forward to the relationship we’ll have after this year,” Josh said. “I actually might send him a text once in a while when he’s not around. In the past I never even thought to do that – he’d (be) out there and I’d check the stats and see how he did that night, but we didn’t really talk much. I’m looking forward to growing closer this year – more of the relationship we’ll build for the future.”


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *