NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. -- For Anthony Brodeur and Mason Marchment, their love for hockey is in their DNA.
Brodeur's father, Martin Brodeur, is an assistant general manager with the St. Louis Blues and won the Stanley Cup three times as a player with the New Jersey Devils. He is the NHL's all-time leader in wins (691) and shutouts (125), a 10-time All-Star and a Calder Trophy winner.
Marchment's father, Bryan Marchment, is a scout with the San Jose Sharks and played 926 NHL games with a host of teams as a rugged, hard-hitting defenseman with more than 2,300 penalty minutes.
This week, Anthony Brodeur and Mason Marchment are attending Toronto Maple Leafs development camp. Brodeur played last season with the Penticton Vees after spending two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He went 28-2-0 with a 1.99 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 33 games.
"It was awesome," Brodeur said. "Last year with Penticton was probably the best year of hockey I have had so far. I thought I had a really good season and it was probably the most fun I have had playing hockey."
Brodeur believes having a father who played professional hockey could give him an edge, but he still has to carve out his own living and career.
"It is genetics, so for sure there might be something there," Brodeur said. "But we're just all trying to make a name for ourselves, not go after what our fathers did. I mean we are trying to follow what they did, (but) make a name for ourselves."
When Brodeur first played hockey growing up in New Jersey, he was a forward. That didn't last long.
"After I strapped the goalie pads on the first time, I didn't want to take them off," Brodeur said. "I was nine or 10 years old and I just kept going from there. It must have been something in my genetics. I fell in love with everything about the position and just never wanted to stop doing it."
Brodeur, 21, said he is too young to remember most of his father's heroics in the NHL, but the Devils' run to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final ranks high on his list of favorite memories. New Jersey lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games.
"Those games and seeing a lot of that happen was really a lot of fun," Brodeur said. "The Olympics (in 2010) were pretty cool too."
Bryan Marchment played defense, but Mason is a 6-foot-4, 200 pound left wing who started last season with Hamilton of the Ontario Hockey League before being traded to Mississauga. In a combined 61 games, Marchment scored 20 goals and 51 points. He was held without a point in three games with Toronto of the American Hockey League.
"I didn't really start hockey until later, once we moved to Toronto because we had been in San Jose for a while," said Marchment, whose father played for nine teams in the NHL. "He's obviously helped me a lot since then."
Mason plays a distinctively different style compared to his dad, who was one of the League's fiercest and most punishing hitters ever. Mason's bread and butter is getting the puck to the net.
"I don't think we're alike at all," Mason said. "He was a defenseman and I am a forward. I feel like I am more of a big body who likes to get in front of the net. I have a bit of a skill game too. Maybe in junior he was a bit of a skill guy, but in the NHL he was a big hitter and a defensive defenseman. I don't think we're too much alike, but he still has some hints for me to help my game. He basically says to have fun. If you're not having fun, it's not worth it."
While playing for Erie in the OHL, Mason elbowed forward Mitch Marner, the Maple Leafs' first-round pick (No. 4) at the 2015 NHL Draft, and was suspended 10 games. Marner, who was playing for London, drove to the net. Marchment was coming out from behind the net and connected with Marner.
Marner joked on Tuesday that Marchment has never said sorry. Marchment, however, begged to differ.
"I think I said sorry a couple of times now," Marchment said. "I think we're good. It was a weird play. I was coming around the net looking at the puck and the puck popped out to him. He shot it and then kind of went into me a bit and I went into him. Last second, I put my arm up to protect myself and just was unlucky."
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