It's been a tale of two Antillas in the East Kootenay this hockey season as Joe Antilla returned for his fifth year with the Kootenay Ice, while younger brother Timo joined up with the Dynamiters up in Kimberley.

Timo, an 18-year-old defenceman, made his way to the Nitros at the beginning of the season after a stint with his older brother Joe at the Kootenay Ice's training camp.

While Joe has spent the last five years up in the WHL, Timo has bounced around in Midget rep hockey on the Sunshine Coast, and played for a year at Notre Dame, in Saskatchewan.

"I feel he did pretty good and he had a lot of fun doing it and experiencing what it's like at this level," said Joe, earlier in December, of Timo's showing at the Ice training camp. "It was a little interesting; you try to give him pointers here and there, try to help him out."

It gives Earl Antilla, their dad, another reason to come up to the East Kootenay, as he makes a trip up at least once a month to see watch Joe play in the Rec Plex.

The two Antilla boys have three more siblings; the eldest being Ross, followed by Bennett, who was adopted into the family when he was 12, then Joe, Timo and a sister-Ailsa.

Timo said his venture into Kootenay territory has been a fun trip, especially since the Dynamiters are having a pretty good season in the KIJHL.

"It's been going great, playing well, winning games so far, which is great," Timo said, earlier in December. "The coaching staff is awesome and I'm just enjoying it here."

Dynamiter head coach Roman Vopat, an ex-NHLer, said Timo is a big defenceman who plays the body and brings a physical game.

"He's got a little problem with the foot speed, but that's coachable. You just gotta work with him and he's willing to learn, but he's definitely improved since the [training] camp."

While Joe, a 20-year-old veteran with the Ice, has developed as a forward, he has spent a few games patrolling the blueline stop gapping for injuries and absences.

Joe hasn't always been a forward; being a bigger guy growing up, coaches always stuck him on defence, according to his dad.

That experience gave him the edge to compete on the back end with the Ice, and Timo was only a phone call away if he needed any advice.

"Joe, he can hold his own pretty well," said Timo. "I usually ask him for more advice than he would ask me, for the most part."

The Antillas live in Madeira Park, near Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, where the Joe and Timo both went through the minor hockey systems.

Earl is a hockey fan that loves to watch the game, and he would stand in goal during street hockey sessions while his kids took shots when they were really young.

Eventually, the boys graduated from street hockey to ice hockey, which introduced the challenge of learning how to skate.

Earl recalls encouraging Joe to learn to skate at a Can-Skate camp, after his son had some trouble picking up the technique and got frustrated.

"He always liked to be good at something, he didn't want to have to learn," said Earl.

But once Joe picked himself up and figured it out, he was unstoppable, Earl added.

"I remember he got up and just went flying. He'd go full bore and then he'd crash. Full bore and then he'd crash."

Once the boys were old enough to play organized hockey, the Antillas would have to travel to Sechelt, a 40-minute drive to the one rink in town, and the only ice time available was at 5:30 or 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

"Once they all got going in it; like when Ross and Joe and Timo were all in hockey at the same time, they were all two years apart, so they were all in different age groups," said Earl.

"We lived at the arena. It wasn't like we were close to home or anything; it was like a 40-minute drive so we'd have to wait in Sechelt and we'd hang out there for an hour and the next person would be on the ice and playing or practicing."

However, despite all the early morning practices and games, Earl said he believes sports-all the boys played hockey; Ross played competitive basketball and Ailsa is involved with equestrian riding-has been a good thing for them while growing up.

"You know it was worth it; I think the kids really benefited from it," said Earl. "Sports is a great thing for kids, I think it gives them an outlet and keeps them focused on something else other than getting into mischief."

When the three boys grew into young teenagers, they moved out to Saskatchewan to attend Notre Dame College in their junior and senior high school years.

Timo and Ross only stayed one year, but Joe lasted for three or so, according to Earl, and played well enough to earn the attention of Ice scouts.