If everyone on a sports team thought alike, that team would have an advantage over its opponents.

The Huskies hockey team has this advantage in two of its players, freshmen identical twins Jon and Brian Pounds. The two have been playing hockey together since they were about five years old, always on the same line.

“It’s nice because if I see a situation on the ice and so does he, we both know exactly what the other is going to do,” said Brian, an undecided major from Crystal Lake.

Jon, a business administration major, is currently the team’s leader with seven goals scored, while adding two assists. He recorded a two goal game against Northern Michigan University this past weekend, his second multi-goal performance on the season.

On the assists has been none other than his brother Brian, the team leader in that category with seven through six games. He has also notched a couple of goals.

“Sometimes we don’t even have to look up,” Jon said. “We always know where the other is going to be and what he will do with puck.”

While the two sit atop the team’s scoring chart, next in line on that list is their line mate, senior Chris Bednarek, who has three goals and four assists so far this year. Bednarek may have been put on this line to help the freshmen adjust to collegiate club hockey, but he is the one having to do the most adjusting.

“[Bednarek] is the one who is adapting to them because they have played together for so long,” said Huskies head coach Greg Chromy. “He had to learn what they were doing and adjust accordingly.”

Jon is the center for the team’s second line that includes wingers Brian and Bednarek. During a two-game set against Robert Morris University this season, the line accounted for half of NIU’s offense, compiling five goals and seven assists in a pair of overtime losses.

“If they can continue at the rate they are going, they will be one of the top teams in the league,” Chromy said. “The line is doing much better than expected.”

As twins who play hockey together, comparisons to identical twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks are abundant for Jon and Brian Pounds. The Sedin twins have long suggested that they would not be as successful if they were to ever play for different teams. Only time will tell for the Pounds brothers.