Mike Smigiel and Bill Thorn cherish the fact that their fathers, Joe Smigiel and Will Thorn, have watched them play hockey all their lives.

The only thing that separates their relationships from other father-son relationships is that their fathers are both coaches for the NIU hockey club.

Joe Smigiel has coached every team Mike’s been on for roughly 11 years. It’s made for some rough times, but just having the chance to bond at the hockey rink has been great.

“I get to see him a lot,” Mike Smigiel said. “I get to see a lot more of him than some guys get to see their dads. Last year, I hardly saw him at all. At least now I get to see him two times a week.”

Mike said one of the hardest parts of his dad coaching at NIU is making sure there’s no favoritism, but Joe is harder on Mike than any other player.

“He was not only harder on me, but Billy Thorn because we grew up together,” Mike said. “When the guys look around, they know that is my dad. When you are a little kid, you don’t think of that stuff. It is always in the back of your mind what others are thinking, but I think they have handled it pretty well.”

Joe Smigiel didn’t like that he was tougher on Mike but felt it had to be done. Joe Smigiel thinks it’s made Mike and Bill Thorn better players and Thorn agrees.

“We don’t socialize on the ice,” Joe Smigiel said. “When we come here, I’m the coach, not the dad. There are 24 players on the ice, and we have to spend time will all of them.”

Will Thorn echoed that philosophy.

“When he was younger, it was easy,” Will Thorn said of his son. “I have to treat him the same as everybody else, and it’s hard. But I’ve done it for 15 years now, so it’s do-able.”

Charged by two father-son duos, the Huskies look to ascend to the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association Championship starting this week. The seedings have not been released, but while the hockey club might not know who it’s facing, it does predict victory.

The last time the Huskies won the MACHA was in 1998, but the last time they went to the national tournament was in 1997. Will Thorn thinks this team could be better than that team “if we play self-disciplined hockey. If we play 5-on-5 hockey, then nobody in the league will beat us.”

Mike Smigiel wants his team to come away with the conference championship, not for himself, but for seniors who are leaving.

“The last couple of years when we didn’t win anything, I know that really broke their hearts,” he said. “It would be nice to send them out with a win. That has been our goal all year, to send them out with a championship.”

Wins and losses aside, quality time is one of the most determining factors in assessing this year.

“I wish my father would have done that for me,” Will Thorn said. “These have been the best years of my life. I hope he’s appreciative — these have been the best years of my life.”