Elder brother Jordan has emerged as the winner in the battle of the Toppings.
Jordan’s Tri-City Americans swept past younger brother Kyle’s Kelowna Rockets in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs, wrapping up the best-of-seven series in the fourth game last Thursday.
Raised on Saltspring Island, the Topping brothers both played minor hockey in the Cowichan Valley, then each spent a year with the junior A Cowichan Valley Capitals — Jordan in 2013-14 and Kyle in 2015-16 — before going to the WHL.
The Americans won 5-0 and 9-7 in Kelowna, then 5-3 and 5-3 in Kennewick, Wash. Jordan, 20, finished the series fifth in Tri-City team scoring with six points (one goal and five assists), while Kyle, 18, was third among Kelowna scorers with five points (two goals and three assists) behind Vancouver Canucks prospect Kole Lind and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Cal Foote.
Another player with Valley connections, Vegas Golden Knights defence prospect Dylan Coghlan, also skates for the Americans, and had five assists in the four-game series.
The Rockets actually went into the series with the upper hand after placing first in the WHL’s B.C. Division, while Tri-City qualified for the playoffs as the first wild card in the Western Conference.
Kyle Topping is ranked 64th among North American skaters going into the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Jordan went undrafted in 2015 but has garnered interest from several NHL teams as a free agent. Coghlan was signed by the Knights after attending their training camp last September.
Also in the WHL, Duncan’s Josh Anderson and the Swift Current Broncos eliminated the Regina Pats in their first-round series that went to a full seven games. Anderson had one assist in the series, but tied for fifth on the team with 15 shots on goal and second with a plus-1.
Anderson’s teammates in Swift Current include former Shawnigan Lake School prep player Jacson Alexander, who also had one assist in the first-round series.