Triple threat

Competition comes naturally to the Sampsell triplets. Hockey is the most consistent outlet but certainly not the only one for Collyn, Justyn and Dylan Sampsell. 

“Anything we do is competitive —school, hockey,” Collyn said.

Before he finishes the thought, Justyn chimes in.

“It’s not just hockey, we do it in hunting and stuff that you’re by yourself doing it,” Justyn said.

“Who gets the most deer, who gets the biggest deer, who shoots the biggest gun, stuff like that, even small things. We compete at everything.”

While that is true, hockey has provided an opportunity for their competitive spirit to come out in sports. The 15-year-old triplets, who are sophomores at Chelsea High School, first began playing hockey at the age of 5. They first learned to skate a year before, pushing chairs across the ice at the Pelham Civic Complex for balance. 

The love for the sport came naturally because their father, Mike, grew up playing the sport in his home state of Indiana. Mike Sampsell played college hockey and still participates on men’s league teams. He transferred his love of the sport over to his sons.

“It kind of helps when you have a parent that’s played and kind of can help you,” Justyn said.

“You kind of grow up around it. He is someone you can ask ‘Hey, what do I do on this or what do I do on that?’”

All three became accomplished players and each excels in different areas. Collyn is offensive minded on the ice, Dylan is a defensive-minded forward, and Justyn plays goalie. Dylan has advanced the furthest by playing for the Triple-A Thunder Hockey team in the 2012-13 season.

“We were eighth or ninth in the nation at one point (in 2012), for Triple-A teams,” Dylan said.

“Traveling all over, practicing three days a week, it was great. It was fun. The next year, I was getting ready to play again. It was a lot of traveling. My parents really said they didn’t want to do it anymore. I came back down here to play.”

They now play together, including with the Birmingham Bulls, a Double-A team that also travels throughout the country. Hockey, on different teams over the years, has taken them all across the United States and into Canada. One of the highlights was an outdoor tournament in Chicago. Mercedes Sampsell, their mother, jokes that the family could have a beautiful lake house with the money spent on hockey travel.

“One of my favorite things we always used to do was take the van,” Collyn said. “I think it was like a 2001 Ford van. We’ve had it since we were born. We took it everywhere. It had like 200,000 miles on it. There were so many memories in there.”

Some of the most competitive times for the triplets, however, are during the house league at the Pelham Civic Complex. They often find themselves on different teams, which increases the competitiveness. The ride home, at least for the loser, is so intense that two cars are needed.

“The car ride, from when we were five to now, when they lose, they are not happy at all,” Dylan said. “It gets really bad. The whole way home, we’re talking about blaming the refs and stuff like that. It’s not like ‘Good job, good job man.’”

One area they don’t mind disagreeing on is where hockey will take them in the future. Collyn has dreams of playing professionally with a stop in college hockey first. Dylan feels he’ll have the ability to play hockey at the next levels but eventually wants another sport to take him.

“I’ve been in golf the past three years — I’m down to about a 3-handicap,” Dylan said. “Hopefully, this year, I’ll be playing in a bunch of tournaments. I’ll still play men’s league (hockey), but I won’t take it to the next level. Golf, hopefully, will take me there.”

Justyn is the most undecided, at least for now.

“Yes, I want to play the rest of my life, but who knows,” Justyn said. “I’m 15 years old. You don’t know where you’re going to go, what you’re going to college for, what you’re going to do period. I could become something crazy. You never know.” 

For now, they are just enjoying hockey and are appreciative of their parents’ role in the journey.

“They’re our biggest supporters,” Collyn said. “They take us everywhere. They’ve sacrificed a lot for us. They want us to do what we want to do.”