After the Penguins took Liam on Friday, he talked openly about the possibility of them taking Markus on Saturday.
“I do hope they can get him,” Liam told NHL.com then. “I mean, just the way we get to compete with each other every day and kind of spend our lives together, it’d be pretty cool to kind of continue that.”
When the family went back to the hotel, Liam helped Markus manage his emotions.
“He told me everything’s going to be OK and work itself out,” Markus said. “… He kept me calm and told me it was going to happen.”
Mom and Dad tossed and turned. But in the end, everything worked itself out, all right.
“Oh, the emotions were flowing,” said Nina Ruck, their mother. “Yeah, it is something that I’ve wanted to happen forever. They’re better together. They’re best friends. And I had a sleepless night, but it was all worth it. Yeah, it was great. We’re so excited, and we couldn’t be more happy.”
Said their father Derek Ruck: “Yeah, it was tough being two days — one yesterday, one today. Like Nina says, sleepless night. They just put so much work in and have so much passion for the game, and we’re so happy Pittsburgh could step up for them.”
Everybody in the family can root for the same NHL team, and the twins can help each other on and off the ice.
“They have a similar personality, for sure,” Nina said. “If you saw them on the ice, you’d be like, ‘Wow, they’re very competitive.’ But outside of the arena, they do the same things. They have the same mannerisms. They have the same hobbies. So, it’s kind of a special bond that they have.”