Two young siblings began their professional hockey dreams with floor hockey sticks in the basement of their home nestled in the foothills of Denver, Colorado, more than 20 years ago.

Drayson Bowman was born in Michigan, but moved to the Mile High City when he was three-years-old. His younger brother, Collin, was born in Colorado. The two were finally reunited for the first time in their professional hockey careers in Loveland — wearing the red, blue and yellow of the Colorado Eagles of the ECHL.

The Bowmans dreamed of reaching the ultimate goal — playing in the National Hockey League. It was in that basement and on a rink inside their family barn — a barn their father Mark Bowman flooded to get his sons more ice time — that their determination grew.

Although a professional career was in their sights, it was their parents support that gave them a foundation to turn their goals into reality.

“Our parents were awesome,” forward Drayson Bowman said. “They did whatever they could for us to be able to live out our dream, and they went to the ends of the earth to allow us to play hockey. We’re certainly very thankful for that.”

When Drayson was 13 and Collin 11, the family caught wind of the major junior hockey programs in Canada, after spending a few spring tournaments up north. The decision for the brothers — as well as any aspiring NHLers — was an easy one.

“We made the decision at a very young age to go up there and pursue that route to professional hockey, ” Drayson said.

The family had only been in a new house that they had built for six months before uprooting and moving into a two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver, Canada.

From there, hockey took the Bowmans around the world. Although the brothers were close, they were never close enough in age to play on the same competitive teams. The two took separate routes in competitive hockey, making stops across the United States, Canada and Europe. Eventually it was Drayson who finally reached the NHL.

“I was lucky enough to play on and off in the NHL, most of it in Carolina, which was really cool. [It was] really awesome to live out my dream.” Drayson said. “It was a little shorter than I maybe would have hoped for when I was a young kid dreaming of it, but none the less to make it there, it was awesome.”

Drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2007 (round 3, 72nd overall), Drayson joined the team in 2009 and played in 180 NHL contests as a Hurricane and a Montreal Canadien in 2014-15.

Collin, on a different route, went undrafted but played in the Western Hockey League, ECHL, American Hockey League and even overseas for the EBEL in Austria before returning home to the Colorado Eagles.

Despite their competitive nature, Collin took his professional career for what it was. Rather than and be envious of his brother’s NHL success, he was supportive and continued to work his hardest down his path.

“We’ve had a healthy competition, but as far as hockey goes we push each other off the ice and on the ice when we can.” Collin said. “It was never one of those things where I wanted to beat my brother or be better than my brother. It was always, we play each other as hard as we can off the ice to make each other better, but once the careers are going we’re each others biggest fans.”

Years later, and after traveling the world making a combined 19 teams since 2006-07, the two have played together for an entire season with the Colorado Eagles. Drayson, a forward, has 62 points after 74 regular season and playoff games (22g, 40a), while Collin, a defenseman, has 37 points after 60 games (13g, 24a).

“It’s been a long time coming,” Collin said. “Shoot, we’ve been all over parts of Canada, the U.S. and all the way over to Europe to kind of come full-circle later on in our careers back to playing with each other. It’s pretty special and pretty fun.”

“Colorado is our home,” Drayson said. “That’s where we grew up. This has always been our home, where we come back to in the summer. It’s where we grew up and where we continue to want to be.”

Now that the two are in Colorado together, their family only has to watch games from one team, in one time zone, while they make a run for the Eagles’ second consecutive Kelly Cup — the team’s final attempt before it makes the move to the AHL next year.

“We’d like to earn a spot on [that] team if possible,” Collin said. “That’s our number one goal.”