(photos from Byron Hildebrand Photography/Facebook)

By Ryan Lambert

Battlefords North Stars Player Profile

Get to know the Kirwans, the Battlefords North Stars’ twin brothers

Oct 15, 2025 | 5:00 PM

It’s rare to see a pair of siblings playing a sport at a high level in the same league, never mind playing on the same team. However, that is the reality for Battlefords North Stars rookies and twin brothers, Sam and Will Kirwan.

The twins are from Gull Lake, Saskatchewan and came through the minor league hockey system together. They played AAA hockey in Swift Current from 2021-2025 before joining the North Stars.

Moving to a new community can be tough but for Will and Sam, it has been easier because they have been able to lean on each other through the process.

“It really helps when you have someone that you can talk to and someone who can also have a different perspective on things. We can just both be here and try doing our best,” said Will.

Sam added to that point, saying that it’s nice to have always had someone to do something with before the team truly gelled together.

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Although they play different positions, Sam and Will share a similar play style. They were coached by their father for a significant portion of their lives. That combined with playing together a lot, they have built good chemistry on the ice, but neither of them thinks it’s from being twins.

“We’ve just been taught to do everything the exact same, so I feel like we do know where each other are going, but I don’t think it has anything to do with twin telepathy,” said Will.

During the offseason, the two like to play golf a lot together. While neither of them are 100% sure, they think their handicaps are somewhere between ten and fifteen. They also do a lot of work on their family farm, something that Sam quite enjoys doing.

“I actually really like farming. It’s a lot of hours, like a lot of hours. But you just sit on a tractor, and it’s fun running the equipment too, knowing that you can pretty much just drive around a field and get the job done.”

Will also spoke about what they typically do on their farm.

“We can do all the seeding and all the combining while dad does all the spraying, but then we have cows. Cows and sheep that we work on, and then we just can move them across pastures and stuff like that. Nothing too crazy.”

The two are typically together all the time, but the farm is one place where they spend some time apart, as there are always multiple jobs to be done at a time.

Sam said that being together all the time can be a lot sometimes, but he would rather it that way than always being alone.

As rookies, the twins still have a long way to go on their hockey journey. Every day, they continue to evolve together as players and individuals. Throughout their careers, it helps them to know that no matter what, they’ll always have each other to lean on.

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Ryan.lambert@pattisonmedia.com