MUSKEGON – Brad and Janice Hilleary are not the type of people who can take young hockey players into their home without becoming attached to them.

Over the years they have been foster parents to approximately 75 kids, and more recently adopted three younger children, to add to their five older biological kids.

So when the Muskegon Lumberjacks were looking for a billet family to host forward Tom Sinclair when he joined the team last October, they were happy to offer their extra bedroom, and their hearts.

Sinclair quickly became part of the clan, because that’s what happens when you stay with the Hillearys.

In Sinclair’s case, the bond was particularly deep, because he came from Toronto and couldn’t go home, or have his family visit Muskegon, due to Canadian COVID restrictions.

“His parents were never able to see him, and he could never go home,” Janice Hilleary said. “He had Thanksgiving with us, Christmas with us, and his 18^th birthday with us. He was pretty much stuck with us.”

Not that the Hillearys minded. They quickly took to the young forward, who was in his first season in the United States Hockey League, doing what all the players to – working hard to sharpen his skills so he can earn a hockey scholarship, and perhaps be drafted by an NHL team.

“Part of it was the fact that he was just 17, still a kid, and still needed that parental type of guidance at times,” Janice said. “He was one of the most polite young men we have ever met. My husband’s mother lives here in town and she’s 81, and he treated Grandma very well. You know you have a good kid when they are good to elders.”

Sinclair was finally able to go home last summer and graduate from high school, after the Lumberjacks’ season ended with a loss to Chicago in the Eastern Conference finals. He returned in August for training camp, moved back in with the Hillearys, and started this season with the Jacks.

Then suddenly, without warning, he was traded to the Fargo Force in October in exchange for forward Jake Braccini.

Everyone was floored and devastated by the news, according to Janice.

“He was all settled back in, and every week that went by, I was thinking we were safe, but I learned you are never safe in hockey,” Janice said. “He was blindsided by the trade, we were blindsided, and the young man from Fargo he was traded for was blindsided. It kind of tossed us all for a doozy. I’m still not quite over it, actually.”

Janice said she got the news on her birthday, and it made a lousy present. Even worse, Sinclair had to leave right away, because traded players are expected to report to their new teams as soon as possible, just like in the pros.

Janice said it was painful to drive Sinclair to the airport to head to North Dakota, and she said there was no shortage of tears for either of them.

“It was hard because it was so unexpected,” said Janice, who added that she stays in regular contact with Sinclair and his mother, whom she has never met. “Suddenly he was going to a brand new town, a new team and a new family, and he was so comfortable here. When we got to the airport I asked him if he wanted me to go in with him, and he said he did. So I got him all checked in and walked him to security. It was like sending away one of my own kids.”

At that point, some billet parents might have dealt with the pain and cut their losses, thinking it might be unwise to risk being hurt all over again.

But the Hillearys are not just any billet parents. The Lumberjacks asked them if they would consider taking in Braccini, who obviously needed a place to stay, and they quickly agreed.

“It just kind of seemed like the natural flow of things,” Janice said. “It was an even trade, they swapped places and teams, and we had an empty bed.

“I think we initially bonded with Jake over the fact that he was blindsided and devastated by the trade, just like we were. We appreciated where he was coming from. He’s 20, so he’s a little bit older than Thomas was, and doesn’t need me to be a mom quite as much, but he is blending in nicely with our chaotic family.”

‘I don’t think we will ever be empty-nesters’

Braccini said he was very happy in Fargo, and never expected to be traded.

But as it turned out, the Force acquired a 20-year-old goalie, which put them over the league limit for overaged players, so somebody had to go, and it turned out to be him.

“I didn’t see it coming,” said Braccini, a Minnesota native who was just starting his second season with the Force. “It kind of blindsides you.”

After the trade, Braccini spent 20 hours driving from Fargo to Muskegon and arrived late on a weeknight. It was a worrisome drive for the 20-year-old, who had no idea what his new teammates, coaches or billet parents were going to be like.

His anxiety didn’t last long. He said the Lumberjacks players and coaches have been very friendly and accepting, and he learned what his billet family was like before he even arrived in town, because Brad Hilleary called him while he was still on the road, making sure he didn’t fall asleep at the wheel.

“When I pulled in, he was outside in the driveway,” Braccini said. “It was like 11:30 and he had to work the next day, yet there he was, helping me bring my things in.”

Braccini said he could tell right away that the Hillearys really cared about and missed Sinclair, and he couldn’t help but understand and respect that.

“I reached out to Sinclair by text and gave him my best wishes,” said Braccini, who has never met Sincliar in person. “He didn’t see it coming, either.”

Braccini’s said there’s a lot to like about the Hilleary home, including the food. He really enjoys the weekly Sunday dinners with the entire family, with everyone gathered around one big table, sort of like the Reagan family on the “Blue Bloods” TV show.

“It’s been pretty cool to be part of that,” he said. “I told my mom about that, and she said it sounded like a great idea, with everyone gathered around the table, talking about how their week went.

“They’re just an unbelievable family. I was telling them the other night, having them bring me into their home made me feel 100 percent better. Sometimes when you’re a younger guy, missing home and missing your family, it’s nice to have a family here, making it feel like it’s not just you. And we don’t have to pay for a lot, because they make us food and are giving us a bed.”

The Hillearys are more than happy to do all of that, because, as Janice said, “we obviously like having kids around.”

“We were aiming to have four of our own, and we ended up with five,” she said. “When our youngest got to kindergarten I was kind of bored, so we started taking in foster children.

“You definitely get attached to (the foster kids) – that’s what you’re supposed to do – but the focus is always to get them back to their biological families as soon a possible. As attached as we became, we were rooting for them to go home. And for some of them who were naughty enough, we were ready for them to go!”

The foster family experience led to the adoption of three permanent family members, ranging in age from 15 to 9.

Meanwhile, the Hillearys recently became first-time grandparents, so as Janice put it, “I don’t think we will ever be empty-nesters.”

The Hillearys learned about becoming hockey billet parents from their daughter Danielle and her husband Ben Boes, who starting taking in Lumberjacks players at the start of last season, and eventually ended up with three – Anthony Cliché, Nate Reid and Ben Marek.

Brad and Janice had one player before Sinclair, but he was only around for a few weeks before he was released by the Jacks.

“He came home one day and said he was cut from the team, and it took us by surprise,” Janice said. “We were like, ‘Wait, you just got here.’ But then they asked us if we wanted to try again with another player, and we said ‘Sure.’”

After Sinclair arrived, he became closer with the players who lived with Ben and Danielle, so they became regulars at Brad and Janice’s home, as well. The two households kind of blended into one big billet family.

“We learned to make a lot of food,’ Janice said.

Brad and Janice were not Lumberjacks fans before the billet experience, but they started going to games last year, and rented a suite at Mercy Health Arena, because there are so many of them on any given night.

“When we all go to the game, we fill up the suite,” Janice said. “We love watching the games. My husband’s family were never big players, but they were big sports fans, and we’ve enjoyed having a team to root for. And you can get so much more out of it when you know the people playing.”

Braccini has already noticed and learned to appreciate the special group of fans he has at home games.

“They make cool signs,” he said with a grin.

Of course the Hillearys will have their hearts broken again at the end of the season, when Braccini’s USHL eligibility runs out and he heads off to play college hockey.

But they will continue to offer their home and hearts to other lucky players as they come and go from Muskegon.

As Janice put it, “Anybody who comes to our house and stays here is part of the family, and they are welcome at our table or the golf course or any other place we may be.”