Assuming that Fedor Fedorov is actually allowed to play in the NHL this season, he'll be picking up a torch he dropped when he last skated in an NHL game back on Halloween, 2005. Fedorov will be carrying on the great hockey tradition of being the far less talented of two brothers, in his case stinking relative to his nearest relative, Capitals pivot Sergei.

The standard-bearer in this tragicomic club, of course, is Brent Gretzky, he of the 13-game NHL career in which he fell just 2,853 points shy of his older brother's all-time regular season scoring record. But the Fedorov brothers are certainly up there in terms of total point differential, with a current differential of 1,144.

What makes each member of this grouping of brotherly busts noteworthy is that they had the talent (or perhaps merely the name) to get to the show, but nowhere near the skills of their superior siblings. They're hockey's Neil Connery. Puck's Jackie Jackson. The NHL's fat Kardashian sister.
So who else is in the club? Here are some of the more prominent members and their credentials:

• Paul Messier. 1,887 fewer points than Mark.
• Vic Howe. 1,843 fewer points than Gordie.
• Alain Lemieux. 1,651 fewer points than Mario.
• Gilbert Dionne. 1,631 fewer points than Marcel.
• Tony Esposito. 1,565 fewer points than Phil (alright, maybe he doesn't belong on this list).
  
• Rocky Trottier. 1,415 fewer points than Bryan.
• Jean Potvin. 765 fewer points than Denis (though with 287 points to his own credit, Jean did more than anyone else on this list).
• Brett Lindros. 858 fewer points than Eric (but nearly as many concussions).
• Steve Kariya. 904 fewer points (and counting) than Paul.

The list goes on and on, and names like Jocelyn Lemieux, Mike Stevens and Ted Drury immediately come to mind (hell, the Ducks, as my buddy Earl Sleek noted to me, have "specialized in crummy brothers" over the years, giving contracts to Drury, Sean Pronger and continuing the tradition even now with Drew Miller).

There are old-timers who couldn't get into the Hall of Fame to see their brothers' plaques without buying a ticket (guys like Dave Dryden and Moe Robinson), and of course there are skaters who may not have been grossly out-pointed by their kin... but only because their phenomenally talented brothers were goaltenders (paging Stephane Roy and Gord Smith).

And now Fedor Fedorov is back in the League, perhaps to try to help bolster an anemic offense in New Jersey. Or perhaps he has returned as an emissary of sorts, as he readies to pass the torch to the next generation of second-best sibs... Yan Stastny awaits with open arms.