The Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Skating on the ponds of British Columbia in western Canada, Scott Niedermayer always thought he had an advantage playing against his younger brother, Rob.

Bigger tends to feel better when you're a youngster playing hockey.

"He was always a lot smaller than me until we got to 14 or 15. Then he got bigger than me, and we stopped fighting," Scott said Sunday, knowing that his relationship with Rob will change in the next two weeks.

The Niedermayers will become the first brothers to play against each other in the Stanley Cup finals since 1946, when the New Jersey Devils face the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in a best-of-7 series that gets under way tonight.

The last brothers to play each other for the Cup were Boston's Terry Reardon and Montreal's Kenny Reardon.

"We were talking about that on the flight home," Devils coach Pat Burns said. "It's going to be fun. We all know Scotty, the way he plays. I am sure he is going to take the challenge of being the best brother."

These Niedermayers have had very different careers.

An All-Star defenseman with the Devils, Scott has won two Cups and was a member of Canada's gold-medal winning Olympic team. Rob, a center for the Mighty Ducks, is finally starting to play his best hockey after stops at Florida and Calgary.

"I just wouldn't like to be the parents," Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said of the impending confrontation. "Brothers are brothers, but when you get to the parents, that's a little different. It's just weird."

The family feud on ice isn't all that rare. Scott and Rob have faced off at least once or twice a year since joining the NHL in the 1990s. They even went head-to-head in the playoffs in 2000, when the Devils swept Rob and the Florida Panthers in the first round en route to winning a second Stanley Cup.

This time it's different. It's brothers competing for the biggest prize in hockey after battling through three rounds of the playoffs.

At this point, anything goes. But there will be no insults directed at the opposing player's mother.

"As kids growing up, being competitive, we were always playing against each other, so I guess it's only fitting that we're doing it in the Stanley Cup finals," said Rob, who came to Anaheim in a deal with Calgary this season.

Neither Niedermayer intends to ease up at this point, especially when the other is on the ice.

"You see who it is, and you play it the same way you would," Scott said.

Rob agreed: "We both know each of us has a job to do out there."