On the road, Rich Clune is happy to let Jeremy Bracco watch college basketball when they share a hotel room.



That way he can tease him when he yells at the TV.



Both of the Toronto Marlies forwards need a reprieve from the grind of hockey sometimes.



Bracco finds his in watching sports. Recently, it was the Olympics. But most of the time, it’s basketball. And Clune sometimes finds his in laughing at Bracco’s.



They both need each other, in their own way.



It’s not an easy path, the one that runs from junior hockey to the NHL. Even for Bracco, a 20-year-old who has accomplished everything a young player can below the professional level, the odds are long. He’s the U.S. national development program’s all-time assists leader. He’s won gold medals at the under-17, under-18 and under-20 level. He won a Memorial Cup.



Still, there’s a long way between him, a second-round draft pick in 2015, and the...