Minor Hockey Talks - Hockey Forum

Pizza guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:48 pm I’m so confused. How can a tournament for 10 year olds determine their hockey future? Doesn’t the real hockey start at the U13 level, when checking is introduced? Are the best players not starting to get represented by agents at that time?

The hype created by the Brick tournament would have a detrimental effect on parents and players egos. Little Johnny now thinks he’s an invincible superstar because that’s what his parents told him but when shit doesn’t go right I can see meltdown in the making.

Orgs like PH and TBD then advertise they are responsible for a player going to the NHL when in reality they had very little to do with the development of their hockey careers. I wonder the number of kids who played in the Brick and didn’t really end up doing anything with hockey?

“Success has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan”

Pizza guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:48 pm I’m so confused. How can a tournament for 10 year olds determine their hockey future? Doesn’t the real hockey start at the U13 level, when checking is introduced? Are the best players not starting to get represented by agents at that time?

The hype created by the Brick tournament would have a detrimental effect on parents and players egos. Little Johnny now thinks he’s an invincible superstar because that’s what his parents told him but when shit doesn’t go right I can see meltdown in the making.

Orgs like PH and TBD then advertise they are responsible for a player going to the NHL when in reality they had very little to do with the development of their hockey careers. I wonder the number of kids who played in the Brick and didn’t really end up doing anything with hockey?

“Success has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan”

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:08 pm

Pizza guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:48 pm I’m so confused. How can a tournament for 10 year olds determine their hockey future? Doesn’t the real hockey start at the U13 level, when checking is introduced? Are the best players not starting to get represented by agents at that time?

The hype created by the Brick tournament would have a detrimental effect on parents and players egos. Little Johnny now thinks he’s an invincible superstar because that’s what his parents told him but when shit doesn’t go right I can see meltdown in the making.

Orgs like PH and TBD then advertise they are responsible for a player going to the NHL when in reality they had very little to do with the development of their hockey careers. I wonder the number of kids who played in the Brick and didn’t really end up doing anything with hockey?

“Success has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan”

Totally agree.. there are kids in this age group that will thrive in hockey without the brick tournament !!

Pizza guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:35 pm I get what you’re saying but I’m not completely sold on the value the Brick allegedly provides. I think most kids that played in the Brick and made Team Canada or USA are there because of their commitment to training and the access that $$$ provides but I think this might be changing. There are many more roads to the pros then before or education and sports through the NCAA. For example, I believe PH being represented by SHD lost in a tournament over the weekend to a club called MVP. PH/SHD had the best players on paper but if they couldn’t beat that team then realistically they wouldn’t be able to beat any other Brick team. The whole thing seems a bit cliquey to me. I think pre-pandemic there weren’t too many ways to get noticed but like I said there are so many tournaments and opportunities for a kid to get noticed that the Brick isn’t all that important or impressive anymore, and will become less prestige over time. I could see the Americans displacing the Brick with something more prestigious down the road, like a CCM Chicago tourney instead. Or maybe a famous American furniture store will step up or perhaps Sweden will come out with the IKEA tournament instead…lol.

Guest wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:23 am

Pizza guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:35 pm I get what you’re saying but I’m not completely sold on the value the Brick allegedly provides. I think most kids that played in the Brick and made Team Canada or USA are there because of their commitment to training and the access that $$$ provides but I think this might be changing. There are many more roads to the pros then before or education and sports through the NCAA. For example, I believe PH being represented by SHD lost in a tournament over the weekend to a club called MVP. PH/SHD had the best players on paper but if they couldn’t beat that team then realistically they wouldn’t be able to beat any other Brick team. The whole thing seems a bit cliquey to me. I think pre-pandemic there weren’t too many ways to get noticed but like I said there are so many tournaments and opportunities for a kid to get noticed that the Brick isn’t all that important or impressive anymore, and will become less prestige over time. I could see the Americans displacing the Brick with something more prestigious down the road, like a CCM Chicago tourney instead. Or maybe a famous American furniture store will step up or perhaps Sweden will come out with the IKEA tournament instead…lol.

Took a while to figure out what teams you’re referring to but are you talking about 2015 Pro Hockey being represented by No names losing to MVP in the Everest tournament? I had to do some digging to figure that one out!
Those kids were 7 years old and nowhere close to Brick level players in age or ability, and just judging by the coach they likely lost due to incompetence on their bench. By the time those kids are 10 and eligible to play in the Brick many of them will be out of AAA hockey. Development/maturity wise those kids are still a long way away! If you listed the top 2015 players now it will look much much different in 2 years.
As far as coaching, SHD are light years away from even being water boys at that tournament.
The Brick is still by far the best collection of talent of any youth tournament in the world and nothing else is even close at this point. We got to experience it with the 2011 group last year and it is truly special. Of course the tournament and practices leading up to it don’t have a huge influence on the overall development of any specific player, it’s a showcase of the top 10 year old talent.

Pizza guy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:26 am You sound like a smart guy and your analysis is very reasonable. Wouldn’t a Brick tournament for 13-14 year olds make more sense? I just think to invest that kind of money for one tournament is a waste. I’d rather pay for power skating or some sort of skill sessions instead. If your kid is good enough by the AAA level it won’t matter Brick or not. Just my thoughts, I feel like parents are being pressured to be part of the Brick and no matter what this is something that your kids needs to be a part of. Also I think the prestige of this tournament is in its decline due to the rising talent elsewhere. The USHL for example is producing top talent where the OHL was once gold standard 20-30 years ago.