Brick announces 22nd annual hockey tournament at West Edmonton Mall
By Mathew White
EDMONTON — The Brick officially announced its upcoming 22nd Annual Invitational Super Novice Hockey Tournament at a press conference Monday at West Edmonton Mall.
-
- ‘Team Brick, pose for pictures at a press conference marking the upcoming Brick 22nd Annual Invitational Super Novice Hockey Tournament at West Edmonton Mall on Monday, June 27, 2011. Photograph by Trevor Robb.
“When we started this we didn’t expect it to go this long,” said Andy Wigston, tournament director. “But now that it is, it has a life of its own. It’s become such a unique entity here in Edmonton.”
The Brick’s hockey tournament originally started with eight teams back in 1990, but over the past two-plus decades, the tournament has maintained a steady growth, and this year features 14 different teams comprised of children ages 9-10 from all across North America.
“Each year it gets bigger and bigger,” said Wigston.
Beyond its notoriety, the tournament has also been known to showcase future NHL stars, such as Jordan Eberle, Steven Stamkos, and this year’s number-one draft pick, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. According to Wigston, the tournament has generated more than 50 NHL players from its first 14 years.
In addition to announcing the tournament Monday, as well as introducing ‘Team Brick’, The Brick also gave its annual $65,000 donation to Sport Central – an organization dedicated to helping less-fortunate children play sports.
Bill Whitefield, general manager with Sport Central, was on site to accept the cheque. He said donations like this make all the difference for the organization, noting how Sport Central gave out roughly 17,000 pieces of sports equipment last year alone.
“This cheque means a great deal to us,” said Whitefield.
The Brick 22nd Annual Super Novice Hockey Tournament 2011 is scheduled to run from July 4-10 at West Edmonton Mall. For a complete schedule of the games, visit the Brick’s website.
Good luck to all my ex-Junior Oilers teammates on the Brick team. Way to go! I’ll be out to cheer you on!
Jamie Day
Too bad this team isn’t made up of the best 10 year olds in Alberta…gotta love the politics
Nice comment, Dave. Class act.
Sorry….nothing against the kids….just the truth. 4-5 definitely belong there and are top talent while some are representative moves to benefit a certain coaches business in other parts of Alberta… I hope they do well but this is not the best team Alberta could have produced
Somebody is Jealous and should mind there own business. Good luck to the TEAM!!
I wish the team the best of luck but I agree that politics play a big part in picking this team every year.
Can’t wait to see the team in action.