When They Were Ten - Book

Created essentially for one specific 10-year-old kid in the unique setting of a skating rink in the middle of North America’s largest shopping mall, the Brick Invitational became an astonishing successful hockey tournament. Astounding even the most visionary of its dedicated volunteer organizers, the iconic event, featuring seven Canadian, and seven American teams, has grown to be compared to the Tournoi International de Hockey Peewee de Quebec and baseball’s Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

In 36 years, and not including the players from the last eight, nine and 10 years working their way through the various levels of hockey to junior, college and minor league pro, the Brick tournament, through to the 2025 edition, produced 474 players who made it to the National Hockey League. In 28 draft years, a phenomenal total of 737 players have been selected at the NHL Entry Draft including 176 in the first round including No. 1 overall picks Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Jack Hughes, Auston Matthews, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Steven Stamkos and Erik Johnson.

More than the remarkable story of not only how the tournament was born and raised, it’s a tale of how the event has not wavered on the primary goal of, first and foremost, providing these talented tykes the opportunity to enjoy ‘The Brick Experience’.