A young St. Albert athlete is playing among some of the best 10-year-olds across North America in the 36th Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament in Edmonton for Team Brick Alberta this week.
The invitational tournament takes place at West Edmonton Mall, sees teams across Canada and the United States invited to participate. It's a round-robin, with 14 teams split into two conferences.
Hendrix MacMillan, a player with the St. Albert Junior Raiders, has made the team at 10 years of age. His brothers played on the team a few years ago, and his sister played on the female version of the tournament. His cousins Carter Savoie and Matthew Savoie, who made his debut with the Edmonton Oilers earlier this year, also played in and so did his father, Derek MacMillan.
MacMillan plays forward and said his favourite part of playing hockey is seeing the crowd get excited and cheer when he scores, but also meeting new people, something he'll get lots of at the tournament this year.
"I think it's very nerve-wracking and exciting, because there's a bunch of people," MacMillan said about playing in the upcoming tournament. "I feel pretty lucky and pretty awesome."
He started playing hockey when he was four. He didn't have to look far for inspiration.
"My dad, my cousin, and my brother," he said when asked about his role models going into the tournament.
Making the team isn't easy. Derek MacMillan said they run tryouts from December to March, eventually whittling down from between 100 and 200 kids to 15 plus two goalies.
Derek said that watching his kids and nephews play in the same tournament he did years ago is pretty special.
"It feels pretty surreal. It's an honour to play myself in the game years ago. But take me aside it's really cool. I was there watching my nephews play, watch their hockey career throughout, and now they're playing pro hockey out and abroad," Derek MacMillan said. "We're just very lucky and fortunate. I think the love and passion and the fun of the game has really helped my kids."
He extended that love and appreciation to the hockey community in St. Albert.
"We're very grateful to be part of the St. Albert community and to be able to build and be part of. The kids that made these teams are pretty special. There's a long list of really excellent kids that have come through St. Albert," Derek MacMillan said.
The tournament began on June 30 and will run until Sunday July 6, with Team Brick Alberta playing Tuesday (July 1) at 7:30 a.m. and 2:10 p.m., Wednesday (July 2) at 7:10 pm., Thursday (July 3) at 10:50 a.m. and Friday (July 4) at 9:10 a.m. To learn more about the tournament, visit www.brickhockey.ca.
