Two young St. Albert athletes have teamed up to represent Alberta in one of the biggest amateur hockey tournaments in Canada.
Cohen Daoust and Edward Capstick are two of 15 kids chosen for Team Brick Alberta to play in The Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament in Edmonton from July 4 to 10. The week-long tournament was founded in 1990 and has now grown to be one of the largest in North America for 9- to 10-year-old players.
Tryouts for Team Brick Alberta started last October with 150 hopefuls and the final team was whittled down to just 15 players from across the province. The team has already travelled to several other tournaments this spring in preparation for the Brick Tournament in West Edmonton Mall.
“We got a silver in Toronto, silver in California and fifth in Winnipeg,” Brad Daoust, Cohen Daoust’s father, said. “We have had a good summer so far but this tournament is what everybody gears their spring season towards. It’s basically all the best players in North America coming together for this age group.“
Some of the boys’ favourite hockey moments have come from playing on Team Alberta this summer.
“I really liked when we beat Toronto Pro Hockey in the shootout,” Cohen Daoust, a forward, said. “I scored the game-winning goal. It was our first tournament of the year.”
Before trying out for Team Alberta, the boys played for the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association.
“I liked minor hockey league this year during the first game against the other St. Albert team,” Capstick, a goalie, said. “I played really good in overtime. We won that game and minor hockey league.”
At 10 years old Capstick has been playing goalie for three years. He started playing goalie during road hockey while at preschool and now works with goalie coach Ian Gordon.
“I’ve been playing goalie since novice,” Capstick said. “I love it. I love stopping the puck.”
The Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament is currently running for its 27th season. Bill Comrie founded the tournament in 1990 for his son Mike, now a retired NHL player to play in, when Mike was just 10 years old.
Many other great hockey players have got their start at the Brick tournament. Since its inception 127 players have since made it to the NHL, include Jonathan Toews, P.K. Subban and Jordan Eberle.
This year team Alberta is hoping to bring home the gold. The team opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over Pennsylvania but then lost to the Chicago Jr. Blackhawks Monday night. Alberta hasn’t won the tournament since 2009. To win the gold, Alberta will have to beat the Toronto Bulldogs, who have won four of the past five tournaments.
Team Alberta plays Wednesday, July 6 at 2:10 p.m. against the Detroit Red Wings and they will face the defending champions, the Toronto Bulldogs, on Friday July 8 at 7:30 a.m. All games are played at the Ice Palace at West Edmonton Mall.
