Historic event canceled after one-year postponement for 2010s
On Friday, the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament announced the official cancellation of the tournament for 2010-born players. This comes after a 12-month postponement of the event, which was initially scheduled for July, 2020.
The Brick is an annual event that hosts some of the best 10U players in North America at its 14-team tournament in the West Edmonton Mall. Since 1990, the event has seen the likes of Jack Hughes, Mathew Barzal, Auston Matthews and more than 200 other current and former NHL players.
Last spring, the 2010s were slated to take the spotlight, but amidst shutdowns and travel restrictions due to COVID-19, tournament organizers agreed to postpone the 2010s to the following summer, and host two age groups in 2021. Now just a few months away from the expected start date, the country of Canada remains shut down and international travel restrictions are still heavily in place.
“It had been our hope, and strong desire, to provide all those players the experience of a lifetime at The Bright Invitational and combine that with the 2011’s in back-to-back tournaments,” said chairman Craig Styles. “Unfortunately, due to the circumstances surrounding the uncertainty of hold the tournament, including new strains and variants of the virus, tightening government restrictions on travel and gatherings, the continued closure of the U.S.-Canada border and vaccination scheduling, we are simply unable to hold multiple tournaments this year.”
The announcement also included an update on the status of the 2011-birth year, pushing its expected start date of early July back to August 2 – 8 this summer.
“[This] is subject to our ability to safely hold the tournament with no restrictions, including safe travel without quarantines and the ability to hold indoor gatherings within the province of Alberta, and rink availability,” said Styles.
A final decision on the status of the 2021 tournament for ‘11s is expected to be made by April 30th.
What do you think? Text WHH at 603-541-7772 and share your thoughts on The Brick as well as other upcoming spring and summer events this year.
