Every summer, young hockey stars and their families gather in Edmonton to play on one of the biggest stages for youth hockey: The Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament. Hosted at West Edmonton Mall’s Ice Palace, the tournament hosts some of the best U11 hockey players in North America, with teams travelling from Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Boston and more.
This year marked the tournament’s 37th anniversary and has served as a launching pad for future NHL, collegiate and junior hockey talent, with alumni including Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini and Mitch Marner.
Beyond the on-ice talent, the tournament’s legacy is closely tied to Bill Comrie, founder of The Brick, one of Canada’s largest retailers of furniture, mattresses, appliances and home electronics. His vision of pairing elite youth competition with a family-friendly summer experience extended to his own family, with three of his sons competing in the tournament and two going on to the NHL. Now, decades later, the tournament remains a rite of passage for young players, showcasing the top talent of nine- and 10-year-olds across North America, having been regarded as “the greatest minor hockey tournament in the world.”
Brookline has been proud to support generating media interest and awareness for the tournament for several years, with this year as a standout for media coverage and visibility.
This year, Brookline facilitated strategic media relations to help tell the remarkable stories from The Brick Invitational. Additionally, in tandem with the start of the tournament, Brookline was engaged to coordinate media relations efforts for the book “When They Were Ten”, by celebrated sports writer, Terry Jonesabout the hockey tournament. The Brookline team led pre, during and post tournament media initiatives to raise awareness of the tournament and the book, garnering local, national and international coverage, doing this by:
- Crafting and distributing tournament media advisories to key sports, trade, national and local media
- Managing media outreach and confirming details for media attendees at the press conference and jersey presentation
- Managing media outreach for the championship game to key sports, trade, national and local media
- Developing and sharing a post-event press release across the wire with tournament results
- Coordinating interview requests pre, during and post-tournament
After an action-packed weekend with great media coverage and even better hockey, it was victory for Team Minnesota after beating the Detroit Jr. Red Wings in a thrilling 7-2 win. Through strategic media efforts, Brookline generated 1,001 media stories and 297 million media impressions. Our team was proud to support this tournament and help to tell the inspiring stories of hockey’s future stars.
Emily Milligan is a PR Assistant at Brookline Public Relations. A former SAIT graduate, Emily brings a strong foundation in Journalism to her work in PR. Naturally curious and always willing to lend a hand, Emily brings a creative mindset and fresh perspective to every project.