Minutes before Team Brick was announced, Finn McLaughlin was a ball of nerves. Sitting in the dressing room at West Edmonton Mall after the final tryout, he waited and waited for coach Steve Serdachny to speak to them.
He had trained since August for this, his family shuttling him back and forth to Edmonton throughout the hockey season to chase a spot on one of the most prestigious teams in Canada.
McLaughlin’s skating had improved, his passing was crisper, and he became particularly strong at ‘blowing up’ opposing forwards. He set a goal of shooting 10,000 pucks in the practice area set up in his basement, and met the goal – but was it enough to make the team?
Finally, the coaches came in and announced everyone in the room had made the team. They would represent Team Brick Alberta at the biggest super novice tournament in North America from July 4-10.
“I was very, very happy. My heart was racing so fast,” McLaughlin said.
Following in the skate strides of Canmore’s Jacob Bernard-Docker, pulling on a jersey worn by NHLers such as Taylor Hall, Brendan Gallagher, Jay Bouwmeester and Dion Phaneuf, McLaughlin felt tremendous pride. He is now preparing to face teams from across Canada and the United States, and will travel to Toronto and California in the coming weeks for tournaments.
“I’m very lucky to have great coaches in Edmonton and in Canmore,” McLaughlin said.
Not far behind is his brother Will, 8, who made the Team Alberta 2008 Elite squad, coached by Banff’s best known hockey player – former Edmonton Oiler and L.A. King Ryan Smyth. Will had a phenomenal season and scored the winning goal in double overtime to win the provincial Novice Tier 2 title. He will follow his brother’s footsteps and play on the prep team.
His parents, Kyle and Carrie McLaughlin, said both of their children wanted to make Brick teams, and they were happy to support them along the way – even if it’s meant giving up weekends to travel to Edmonton.
“They love the game. They are down in the basement shooting and stickhandling. They seem to like practice more than I did as a kid,” said Finn and Will’s father Kyle McLaughlin, whose own hockey scholarship paid for medical school at St. Cloud University in Minnesota.
“Our decision is based on how impressed we were with their coaches. The kids were smiling, and had a great time.”
Will knows it will take a lot of work to reach his goals, but he has plenty of inspiration. He loves to watch old videos from his of his favourite player’s Brick tournament – Montreal Canadiens superstar P.K. Subban.
“P.K. plays on my favourite team. He’s really good at skating, and getting up into the play,” Finn said.
