The Brick Invitational is more than a hockey tournament. 

Since 1990, one of the premier competitions for ten-year-olds has taken over the West Edmonton Mall, drawing massive crowds and playing under the (slightly) muted light of the incomparable Alberta sunshine. 

For players, parents, and fans alike, the experience is a pleasant assault on the senses. The sights and smells of North America's largest indoor shopping mall can be overwhelming. It's easy to get lost in an olfactory haze, a mix of baking cookies, the brewing coffee at Tim Horton's and rival Starbucks directly across center-ice on the mall's second level, or the gentle odor of couple hundred hockey players walking, jogging, crawling, or sprinting around the mall's waxed floors. 

For the last decade, former St. Cloud State standout, Gentry Academy Head Coach, and SCSU women's hockey assistant coach Billy Hengen has captained the Team Minnesota ship. 

"The first time I went to the Brick was with the 2003 group," Hengen said recently via correspondence. "About halfway through the tournament, I phoned my best friend back in Minnesota and told him I was at possibly the coolest hockey tournament I've ever seen. I still vividly remember the memories from that year as well as details from all the games we played."

That crop of 2003-born Minnesotans included Carolina Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake, NHL draftees Chaz Lucius, Jack Peart, Luke Mittelstadt, and Jack Harvey. Armed with that talent, Hengen's first group fell to the eventual champions, the Toronto Bulldogs, in the semifinals. 

"The tournament started as a summer passion for me, a unique summer coaching experience," Hengen said. "But the popularity of the tournament has grown with social media. There is more awareness of the tournament in youth hockey in Minnesota than ever before." 

While Hengen has won Minnesota high school state championships with both the Gentry Academy boys' and girls' teams in back-to-back years after a highly successful run as the Gentry Galaxy's Tier I Head Coach for the 2003-birth year, he says that the Brick title has remained elusive. 

"Team Minnesota has had tremendous successes the past four years, but no championship banner has been hung yet," Hengen said. "The 2011s, 2012s, and 2013s all won the five-day conference pool play, earning a bye to the semifinals. The 2012s and 2013s both played in the Championship game, and the 2014s lost in the quarterfinals last year."

In addition to Team Minnesota's success, the Brick has had an American flavor over the past five years. The Connecticut Jr. Rangers took home the tournament's ultimate prize in 2019, 2021, and 2022, with the 2020 tournament canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Montreal topped Team Minnesota in the 2023 championship, but the metaphorical trophy returned to the U.S. after the Detroit Jr. Red Wings rode the combined 43-point performance of Christian Kolarik and Kasen Pusateri to earn Detroit's first Brick crown. 

The 2015 Team Minnesota Brick squad boasts a diverse array of players with different skill sets and attributes coming together to form what should be a competitive team. While the Twin Cities metro is well represented on the roster, the group also has eight players from the northern edges and southern prairies of Minnesota, plus one goaltender from Ontario. 

"The 2015s were a coach's dream from day one," Hengen said. "They are as humble, competitive, and eager to learn as any group as I have come across. The players and parents are willing to sacrifice for the unknown. The group as a whole has improved on a weekly basis without regressing. They play an honest brand of hockey for their age and are difficult to play against," Hengen continued, also mentioning that the team has had some verifiable success against fellow Brick teams before the tournament. 

In pre-Brick competition, Team Minnesota emerged on top in events in Toronto and Chicago, and showed well in a Pittsburgh event. That preparation will come in handy once the tournament kicks off on June 30. Team Minnesota is in a tough conference, which includes perennial Brick powers in the Toronto Bulldogs, Boston Junior Bruins, and defending champion Detroit. 

With all the pomp and circumstance that come with the events, Hengen says he's confident his group will represent the team and state with a competitive spirit, class, and great effort.  

"This group came into the Brick season with no expectations, just ready to play hockey."