zeljko delic

Congrats to all the kids who made the team, very well deserved!!! Good luck and I hope you guys go all the way to the final, lots of great talent on that team for sure. Looking forward to seeing all my friends and their families from Metro and Stallions once again this spring season.

The problem is not only AAA vs. BB. That’s only one part of the problem in my opinion. The other part is the coaching both from bench coaches and parents “coaches” who tells their kids how to play more than they should (including myself ………… but only sometimes :razz:). The Quebec THAAAQ D1 spring league is truly AAA league talent vise but what I saw this past spring (more in 03 than in 04 age group) was that there were still many top level/talent kids on many teams trying to do everything on their own, game after game, tournament after tournament and coaches never correcting that. So it is no surprise when these kids come to BB in September, which is not real AAA quality league, they will even try to do more of this nonsense. Some of these top talent kids make IS Brick team and of course continue to do the same that they have been doing over the last 2-3 years. So, in my opinion, it is not only AAA vs. BB but the quality coaching (non-parent if possible like majority of Toronto AAA teams) needs to be put in place early on and both parents and players need to buy into it.

Stallions KOTR team had kids from Stallions Gold, Metro, IS and Gov if I remember correctly. Even though the kids played for the very first time together they did pretty well considering this fact. They lost in semis in SO after 2 OT's against the same team they had already beaten a day earlier 3 to 1. That team went to the final a few hours later and won by beating Ottawa Select 5 to 1, so the overall result, considering all of this wasn't that bad. With a little bit more practice before KOTR and some luck (the thing that you always need on big tourneys like KOTR) the result could have been even better.

In my opinion: If you are investing that much time and money and do all these sacrifices with practices and traveling you want to have the best chance to win as well. Kids have lots of fun when they play the sport they like but the most fun they have is when they win and there is nothing wrong in trying to do just that. You have to have the best available talent on the roster but to win with talent alone is not enough (not even close). It is much more important to have a team that plays as a team and has the team chemistry and that’s why it is so important to get these kids to practice and play together as much as possible and what stallions2004 is doing is crucially important. Building a great team takes a long time. Quebec is already a step behind Toronto teams since their kids not only play together on the spring teams but they also play together on top level winter teams as well and that is a huge advantage when you build a winning team. Take a look at 2004 Pro Hockey team or 2002 Toronto Bulldog team that are far above anybody else in their age categories. The only reason they are ahead is because of the way they play the game as a unit and as a team. No puck hogging and individual plays on these teams even though they got excellent and very talented players who could go end to end most of the time. To have such a unit that moves the puck very well and plays the team concept, besides good coaching, you need time to build it and develop it. It doesn’t come automatically by putting the best talent together. Having the best available talent on the roster is just very first step. You can have the best flour and best cheese in the world but to make a great pizza you need much more than that. On the other hand, with the bad ingredients you will never make a great pizza regardless of what you do with it and how much effort and hard work you invest in making it. Fortunately, from what I’ve seen these past 2 years, the Quebec 2004 kids are loaded with a great talent and with the right selection and right process and right coaching Quebec Brick 2014 team will be very competitive and have a good chance as anybody else to win it all.