Ted Brill Can Make All The Difference - Nice Story from USHL

Wallyworld · Post by **Wallyworld** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:00 pm

Ted Brill Can Make All The Difference - Nice Story from USHL

With all the kids skating in the Ted Brill tourney I often have wondered if anyone really gets noticed.. Well I was down south for a weekend of USHL action and ran into a guy with a son playing for the team.. I asked him how the whole USHL process unfolded (as well as his son's college commitment) and he said that prior to the Ted Brill, no scouts or coaches had shown any interest and his son had never made any of the U15-16-17 etc teams. However, after a good weekend at the Brill, both a USHL coach and a college scout approached him. Though he wasn't drafted by that USHL team, the coach stayed in contact and had him come down for camp..

Bottom line is that he is starting for that team and playing well. Also, the D1 scout from the Brill ultimately offered him a scholarship, which he accepted.. I hear a lot of complaints about the Brill selection process etc but it was heartwarming to hear that, in this case, it served its purpose and how one weekend of exposure may have changed a kid's life..

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MNpuckBlog · Post by **MNpuckBlog** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:39 pm

Addison Deboer (Spring Lake Park) went on to play four years at Colorado College, put up a lot of points but playing for Spring Lake Park didn't get a lot of recognition. Played in Great 8 and ended up committing and playing as a true freshman.

Nuts&Bolts · Post by **Nuts&Bolts** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 6:48 pm

Is there a link to the story? It's nice to hear of a 1 in 100 story - kind of like a scout wearing a free black jacket and getting the free meals. Overall the evaluations don't work and the name game prevails 99% of the time whether it's Great 8, Selects or the "Elite" league.

Wallyworld · Post by **Wallyworld** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 7:26 pm

Nuts&Bolts wrote:Is there a link to the story? It's nice to hear of a 1 in 100 story - kind of like a scout wearing a free black jacket and getting the free meals. Overall the evaluations don't work and the name game prevails 99% of the time whether it's Great 8, Selects or the "Elite" league.

What link, I was just passing on a summary of a nice conversation that I had last weekend. And, I don't think this kid made the Ted Brill final team either but still caught someone's eye in the prelim weekend.

MNpuckBlog · Post by **MNpuckBlog** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:24 pm

If referring to DeBoer, I do not have a link. I used to live with two former Spring Lake Park players, that's how I had found out about it. Prior to the Great 8 he only had schools who were "interested" which is very common among any good high school player to have schools showing interest, but not offering anything until more is proven.

wingman · Post by **wingman** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 12:03 pm

If DeBoer had this happen to him that makes 2 kids I know of...so basically the player was good and got noticed at the great 8....2 years ago another kid this happened to, and another last year both are now playing D1...basically, it does work. 2ndly the name game does occur, sometimes directly from the coach who has his golden child, etc...etc. however eventually the system finds the players, and the cream rises to the top. The comment above that it's 99% name game....it may appear on the surface at times, and yes it is very frustrating, however a scout told me once....don't matter where the kids plays...if he is good...we WILL find him....and I have to admit..it is very true!

Wallyworld · Post by **Wallyworld** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 1:44 pm

wingman wrote:If DeBoer had this happen to him that makes 2 kids I know of...so basically the player was good and got noticed at the great 8....2 years ago another kid this happened to, and another last year both are now playing D1...basically, it does work. 2ndly the name game does occur, sometimes directly from the coach who has his golden child, etc...etc. however eventually the system finds the players, and the cream rises to the top. The comment above that it's 99% name game....it may appear on the surface at times, and yes it is very frustrating, however a scout told me once....don't matter where the kids plays...if he is good...we WILL find him....and I have to admit..it is very true!

I think it's generally true that scouts will find high talent kids wherever they are but in my example the father was giving huge props to the Brill because no one had ever contacted his kid, no one drafted him in USHL or NAHL even after his performance at the Brill. He didn't even make the final Brill team, yet he caught this USHL coaches eye that one weekend and was invited down for camp even though they didn't draft him... The college scout saw him that same weekend then kept tabs on him in the USHL, which eventually led to a scholarship offer - but this would likely have been one of the kids that slipped through the cracks if not for the Brill prelim weekend.

I think politics is a definite and unfortunate factor in the final team selection but this shows that you can get noticed in the prelims - it's just a matter of having a bunch of kids together with some diligent scouts and from there anything can happen..

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