When they were kids: Today’s NHL stars

  

You ever go on a never-ending YouTube journey until four in the morning? Well you’re about to go on one.

While on a trip to Edmonton with the fine folks at Oilers Nation last week, we visited the West Edmonton Mall. While walking around, we came across an indoor ice rink right in the middle of the mall. I had heard of this place in interviews with Jordan Eberle and Steven Stamkos in the past. I realized that this is where The Brick Tournament is played.

I mentioned that it would be really cool to see footage of guys like Eberle and Stamkos as kids playing novice. Not long after, Avry showed me that not only is there footage – there’s tonnes of it!

Check these gems out!

One thing you’ll notice about these videos is just how far ahead of their peers these future NHL players are. Another is how they actually still have some similar traits. Take this video of Morgan Rielly for example. In the dozen or so games Rielly has played in his NHL career, we’ve seen him cough the puck up on several occasions, hoof it back to recover the puck, and then do something sick like this. Wow.

Even as a tike, when Phaneuf winds up for a slap shot, you had better duck. Players, spectators – everbody! And consider this: Morgan Rielly played in this tournament then year after Phaneuf was drafted by the Calgary Flames. This footage of Phaneuf is from 1995. Rielly was only born in March of 1994. Again – wow.

Eberle was clutch even back then! The player who clobbered Eberle in the goal celebration is actually current New York Islanders defenceman Travis Hamonic.

Oh, so Stamkos has been making defencemen look like that for a while, apparently. If you look closely, that’s Andrew Cogliano jumping into the pile after Stammer scores.

Ok – seeing Subban in blue and white is weird, is it not?

Christmas! Forget 10-year-olds. In 1998, Jonathan Toews was showing the kind of patience that’s rare in NHL players in their prime.

There are unconfirmed reports that Seguin’s team had to hire a security guard because he stayed up all night partying and pounding back Kool-Aid Jammers.

OK one more…

At a level where throwing a bodycheck is a penalty, Max Pacioretty doesn’t care. And what are the odds he would clobber another future NHLer in Peter Mueller?

We could continue on and on with this post, but there are literally dozens of videos onf future NHL stars from their childhood days on this channel. If you want to watch them all, click here for the YouTube Channel VEServicesLtd. There’s Dustin Byfuglien celebrating a goal in a way I swear I’ve seen him do before with the Jets, Jay Bouwmeester, Kyle Turris, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, on and on and on. A lot of these kids have Stanley Cups, now! Hell, Toews has two Cups, World Junior gold, and Olympic gold.

My apologies for your incoming insomnia.