Every minor hockey player's dream is to follow in their favourite player's footsteps. After playing for the Toronto Bulldogs in the Brick Invitational, for Lambton AAA’s Lincoln Bucci, that dream is that much closer to becoming a reality.
Since 1990, the Brick Invitational has been home to the most elite tournament for 10-year-olds, and gives them an NHL-like experience inside the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton.
Looking at the tournament alumni list, it’s a who’s who of NHL stars. Names such as PK Subban, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Bucci’s favourite player, Connor Bedard, just to name a few.
“It’s super cool,” Bucci told the Journal. “To see that there are so many NHL players that played in the Brick, and I could be one of them.”
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Bucci became the first Sarnia-born player to represent the Toronto Bulldogs in the Brick Invitational. This also marks the second time a Sarnia-born player appeared in the tournament, after Brock Manders played for Toronto Pro Hockey in 2022.
“Watching Brock kind of made it real,” said Lincoln’s mom Lyndsay Bucci.
“Lincoln was thinking, ‘Brock is an unreal player and I look up to him, I can do this too.’ Brock’s family mentioned how great of an experience it was when they went down, and that got the ball rolling for Lincoln.”
Bucci’s team went 7-2 in the tournament; their only losses came against former NHL’er Jimmy Howard’s Detroit Jr. Red Wings, including a tough 4-3 loss in the finals. Bucci had an assist in the final and was named the game's second star.
“It’s really hard to get shots off because their defense is really strong,” Bucci said of playing against the Jr. Red Wings.
“I had a lot of chances and I thought they would go in, but their goaltending was really good,” said Bucci, who had some great chances in the second period and especially in the late stages of the game.
Bucci’s assist would come in the second period with the game tied 2-2, after he dug the puck out of a corner and sent it out front, where it ended up on the stick of Rex Mashinter, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
That lead would be short lived though, as Christian Kolarik would score the first of two, on the powerplay to tie the game, and later scoring with just three minutes left to give Detroit a 4-3 win.
Bucci would find himself on the ice in the closing minutes of the game, and despite some great chances, was unable to beat the Jr Red Wings goalie.
“The Brick was pretty special for Lincoln,” said Lyndsay Bucci. “There were five players from the Alliance league, one from Windsor, one from Chatham, one from Elgin, Huron Perth and of course Lincoln, all on the same team.”
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In a statement by email, Lambton AAA president Marc Colameco spoke highly of Bucci.
“The Sarnia-Lambton Jr. Sting Hockey Club is extremely proud of Lincoln Bucci's achievements at the Brick tournament. Lincoln played a year up and was a valued member of the successful SLJS U11 AAA team that made the final game of the U11 AAA Alliance Championship. He is tremendously talented, focused, competitive, hard working, well liked by his teammates, and comes from a great family. We look forward to his continued success.”
Colameco wasn’t the only one to speak highly of Bucci’s accomplishments; included in the email statement was a message from Bucci’s U11 coach Chris Dickson.
“In all my years coaching I have never seen a more determined, focused and fierce competitor before and I have coached at the professional, national and NCAA level,” said Dickson.
“Lincoln is the player that will put his team on his back and say let's get this done as he did for the U11 team last year in the playoffs and in the Alliance Championship Tournament and as he did with the Toronto Bulldogs in the finals on July 7th against the Jr. Red Wings in the Brick Tournament,” the message continued.
“Lincoln has always been very focused,” Lyndsay Bucci told the Journal.
“When he sets his mind to a goal, it doesn’t take much to keep him focused on that goal, some days are long when he has to shoot some extra pucks or go to the extra power skates, but I think the Brick was one of those things that makes it all worth it, and who knows what’s next?”
Indeed, who knows what is next, especially when 80 per cent of players that attend this tournament go on to play NCAA or higher.
When asked about his favourite moment of the tournament, Bucci recounts his first goal.
“My first two games I didn’t play my best, but when I came out for my third game I just felt something different,” said Bucci.
“In the third period Fin Mussche gave me a pass and I went down on the right side and scored bar down, and I was really hyped about that.”