Brooks brothers well suited to AAA hockey this season

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/05/2011 (5249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brett and Adam Brooks have always been competitive with each other — especially when it comes to hockey.

When one of the Riverbend brothers scores two goals in a game, the other wants to one-up him with a hat trick.

So it must be driving them nuts that they were each named the most valuable player in their respective AAA leagues this season playing for the Winnipeg Hawks, right?

Think again.

“It was really something special,” said older brother Brett, 16, who was named the top player in the city midget circuit. “It’s not often you have two people in the same family winning MVPs like that.”

Adam, 15, was named the MVP of the bantam I league as well as the AAA Impact Player of the Year. His reaction echoed that of his brother.

“It’s really special, especially because he won it, too,” Adam said. “It’s an honour to be chosen out of everyone in our league.”

The Brooks brothers — if they ever make it to the NHL, their first endorsement deal should be a cinch — led both their leagues in goals and points, and Adam finished off his season by winning MVP honours in the Western Canadian Bantam Championship.

For Brett, the 2010-11 season was all about proving what type of player he was. After being cut by the Hawks in 2009, he spent a season playing high school hockey for West Kildonan Collegiate, which both brothers attend.

“It woke me up,” Brett said of the first major disappointment of his hockey career. “It made we want to work harder, and it put a fire in my belly to drive me along.”

Scott Brooks, the boys’ father, said Brett showed a lot of character in the way he handled being cut.

“He could’ve easily quit,” Scott said. “But he went to high school, they went to the finals and he won rookie of the year, and he came back this year and played well. A little stumble made him work harder.”

According to Brett, the better one of them plays, the more the other one wants to top him.

“We are pretty competitive,” said Brett, who hopes to play for the Winnipeg Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League next season. “I guess we use it as fuel to drive each other. We use it in a good way.”

When one of them has a particularly good night, the other brother makes it a priority to turn that game into a distant memory.

“If he goes out and scores a bunch the night before, I want something else to be the topic of conversation in the house,” said Adam, who was recently drafted 25th overall by the Regina Pats in the Western Hockey League draft.

Adam would like to play at the provincial midget level in the fall before turning his attention toward the WHL.

In the meantime, Adam and Brett are playing on the same line in a non-contact spring league with a slightly older line-mate: their father.

“We’ve played two games so far and we have six goals,” Adam said. “Everyone is scoring, too. Dad’s even potted a couple.”

avi.saper@canstarnews.com