I mean every single time you watch a player you're judging a little -- can't help it -- but for me the Hlinka is more about observing and getting rough impressions on what type of a player a kid is and what I want to keep an eye on as the season progresses. I don't really care if a player gets more points than another or doesn't have a great SSS tournament, and if they do have a great tournament, it just means they're on my radar more now. Plenty of players come on the scene that way. But it's August; June is an eternity away.
If a player has a meh tournament (let's say u18s, since that is right at the end), and I'm comfortable evaluating them from their home league, I don't care that much. I don't think going bananas over a strong/weak playoff series or two, as some do, is much better. But if it's early, I chalk it up as "TBD," unless I see red flags. The TPG is next to worthless to me -- it's just for fun to see them all play each other. It barely enters my mind by the next day, and it's too frenzied to watch anyway. Hlinka and u18s are still small sample.......but they're building chemistry, practicing for weeks, being coached, so that's a much more indicative sample. But for a lot of kids in foreign or harder to scout leagues, you do have to weigh it more because that's most of your viewing. And sometimes guys flash things you don't see elsewhere in a different role/usage, and you have to decide which version is closer to what the real player could be.
I actually think I'm pretty fair about not going crazy with these tournaments and evaluating the pro qualities of players, not SSS box scores. I think the mix-up occurs in determining what exactly a person means when they say, "This player had a good tournament." The only thing I try to come out with, especially in August, are amorphous ideas. If that's too much, then why bother watching at all, right?