CARDIFF, Great Britain – Max Birbraer turns 30 in December, but the Cardiff Devils winger has already experienced more than most hockey players do in a lifetime.
He hasn't won an Olympic gold medal, Stanley Cup, or World Championship, but he’s criss-crossed the globe in search of sporting success, both professionally and with the Israeli national team.
Born and raised in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, with ethnic Jewish parents, Birbraer moved to Israel with his family at age 15. At that point, he'd already been playing hockey since age six, alongside some future big names like Kazakh national team star and current Atlanta Thrashers scoring leader Nikolai Antropov.
“Nik was a teammate of mine since I was little,” Birbraer tells IIHF.com. “He was my captain. I know him really well. We played together for around 10 years, coming out of junior hockey in our town. [San Jose Sharks and Team Russia starting goalie] Evgeni Nabokov is also from the same town.”
Now, it didn’t take long for Birbraer to realize that while relocating to Tel Aviv didn’t necessarily mean the end of his hockey career, it also wasn’t going to springboard him to success. True, he was already good enough to suit up for the Israeli national junior team, an invitation which he first accepted in IIHF competition in 1997. (During the U20 tournament in Bulgaria, he also regrettably experienced anti-Semitic taunts from the crowd for the first time.) But to maximize his potential, he decided to make the leap to North America, leaving his family behind to suit up for the Junior A Newmarket Hurricanes in 1999-2000.
His star turn with that Ontario Hockey Association team (50-32-82 in 47 games) got him drafted 67th overall by the New Jersey Devils, making him the only Israeli ever selected by an NHL club to date. Three seasons with New Jersey’s AHL affiliate in Albany didn't earn him a ticket to the big time. But the 188-cm, 88-kg veteran has managed to find work with his package of size and skill, suiting up in multiple North American minor leagues, as well as competing for second-tier clubs in the Russian system (his Kazakh hometown team Kazzinc-Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk) and Germany (Heilbronner Falken) last season.
However, this season, Birbraer returned to Cardiff for his third year in Great Britain’s eight-team Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). He previously played in the Welsh capital in 2006-07 and 2007-08. It makes you wonder: what keeps drawing him back to this windswept port city of 330,000 inhabitants?
When you think of Cardiff, you don't think of hockey first. There are many other diversions. The spectacular 74,500-capacity Millennium Stadium, which opened in 1999, is regularly packed with fans belting out Welsh hymns in support of the national rugby and football teams. The imposing copper-domed Wales Millennium Centre features opera and ballet performances. Cardiff Castle, with its medieval Norman keep and ornate Victorian apartments, brings history buffs into the city core.
Realistically, even though local hockey fans are comparatively knowledgeable, the sport has quite a way to go before, say, women in the arena start to get crazy the way they do at the gigs of legendary Welsh pop singer Tom Jones (“Delilah”). Sky Sports carries about one hockey game a week nationally, and the Devils were featured less than 10 times this year.
“There was a rumour that they’d bring one of those outdoor hockey games to the Millennium Stadium, but I think it’s far from being accomplished,” says Birbraer. “It would be tough. One obstacle is that we also have to compete with rugby and football. Most of our fans are diehard season ticket holders that have been around for a while. But we’ve made progress in the last few years. We had a couple of sellouts this year. When they get a new rink, it’ll look more presentable and the sport will boom.”
The Devils have played since December 2006 in a temporary, blue tent-style facility called Cardiff Arena. Even though Birbraer notched a hat trick there on opening night in a 7-4 win over Manchester Phoenix, he looks forward to the day when Cardiff gets a better building.
“Our rink is really small,” Birbraer says. “It might be even smaller than NHL-sized. Also, the stands only fit about 2,500 people. They tore down the old rink in the middle of downtown, because somebody bought the land to build a big shopping mall. But then they had to move somewhere really quickly. In Cardiff Arena, the walls are just like tarps. It’s for three or four years. They’re starting construction on a new one right beside it that’ll be like a 5,000-or-6,000 seater and much more presentable.”
As a seasoned EIHL veteran, Birbraer isn’t surprised that Great Britain hasn’t made an appearance in the top-level IIHF World Championship since 1994. The strength of the domestic league is a pretty good predictor of success, or lack thereof, on the international stage. The EIHL’s top scorer this season was 30-year-old Scottish forward Colin Shields (34-53-87 in 56 games with the Belfast Giants), who played NCAA hockey for the University of Maine and suited up for five ECHL teams in just two seasons. Birbraer had 58 points in 54 games.
How does the EIHL compare to Birbraer’s other pro experiences?
“I’ve played pretty much in every minor league in the States, and I played a few NHL games in pre-season,” Birbraer notes. “The EIHL is kind of ECHL, maybe Central Hockey League calibre. We could probably give those guys a good game. The problem is that with some of the teams is the depth. There’s a limit on imports, and British hockey is not very deep. Two lines on each team are really good, but then it drops off tremendously.”
Speaking of lack of depth, that’s just one of the problems plaguing the Israeli national team. Israel was relegated to Division III for 2011 after finishing sixth and last one week ago in the 2010 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B in Estonia. Lowlights included a 17-3 opening loss to the hosts (who won the group) and a 20-0 shellacking courtesy of Romania. The Israelis finished with a -44 goal differential. Birbraer couldn’t join them since he was still in the playoffs with Cardiff, and that was a big blow. The last time he represented Israel in 2008, he racked up 11 points in five games versus Division II rivals.
It’s enough to make anyone nostalgic for the days when Jean Perron took over and revitalized the Israeli program. Perron, who coached Montreal to the 1986 Stanley Cup, helped Israel secure promotion to Division I back in 2006, where it faced nations like Germany, France, and Hungary. That was the highlight of his five-year tenure behind the bench.
“Perron brought us a lot of credibility, and it was like a miracle when we did that,” Birbraer acknowledges. “I’d like to think that we can do it again. But we need a properly run team. We need credibility. We need all the guys together. It seems like each year, one guy’s coming, but the other fellow isn’t. You can’t put up solid lines that way. You can’t go just with the kids, who live and play in Israel, because it isn’t proper training. They’re not even skating every day. I’d never be able to play pro hockey there.”
Yet this hockey nomad enjoys Cardiff, and he might finally be settling down a little. Birbraer just announced that he’s re-signed with the Devils for 2010-11 after starring in their drive to the finals this year, where they narrowly lost to Belfast. He sends DVDs of his Devils games, when available, to his grandfather in Kazakhstan, who originally enrolled him in hockey. If he isn’t making dinner at home with his girlfriend, he’s sampling local restaurants like superstar chef Jamie Oliver’s new place, Jamie’s Italian, or the numerous Indian eateries. Life, on balance, is good.
“As long as I enjoy playing hockey, I’m going to keep on playing,” Birbraer says. “I don’t feel like I’m 30. Some people say, ‘Oh, I feel 30.’ I don’t. I still like to play hockey. I’m not in a hurry to say goodbye to the game. It’s not a bad life being a hockey player, even if it’s the minor leagues. You make a pretty decent living. You can save up a bit, and after it’s over, hopefully stay in the game. Not everyone has those opportunities. But you meet a lot of people along the way, especially when you play pro for 10 or 15 years. You can go forward with it.”
To plan a trip to Cardiff or check out a live Devils game, check out the web sites of VisitBritain or the Cardiff Devils.
LUCAS AYKROYD
