Max Birbraer is Israel’s most accomplished hockey player to date. He remains, for the present, the only Israeli national ever selected in the NHL draft (New Jersey Devils, 3rd round, 2000). He currently competes professionally for the Cardiff Devils of the British Elite League, where he has played for two seasons. He has previously played professionally for the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League (three seasons), San Antonio Rampage (AHL), Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League (winning a championship in 2003-04), and former ECHL teams San Diego Gulls and Long Beach Ice Dogs (2004-05 and 2005-06). He was kind enough to take time out of his schedule to be interviewed by Inside Hockey and talk about Israeli hockey and his career.

Inside Hockey: Your season with Cardiff ended in the EIHL semifinals, and 48 hours later you were in Romania. Did you get a chance to practice with, or even meet with, your teammates before the first game against Romania?

Max Birbraer: No, I got there literally just in time for warm-ups before the first game. I had just lost in the semifinals with Cardiff [in the British Elite League semifinals]. I was exhausted and upset, since we had a chance this year and last year to win the league championship [with Cardiff] but lost both times in the final weekend. Still, I now had a chance to play for Israel in the worlds [IIHF Division II in Romania], so I immediately flew to Bucharest. From there, it was a five hour car ride to Miercurea Ciuc, with a guy who barely spoke English. I had to beg him to stop for food for just a couple of minutes. We were in a rush to make the game, but I hadn’t even eaten. The team was having my game jersey prepared for me during warm-ups.

IH: What is it like playing for a Stanley Cup winning coach in Jean Perron? Is there anything about him that stands out compared to other coaches that you have had?

MB: He’s won the Stanley Cup, so what can you possibly say? I guess I would say that because he is so experienced, he really helps out the less experienced guys on the Israeli roster. The team has some players that have never played truly high level hockey [i.e., Junior A through professional levels] or have played very little of it, so he gave them a lot of great teaching and advice in a short period of time. He was able to calm the guys down when they needed it and push them when they needed it.

IH: Israel had a very short bench for this tournament. Why was that? Was the team exhausted by the middle of each game, or by the third period of each game? Did the fact that the bench was so short put extra pressure on you to be the “go to” guy?

MB: Well, the team has guys from all over the world - Canadian Israelis, Russian Israelis, native Israelis, and we never get a chance to really play together on any kind of consistent basis. They [the Israeli Ice Hockey Federation] do the best they can with what they’ve got. Usually, they call the players who are eligible a few months before tournament time and ask if they are available to play, and put together a team on short notice with whoever can come. We have, if we are lucky, a very short camp of a couple of days to train together before a tournament. This year, a lot of guys couldn’t make it for various reasons. We had a really short bench. We basically played two lines, and only had three. We all tried hard and did the best we could, but yeah, we were exhausted by the third period of each game. As far as being the “go to” guy, I knew that I was expected to be that player for Israel in this event. I wanted to be that player, and tried to be that player. As for whether I met the expectations, that would be for Jean [Perron] to decide.

IH: This is the first time in ten years (other than the Spartak Cup in 2005) that you have had a chance to play for Israel, correct? Have you followed the national team’s progress over the years? What emotions does playing for Team Israel stir up in you?

MB: Yes, I didn’t have a chance to play for the national team for a long time before this year, other than the Spartak Cup in 2005 [which is a non-IIHF event]. That is because my obligations to my pro teams came first – our seasons and playoffs usually overlapped the tournament, so I wasn’t available to come play. A few times when I would have been able to play, I was injured, and I couldn’t risk playing on a newly repaired knee, for example. It wouldn’t have been good for me, or for the team. I always knew how the national team was doing, though.

My dad [Alex Birbraer] is a computer geek (laughing), so he would keep me informed. Whenever I put on the jersey for any team I play for, I am proud to do so. It means that the team has trusted me to do a job, so I will do my best. It is even more exciting and more meaningful to put on the jersey of your country and play for it, so yes, of course I am proud to play for the Israeli national team whenever I get the chance to do so.

IH: In the past, Israel has successfully defeated teams such as Belgium and Serbia, and been competitive with Romania. Were this year’s results against those teams a result of the shortage of players, or was the team’s skill level just not up to the challenge presented by those three teams? If you had the three Eizenman brothers, Daniel Erlich, and Korotin available, do you believe the outcomes might have been different?

MB: To be honest, we didn’t catch a lot of breaks this tournament. I have never hit so many posts and crossbars in my life. We had a lot of chances, even against Romania, but we just didn’t bury them. Even with the short and somewhat inexperienced roster we had for this tournament, I think we were capable of a silver medal if we had gotten some better luck and buried our chances. Romania was clearly better than us, there’s no question about that, but we could have beaten Belgium and Serbia. If we had all of our top players, like Oren Eizenman and Daniel Erlich, I think we could have definitely beaten any team there other than Romania, and we could have given Romania a tight game.

That’s not to say anything bad about the guys who came to play for us, but most of them are not professional players. They played their hearts out and they are good guys and good players. Romania was an entirely professional team, most of whom train and play together year round, and they were playing in their home rink. A lot of our guys [i.e., the Israeli league players] have skills and potential that could be developed, but they only get the chance to be on the ice once per week. They don’t even get the chance to train or practice.

Ice time is really hard to get in Israel, so they show up once per week for their league games, and go home until the next game. They only play a few games per season. No matter their natural skills and potential, it’s impossible to get better that way. They would need to be on the ice two to three times a week, minimum, for practices as well as games, to get better. That would be a decent starting base. Plus, they would need to do off-ice training. That is impossible in Israel right now, so again, they do the best with what they have, and they all play really hard and do the very best they can.

IH: Did the team’s style of play change as a result of having a short bench? If so, how?

MB: You would think that, with the short bench, Jean [Perron] would have had us play a tight trap. He didn’t though – he had us play a skating, offensive style. So I don’t think our style of play changed because of having fewer guys.

IH: How did the team manage to keep up its spirits after losing the first three games so as to be mentally and emotionally ready to play Bulgaria and Ireland?

MB: We took each day one game at a time. Our schedule was funny – our opponents got weaker by the game, when usually in a tournament it’s the opposite. The toughest teams were first, and went down the ladder in order, it seemed. We knew going in what we were up against, having a short bench, and some new guys who hadn’t experienced this level of play. But we came to play, and knew we could win games, so our spirits weren’t down despite the losses.

IH: Assuming that Israel has a full roster available to it of all of its top players, can the team, in your opinion, win an IIHF Division II tournament again? If Israel had its full roster with all of its top players (including yourself, Erlich and Oren Eizenman), how would the team do against an ECHL, Central League, EIHL, CIS, NCAA Division I, or Major Junior team? (Incidentally, on the whole, I estimate the team to play at a Junior A level akin to the Newmarket Hurricanes). What does Israel need to improve upon, in your view?

MB: I think we could [win the IIHF Division II tournament again]. Like I said, we normally have to put a team together on short notice, and it always varies on who’s available. I’ve never had the chance to play with Oren Eizenman or Daniel Erlich, for example. That would be interesting to see how we do together. Our top guys have played pro hockey [Birbraer himself, Oren Eizenman was an ECHL All-Star this year in his rookie season, Avishai Geller played in the WCHL before it merged into the ECHL, Evgeni Gusin played in the Russian minor leagues, Edouard Ravniaga played in Latvia, Alon Eizenman played in France’s Ligue Magnus] and we have some guys who have played junior [Daniel Erlich plays major junior for the OHL’s London Knights, Daniel Spivak plays Junior A in Canada] or college [Sergei Frenkel plays CIS (Canadian) university hockey].

I think, if we had everyone at once, we could be competitive against a mid-level Central League, ECHL or British Elite League team, or against a mid-level North American university or major junior team. To be honest, not that I think we’d probably win, but I don’t think we would be embarrassed. Against the top teams from those levels, though, we’d probably have a tough time. I played for the Laredo Bucks a few years ago when we won the Central League, and even with all of our guys, we’d have a tough go against a team like that.

Your estimate of Israel’s team playing at a Junior A level is about right in my opinion. Obviously we have guys who are above that level, but also guys who have not reached that level of play. As far as improving, like I said, we’d need to have the chance to play together as a team on a more regular basis in more tournaments, and the guys in Israel would have to be able to get on the ice more than once per week so that they could effectively develop their skills.

IH: What are your impressions of Avihu Sorotzky and Boris Amromin? Will they be able to keep Israel in games the way Evgeni Gusin has managed to do?

MB: Evgeni [Gusin] is amazing. He’s turning 40, and you’re asking me if he is slowing down, or ready to stop? They were asking that about him ten years ago. Yet he still shows up every year to play for Israel; every year I think his equipment is still wet from last year’s tournament (laughs). He’s amazing; it’s like he never ages. He’s still a great goalie at 40. The guy’s incredible. This tournament was my first chance to see Sorotzky play. He’s already a good goalie, you can see he’s already played some good hockey, and he has the potential to be really good if he gets more ice time and some professional coaching.

Boris [Amromin] is also a good goalie; I’ve known him for a long time. He’s one of the first people I met when I came to Israel from Kazakhstan. He’s a really good guy and a good goalie, so I have no idea why he’s not with the [national] team anymore. I think they both can eventually take over for Gusin. They’ll have to at some point, I guess. But I think Evgeni can play longer if he wants to.

IH: Back in 2005, you played for Israel at the Spartak Cup. Did the Russian media take any notice of the Israeli team? How was the team received by the fans in Moscow? There were five French Canadians who played for Israel, but the rest of the players were Israelis and Canadian Jews. How did they feel about playing for Israel in such a high level event? Did you enjoy playing on a line with Mike Henrich and Aaron Brand?

MB: Israel was invited to the tournament by Spartak Moscow after we won the IIHF Division II tournament earlier in the year. Israeli hockey was an interesting story – it was an underdog team that had won the Division II tournament, with a famous coach, a country nobody really knew played hockey, and we obviously have several players with a Russian background.

However, when we arrived, the Russian media and fans expected us to be a laughingstock and to get blown out in all of our games. We didn’t get any respect. Look, we knew going in we were not expected to win; we knew we were behind the eight ball. But while we lost 6-0 to Spartak, nobody expected us to play them that close. And we really hung in there against a top Austrian league pro team [Vienna Capitals, losing 4-2 in a game that Israel led 2-1 after two periods] and a Belarussian pro team [Neman Grodno, losing by a 4-3 score].

We were a huge underdog, and people started to root for us. By the end of the tournament, people were cheering for us and were really nice to us. Like always, we had to put the team together on short notice. The Eizenman brothers couldn’t come. So Jean [Perron] got five French Canadians to play to help the team out [four players from the United Hockey League and one from LNAH]. They were great guys and a huge help to us, but to be honest, I think our results would have been about the same even if we had just used the Israeli guys [and Canadian Jewish players] who came. I liked playing with Mike and Aaron – they are good guys and excellent professional players.

IH: Are you returning to Cardiff next season? Do you plan to remain in the EIHL, or will you play elsewhere in Europe or perhaps in North America again? Would you have any interest in playing for Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk [Birbraer’s hometown team]?

MB: I have an offer to return to Cardiff. I’ve been successful there, and I really enjoy playing for, and living in, Cardiff. I am weighing offers from other teams in other leagues, so we’ll see what happens. Obviously, I would like to take the next step in my career, but I haven’t made any decision yet. There are reasons I may stay in Cardiff, and reasons I may move on; we’ll see. As for Torpedo, sure, I’d be interested to play for them. I have contacts there, and they play at a very high level [Vyshaya League, which is Russia’s second highest professional league, and the team also takes part in the Kazakhstan championship]. I’m 27, and I get to live a dream and play the game I love. I love to play hockey; I get to play hockey and not have to work a regular full time job. Hopefully I’ll play a lot longer. I’m 27, and I still get to do what I love to do.

The author is the North American spokesperson for the Israeli Recreational Hockey Association (IRHA), a branch of the Israel Ice Hockey Federation. He is an attorney in private practice in Westbury, New York, and a former goaltender for SUNY-Binghamton. He is also an ongoing contributor to and a senior member of the International Hockey Forums.

The IRHA is the grassroots of hockey in Israel; situated below Israel's IIHF sanctioned national men's league and junior league, it provides men and women of all ages and skill levels, the opportunity to play hockey in the Holy Land. It is also a chance for beginners to be exposed to and first learn how to play the game, which is crucial to the sport's survival in Israel. For more information on how you can help support the IRHA and the survival and growth of hockey in Israel, contact the author via email. Certain contributions are tax deductible.