Canadian-American goalie Brandon Maxwell is entering his second season in Pardubice and fourth season in Europe. Ahead of the team's first CHL game of the season, he talks about the team and his international career. 

by Derek O'Brien

PARDUBICE – When Dynamo Pardubice open up their 2016-17 CHL campaign today against Frolunda Gothenburg, one of their returning players from last season will be goaltender Brandon Maxwell, who was born in Florida to Canadian parents, and raised in Ontario.

“I definitely got lucky being born there so I could play for the U.S. National team,” the 25-year-old dual Canadian-American citizen said.

You were a member of the United States National Development Team Program. That team has come to dominate international hockey at the U-18 level.

“Myself, I was part of a bronze-medal team in 2008 in Kazan, Russia. Since then, I think it's become the model of how you should develop young players. If you look now, they're pretty much a powerhouse at developing players and goalies – if you look at the NHL, a lot of top goalies come from that program. 

“Mentioning the U18 national team, one of my old teammates – Bjorn Krupp – plays for Wolfsburg. I haven't seen him since then, but they're in our group so we'll play them twice, so I'm looking forward to that.” 

He played for the US national team? I thought he was German.

“Yeah, his father's German (current Eisbaren Berlin head coach Uwe Krupp), but he was born in the States because his father played in the NHL, so he's a dual citizen, just like me. It's something you see a lot of nowadays – players with two nationalities.”

How long have you played in Europe now?

“This is my fourth year now. For a bit I was in Russia and Ukraine, but that wasn't a full year. Then I played a year in Sweden and then two years in the Czech Republic.

“The first time I was in Europe was when I was 15 years old. We came for a four-nations tournament that included Switzerland, Slovakia, the Czechs and the U.S. and it was in Prague, so it's kinda crazy that my hockey career's all come full circle.”

Do you think that playing in those international tournaments when you were younger has helped your transition to playing and living in Europe?

“For sure. When I was younger I was able to play in tournaments in Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland, and I kinda fell in love with Europe. You know, in Canada and the US you see stuff on TV and it's not really like that. I love Russia, I think it's a great place, and the Czech Republic as well – I love it here.” 

Are there any places you still want to see?

“Well we get to go to Sweden this year and we're gonna play in Gothenburg against Frolunda, and I've always wanted to go there.”

Why Gothenburg?

“Because Henrik Lundqvist is from there (smiling), but also because it's beautiful. When I saw the results of the Draw, I knew those would be tough games, but it means we get to go to Sweden, which I'm looking forward to. I'll get to play in the arena where Lundqvist played, so that's awesome.”

Henrik played there, and of course his brother Joel Lundqvist is there now – in fact, he's the team captain.

“Yeah, his brother's still there. But, you know, as a goalie, Henrik Lundqvist is someone I look up to. He's the man right now in the NHL too. He's very athletic and fun to watch.”

Your first CHL game is against Frolunda.

“Yeah, it's at home on the 21st (today at 17:00 CET), then we play there on the 27th.”

You played a couple games in the CHL last season, didn't you?

“Yeah, it was awesome. I got to play against HC Davos twice. We didn't get the results we wanted, but getting the chance to play at that arena in Davos was, honestly, kinda like a dream. Growing up in Canada and watching the Spengler Cup on TV, seeing the atmosphere. I want to say that was kind of a bucket-list game because of how historic it is.”

If I recall, Pardubice had a bit of bad luck in that tournament last year.

“We played very well but we lost in the last minute against Davos twice, we lost in the last five minutes against Farjestad the first time, and then in the last game in Sweden we had to win by two, so we had to pull the goalie when we were winning by one – we got scored on, then lost in overtime. So they were definitely not the results we wanted, but I think this season we're ready to achieve better things.”

And you've got a new coach this year ...

“He was actually our coach at the end of last season, Peter Draisaitl, and he is unbelievable. I love playing for him. There's probably only one other coach that I liked playing for more and that was my dad (laughing). I can't say enough good things about him. I think he's going to bigger and better things very soon.”

What language does he speak to the team in.

“Well he's Czech-German, so he speaks Czech, German and English all fluently, which is great for communication – you always know what's going on. He speaks Czech to most of the team and English to the imports, so that makes it easier for everybody. He's got everything under control.”

You've been here a couple years now. Have you picked up any Czech yet?

“Umm ... I can speak very simply (laughing). It's a very tough language to learn. I can read it better than I can speak, like reading a menu in a restaurant I can do without much problem now.”

And how do you find Pardubice overall?

“It's beautiful. It's like a little Prague, almost. Really nice people who go out of their way to help me, not just because I play there and they recognize me ... and great fans. They're always supportive at every game and cheer really loud. They work as hard as we do – it's like they were born to love hockey. When other teams from the CHL come and visit Pardubice, they'll see what I mean.”

Well good luck against those CHL teams and in the upcoming season.

“Thank you.”