Snowman On Fire

Borat isn’t the only person to emerge from Kazakhstan: Max Birbraer was born in the Kazakh Republic, emigrated to Israel (yes, he’s Jewish), was recruited to play junior hockey in Canada, then got drafted in the 2000 entry draft’s third round by the NJ Devils.

From there it was Albany, the ECHL, and now the Cardiff Devils in Wales. Yes, there’s hockey in the United Kingdom. And on December 23, there really will be a Christmas in Wales, as the Cardiff Devils don a red-green-white jersey that’s a bizarre mashup of Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, an old school NJ Devils jersey, and a pretty slick Devils logo. If it gets butts in seats, there are folks in Newark who should pay attention.

The Lowell Devils (the NJ Devils’ AHL affiliate) are currently coached by Kurt Kleinendorst, who formerly coached the Manchester team in the Elite UK league — the Cardiff Devils’ opponent for the red and green fest. There’s probably some bit of harmonic convergence and cosmic karmic significance, but it’s lost on me.

Patrick Roy notices talent, which is how Benjamin Rubin, an Orthodox Jewish hockey player, ended up on the Montreal Remparts. This is really cool. Jeff Halpern got us noticed, Max Birbraer put Israel on the NHL map, and now Rubin can truly prove that hockey is for everyone.