Saison 2003/04

Austrian import
Christoph Brandner, at 28, is trying to impress a new team in a new country.
BY BRIAN MURPHY
Pioneer Press

The choice seemed clear to everyone except Christoph Brandner.

There is not exactly a searing market for 27-year-old rookies in the NHL. So when the Wild called Brandner's name late in the 2002 draft, one would have thought he'd want to sign a contract and head to Minnesota for an audition before somebody told him the joke was up.

But Brandner, who's from Bruck Mur, Austria, was not a wide-eyed teenager who could stuff a pair of jeans and some T-shirts into his equipment bag and head overseas to chase the dream.

Besides trying to make the leap from the pedestrian German league to the NHL, Brandner would have to walk away from a lifestyle that included team-subsidized housing and transportation and a tax-free salary equivalent to about $130,000.

Moreover, his wife, Silke, was pregnant with the couple's first child.

"I didn't think I had a really good chance to make the Wild last year," Brandner recalled after a recent practice at Wild training camp. "You never know how the pregnancy was going to go, which would probably influence how I would perform. So I decided to spend another year in Germany."

Wise decision.

Brandner led the league with 28 goals and carried the Krefeld Penguins to the championship with 18 points in 14 playoff games to earn the German Elite League player of the year award. His daughter, Valentina, was born in the spring, and he signed a two-year deal with the Wild in July.

At the moment, Brandner is in a fierce battle with about a dozen forwards trying to survive another round of cuts and earn a job in Minnesota.

He calmed his nerves and emerged from the shadows with a pair of goals in the Wild's 9-1 thumping of the New York Rangers on Sunday and will be in the lineup tonight against Chicago at the Xcel Energy Center.

"I want to see more," coach Jacques Lemaire said.

So far, the Wild have seen glimpses of the tools that made Brandner a dominant power forward in Germany and on the Austrian national team, and led their scouts to suggest taking a chance on him in the eighth round last year.

Brandner is more of a pure goal-scorer, not a playmaker. At 6 feet 4, 224 pounds, he towers over left wing and can skate well for his size. It also gives him tremendous leverage for his wicked shot.

Like most European players, Brandner must adapt to the NHL's smaller ice surface, which does not allow players to take deliberate paths to the net or into prime shooting positions. Decisions with and without the puck must be made more quickly in a league that already boasts the world's fastest and most skilled players.

"You have to know beforehand what you're going to do and know where everyone is, but I feel I'm adjusting to that," Brandner said.

He has a wealth of international experience, having played in the 2002 Olympics and five world championships.

"He's a late bloomer, and he's young for his age because he never really has been injured," said the Wild's Thomas Steen, who scouted Brandner in Europe.

Brandner's greatest competition seemed to be a lack thereof.

In hockey, Austria lags far behind the traditional eastern European powerhouses. And the German Elite League, which has grown in stature with the help of transplanted Canadian coaches and players, still does not measure up to more prominent foreign leagues.

At 28, he had to make his move.

"I have a responsibility to my family, but I knew I had achieved everything I could in Germany. I knew it might be my last chance to take the next step," he said.

He negotiated a deal with Minnesota that paid him about what he earned in Germany and moved his wife and daughter into an apartment in St. Paul last month.

With the help of several neighboring players, including Matt Johnson, the Brandners have learned which stores are open late for last-minute baby supplies and where to catch a movie.

But if Brandner is assigned to Houston of the American Hockey League, they will have to adjust to less money and another new city in a strange country.

"It wasn't a hard decision," Silke Brandner said. "Christoph had to make it because this is what he has dreamed for so long. I want him to be happy."

Tonight's game could determine his immediate future.

"You've got to be realistic enough to know there are a lot of good players here. I have no problem with that, which is why I'm doing everything I can to stay up here as long as possible," Brandner said. "Playing in the NHL is all I've ever thought of since I was a little boy. I hope it's coming true."


aus ner tageszeitung in minnesota... find ich sehr gut geschrieben.

da hab ich mich auch ein bißchen gewundert. aber die werdens schon wissen...

auf der seite der wild gibts ein ganz ein aktuelles interview mit brandy !!!

hört sich zweimal ziemlich scheisse an.

vor allem wie mit divis umgesrpungen wird ist ja unterste kanone. was kann er für die seuchensaison vom letzten jahr.
und das sandford gepuscht wird versteh ich ned, noch dazu weil viele fans ( vor allem in worchester ) sagen das divis besser ist. naja, er ist halt leider kein ami.

zu brandner. ich glaube auch schon fast das er in die ahl zurück muß. da er ja in den letzten spielen immer weniger eiszeit bekommen hat. aber ich bin mir sicher das das nur aufegschoben ist. immerhin war er einer der besten torschützen der wild in der vorbereitung. und die umfrage, wegen dem besten spieler hat er ja souverän gewonnen. nur zählen die fans ja ned, leider ....

Toll frür Brandy. Freu mich voll. Die Saison beginnt für ihn am 8. in Chicago.


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