Special Needs Hockey Team Forming in Brewster

A new hockey team could be coming to Brewster this fall if Max Maksimyadis has his way.

In hopes of forming a hockey team, which will be called the Northern Bravehearts, Maksimyadis is hosting a informational session and open skate June 23, 9 a.m.-10 a.m. at the Brewster Ice Arena located at 63 Fields Lane. The league the team would join is the American Special Hockey Association, which provides individuals with physical and developmental disabilities the opportunity to play hockey.

Maksimyadis, a Mount Kisco resident, said he’s played in the league for the past 20 years as a goaltender, but this upcoming year he didn’t have a team to play with.

“I was very upset about that so I just decided to make my own team,” Maksimyadis said.

His love for hockey began about 20 years ago when his mother saw a flier in a Westchester County newspaper for a special needs hockey team and mentioned it to him. When he started playing, he soon realized how much he enjoyed it and never looked back.

Maksimyadis, who has cerebral palsy and spastic hemiparesis, plays goaltender. Because he is mostly paralyzed on the right side of his body, he doesn’t hold stick and tapes a blocker to his right arm. Regardless of any challenges he’s faced, his talent has shined through with him earning the USA Disabled Hockey Athlete of the Year in 2008 from the league.

“It really molded me into the person I am today,” Maksimyadis said.

So far, the Bravehearts have a couple players and a coach, he said. Maksimyadis hopes to fill a complete hockey roster by the time the season gets underway in September. There are different levels in the league depending on how proficient and experienced a player is and it is open to all ages.

The team also gets to travel around, including to Canada and Washington, DC, Maksimyadis said. The Brewster Ice Arena will be the home ice for the Bravehearts this season, which runs from September to May.

“It’s way cool,” he said. “It’s a really fun time.”

Interested participants can call Makimyadies at 914-960-3388.