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Bryan Maxwell has continued another family tradition.
And this time, he didn’t have to endure a skate across Henderson Lake in the face of a Lethbridge breeze in order to do it.
On Thursday, the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame announced Maxwell will join its list of inductees in the athlete’s category at the Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary Induction Ceremony May 1.
“To be able to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in your hometown where you played all your sports your whole life growing up is a huge honour,” said Maxwell, who is being inducted into the athlete category of the hall.
“My father (Stan) is already in the Hall as are a couple of my brothers. So it’s nice to join them.”
And it all started on a frozen Henderson Lake where Maxwell and family battled the elements.
“I remember skating on the lake,” said Maxwell. ”Boy, on a windy day you would line up by the swimming pool and you could skate all the way down to the far end of the park in about two minutes. But it took you about an hour-and-a-half to get back on the windy days.”
A multi-sport athlete who also played basketball and baseball in Lethbridge, those days on Henderson Lake set the table for a career in the NHL as Maxwell was selected fourth overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1975 NHL entry draft.
After three seasons in major junior hockey with the Medicine Hat Tigers, he went on to play 331 career games during stints with the North Stars, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins before retiring in 1985, having tallied 18 goals and 95 points to go along with 745 minutes in penalties.
He won a Memorial Cup as the head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers in 1987 and was selected as the Western Hockey League coach of the year in 1991-92 with the Spokane Chiefs.
He was named as head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Nov. 6, 1995 and held that position until Dec. 15, 2002. He said out the 1996-97 season while serving a suspension.
He was named as the general manager for Victoria of the ECHL in November of 2003 and held that position into the 2004-05 season.
While his career has taken him clear across the continent, Maxwell reflected on where it all started.
”It was a lot of fun growing up and being able to skate on Henderson all the time and playing baseball right through Little League through to playing with the Lakers,” he said. “It was an honour. Just an awful lot of memories growing up and playing sports in Lethbridge. This is a great sports city. It was an awesome place to grow up and be an athlete.
“I have some brothers that have gone the baseball route and some that have gone the hockey route.”
It’s been over three years since Maxwell stood behind the bench.
“I kind of took a break,” said Maxwell. ”I’m getting ready to go back to work for a group out of Calgary, Bedford Bio-fuels. So it’s a really good opportunity for me and for other people, too. So that’s starting to keep me busy and starting to get me back into the grind.”
As for whether he’ll coach again, Maxwell said he’s keeping his options open.
“I haven’t really pursued it at all for a couple of years now. Who knows? I do miss it.
“I miss the teaching part. But nobody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, to be honest.”
The other two athletes being inducted at the May 1 banquet are saddle bronc rider Tom Three Persons and former U of L Pronghorns basketball star Andrea Hlady.
Being inducted in the team category are the 2005-2006 Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s cross country team and the 1970-71 University of Lethbridge Chinooks women’s basketball team.
The builder category will feature four inductees: judo volunteer Florence Senda, organizer and chairman of the inaugural Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame board Mal Clewes, curling official, instructor and coach Sharon Chmielewski and the founders of the Lethbridge Athletic Association.
The Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame will also hand out two special award inductions to Harry Bentley, the second mayor of Lethbridge as well as local play-by-play announcer, promoter and organizer Bryan Jeannotte.
NOTES — Maxwell was born in North Bay, Ont. and played for Drumheller Miners of the Alberta Junior Hockey League . . . The Hall suffered a pair of losses in recent days as inductees Eddie Foychuk and George Spoulos died. Spoulos was inducted as a member of the Blenner-Hassett and Smith Dodgers of Lethbridge when they won the Western Canadian Junior Fastball championship in 1946. Foychuk was a local legend in fastball circles, winning titles as a player and coach in Lethbridge and across Canada. He is also a member of the Alberta Softball Hall of Fame.