Bernd Bruckler: Climbing Every Mountain

By Lucas Aykroyd

As a hockey goaltender, Bernd Bruckler excels at one of the most difficult positions in all of sport. Yet the University of Wisconsin Badgers star grew up in a country where hockey is an afterthought. When you consider all the other obstacles he’s conquered to become a highly touted prospect of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, there’s no question that if this 23-year-old Austrian had a role in The Sound of Music, his theme song would be “Climb Every Mountain.”

Right now, Bruckler is riding high. He was named the WCHA’s first-team All-American goaltender for 2003-04. The 6-1, 192-pound junior carried his team to within one overtime goal of making the “Frozen Four,” the tournament for NCAA hockey supremacy, and his statistics established new UW records.

But numbers don’t tell the full story with this Graz native, who first strapped on goalie pads when he was six years old. He took up hockey to be different, with most of his kindergarten classmates preferring soccer.

“There was never really an idol in hockey for me, but if I had to name one person, it would be my dad,” said Bruckler. A soft-spoken gas station worker, Franz Bruckler regularly attended his son’s games, always providing encouragement. Once, he even opened up his home to Philadelphia-bred goaltending coach Tony Raffo, who was working with 13-year-old Bernd’s team in Austria and would have had to return to the USA without that offer of accommodation.

Bruckler realized he would eventually have to cross the Atlantic himself to continue his athletic ascent. Even though he was already appearing in the Austrian elite league by 1996, the caliber of shooters couldn’t compare to what he’d face in North America. He traveled to Canada to play Junior B hockey in Alberta at age 15, but rules limiting the participation of European players sent him home discouraged after a year.

However, Bruckler jumped on his next opportunity, an invitation to join the Tri-City Storm of the USHL around Christmas 2000. He quickly became the top goalie for the Kearney, Nebraska-based team.

Speaking English wasn’t a big adjustment for him, since he’d already had eight years of it in school. “For me, the biggest change was how much media attention you get here in junior hockey,” said Bruckler. Overnight bus trips, the must-win mentality, and the quick pace on the North American ice surface were also challenging.

His success with Tri-City earned him scholarship offers from some 15 universities, and he chose UW for its strong hockey and academic traditions. But tragedy struck during his freshman year when his father died of a heart attack back in Austria.

Devastated, Bruckler somehow managed to press on. He drew even closer to his family, as his mother and brother flew to Wisconsin for visits and kept in touch by phone. “Now I talk to my grandpa the most, because ever since my dad passed away, he’s kind of taken on that father role,” said Bruckler. “He calls me twice a week.”

Things have improved year by year. Bruckler’s daily routine of international studies classes in the morning followed by a full afternoon of hockey practice has paid dividends. For 2004-05, he’s been voted one of the Badgers team captains. He relishes home games at the Kohl Center with the din of 15,237 screaming fans and the UW Marching Band.

Crediting much of his success to UW goaltending coach Bill Howard, Bruckler also enjoys working with youngsters at summer hockey schools. He is an instructor with Tony Raffo’s Intensity Goaltender Training and Brad Koenen’s Behind the Mask.

Bruckler was named Austria’s third-string goalie at the 2004 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Prague. “Just to put on the red-and-white jersey with my name on the back and play for Austria was a huge honor,” he said. The 2005 Worlds will be held in Vienna and Innsbruck, and he would love to suit up there in front of friends and family.

Afterwards, will he make the NHL with Philadelphia, who drafted him 150th overall in 2001? The Flyers are known as an organization that goes through a lot of goalies. “They’ve told me they’re happy with the progress I’ve made,” said Bruckler. “I look at it as a great opportunity, getting in there and maybe getting a chance.”

And what would he tell other aspiring NCAA hockey goalies? “One of my biggest pieces of advice would be ‘never give up,'” said Bruckler with conviction.

Those words are music to the ears of anyone who loves a battler, and Bernd Bruckler looks poised to make it to the top.