An addition to Powell River Kings’ defensive corps is coming from overseas, via Ontario.
Max Bleicher, who is from Füssen, Germany, signed with the Kings after playing in 50 games last season for Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he scored twice and assisted on four other goals as a 17-year-old.
“Max is an offensive defender who likes to break up plays in transition and quickly punish other teams who think they are attacking,” stated Kings’ head coach and general manager Stephan Seeger Jr. “He picks and chooses wisely when is the time to go and when an offensive play has ended.”
As a 15-year-old, Bleicher was dominant for EV Füssen in the German U17 league. He tallied 71 points in 31 games, which led his team and was eighth overall in the league. The following year he spent time in the German U20 Tier 2 league before playing Tier 3 Pro hockey for EV Füssen, where he recorded 14 points in 35 games.
“Max does a nice job of reading plays before they happen,” added Seeger Jr. “His full season of experience as an OHL import last year will set him up for success in a Kings’ jersey.”
The 2007-born defender has also suited up for his home country. He picked up two points in five games at the 2024 U18 World Championship Division 1A tournament, which Germany went on to win. With the victory, the Germans were promoted to the main group at the most recent World U18 championships this past winter. Bleicher scored one goal and added an assist in five games en route to a sixth place finish for the team.
He also competed at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, scoring one goal in four games.
Last year, Meta censored Canadian news from its feeds, so we built our own social platform: syrupsocial.com – a newsfeed powered by Canadian journalists. Join the Peak on Syrup for the latest news from the Sunshine Coast and beyond, and add the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
