Maximilian Kirbsson Biography [2/2]

[Kirby 27]

 

“Just a small town boy, living in a lonely world”

 

Childhood

 

Maximilian Kirbsson was born in the small town of Arboga, which is located around an hour and a half by road from Stockholm.

 

For those of you that don’t know, not much passes through Arboga. It is primarily a farming town and the nearest hockey team would be in Örebro. The only notable name to come out of Arboga? UFC Light Heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson.

 

As a child, Kirbsson spent a lot of time on the farm. His parents, Kirby and Alva, were both keen farmers and their ranch stretched over 20 square kilometres. Their primary source of farming was crop farming and his father once owned the second biggest farming company in Sweden up until this year when he decided to sell the company (when the entire family moved over to Canada to support Kirbsson’s hockey career).

 

When not farming, Kirbsson was a keen artist and his mother once entered him into a regional portrait drawing contest that he actually went on to win.

 

His family were not really Hockey orientated although Kirbsson has stated that his father, Kirby, is a huge American Football fan. As a child he and his dad used to stay up late into the night watching EFL games, and his father always dreamed of his son one day playing in the EFL. However, whenever they would finish watching the football, Kirbsson would plead with his father to switch over to the hockey games.

 

Upbringing

 

Maximilian Kirbsson had an interesting upbringing. His family were a heavy Christian family and so Church was, and has always been, a huge part of his day to day life. Every Sunday he would attend church and it is only until he turned 18, that he decided to not be as strict with his religious beliefs as he may have previously been.

 

Hunting has also played a huge role in Kirbsson’s life and he regularly went Elk Hunting with his father, uncles and grand father. Together, they would sometimes spend weeks together in the woods hunting wild Elk to feast on during Midsommar and Christmas.

 

As an early teenager, Kirbsson began acting and singing. He performed in a variety of stage shows and also featured in a mass commercial in Stockholm for car company Volvo. He had an appearance on Idol Sweden where he managed to get through to the Bootcamp round before getting eliminated. It was after this failure that Kirbsson decided to fully dedicate himself to hockey.

 

Unbeknown to his father, Kirbsson had actually been practicing since he was only six years old. How, you may ask? He used to use a sawn off Broom in the farmhouse with a trimmed down brick serving as the puck. Whenever he would finish up with his farm chores early he would hit up the farmhouse and practice until dinner in the evening.

 

There is one key component to remember here... Kirbsson wasn’t skating. He was almost playing floor hockey, and so you may also wonder how he became such a strong skater?

 

Well... it snows in Sweden, a lot. And even though his father wasn’t extremely keen on his son being a middle of the pack hockey player, they would go as a family to the ice rink every year when the snow set in, so skating has very much been a part of Kirbsson’s life from a young age.

 

High School

 

Throughout school, Kirbsson excelled academically but the standout moment for him was a school trip to Finland to watch Helsinki battle in the VHL. Immediately... Kirbsson was hooked.

 

His favourite subject in High School was English Literature. He was always miles ahead of his class mates as his father, Kirby’s native tongue is English. He is bilingual born as his mother, Alva, is Swedish. In his High School Exam he wrote a 2000 word essay about Macbeth. He was awarded an A+ for it.

 

It was his sophomore year in High School that Kirbsson really excelled on the ice. He caught the eye of numerous scouts over the pond and drew comparisons to fellow Center and VHL Hall of Famer, Felix Peters, with his exceptional playmaking abilities and puck handling.

 

During school prom, Kirbsson and his date were named Prom King and Queen, to the surprise of no-one.

 

VHLM

 

We’ve already mentioned previously that Kirbsson’s family weren’t the biggest hockey family. It wasn’t their favourite sport and so convincing them to support him wasn’t the easiest task. However, his father, who is a big sports fan, realises talent when he see’s it and when they received numerous invitations in the post from VHLM teams, the family was finally converted. They were officially a hockey family.

 

After offers from numerous teams, Kirbsson decided on signing with Canadian side the Saskatoon Wild. After signing the contract Kirbsson had this to say:

 

“I’m feeling great about everything to be honest. Life’s good.

 

I’ve spent my life living under a rock and it feels good to just be out there, doing my thing, and being recognised.

 

I’ve already had like, hundreds of girls writing to me. Yes ladies, I’m single. I’m fair game. But my focus is hockey, ladies are number two.

 

Coach seems like a great dude too. Super knowledgable. 

 

It’s cool to come to Canada too. Ya’know, the landscape, the climate, the hunting, it’s all similar to Sweden. It makes this big move just that little bit smoother; especially for mum and dad”.

 

As you can see, quite the character Kirbsson is!

 

He also spoke of his aspirations going forward and what he plans to achieve:

 

“I want to win the big one with Saskatoon. That’s for sure. Hey, it may even happen this year, stranger things have happened!

 

I’d also like to just do myself justice really. Ya’know, cement myself as the hottest property going into the VHL draft. That’s my aim. One hundred percent”.

 

What happens next is left to be decided by no one but Maximilian Kirbsson. He clearly has the talent. He has the flare. He has the looks. Whether he reaches his potential is solely down to him, but we certainly wouldn’t be betting against him doing so!

 

[FacebookFighter 67]

Content: 3/3

Good story but I have a question, what's the EFL?

 

Grammar 2/2

I didn't pick up many mistakes. Also shout out to Macbeth

 

Appearance 1/1

Looks great

 

Total 6/6

[johnnyhockey42 13]

I would've loved to play on the Wild with you this season!  Ah well, good luck on the Bulls!

 

Way to get creative with your Kirbsson's story.  I especially liked the background of his modest life in Sweden.

Your story was easy to follow, all of your content was engaging, and the humble beginnings will make for a great origin story when you eventually make it to the VHL!

 

Two thumbs up