Maxwell Making Most of Opportunity with Thunderbirds
Jan 17, 2024
Austin Owens I Halifax Thunderbirds
The road to the National Lacrosse League was far from a straightforward one for Briley Maxwell. Just four years ago, he was playing Junior B lacrosse in Edmonton. But after making a name for himself with one of the best Junior Teams in the prairies, the talented lefty has found himself as a promising talent on the Halifax Thunderbirds’ roster.
Maxwell comes into his first NLL season after an impressive campaign in Alberta with the RMLL’s Edmonton Miners. His summer season took off once the playoffs rolled around. After a 39-point season, he went off for 18 goals and 38 points in just eight playoff games. With the Miners hosting the 2023 Minto Cup, they had a spot locked up in the Canadian Junior A National Championships in August.
The lefty was one of his team’s key contributors up against the best players in the country at his age. Maxwell finished the tournament with 11 points in four games. Unfortunately, Edmonton came up short of the title. But it was still a major milestone moment for Maxwell, who missed the Minto Cup the year prior due to a lower-body injury that forced him to sit out the 2022 season.
He also spent two years with Newberry College, a Division II NCAA program in South Carolina.
With his most successful season to date in junior in the rearview, he made the next major step in his lacrosse career, deciding to forego his remaining NCAA eligibility to enter the 2023 NLL Draft.
“I talked it over with my family and friends and a lot of my coaches and just kind of decided that there were no cons to entering (the draft). If I didn’t get picked, I could just go again next year,” Maxwell said. “At that point, it was about getting my name out there and letting some people know about me.”
Maxwell contacted a local video editor who helped him put together a highlight tape from the summer season, and he sent that out to every NLL team. He had the interest of several teams and had calls with a few during the pre-draft process.
One team that had him on their radar was the Thunderbirds.
“I just wanted to show what I was and what I could bring to a team, and I was fortunate enough to talk to a couple of teams. And then Halifax called me two days before the draft,” he said. “Curt (Styres) called me first and then I got to talk to all of the Thunderbirds coaches. So that was really cool.
“...We had the best conversation that I had with any team, and at that point, my heart was set on Halifax.”
Tuning into the draft from his home in Edmonton, Briley was with his family and girlfriend, who were all refreshing the NLL webpage for a few hours as the draft went on.
He finally had his name called by Halifax with the 77th overall selection in the draft.
“When it got to the fifth round, I told my family that, ‘Hey, this is where I think I’ll be so get ready.’ It had been a long wait up to that point, but we refreshed and saw my picture and everybody went crazy. It was a surreal experience.”
Maxwell and his family were able to celebrate at that point, but the real work began just a month and a half after the draft, with the opening of the Thunderbirds’ 2023 training camp in Six Nations.
Coming into a locker room lined with veterans and big names, the fifth-round pick needed to stand out and prove himself in order to crack the final roster. From the jump, he was able to do just that, showing off his physical play on the offensive end and fearlessness in any situation. In the team's inter-squad scrimmage, he scored a goal, and he was able to find the back of the net in the team’s final two pre-season outings against Panther City and Las Vegas.
Maxwell admitted that it was daunting coming in to play with some of the names that he grew up watching like Cody Jamieson and Ryan Benesch, but they welcomed him with open arms and made him feel at home right away.
“I remember watching guys like Jammer and Beni growing up and idolizing them. And you walk in the room and realize, ‘Wow, I’m about to go out on the floor and play alongside them.’ I was super overwhelmed, but after that first weekend, some of the veterans reached out to me and just said that I was on the right track.
“They just said to keep grinding and working and I’d be in a good spot. That eased my heart a little bit and made me feel better. It was nice of them to reach out.”
He credits the relationship he built with Benesch in camp as something that helped him get accustomed to everything quickly.
“That first day, Beni came over and introduced himself right away and ever since then, I was like, ‘I’m going to ask him everything I can.’ I’m pretty sure I annoyed him all training camp asking what I could do better or what I was doing wrong, but he’s been amazing since day one. Everyone has. But he’s my roommate now so he’s always giving me any tips and tricks or advice that he’s got.”
“He’s just a very well-mannered kid who’s always asking the right questions and doing the right things,” Benesch said of Maxwell “He wants to learn and wants to better himself so that when the time comes for him to step on the floor for his first game, he will be ready. It’s been fun rooming with him so far and I’m here to help him in any way possible.”
Maxwell is one of several new faces to join the Thunderbirds through the draft in the 2023-24 season. Alongside him are fellow 2023 draftees Caelan Mander and Andrew Vradenburg, along with Cole Kirst, Bo Bowhunter, and Brett Beetow, who were all selected a year ago.
That group has been close throughout the start of the year and helped to push each other to be their best.
“I was lucky enough to have already played a year of junior with Mander before coming over here. But when you have other guys who are going through the same things as you are, it’s easier not to be the only one. It’s such a tight group and everyone does a good job of making sure that guys feel comfortable,” Maxwell said.
After a great camp, Maxwell made his childhood dream a reality, making the Thunderbirds’ roster – starting as a practice player before being elevated in the first month of the season.
He made his first trip to Halifax with the team for the home opener on Dec 1, and he was able to experience his new home and The Nest firsthand.
“It was crazy. That was the first NLL I had been to since probably 2010 when I watched the Rush in Edmonton. But it felt amazing just to get back into that atmosphere,” Maxwell said. “We’ve got one of the best crowds in the league so it was just electric. The whole arena got into it and had a good time, and that makes it a lot easier for us and a lot more fun.”
Going from not knowing what his future would hold after a season-ending injury two summers ago to an NLL roster, Maxwell isn’t taking anything for granted on this journey
“This year, me and my family decided that we were going to start to make things easier and better for us. Just reflecting on everything, coming off an injury – and a long recovery – it’s both physically and mentally draining. So to come back and have a really good year, I was super fortunate to have that. And then everything has just fallen into place perfectly.”