Max Offenberger is also a renowned sports psychologist who Jeff Serowik met and trained with during his professional hockey career. Max is a friend to Jeff and many NHL players and like Dr. Fred Neff is an important ingredient in Jeff’s success as well as countless National Hockey League stand outs. Dr. Max Offenberger trains the youth of the nation in mental toughness and peak performance at Pro Ambitions Hockey, Inc. He has strong affiliations with the Boston Bruins as well. Here is an anecdote about Max Offenberger and Boston Bruins Hall of Famer/President of the Boston Bruins, Cam Neely. When he arrived in Boston, Neely didn’t know anyone and was approached by sports psychologist Max Offenberger, who knew Neely from the Western Hockey League and his short time in Vancouver. Offenberger offered to let Neely stay with him and his wife and two daughters until he got an apartment.

By the time Neely had a place to live, he’d learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer and Offenberger told him to stick around until he felt like being on his own..

“Three years later I moved out,” Neely said with a wry laugh. “It was a godsend. Going through what I was off the ice. I can’t imagine how long the nights might have been.”

The relationship proved crucial to Neely’s acceptance of his parents’ terminal illnesses and the motivation to move forward with his career.

“He didn’t know whether to stay or leave or quit hockey,” Offenberger said. “I think Cam understood what his parents and family would have wanted him to do.

“Cam, overnight, became a man from a boy. Not out of choice, but because he had to,” said Offenberger, who continues to work with a number of professional teams, including Tampa Bay and Ottawa. “We’re so proud of Cam. Cam as a human being is a special guy, a special guy. Even his fiercest opponents in the game have the utmost respect for him.”

Although he was already a handful for opponents, Neely began to play with an even greater snarl after his arrival in Boston, scoring 36 times in his first season as a Bruin, followed by 42-, 37-, 55- and 51-goal campaigns. Injuries to his thigh and knee limited Neely to just 22 games between 1991 and 1993, but he returned for the 1993-94 season and wowed Bruins fans with a gritty 50-goal performance in 49 games. Neely scored his 50th goal in just his 44th game, becoming the third fastest player to reach the feat in NHL history.