Branislav Pulis

A former NHL scout who spent 14 seasons searching for hockey talents in Europe for the Vancouver Canucks.

Branislav is a former NHL scout. For the Vancouver Canucks, he scouted hockey talent in Europe for 14 seasons (2002-2016).

He not only scouted young players with talent, but also coached them. He was known for his physically demanding workouts during summer preparations. Among the players who prepared for the NHL under his guidance were Štefan Ružička, Ivan Baranka, Mário Bližňák, Juraj Šimek, Juraj Mikuš, Vladimír Kútny and others.

From his youth he was very close to sports, especially hockey, but his health did not allow him to continue his performance. Therefore, he was looking for a sport that he could manage even with his handicap, and so at the age of 14 he founded a Karate Club.

It was thanks to Karate and the training he was doing that his paths crossed with Pavel Demitro. Even though Braňo was involved in Karate training as a coach, hockey was always closer to his heart and his goal was to make it to the NHL. Not as a player, of course, but to a position where he could use his coaching and managerial experience.

In his thirties, he found out about a scouting position in the NHL and started doing everything he could to become a scout for one of the clubs. After two years of trying, he managed to sign a contract with the Vancouver Canucks with the help of the aforementioned Pál Demitra, and so in 2002 he started scouting for talent in Europe, especially in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

He wants to continue with the development of young talent in Slovakia, which is why the Total Hockey Management project, which he co-founded, is his priority today.