Liam Kirk (born 3 January 2000) is a British professional ice hockey left winger currently playing under contract with Eisbären Berlin of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Kirk began his career with the British Elite Ice Hockey League club the Sheffield Steelers.
| Liam Kirk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_by_Sandro_Halank%E2%80%93073.jpg) Liam Kirk (2024) | |||
| Born |
3 January 2000 Maltby, England, UK | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Left wing | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| DEL team Former teams |
Eisbären Berlin Sheffield Steelers Tucson Roadrunners Jukurit HC Litvínov | ||
| National team |
 Great Britain | ||
| NHL draft |
189th overall, 2018 Arizona Coyotes | ||
| Playing career | 2016–present | ||
Internationally, Kirk has played for the British national team, helping them win promotion to the Elite Division at the 2018 IIHF World Championship Division I tournament, before playing an important role in the 2021 World Championship.
In June 2018, Kirk was drafted in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes, becoming the first player born and trained in England to be selected by an NHL team.[1]
Playing career
editSheffield Steelers
editGrowing up in Maltby, a small former mining town in South Yorkshire, Kirk first got into hockey when his parents and family went to watch the Sheffield Steelers. His brother Jonathan got into ice hockey and Kirk wanted to be like his brother, so he also started playing.[2]
Kirk began playing for the Sheffield Junior Academy. He was selected for the Midlands Conference – a team consisting of the best players from the Midlands region of the UK at U11, U13, U15 and U17 level – every year of eligibility, winning the EIHA Conference Tournament twice and being named a tournament all-star six times out of a possible eight, as well as being named tournament MVP three times.[citation needed]
Playing in the England U18 North League in the 2015–16 season, Kirk amassed a league-leading 98 points, with 60 goals and 38 assists. The same year, the U18 team from Sheffield won the league title. He was also selected for the Great Britain U16s.
Continuing his success as an U18, Kirk played in the EPL for the Sheffield Steeldogs (league now defunct) and was signed by the Sheffield Steelers on a three-year apprentice contract.[3]
Junior
editKirk was selected 189th overall (in the 7th Round) in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He became the first player born and trained in England to be drafted into the NHL. Kirk was selected 8th overall in the CHL Import Draft later in June and played for the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).[4]
European loan spells
editWith the 2020–21 OHL season not scheduled to begin until December 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kirk opted to remain in Europe initially signing a loan for Swedish Hockeyettan side Hanhals IF on a short-term deal on 17 October 2020.[5]
In February 2021, Kirk temporarily returned to the UK by signing on loan with NIHL side Sheffield Steeldogs ahead of their Spring Cup series.[6][7] In March 2021, Kirk was named as part of the Sheffield Steelers squad for the 2021 'Elite Series'.[8][9]
Arizona Coyotes
editOn 18 June 2021, Kirk signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Coyotes.[10] On 28 July 2021, the Coyotes officially announced Kirk was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the club, becoming the first English born and trained player to sign an NHL contract.[11][12]
He started the 2021–22 season in the AHL with the Coyotes' affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Kirk played in eight matches, scoring two goals and three points, before suffering a season-ending knee injury in November 2021.[13]
Returning to health for the 2022–23 season, Kirk continued his tenure in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners. Serving as a healthy scratch and featuring in just a solitary game with the Roadrunners, Kirk was re-assigned by the Coyotes to secondary affiliate, the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL. Kirk registered 5 goals and 11 points through 15 games with the Gladiators before accepting a loan assignment from the Coyotes to return to Europe in joining Finnish top flight club, Mikkelin Jukurit of the Liiga, for the remainder of the season on 29 December 2022.[14]
Return to Europe
editOn 6 September 2023, Kirk was placed on unconditional waivers by the Coyotes for the purposes of contract termination.[15] It was subsequently announced that Kirk signed with HC Litvínov in the Czech Extraliga.[16] Kirk had played previously as a left winger but found success as a goalscorer when moved to play as a center on Litvínov's third line. During the season Kirk would go on to play on the second and first lines, along with the team's powerplay unit. In the 2023 - 2024 playoffs, Kirk led Litvínov in both goals and points, taking them to the semi-finals for the first time since the 2014 - 2015 season. He ended the season breaking the record for most goals scored by a Litvínov player in the playoffs & eclipsed the top scorer in the playoffs over the last 3 years.
On 12 May 2024, Eisbären Berlin of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga announced that Kirk had signed a two-year contract with them. [17][18]
International play
editKirk has played for the British national team in several international tournaments at both the junior and senior level.
In the 2017–18 season, he played for the U18s, coming away with a gold medal. For the U20s, he collected a range of awards such as Best Forward, Most Points, Most Assists, Most Goals, as well as the Best Face-off Percentage (71.43%) and a bronze medal.
His senior debut came at the 2018 IIHF World Championship Division I, where he helped Great Britain earn promotion to the 2019 World Championship. It marked Great Britain's first appearance in the elite division since 1994. Kirk played five games, though he did not score a point.[19]
Two years later, Kirk starred for Great Britain at the 2021 IIHF World Championship - scoring his first senior points and going on to finish joint-top of the goalscoring charts with seven goals in seven matches.
Kirk, who finished with nine points to his name, also helped Great Britain to a first regulation time win at the elite level since 1962 with a 4-3 win over Belarus on 26 May 2021, and an overall team points tally of four. He was named in the all-star team for his performance.[20][21]
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2015–16 | Sheffield Steeldogs | EPIHL | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Sheffield Spartans | NIHL | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Sheffield Steelers | EIHL | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Sheffield Steeldogs | EPIHL | 38 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Sheffield Steelers | EIHL | 52 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 63 | 26 | 21 | 47 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 47 | 21 | 29 | 50 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Hanhals IF | Div.1 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Sheffield Steeldogs | NIHL | 12 | 21 | 11 | 32 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Sheffield Steelers | Elite Series | 14 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Tucson Roadrunners | AHL | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Tucson Roadrunners | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Atlanta Gladiators | ECHL | 15 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Jukurit | Liiga | 25 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | HC Litvínov | ELH | 52 | 19 | 11 | 30 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 4 | ||
| AHL totals | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Liiga totals | 25 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
edit| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Great Britain | WJC18-D2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2017 | Great Britain | WJC18-D2 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 6 | |
| 2017 | Great Britain | WJC-D1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2018 | Great Britain | WJC18-D2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Great Britain | WJC-D2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 6 | |
| 2018 | Great Britain | WC-D1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | Great Britain | WJC-D2 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 4 | |
| 2019 | Great Britain | WC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | Great Britain | WC | 7 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 4 | |
| 2023 | Great Britain | WC D1A | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 30 | 26 | 24 | 50 | 22 | |||
| Senior totals | 23 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 4 | |||
Awards and honours
edit| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| International | ||
| U18 IIHF WJC - D1A - Gold medal | 2018 | |
| WC All-Star Team | 2021 | |
References
edit- ^ "NHL draft: England's Liam Kirk picked by Arizona Coyotes". BBC Sport. 24 June 2018.
- ^ Morreale, Mike G. (25 June 2018). "Kirk hopes to make England proud in 2018 NHL Draft". NHL.com. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
- ^ "Cole Shudra and Liam Kirk Sign 3 Year Apprentice Contracts with the Steelers". sheffieldsteelers.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
- ^ "Coyotes prospect Liam Kirk commits to Petes". ontariohockeyleague.com. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
- ^ "Liam Kirk next new acquisition from OHL" (in Swedish). 17 October 2020. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "NIHL Spring Cup opening fixtures confirmed | British Ice Hockey". 7 February 2021.
- ^ "Kirk: I'm a different player now | British Ice Hockey". 8 February 2021.
- ^ "2021 Elite Series confirmed for April-May!". 21 August 2019.
- ^ "Teams confirm protected lists". EIHL. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "British player gets entry-level deal with Coyotes". 18 June 2021.
- ^ "Coyotes cross the pond to land Kirk". Arizona Coyotes. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ "Kirk Agrees Entry-Level NHL Contract with Arizona". Ihuk.co.uk. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ "Kirk: I Will Come Back Stronger Than Ever – Ihuk".
- ^ "Arizona Coyotes loan Liam Kirk to Mikkelin Jukurit of the Finnish Liiga". britishicehockey.co.uk. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Craig Morgan on Twitter". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- ^ "Craig Morgan on Twitter". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- ^ "Liam Kirk Joins German Champions Eisbären Berlin On Two-Year Deal". 12 May 2024.
- ^ "Liam Kirk wechselt zu den Eisbären". 12 May 2024.
- ^ "Liam Kirk at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com.
- ^ "GB grabs first win at World Championships". International Ice Hockey Federation. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ "Goal scoring Leaders". International Ice Hockey Federation. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
External links
editBiographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database