Liam Kirk is the 19-year-old who could put British hockey on the map

[doniceage]

GROWING UP IN Maltby, England, Liam Kirk dreamed of playing for the Sheffield Steelers, the local professional hockey team.

Though there were a few rinks nearby, ice time for hockey teams was scarce. Kirk's junior team played only 19 games a season and trained just once a week. He often practiced outside his house with rollerblades. At 17, Kirk made the Steelers and began playing among grown men. The forward was tall and thin but had soft hands and a quick release, and international scouts took notice. That's when Kirk realized there was an even bigger hockey world out of his purview. "Everything after that is kind of a whirlwind," Kirk says. "My new dream was to make the NHL."

Last June, Kirk was selected by the Arizona Coyotes, in the seventh round, to become the first English-born-and-trained player to be drafted into the NHL. At 5 a.m. the day after being drafted, Kirk was on a plane to Phoenix to participate in the Coyotes' development camp. He spent this past fall living with a billet family in Peterborough, Ontario, as he played for the Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, one of the top junior leagues in North America where he could compete with some of the best players in his age group.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/2...ish-hockey-map

[craigswain]

Big news over here when he was selected, I'll be watching to see how he performs in the World Championships...

Already noticed his card prices slipping up on eBay, lol

[doniceage]

Big news over here when he was selected, I'll be watching to see how he performs in the World Championships...

Already noticed his card prices slipping up on eBay, lol

Feel free to share the news when it happens!

Don

[Devlin]

If he's on the national team, he hasn't done a thing.

How'd he do while in juniors here?

[craigswain]

The national team in general hasn't done a thing, I feel bad for them when watching, lol.

He done pretty decent in juniors apparently: http://ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/team_players/63/6

[Devlin]

Not too bad, especially for someone with little experience against good competition.

Being a 7th rounder, will be tough and probably is a marginal prospect.

Probably go to Europe and get some experience.

[craigswain]

Guess we'll see how his game develops!

He's done well by just getting noticed to be honest. Hockey really is a minority sport over here and it certainly shows... My son plays and only gets 1 hour training on a Saturday, 1 drop-in session mid-week, ZERO off-ice training and ZERO strength and conditioning. Most clubs don't get the mid-week drop in hockey, just the 1 hour training session.

[Devlin]

Not much ice time, thats for sure, makes it tough to skate.

Probably not many, if any, ponds that freeze over.

How did you get interested in the game?

[doniceage]

@craigswain

Thanks for sharing!

Don

[craigswain]

Not much ice time, thats for sure, makes it tough to skate.

Probably not many, if any, ponds that freeze over.

How did you get interested in the game?

Any ponds that freeze over certainly ain't safe to skate, lol, not as cold here in Scotland as it used to be!

I was one of the lucky kids, grew up during the 90's when everyone had roller blades (inline skates). I played roller hockey and street hockey so naturally ice hockey was the route I took. We had more training options back then due to the popularity of inline/roller hockey, better numbers interested in the sport and a good ice arena. Local ice arena closed, adult life took over, moved away, got a job, had kids... Now it's their turn to enjoy the sport, even if it is just an hour or two a week :)

But aye, any British born and trained player who gets on the NHL radar has achieved something. Another name that might interest anyone curious about British hockey is Tony Hand, he wasn't too bad back in the day!