The 2021 IIHF Worlds Championships was an opportunity for Liam Kirk to showcase his talents.
The last fifteen months were a hammer blow to Kirk’s career as he fell by the wayside playing very little in the way of competitive hockey.
A six-week stint in the Swedish third tier https://wp.me/p2gDti-11h ended in December and since then Kirk has dominated the second tier of British hockey before competing in a contracted five-week elite league series held behind closed doors.
For a playing look to earn an NHL entry-level contract, these have been far from ideal circumstances.
As much as these World Championships presented an opportunity, they also marked a pivotal moment in Kirk’s career.
With his Canadian junior career officially curtailed due to age, Kirk has to turn fully professional and find himself a place to play for 2021-22.
There was interest before the tournament from the Swedish second-tier https://wp.me/p2gDti-17q but the NHL dream burns bright for the British forward.
An outstanding performance at a World Championships with scouts from every corner of the hockey world watching was required.
In game one of the tournament against Russia, Liam Kirk scored his first international goal at senior level.
His second goal arrived in the second game of the tournament against Slovakia.
Kirk would also showcase his skill, vision and skating ability in this play.
Kirk failed to register a point against Denmark but was a threat offensively, creating chances like this
Against Belarus, Kirk scored twice.
Even this weird goal against Sweden counted.
Kirk recorded his first assist of the tournament on the power play.
In perhaps his greatest individual moment, Kirk almost scored a highlight-reel goal against the Czech Republic.
The final game for Great Britain ended in a 6-3 loss to Switzerland. Kirk had a hand in all three goals.
Goal 1.
Goal 2.
Second assist of the tournament
A committed backcheck and solid defensive play followed by some creativity to set an odd-man rush in motion.
He finished the tournament as the joint leading goalscorer and ranked sixth in points.
No mean achievement for an unsigned forward, yet to play a full season of professional hockey, suiting up one of the lesser nations.
It’s not just the points and goals that were impressive, however.
Liam Kirk was excellent defensively, on many occasions a strong backcheck recovered possession and he looked the most at ease in the d-zone either settling down the play or clearing the puck if required.
Offensively Kirk was the straw that stirred the drink for Great Britain. Whether it was an outlet pass, a zone entry or cycling the puck in the opponent’s zone, Kirk more often than not created a scoring chance.
It was curious that the coaching staff opted not to play Kirk on the first power-play unit until the final game.
Having accrued just one power-play assist in the first six games, Kirk scored on the man advantage against Switzerland on the top unit.
Kirk is neither particularly tall nor has a body type that you would describe as that of a power forward. He is however very strong for his size, has excellent balance, can drift between players and avoid being hit.
His skating stood the test on the larger ice surface and he was the one Great Britain player who looked totally comfortable in a foot race or carrying the puck at top speed.
So surely now the Arizona Coyotes will sign their British starlet to an entry-level contract?
If had a dollar for every time someone tweeted or messaged me saying that I could pay my rent this month.
With all the evidence at hand, it seems as if the Coyotes are not interested in Kirk, for whatever reason.
Arizona did not help Kirk find playing time overseas during the pandemic. The Coyotes could easily have offered the left-winger a spot in the AHL or ECHL, or even assisted in finding a berth with a decent European team. Instead, he was left to fend for himself, relying on Aaron Fox to organise the Swedish third-tier opportunity for him and then playing in the UK.
Through these World Champions, Arizona has made no mention of their seventh-round pick from 2018 having success. That would seem odd, no?
Arizona could use good publicity after a string of bad PR including violating combine testing policy, the John Chayka saga and renouncing the rights to a draft pick with a history of racism and assault.
At this juncture, I would be stunned if the Coyotes offered the 21-year-old an ELC.
If Arizona were to renounce Kirk’s rights, he would be free to attend NHL camp if any of the other 31 teams offered him the opportunity.
As already mentioned, there has been interested from Europe and it emerged during the tournament that SC Bern of Switzerland was looking at Kirk.
The comments of Bern’s Hockey Operations Coordinator Raeto Raffainer made quite a stir and not for a good reason.
“Yes, we are watching him”, Raeto Raffainer is quoted by Watson’s Klaus Zaugg.
“But he will certainly be more expensive after this World Championship and he would only be considered as a fifth import at most for us anyway”, the Bears’ Chief Sports Officer states. As for the reason, Raffainer has this to say: “The risk is just too great that we will embarrass ourselves if we bring in a Brit as an import player.”
The full article can be found at the following link.
Now, the exact quote may be lost in translation but SC Bern has not retracted the words of Raffainer, which leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Kirk’s response was classy and a mark of the excellent young man he is.
What this does show is that it’s going to be tough for Kirk to break down the barrier of a top European club taking a punt of him as one of their imports.
European teams normally opt for proven performers at their level or above and not generally on players from lesser-known hockey markets. That of course, costs big money.
I disagree that Kirk’s value will have skyrocketed exponentially following the world championships and he still wouldn’t command the bigger fees of more experienced imports.
Certainly, it’s a risk for any European club to sign a 21-year-old player who is yet to play a full season of professional hockey as an import.
That being said, the upside, if Kirk performs, is huge and off the ice it would bring excellent publicity and coverage for any club bold enough to sign the GB forward.
It’s not being said enough but a young, Great Britain forward leading a World Championships in goals is momentous.
A nation who finished 14th overall and picked up four points thanks to a regulation win and OT loss.
The mark of a good forward is one that can drive the play and the former Peterborough Petes winger did just that.
He seized his moment to show the hockey world just what he’s capable of right now and gave a glimpse as to what the future might hold.
The immediate future is uncertain but now there will be plenty of possible options for Liam Kirk to choose from to make the next mark in his career.
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