Stops in Tucson, Atlanta, Mikkeli, Litvínov and Berlin are hardly the archetypal hockey arc for a professional player looking to make their way.
Liam Kirk’s career has not been short of hurdles to this point and in truth, he only got himself back on track last season following a turbulent time with the Arizona organisation.
Kirk was an immense signing by Litvínov last year as he filled many roles en route to helping the club to a strong regular season record and a playoff run which just fell short.
Interest across Europe was high in acquiring the British forward’s signature, including Litvínov.
It was somewhat of a surprise that the high-class winger opted to sign in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) but the club in question has some key plus points as I mention here: https://wp.me/p2gDti-1CO
Eisbären Berlin are current DEL champions, looking to win back-to-back titles since they accomplished the feat in 2021-2022.
It’ll be a convoluted start to Kirk’s time in the DEL with national duty interrupting the pre-season. He’ll likely dress for Berlin’s game against Lausitzer Füchse but will miss the games against Karpat Oulu and familiar opponent Motor Cesk Budejovice.
International duty will lead to Kirk being away from August 26 – September 01, only returning a few days before his first competitive action for Berlin.
Four Champions Hockey League fixtures in eleven days include a tough start on the road with visits toVaxjo Lakers and Unia Oświęcim.
The Polar Bears will be keen to make their mark in the CHL having struggled in the competition to this point. In all but one campaign the team has recorded a losing record through the Group Stage.
On the lone occasion, Berlin progressed to the Round of 16, they were unceremoniously dumped out of the competition by Skellefteå AIK (3-7 aggregate).
It’s certainly not an easy group for the German outfit to progress out of with home ties against HC Dynamo Pardubice and HC Sparta Prague, followed by a visit to HC Fribourg-Gottron before entertaining Snderjyske Vojens in the final game.
As ever, expectations will be sky-high for Berlin and nothing less than a DEL championship success will suffice.
Management has kept the team’s core intact with goaltending and defence almost identical to last season bar a change of imports.
It’s a relatively similar story at the forward position, with the loss of two imports and a pair of German natives. Imports Zach Boychuck, Blaine Byron, Ty Ronning and Yannick Velliuex have been retained, with Gabriel Fontaine (AHL/Liiga) added this season.
Liam Kirk is undoubtedly Berlin’s blue-chip signing during the summer and the club will be counting on him to provide an offensive boost, especially in the goals column.
If healthy, Berlin has at least three excellent forward lines. My preference for Kirk would be to play left wing on a line led by Marcel Noebels with Leo Pföderl on the right wing.
Liam Kirk’s thoughts on the start of the season (Google Translate from https://x.com/eisbaerlin/status/1823103195264037168)
“I’ve only seen a few highlights from the DEL. There are more import players in the league, mostly North American. The game is more physical. It’s a really good league! The Eisbären are a top organization.
Dynamo Pardubice is a really good team, they were in first place (last year), I’m looking forward to playing against them again in the CHL. I had the chance to play against them back then in the Czech league.
I hope I will score a lot of goals for the Eisbären and of course I want to help the team win the championship, that is my goal.”
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