Great Britain forward Liam Kirk was a special guest at #nationals19 on Saturday, a contest he’s skated in countless times before while a member of Sheffield’s junior set up.
Kirk took time to pose for photos and sign autographs for fans at Ice Sheffield, and also dropped the puck for Manchester v Peterborough Under 11s.
The 19-year-old from Maltby has enjoyed a whirlwind 18 months with IIHF medals at u18 and u20 last year before Great Britain’s dramatic success in Budapest to qualify for the top flight of the World Championship.
Kirk was then of course drafted by Arizona Coyotes of the NHL and selected by Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey League, where he spent this past season.
Most recently of course he was part of Great Britain’s squad that held on to its World Championship status with a come-from-behind overtime win against France last Monday.
This afternoon Kirk has donated the stick he used in the Great Britain v Canada game, signed by himself, to the EIHA JLMC to raise funds for DKMS supporting their fight against blood cancers and blood disorders. The cause was brought to the forefront of the hockey family following the recent diagnosis of on-ice official Haris Hussain – a friend of Liam Kirk.
The JLMC are auctioning the stick with bids to be submitted via email to media@eiha.co.uk with the bidder’s name, bid amount and a contact telephone number.
The highest bid at 3pm on Monday 27th May will win the auction.
We will update our social media with the current highest bids regularly across the next two days until the bidding closes.
JLMC chair Charles Dacres said: “We all watched Great Britain’s world championship campaign and were delighted with their success against France.
“The national team is the pinnacle of the development pathway and for our young players to see GB perform at the highest level gives them something to aim for.
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to Liam Kirk for coming along to support the event and for him to donate his game-used stick to help our charity fundraising is a fantastic gesture.
“Liam came through the junior club at Sheffield and played at Nationals, Conference, England and GB and he is a true role model for all of our young players here this weekend.”
