Maltby is a small town in South Yorkshire, just outside Rotherham and about ten miles from Sheffield. Up until now, it’s most famous for British children’s entertainers the Chuckle Brothers, and cricketer Fred Trueman. Soon, however, it could be known as the birthplace of a hockey trailblazer.
Liam Kirk is a 6’2, 187lb forward for the Sheffield Steelers in the UK Elite Ice Hockey League. He scored 9 goals and 7 assists in 52 games last season. These aren’t numbers that would normally make most scouts in the NHL look at him twice on tape, never mind make the trip across the Atlantic to watch a British kid play in a league traditionally considered a backwater of world hockey.