Liam Kirk keen to make up for lost time when he returns to AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners

The 22-year-old winger - who made history when he became the first English-born player to be drafted in the NHL back in 2018 - sat out the majority of his first season at Tucson after suffering a serious knee injury just eight games in.

The injury was all the more ill-timed with the former Sheffield Steelers and Sheffield Steeldogs’ forward having started so brightly for his new team, putting together a string of consistently promising performances while scoring two goals and an assist.

Kirk chose to undergo his rehabilitation with Tucson - the second-tier affiliate to the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, the team who made Kirk a seventh-round pick four years ago - and, bar a brief trip back home in February when he got engaged to his childhood girlfriend ????, only returned to the UK for an extended stay last month.

Having finally got back on the ice in May in Tucson and then Phoenix, Kirk has continued his recovery back on familiar ice at Ice Sheffield, his eye firmly set on the prize of being in the Roadrunners line-up again once the 2022-23 campaign gets underway.

“It’s been a long process and journey,” said Kirk in an interview with the Roadrunners’ podcast. “I got back on the ice just over a month ago, just before the season ended, I was skating in Tucson and for a few weeks after the season ended, I was skating up in Phoenix, just to make sure I was in a good place to go home and do some more training at home.

“I plan on coming back in mid-July to do some summer training in Phoenix - to be ready to go for opening night and hopefully get a full season under my belt.”

While the past eight months have no doubt brought many frustrations for Kirk, it was his decision to remain in Arizona for his rehab, determined to remain around the Roadrunners, building up relationships with his team-mates and members of the organisation.

“When you get injured like that, you get the full choice of where to do rehab and for me it was important to be around the team and the environment, getting to know the guys on a more personal level and same with all the staff,” he added.

“Now I know the area a bit more as well, so it won’t be a huge adjustment that I have to go through and I can just focus on playing and getting off to a good start in the season and hopefully a good, successful long season.”

Despite his debut pro season being cut so drastically short, Kirk found plenty to enjoy about his first year in Tucson, not least the relentless challenge of proving he belonged among his team-mates, many of who are pursuing the same dream of playing in the NHL as himself.

“The standard is just so high,” he added. “There’s so much expectation and you put that on yourself as well - after all it’s a level below the NHL. There’s so much opportunity. You just want to make sure that you come in every night and play the right way.

“Everyone else is doing the exact same thing so the competition level is just so high. And so you compete in practice every day and every game the switch is on and I just love that challenge - it just motivates me more to reach my goals.

“And especially when you’re on a team like Tucson and you have so many great prospects. The team chemistry was just so good and we gelled together so well, it just makes it fun to come to the rink every day.

“You come and you’re competing and battling with each other but, at the end of the day, you get to go enjoy a coffee in the sun. It’s been a really good yea

“Obviously I’ve not been playing as much as I would have liked with the injury, but it’s still been a really good year for me. I can’t wait to get back and get some more time in Tucson and just be with the guys again.”