Coventry's Best Import?

When one thinks of prolific scorers in the EIHL, there likely aren't many names that will pop into one's head thanks, in large part, to the lack of coverage of the league in North America. You may have heard about a guy named Tony Hand who played all over England throughout his career at various different levels, but Hand's career statistics show him scoring over 4000 points in his career while playing under the Union Jack flag. We're not here to celebrate Hand, though, as "Two-Point Tony" might be the only British player to ever play the game the way he did, but there's another guy who recently arrived in England who is putting up solid numbers with the Coventry Blaze to begin his EIHL career!

As you may recall, two weeks ago, I wrote about Tyler Kirkup's rather surprising departure from the ECHL's Reading Royals. It was hard to understand since Kirkup was productive in his limited ice-time, but the hockey world has never claimed to be fair or just.

It just so happens that Kirkup wasn't out of hockey long as he signed a deal with the EIHL's Coventry Blaze to skate for them for remainder of the season. In that linked article, I had mentioned, "I suspect Tyler will quickly become a fan favourite in Coventry due to his effort on the ice and his personality off it", and I'm pretty proud to say that the Coventry fans have embraced Tyler like one of their own thanks to his efforts on the ice in three games thus far!

Kirkup suited up for the first time on March 5, and one might say that the Blaze needed all the scoring they could find as Coventry visited the the EIHL-leading Belfast Giants. Coventry struck first quickly as they were up 1-0 just 47 seconds into the game before Tyler Kirkup introduced himself to the Irish crowd in the best way possible.
Kirkup's shot over the right pad and under the blocker of Tyler Beskorowany - a former AHL goalie - put the Blaze up 2-0 at 4:49 of the first period as they were off and running. Could they continue to hold the top team in the EIHL off the scoreboard?

That answer would be no as Belfast did score a power-play goal late in the first period to make it a 2-1 game, but the Blaze held that score through to the 12:54 mark of the second period when Kirkup doubled-down on his introduction to the Belfast legion in the stands!
Kirkup goes stick-side on Beskorowany once again to make it a 3-1 game in favour of Coventry, but that entire sequence is that hard work I described in Kirkup's game as he didn't give up on a play once the puck got by him. Instead, he stayed with his check, forced a turnover, and then skated himself into a scoring chance before denting twine for his second goal of the game.

Coventry went on to defeat Belfast by that 3-1 score, and I can hear you saying, "Teebz, it's one game." I'll tip my cap to you, but we're going to look at Kirkup's second game as the Coventry Blaze visited the second-place Guildford Flames. Kirkup didn't score any goals in this game, but he did factor in with a primary assist on Mitch Cook's goal at 4:58 of the third period after a bad turnover to put the Blaze up 2-1. Credit to the forecheck of which Kirkup was a part.
Kirkup wouldn't factor in on any other goals, but Coventry would earn the eventual 3-2 win as they captured their second win in a row. Two big wins over the top-two teams in the league put the Blaze back in the running for a chance to move up the standings, but they still had work to do to close the gap on fourth-place Sheffield ahead of them.

From there, the Blaze entered the country of Wales to play the third-place Cardiff Devils today. Having beaten the top-two teams in the EIHL in previous matches, the Blaze were riding a bit of a high as they visited Cardiff. One had to wonder if the could they keep the momentum rolling, but after going down 1-0, our man of the hour, Tyler Kirkup, scores at 14:39 of the first period off a long rebound from a JD Dudek shot to make it a 1-1 game.
Later, Kirkup picked up his first EIHL penalty at 2:49 of the second period when he was called for tripping at 2:49, and Cardiff made him pay for that indiscretion eight seconds later as they scored a power-play goal. The Blaze would tie it before the end of the period, but Cardiff went up 3-2 three minutes into the third period.

Undeterred in their efforts, the Blaze rallied back as a Mitch Cook slapshot somehow eluded Ben Bowns as Tyler Kirkup picked up the assist at 6:08 of the third period. Note Kirkup going to the net too!
The clock would count down to zeroes after that goal, and this game would need a period of free hockey to decide a winner. It would be the Blaze who emerged as that winner as they scored in extra time for the 4-3 overtime win on a goal described by the BBC with this line: "Brady Norrish broke Cardiff Devils hearts with an overtime winner for Coventry Blaze in the Welsh capital."

Five points in three games, twice named Man of the Match for the Blaze, and Kirkup even caught the attention of an artist known as "Badlydrawneihl" who, as his Twitter handle suggests, draws fairly bad pictures of EIHL players. Honestly, that's an incredible idea for marketing the EIHL and its players, so kudos to the artist behind the Twitter account. You're doing good work, sir!

All jokes aside, this past week in the EIHL might have been the best hockey that Tyler Kirkup has played to date in his professional career. Some will try to rain on this parade by saying something dumb like "oh, it's just the EIHL", but there have been lots of players who have suited up in the EIHL who haven't found this much success in one week. As stated before, Kirkup works his tail off, he's sound defensively, and he can score. The Blaze are benefitting from that as they have three wins in all three games Kirkup has played.

It doesn't seem to matter if broadcasters in the United Kingdom call him Kirkland, Kirkham, Kirkon, or Kirkup because all they seem to do is describe Tyler Kirkup scoring. While it would be nice if these non-Coventry broadcasters got his name right, he's certainly not going to let them forget his name if he keeps scoring like he has been through three games.

The Blaze host the ninth-place Fife Flyers on Sunday, so we might see Kirkup's numbers increase some more if the Blaze can play well against Fife. A regulation win would put them just three points back of Sheffield with the Steelers playing the second-place Guildford Flames! The playoff race is alive and kicking in Coventry!

Meanwhile, you can't spell important without "import", and Kirkup is proving to be an important player for the EIHL's Coventry Blaze.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!