Pakistani team taking small strides forward in Amerigol LATAM Cup

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- Donny Khan wasn’t certain he'd be able to pull it off.

Khan, NHL Senior Director of Hockey Development and Strategic Collaboration, attended the Amerigol LATAM Cup several times and dreamed of entering a team comprised of players of Pakistani heritage in the international tournament.

“Every year I come here I see this tournament growing," Khan said. "It used to be just South American teams, now there are teams from Lebanon and Israel, and I just thought, ‘Why not Pakistan?’

"I wasn’t sure we could find enough players of Pakistani descent that could play hockey, but I knew we wouldn’t know until I jumped in with both feet and try to see what we could find.”

Khan found 18 players who are wearing green and white and representing Pakistan at the 2024 LATAM Cup at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs and Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, the practice facility of the 2024 Stanley Cup champions.

The tournament features 52 men’s, women’s and youth teams and more than 1,100 players representing 17 countries and territories, including Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

Pakistan is winless in the tournament after a 6-5 loss to Mexico Lobos on Thursday and an 8-3 defeat to Chile in men’s Division III play on Wednesday.

But the players said they’ve accomplished something that transcends wins and losses by just being at the LATAM Cup.

“This is not just about us, it’s more about our country,” said Umar Khan, a Pakistani American from New York. “We never thought this would ever happen. I never thought I’d be in a locker room with all Pakistani players, representing our country. I never thought I’d see a Pakistani team in my lifetime.”

Umar Khan, a former NHL intern, helped Donny Khan (no relation) find players through word of mouth and scouring social media.

“I went looking through Elite Prospects, grabbed everyone I could who had the last name of him (Donny Khan) and me,” Umar Khan said. “We did what we had to do and made a team some way somehow.”

Team Pakistan could be called “Team Khan.” Seven of the players have the same surname.

There's Donny and his 14-year-old son, Colton, the team’s only goalie; Umar and his brother, Siddiq, are forwards; Zaakir is a defenseman for George Mason University’s American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I team in Virginia; Tariq, an Airdrie, Alberta, native who was a forward for Great Falls of the North American 3 Hockey League last season; and Rohail, a forward.

“I got an Instagram message from Rohail," Zaakir Khan said. "He texted me and said, ‘Yo, are you a Pakistan descendant?’ I said ‘I am.’ He said there was a team forming so he sent me an email, I hopped on a phone call with Donny and I was psyched about it.

“My father always taught me to be very passionate about my heritage. Just being able to represent my father’s country, my grandfather, who came from Lahore (Pakistan) in the 1940s, and just to represent them and put it in the game that I love, I was ecstatic about it.”

So was forward Saem Iftikhar, a Lahore native whose hockey career now spans five games. He recently started playing club hockey for City College in New York.

“Three games at City College and now I’m representing my country,” he said. “This has been ridiculous. Ever since I got into hockey, I’ve been dreaming about bringing it back to Pakistan. I look around and I see Pakistani heritage players. This is a dream come true. I think it’s the first step in a much larger operation.”

Donny Khan said Pakistan’s LATAM Cup debut won’t be a one-off; he and the other players already are talking about returning with another men’s team, and a women’s team.

“We're actually in conversations right now with the Winter Sports Federation of Pakistan," he said. "We have their official blessing. We're trying to fully establish ourselves as a club and part of the sports federation of Pakistan.

“The long-term goal is that we inspire people in Pakistan and eventually have a team Pakistan in the Asia Winter Games and one day, God willing, in the Winter Olympics.”