You may have heard of Jamaican bobsledders, but Pakistani ice hockey players? For a country known mostly for its passion for cricket, and falls from grace in field hockey and squash, the country’s men’s team made headlines for winning the Div. III of the 2025 Amerigol LATAM Cup [https://www.amerigolhockey.com/], a competition reserved for non-traditional ice hockey nations. The tournament, which is supported by the NHL, NHLPA and the Florida Panthers, featured 62 teams and more than 1,450 players from 17 countries and territories [https://www.nhl.com/news/color-of-hockey-2025-amerigol-latam-cup-preview], including Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, and of course, Pakistan. The men’s team went undefeated, winning all five of their games after winning just once in last year’s tournament. This year’s edition of the LATAM Cup also saw the debut of the nation’s women’s team, which walked away with the bronze medal in Div. II. The team was assembled by Adnan 'Donny' Khan, who is the senior director of hockey development & strategic collaboration at the NHL. “I’ve been thinking of starting a team from Pakistan,” Khan said. “Last year, I decided to do it… so I found Zaakir (Khan), who found Tariq (Khan, no relation), and both recruited players and also carried the team on their backs in the tournament, which is why they were named co-captains going into this year.” While having a hockey team comprising entirely of players of Pakistani origin did not just seem like a pipe dream, it came to a point where Khan had to turn away players because they just had too many. “In the beginning, we were content with taking anyone of Pakistani descent with a pulse who could skate,” joked Khan. “But as word got out about just the fact that there was a Pakistani team, more and more people started showing up.” The team is coached by Edmonton-based physician Kameron Sabir, who boasts a championship-winning pedigree while captaining the CCRHL’s Edmonton Hawks. “I sent a few emails to Pakistan Ice Hockey if I could help them in any way,” said Sabir. “When I got a call from Zaakir and Donny, telling me there was a coaching opportunity, and I’ve never coached before, but I just had to take it because I just love hockey so much, and you never say 'no' to representing your own country.” One of the co-captains, Tariq Khan, was quite instrumental in the team’s triumph, scoring 11 points in the side’s five games. The Alberta-based forward is the all-time highest scorer in the country’s ice hockey history, with 23 points in 13 games, according to eliteprospects.com [https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/41740/pakistan?tab=stats]. “It’s an honor,” said Tariq Khan. “We are literally making history, and people are going to learn and read about this and inspire their kids, so to be able have that spot right now, it means a lot individually to me, but on the flip side, it’s just amazing to be inspirational to people coming into this.” Pakistan Ice Hockey's men's team poses for a photo. (Courtesy of Pakistan Ice Hockey) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/5ab15214-b65b-42f0-8c51-1d66681fd3cc.webp] Pakistan Ice Hockey's men's team poses for a photo. (Courtesy of Pakistan Ice Hockey) As in any other hockey tournament, fisticuffs were bound to happen. In their third game against Peru on Aug. 18, a video went viral on X [https://x.com/TaahaaLone/status/1957518136544227422] where the other captain, Zaakir Khan, was involved in a multi-man scuffle with Peru’s Jacob Hepburn. Ultimately, Khan and Hepburn were ejected along with two other Pakistani and another Peruvian player. “What I call us is a family,” explained Zaakir Khan. “We love each other so much. When I saw (Hepburn) run our goalie, who was Donny’s son, I just had to stick up for him. That’s what you do in hockey, and that’s what you do for your family.” Both players would call a truce after the game. “We both talked it out post-game, and he apologized and I apologized, and it’s all water under the bridge,” Zaakir Khan said. Ironically, both teams would clash in the championship game two days later [https://x.com/taimoor_ze/status/1958583055070974192] on Aug. 20 with Zaakir and Hepburn hitting the ice. The success has made the team an overnight sensation not just in the hockey world but also in the Pakistani community. The Pakistani ambassador to the United States invited several members of the team to a Pakistan Day event in Edison, N.J. The team will also be invited to the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, D.C., when the prime minister of Pakistan makes his arrival. Kamran Khan Tessori, the governor of Pakistan’s province of Sindh, also reached out and congratulated the men for their achievement. The team is currently working with the Winter Sports Federation of Pakistan to help build hockey development structure in the South Asian nation, and it's in talks about running hockey clinics with some of the team’s players in the northern areas of the country around January and February. As far as future plans go for the team, they will compete together next in the Dream Nations Cup in New Jersey in May 2026. “Last year, I think we took bronze, so this time around, we’re hoping for the gold,” says Zaakir Khan. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
