Pakistan men, women enjoy 'amazing day' at LATAM Cup

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- Donny Khan had a timeline for the Pakistan men's and women's hockey teams he helped formed to become successful at the Amerigol LATAM Cup and other tournaments.

"I thought we'd be winning several years from now," said Khan, who is the NHL's senior director of hockey development and strategic collaboration. "I didn't think we'd be doing this in Year 2."

Pakistan's men defeated Peru 6-1 to win the Division III championship of the LATAM Cup on Wednesday. They were undefeated (5 -0) in tournament play and the playoffs after winning only one game last year, when they participated in the LATAM Cup for the first time.

The women's team won the Division II bronze medal in its LATAM Cup debut.

"You can't do better than this first gold, first cup," said Kameron Sabir, an Edmonton physician who coached the men's team. "It's just an amazing day for the country and ice hockey. The women did such an amazing job too. Tremendous (performance) for their first tournament. They had only 10-12 players, so hats off to them."

Mariya Rauf, who coached Pakistan's women, clutched a cricket bat given to her by her players and smiled while watching the men celebrate their victory against Peru.

"Cricket is our national sport," said Rauf, a junior forward on Yale University's NCAA Division I women's hockey team. "But I think after this, it just shows hockey's growing very single day. This shows that there's talent and that we're just going to keep getting better."

For Peru's men, the sting of defeat was somewhat eased knowing they reached the championship game in their first LATAM Cup appearance.

"First time Peru has an ice hockey team ever," captain Christian Clement said. "Our goalie is from Lima, Peru; it was his first time playing in an ice tournament. He's a roller hockey goalie. We play roller hockey in Peru. We're pushing hard to play both games, roller and ice. This is how we grow the game in Peru."

This year's LATAM Cup features 62 women's, men's and youth teams (with four more exhibition teams) and more than 1,450 players representing 17 countries and territories, including Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico. The tournament got underway Sunday and continues through Aug. 24.

Click here to read article