PAEK STILL IN PROCESS OF BUILDING HOCKEY CULTURE IN SOUTH KOREA
Trust the Process.
Ah, the three-word slogan synonymous with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the gigantean rebuild former general manager Sam Hinkie embarked upon in 2013.
The Process is a scorched earth take on roster construction that disregards winning in the early stages. As a polarizing plan of attack, it has its supporters and detractors.
In 2014, Jim Paek began his own multi-year Process as head honcho of the South Korean national men’s hockey program. Paek, the first Korean to play in the NHL, left a relatively cushy coaching gig in the AHL to pursue the remarkable goal of icing a competitive squad for the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.
In most ways, Paek’s Process is unlike Hinkie’s Process. But, in stubbornly sticking to a plan and its design, the 50-year-old ex-defenceman has taken a page out of the basketball exec’s playbook.
“The good thing is, we’ve had four years to find our way. In the beginning, you have a plan and you try to follow the plan as best as possible and in short segments. That’s the Process,” Paek said by phone earlier this week, speaking from Vancouver, where he presented on Friday at the TeamSnap Hockey Coaches Conference.
South Korea, with a population of 44 million, has gradually climbed the IIHF’s rankings in the three years since Paek took over as both national team coach and director of hockey for the Korea Ice Hockey Association.
Finding a core group of players, insulating their development with quality support coaches — including Richard Park, another famous former NHLer with Korean blood — and beating a drum of optimism, hard work and structure has bred progress along the way. Taking baby steps has helped Team Korea avoid feeling overwhelmed.
“Start from the beginning, don’t assume anything and find that path. Continue on that path, the plan you have,” Paek said of his initial line of thinking. “And the fortunate part is, a lot of things fell into place. What we talked about at that point of the Process came out smelling like roses.”
Thanks to a second-place finish at the Ukraine-based 2017 Division I Group A world championships in April, Paek and company will enter the 2018 season ranked 18th in the world. Just seven years ago, Korea — which now counts just 2,000 total registered hockey players, including only about 100 who compete professionally — sat a lowly 33rd on the 2010 rankings.
The Olympic host has earned a promotion to the sport’s highest division in an Olympic year and can rightfully claim to be Asia’s top hockey country. Next February’s Winter Games, or the “carrot at the end of the rainbow” that helped recruit better players, is starting to come into focus.
“The biggest challenge was changing the mentality, changing the culture, giving them structure,” said Paek, who was born in Seoul but moved to Toronto as a baby. “They’ve been so used to playing as individuals in a team sport.”
Paek played 217 NHL games for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators, winning two Stanley Cups with the early-1990s Penguins. Optimism and a willingness to learn, to buy into the teachings of Paek and Park is a quality Team Korea players share.
“My guys are like sponges, they absorb everything,” Paek said of the assorted roster, which includes a few imported Canadians playing pro in Asia. “If they hate coming to the rink, we’re dead in the water.”
At this point, Paek could probably teach a master’s class on patience and stick-to-itiveness.
“You can’t survive against elite teams if you have no structure,” he added.
“We don’t have any Sidney Crosbys, (Evgeni) Malkins, (Connor) McDavids to put us over the top. The more we work as a team and the more we work within the structure, the more success we will have.”
Calgary Flames bench boss Glen Gulutzan, another presenter at this weekend’s Vancouver coaches gathering, compares Paek’s Korean journey to an NCAA program turnaround.
“When you look at those fouryear builds, they can be very rewarding,” Gulutzan said. “You really put your stamp on things. It’s more than just one year, you’re building over four years. It’s almost like a college coach rebuilding a program. There’s a ton of work that goes into that, but also a ton of reward if you’re seeing the growth in your program.”
Canada, Switzerland and the Czech Republic are Korea’s round robin foes in PyeongChang. Even without NHLers participating, stealing an Olympic win will be mighty difficult. No task too tall, though, right?
“Our happy result would be to win everything,” Paek said. “That is what we’re playing for. We’re preparing to beat Canada. If we don’t beat them, so be it, but that’s what we prepare for. We don’t prepare to lose. Why even play the game?”
After all, the Process — whether it’s Hinkie and the NBA or Paek and international hockey — must bear fruit eventually.
The biggest challenge was changing the mentality, changing the culture, giving them structure. They’ve been so used to playing as individuals in a team sport.