ONE PLAYER AT A TIME
All of this work culminated in arguably the country’s most significant hockey advancement in history.
THE ‘MIRACLE IN KYIV’
In April, the 23rd ranked South Korean men, underdogs at the IIHF Championship Division I Group A tournament in Ukraine, shocked the hockey world by beating all but one team it faced, including No. 16 seed Kazakhstan and No. 19 seed Hungary.
The team’s 4-1 record and second-place finish was enough to promote it to the IIHF’s World Championship — the only Asian team that will compete against the world’s best in 2018. Local media were calling it the “miracle in Kyiv.”
“To get where we want to go, going to the top division is part of the process,” said Paek. “We worked extremely hard to keep on the path to the Olympics.”
On the women’s side, there’s energetic head coach Sarah Murray, a Brandon, Man., native and former player for the Minnesota — Duluth Bulldogs women’s university hockey program.
The Korean women, like the men, have shot to an IIHF ranking unprecedented in the country’s history. Once a perennial pushover, in just five short years the women’s team has jumped seven spots to No. 21, pocketing several historic wins along the way.
Murray, the daughter of former NHL coach Andy Murray, moved to Korea in October 2014. Her hiring was sudden. Paek told Andy he was searching for a women’s coach, but didn’t have a whole lot of connections to tap.
As Murray was home eating, her father came in and said she was going to interview to be the coach of the Korean women’s national team that day. Taken aback, she showered and met Paek an hour later.
Murray got the job, and flew out to Korea almost immediately.
“I couldn’t believe it. It happened so fast,” said Murray.
LACKING ‘GAME-READY ABILITY’
When Murray arrived, similar to Paek, she mapped out a fouryear plan. She found all her players could skate and shoot well, but they lacked game sense and “gamereading ability ” because the country had few female players, and so were low on teams and playing time. During practice drills, the women were bang on. But in a game scenario, they struggled with decision-making under pressure.
Her master plan was to get them playing the game as much as possible. Now every year, the team attends two training camps in North America for several weeks at a time, playing every other day.
The best gauge of the team’s progress is an annual camp against Shattuck-St. Mary’s, an elite boarding school in Minnesota that has been called the “Hogwarts of Hockey.”
“The first year we went, we lost 14-0, and then the second year we lost 7-0. And then this year we went and we beat them,” said Murray.
All of this extra playing time led to the team’s biggest victories yet. First, in February at the Asian Winter Games tournament, Korea — which had been winless in seven previous Games, and outscored 242-2 in 15 contests — finished round-robin play with a historic three wins and two losses, including a 20-0 routing of Thailand.
Then in the weeklong IIHF Division II Group A championship in April — recall the game against North Korea — the South Korean women swept all five teams they played, on the back of a strong power play and improved conditioning. The resounding championship victory earned them a promotion for 2018 to Division I Group B, the third-highest level of women’s competition, and the farthest the country has ever gone in international women’s play.
“The championship was a major boost to the collective confidence of the team that used to routinely lose by double digits,” crowed one local media report.
Now, one of the biggest hurdles the team faces remains mental.
“We’ve been talking to the girls a lot about mental preparation because our team is so young and consistency has been one of our major issues,” said Murray.
Playing in front of your friends and family is one thing, she said — playing in front of 10,000 roaring home fans on the Olympic stage is another.
DISAPPOINTMENT
Local hockey officials and players believe Korea is serious about hockey. That’s what makes the NHL’s Olympic decision sting.
“It’s obviously disappointing,” said goalie Dalton of Anyang Halla. “I don’t know if people here realize how big of a deal it is, but I don’t think it’s good for the game of hockey in general.
“Everyone’s still going to have good teams ... but it’s part of the attraction for us to come (and get dual citizenship), was to play the highest stage in the world.”
Regan of Anyang Halla said he understood the NHL’s decision as a business one, but he had hoped to see the players up close.
“I think the NHL hasn’t tried to hide the fact that they want to go to Beijing and try to grow the game in China. It’s too bad.”
In March, the NHL announced a milestone in East Asia: the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings would play the league’s first-ever pre-season games in China later this month. Bettman called the games a “formal launch” of what the league hopes will be a “long and successful collaboration” between China and the NHL.
“We recognize the importance of helping China build a strong national hockey program and are committed to supporting that priority in every way possible,” he said.
But some in Korea, looking at the stats, feel slighted by the NHL’s strict focus on China.
Consider, again, the number of registered South Korean hockey players. The small total of 2,500 is actually a sizable jump when one bears in mind that 711 players have joined within the past six years.
In fact, China — the NHL’s sweetheart for growth in Asia — only had 1,101 registered players in 2016, and that’s with 26 times more people than Korea’s population of 49 million.
“We are way better than the Chinese ice hockey team, as proven in the previous game,” said Kim, referring to South Korea’s 10-0 shellacking of China, ranked No. 37 in the world, at the Asian Winter Games men’s hockey tournament in February.
“The reason why the NHL made a decision not to participate in PyeongChang is because they misanalyzed or miscalculated the growth potential in Korea, so it’s kind of unfortunate.”
For now, Kim and KIHA have to focus on what they can control.
One is growing the country’s grassroots ranks. KIHA has funnelled some of its cash into several youth hockey programs, plus a “Jim Paek Hockey School,” a more rigorous coaching and referee strategy, and the construction of a new training facility.
However, perhaps the biggest key to hockey success in Korea is finding a bona fide superstar who can skyrocket the sport’s popularity.
The country has seen it happen at least twice before.
The 16-year career of Park Chanho — the first ever South Koreanborn player in the MLB, and the winningest Asian-born pitcher in its history — introduced MLB baseball into the homes of Koreans across the country, influencing a generation of young talent who would later grow to become stars in the Korean league.
Similarly, Korea caught soccer fever in the early 2000s with the rise of a young Park Ji-sung, one of the most decorated Asian footballers in history. The midfielder captured trophies both at home and overseas with Manchester United, and his legacy is still felt in the country today, with a charitable football foundation, youth academy and commercial influence among the millions who tuned in to watch him.
“If we have a star player in hockey like in baseball or soccer, then people will pay more attention,” said Kim. “But in order to attract more public attention, the first thing is that the Korean national team has to perform really well. It will naturally lead to growth.”
Does Korea have a Park Ji-sung of hockey in-the-making, then?
“I haven’t found him yet,” Kim said.
BEYOND THE GAMES
When considering the last several years, likely nobody would dispute the sweeping changes Korea’s hockey programs have seen — changes not possible without the Olympics.
“For the first time in history, Korea is playing in the top division of the IIHF World Championship,” said Harald Springfeld, ice hockey adviser for the PyeongChang Organizing Committee. “One hundred per cent, this would not have been the case in a short period of time (without the Olympics).”
But amid the optimism about the sport’s progress, there remain those concerned about the future of the country’s small program once the Olympics leave town. Will it receive the same sort of attention without the world’s eyes trained on it?
Kim insists this is just the start for hockey. The Games are simply the catalyst.
“The Olympics are not the end goal,” he said. “It’s the beginning of a long journey in promoting this sport.”
At least one Canadian-Korean dual citizen hockey player said he would consider staying, once the Games are over.
“I think that was the fear of the country, that once we get our passport, we’re all going to chuck them in the river and be done (postOlympics),” said Alex Plante, a defenceman with Anyang Halla. “For my case, unless my body no longer wills it, I want to continue to play and be part of the organization here.
“They treat us really well and treat my family unbelievably well,” said Plante, whose car and apartment are both taken care of, and whose pay is better than what he made playing in Europe.
The main post-Olympics problem Korea’s hockey association will face, according to Springfeld, is its programs maintaining the same level of quality they provide now.
“After the Olympics, the national association has to think, can we provide the same level of environment — the coaching staff and the national team camps? If they can’t, they will not further develop, and the other countries don’t sleep.”
Having the “necessary financial background,” Springfeld said, is “probably the biggest challenge they are now confronted with.” Some money for future hockey programs would likely come from the government, Springfeld said, but most if it would need to come from the private sector.
For now, members in the hockey community are treating successes such as the South-North Korea women’s game — or the rapid rise of their two national teams, or the roots just beginning to grow in the country’s youth programs — not as blips on the radar, but as ground zero for something much larger.
Danelle Im, a 24-year-old Toronto native who was offered Korean citizenship to play on the women’s national team, was in awe of the rowdy crowd that showed up to watch her South Korean team win against their northern counterparts in April.
South Korea trounced North Korea 3-0, the team’s strength and speed largely unmatched throughout the game. The Hockey Song by Stompin’ Tom Connors played near the end of the night, over a wave of Koreans brandishing flags and pounding noise makers.
“I’ve never played in front of a crowd that big and it was pretty amazing overall ... sharing the game of hockey together on the ice was pretty special,” Im said.
“To see that many people out watching definitely made me very surprised and encouraged. How we are presently will influence how the game will grow. If we focus on now, with that spirit, and jump onto the sport, there’s always potential for growth.”