North Americans make Korea men’s Olympic hockey team unified

Mike Testwuide is playing at the Olympics for a country he couldn’t find on a map. As a kid in Vail, Colorado, Testwuide dreamed of playing college hockey and reaching the NHL. He accomplished that, and then a funny thing happened: His path took him to the Asian League and now the spotlight of the biggest moment in host South Korea’s brief hockey history. “You don’t even really know this country exists when you’re young,” Testwuide said. “The hockey world, it’s a crazy journey and it can lead you to do pretty crazy things and pretty amazing things, and that’s the journey we’re on right now. I couldn’t have imagined it, but I’m really happy I’m living it.” Testwuide isn’t living it alone. He’s one of seven North American-born players on the Korean national team along with Canadians Matt Dalton, Alex Plante, Bryan Young, Eric Regan, Brock Radunske and Michael Swift — all now dual citizens who feel as comfortable wearing “KOREA” on their chests as they do any other uniform. It felt normal for Regan in just two weeks. “At first you’re a Canadian guy hoping to play in the Olympics and you put on the Team Korea jersey for the first time as only a Canadian citizen, it’s a little weird,” Regan said. “Growing up in Canada, cheering for the Maple Leaf and then after the first tournament, I was really comfortable with it. I’ve played with all these guys.” At the same Olympics where the Korean women’s team includes players from both North and South, the men’s team is a mix of North Americans and South Koreans. But these players have been together for years and developed a bond that blurred nationalities. “There’s 25 Korean players,” said coach Jim Paek, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, and spent much of his life in North America. “It’s not North Americans or Koreans or anything else. We’ve got 25 hockey players that play for the Korean national team.”