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Jim Paek played in Pittsburgh, coached in South Korea, but calls Nottingham ‘home’

29 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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2018 Winter Olympics, Beijing, Grand Rapid Griffins, Jim Paek, Nottingham Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins., PyeongChang

Jim Paek won two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh, coached for his native South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, and helped develop players for the Detroit Red Wings farm team in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But the retired National Hockey League defenseman recently called Nottingham, England, “home.”

Paek and his family spent the Christmas holiday in Nottingham, the place where he closed out his professional playing career with the Nottingham Panthers in the early 2000s.

The Panthers, now a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League, honored Paek on December 27 before its game against the Sheffield Steelers.

“We like to call this home, in Nottingham,” Paek told team General Manager Gary Moran on Panthers TV. “This is where my daughter was born. She wanted to come back and have a little feeling of Christmas, and we sure have received that here. Met a lot of great friends that we made in the past, and it’s been absolutely great.”

Paek became the NHL’s first Korean-born player when he joined the Penguins in the 1990-91 season. He helped anchor Pittsburgh’s defense during the team’s back-to-back Stanley Cup run in 1990-91 and 1991-92.

Jim Paek played defense on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cup teams in the 1990s (Photo/Pittsburgh Penguins).

He appeared in 217 NHL regular season games with the Penguins, Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators, tallying 5 goals and 29 assists. Paek played in 27 Stanley Cup Playoffs games, scoring a goal and 4 assists.

After bouncing around the old International Hockey League, Paek crossed the pond and joined the Panthers in 2001-01. He signed on to play for the Anchorage Aces of the defunct West Coast Hockey League the following season but returned to Nottingham after 40 games with the Alaska team.

“To be honest, it was hard, it was hard to be in Anchorage, Alaska,” Paek told Panthers TV. “I will never forget the first time coming back (to Nottingham) and stepping on the ice. What a tremendous reception I got.”

Paek played in 84 regular season games for the Panthers, scoring 4 goals and 31 assists. He had a goal and 7 assists in 29 BISL playoff contests before hanging up his skates in 2002-2003.

But his blades didn’t stay in the closet long – coaching opportunities beckoned in North America and beyond. Paek served as an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s American Hockey League affiliate, from 2005-06 to 2013-14.

Embed from Getty Images

In 2014, South Korea hired Paek to coach its 2018 Winter Olympic men’s hockey team and to basically build a national hockey program from scratch.

The South Korean men failed to register a win at the home-ice Winter Olympics and Paek’s squad was outscored 14 to 1 in three games. Still, he established a foundation that the country’s sports brain trust hopes will translate into wins – and medals – in the near future.

The Korea Ice Hockey Association rewarded Paek with a three-year contract extension in June. He’s on a mission now to make sure that South Korea’s men’s and women’s teams qualify for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

“After the Olympics, I felt I wasn’t done yet,” Paek told Panthers TV. “I needed to do more with Korean hockey and, hopefully, we can move along, progress, and develop nicely.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

 

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Richard Park seeks Winter Olympics ‘Miracle’ for South Korea’s hockey team

31 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Alex Ovechkin, Jim Paek, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins., PyeongChang, Richard Park, Winter Olympics

Richard Park won’t say that South Korea’s men’s ice hockey team will win a medal in its Olympic debut at the 2018 Winter Games in February. But….

South Korean men’s hockey team Assistant Coach Richard Park. Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn/
Minnesota Wild

“It’s a short tournament and anything can happen,” Park told me recently. “You use the word ‘miracle,’ you think of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, the ‘Miracle on Ice.’ It’s happen before. If we can come close to matching that, or even duplicating it, it will be an amazing accomplishment.”

It’s been an amazing hockey journey for Park, a retired forward who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders.

The journey has come full circle for Park. He’s returned to the country of his birth to serve as assistant director and assistant coach for a South Korean men’s team that will compete in its first Winter Olympics when it takes to the Gangneung Hockey Center ice in PyeongChang, South Korea, on Feb. 15 to face the Czech Republic.

Park discusses South Korea’s upcoming Olympic experience, the rise of hockey in Asia, and reflects on his NHL career in the latest Color of Hockey podcast.

While Park won’t predict a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal for South Korea, he says that the 2018 Olympic hockey tournament will be dramatically different from previous Winter Games because the NHL isn’t releasing its players to compete for their countries.

With no Sidney Crosby for Canada, no Patrick Kane, for the United States, no Alex Ovechkin for Russia, and no Henrik Lundqvist  for Sweden, the tournament could be ripe for a surprise.

“It doesn’t directly have an affect on us like other countries,” Park said of the absence of NHL superstars. “But it does have an affect on us because it changes the playing field for us. We’ll see. Hopefully we can turn that into an advantage.”

South Korea has already surprised the hockey world. Under Head Coach Jim Paek and Park, the team finished second at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Division I Group A tournament in Kiev in April.

Richard Park was a forward for the Minnesota Wild for three seasons and is currently a development coach for the team (Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn/Minnesota Wild).

The showing earned South Korea a promotion to the IIHF’s top division, joining the ranks of the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland and other hockey powers.

“Korea has never ever been close, let alone in the top division in the world of hockey,”  Park said. “It’s huge. It’s big, it’s never been done before.”

Park’s team now faces the daunting task of trying to win in Group A at the Olympic hockey tournament, a bracket that includes powerhouses Canada and the Czech Republic and always pesky Switzerland.

“It’s really the first time we’ll be playing at that caliber,” Park told me. “We’ll do okay.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

 

 

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Asia rising in hockey ahead of Winter Olympics in South Korea and China

14 Sunday May 2017

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Andong Song, Buffalo Sabres, Cliff Pu, Florida Panthers, International Ice Hockey Federation, Jim Paek, Jonathan Ang, London Knights, Minnesota Wild, Richard Park

Asia rising?

In ice hockey, it sure seems like it.

South Korea Assistant Hockey Coach Richard Park (Photo/Minnesota Wild/Bruce Kluckhohn).

From the winning exploits of  teams from the continent in recent international tournaments to players of Asian heritage poised to be picked in the 2017 National Hockey League Draft, to skaters of Chinese and Malaysian descent who were selected in previous drafts, hockey appears to be gaining ground in Asian nations and Asian communities in North America.

The interest could grow even more once pucks are dropped at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and  the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, China.

“I think it’s a testament to the growth of the game,” Richard Park, a retired NHL forward and an assistant coach for the South Korean national team that will compete in the 2018 Winter Games, told me recently. “I think it’s very welcoming,  I think it’s very refreshing. I think it’s a testament again to all these cultures that the game is reaching.”

Park, who’s also a development coach for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, and retired NHL defenseman Jim Paek, the South Korean men’s national team’s head coach, are helping guide the country of their ancestry up the world hockey ladder.

They coached South Korea to a dramatic 2-1 shootout win against Ukraine in April, earning a second-place finish at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Division I Group A tournament in Kiev.

The victory bumped South Korea up to the IIHF’s top division next year, joining the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland and other hockey powers.

“Korea has never ever been close, let alone in the top division in the world of hockey,” said Park, who played 738 NHL games for the Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders. “It’s huge. It’s big, it’s never been done before. But in saying that, what it leads to in the future is kind of up to not only the media, but the young kids, and the really young next generation in Korea.”

In North America, a next generation of players of Asian descent is already making its presence known. Just take a glimpse at NHL Central Scouting’s player rankings for the June 23-24 draft at Chicago’s United Center.

Owen Sound Attack center Nick Suzuki is ranked as the 10th-best North American skater. The 5-foot-10 native of London, Ontario, was Owen Sound’s second-leading scorer last season with 45 goals and 51 assists in 65 games.

Owen Sound Attack forward Nick Suzuki hopes he’ll be chosen in the 2017 NHL Draft in June (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

His younger brother, forward Ryan Suzuki, was the first player chosen in the 2017 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection Draft in April, plucked by the Barrie Colts.

Kailer Yamamoto is hoping to hear his named called at next month’s NHL draft.  The 5-foot-8 right wing for the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs is ranked as the 17th-best North American skater by Central Scouting.

Spokane Chiefs’ Kailer Yamamoto is the 17th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting (Photo/Larry Brunt/Spokane Chiefs).

A Spokane native of Japanese and Hawaiian heritage, Yamamoto led the Chiefs in scoring in 2016-17 with 42 goals and 47 assists in 65 games. His older brother, Keanu, was Spokane’s fourth-leading scorer last season with 26 goals and 43 assists in 72 games.

USA hockey National Team Development Program defenseman Tyler Inamoto (Photo/Rena Laverty/USA Hockey).

Whether he’s drafted or not, defenseman Tyler Inamoto knows where he’s headed this fall. The 6-foot-2 blue-liner for the USA Hockey National Development Team, ranked the 68th-best North American skater, will be skating for the University of Wisconsin Badgers in 2017-18.

“He’s big, strong and has a mean streak,” said Badgers Head Coach Tony Granato, who enjoyed a long and prolific NHL career, “He’ll be a physical impact player right away next year.”

If drafted, Inamoto, Yamamoto and Suzuki, hope to join a small but growing list of players of Asian heritage who are on NHL career paths.

Center Cliff Pu, Buffalo Sabres’ third-round draft pick in 2016.

Last year, the Buffalo Sabres took London Knights forward Cliff Pu in the third round with the 69th overall pick in the NHL Draft. Pu led the Knights in scoring in 2016-17 with 35 goals and 51 assists in 63 regular season games.

The Florida Panthers chose Peterborough Petes forward Jonathan Ang in the fourth round with the 94th overall pick of the 2016 draft.

Ang, the first player of Malaysian heritage to be drafted by an NHL team, was the Petes’ third-leading scorer in 2016-17 with 27 goals and 32 assists in 69 games.

Andong Song also made history when the New York Islanders selected the Beijing-born defenseman in the sixth round with the 172nd pick of the 2015 draft.

Song, who has committed to play hockey for Cornell University in 2018-19, will likely be a key member of China’s hockey team for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Beijing.

George Chiang’s voice fills with pride and hope when he talks about players like Pu and

Forward Jonathan Ang, the Florida Panthers’ 4th-round pick in, 2016.

Ang.

“Cliff Pu has good size and plays for the London Knights, which is great,” Chiang told me recently. “Jonathan Ang just seems to become a better player every year in the Ontario Hockey League. It’s kind of cool seeing those guys.

Chiang is a Canadian hockey dad. His 14-year-old son, Lee Chiang,  played for Lac St. Louis Lions Nord bantam AAA team in Quebec last season and will likely be selected by an OHL team in the league’s priority draft next year.

The elder Chiang dreamed of pursuing a pro career when he was younger. But that dream was stymied by his parents, immigrants to Canada from Taiwan, who initially forbade him from playing hockey.

Lee Chiang playing for the North York Rangers in 2015.

” I came from immigrant parents and they didn’t understand hockey. I begged every year since I was five,” Chiang, 47, told me recently.  “They put me in baseball because they understood baseball. It’s the national sport of Taiwan. Finally, when I was 12 they let me play on a (hockey) team.”

Unlike his folks, Chiang didn’t hesitate in allowing his son to lace up the skates and grab a stick.

“My plan was to also put him in baseball, but he ended up hating baseball and he loved hockey,” George Chiang told me. “He’s a hockey player.”

 

 

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey.

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Hockey’s expanding international reach proves that it’s a small world after all

02 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Anaheim Ducks, Andong Song, Dallas Stars, International Ice Hockey Federation, Jim Paek, Mexico, New York Islanders

How much is hockey becoming a truly international sport?

I came across a YouTube video from 2012 – before this blog was created – on the Anaheim Ducks hosting a clinic for a Mexican youth hockey team at the National Hockey League team’s California practice facility.

I don’t know if the Ducks have repeated this endeavor – I’m waiting to hear back from the team. Hello? But it wouldn’t surprise me if this one clinic helped spur more interest in hockey south of the border and benefit Mexico’s national hockey program.

In January, Mexico won the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Under-20 Division III world championship at a tournament in Mexico City.

Last July, the Dallas Stars invited three members of South Korea’s national hockey program to its development training camp in Texas. The Stars extended the invitation at the request of former NHLer  Jim Paek, who’s looking to build a competitive South Korea hockey team for the 2018 Winter Olympics, which the country will host in Pyeongchang.

Four years later, it will be China’s turn. Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Games. And Andong Song, who became the first player born in China  to be drafted by an NHL team when the New York Islanders took him in the 6th round with the 172nd overall pick of the 2015 draft, has become the young face of his country’s Winter Olympics effort.

Like South Korea, China is quickly trying to build a hockey team good enough to compete with Canada, the United States, Russia, and other major hockey powers at the Winter Games. Song, a defenseman who skated for Massachusetts’ Phillips Academy, this season, could be its captain.

India is trying to become more of a presence on the international hockey stage, too. Money is tight, equipment is scarce, and the talent pool is thin, but that’s not stopping a group of very determined women from dreaming of someday competing in the Olympics.

India’s women’s team played its first international match last month and got crushed by Singapore, 8-1 in the Challenge Cup of Asia. Still, India’s women’s team hopes to advance to next year’s Asian Winter Games. To do that, the team must leapfrog Singapore, Thailand and Chinese Taipaei.

Female or male, it’s not easy being a hockey player in India. For all our nostalgic talk of playing the game on frozen ponds and lakes in North America and Europe, it’s a way of life for most Indian players. Many of them come from Ladakh, near the Himalayas and can only play for two or three months when the ponds are frozen.

A country with more than 1.2  billion people has only 10 indoor ice rinks, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. The cricket-mad nation has 1,104 hockey players – 315 men, 541 juniors and 248 women and girls.

Take some time and watch the excellent Al Jazeera English feature below on the fun and frustration of playing hockey in India.

The efforts by India, South Korea, China and Mexico prove that, when it comes to hockey, it’s truly a small world.

 

 

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