Hockey is catching on in South Korea in time for 2018 Olympics

Thomas Maresca | Special for USA TODAY Sports

SEOUL — As the Pyeongchang Olympics approach next February, South Korean organizers and fans are pinning most of their attention on a handful of sports. Koreans have been dominant in short-track speedskating, and they’ve got one of the world’s best two-man bobsled teams. All eyes will be on figure skating as well, which has been a sensation here ever since Yuna Kim won gold in 2010.

But hockey?

Suffice it to say Korea doesn’t have much of an international profile. This will be the first Olympics for the men's hockey team, and the Koreans qualified for the tournament because they’re the host nation. A respectable showing for the world’s 21st-ranked team should be the most anyone could expect.

Just don’t tell that to Jim Paek, the Korean-born ex-NHL player who has been running the South Korean hockey program since 2014. He’s willing to set the bar higher.

“We just prepare to try to win every game, just like any team does,” said Paek, 50, after opening the team’s off-season training camp in May. “I think if we go in with the mentality of 'Let's just be close,' we'll never be able to compete in the Olympics.”

Competing in the Olympics — what might have seemed a laughable concept just a few years ago — is suddenly not quite as far-fetched.

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Korea finished second at the IIHF Division 1, Group A World Championships held in Kiev in April, winning four games and losing one. Group A is the second tier of international hockey, but features established programs such as Kazakhstan and Austria. The Koreans' top-two showing earned the country an automatic promotion to the top level of international competition – the realm of the giants such as the U.S., Canada, Russia and Sweden.

That surprising result has suddenly made hockey a hot topic in South Korea, and has already started earning Paek comparisons to Guus Hiddink, the Dutch soccer coach revered for bringing South Korea to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, which was hosted here. (Women’s hockey has also been gaining a higher profile, especially after the South Korean team won a highly publicized game against North Korea in April).

“I think it's safe to say that the sport of hockey has never been more popular in this country than right now,” said Yoo Jee-ho, a sports writer for Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

“When the team returned from the world championships, the media throng covering their return was huge. And at the center of all that is Jim Paek. He's a really no-nonsense guy, straightforward with the players. They love playing for him.”

Paek was born in Seoul, but his family emigrated to suburban Toronto when he was 1. He jokes that he’s still the black sheep in the family among his doctor and lawyer siblings, but Paek became the first Korean-born player to appear in the NHL when he debuted with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990.

He went on to win Stanley Cups with the team in 1991 and 1992, and stuck in the NHL until 1995. After he hung up his pro skates in 2003, Paek began coaching, eventually becoming an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.

But Korea had always been in the back of Paek’s mind. When he got an invitation from the Korean Ice Hockey Association in 2014 to mold the program into something Olympics-worthy, it was hard to refuse.

“It's always been kind of a dream to come back to your homeland and be a part of the national team program,” Paek said.

He was hesitant to uproot his family, with a pair of middle- and high-school aged children, but his wife Kortney reminded him that he had been talking about working with the Korean program since before they were married.

“I’m very blessed that my wife is very supportive,” said Paek. “She said, ‘Jim are you crazy? Come on, we've got to go. This has been your dream.’”

Conditions in Korea were a far cry from the NHL when Paek arrived. There were about 120 players, according to the Korean Ice Hockey Association, split between the country’s three professional teams in the Asian league and a handful of university squads.

Six American and Canadian-born players, who were given Korean citizenship after playing in the country, have been added to the roster. But Paek is quick to point out that the workload is evenly spread out on the team – in fact, 11 of the 13 goals the team scored at the IIHF championship were tallied by Korean players such as Ahn Jin-hui and Kim Ki-sung.

Using what he terms “Konglish” — a mix of Korean and English — Paek’s first task was installing a system and a structure for the Korean players, many of whom had physical skills but lacked a true understanding of the team game.

“They all can get the puck and go a thousand miles an hour, but how do you play away from the puck, how do you play together as a team, and how do you play a system?” said Paek. “So I had to start from scratch there.”

Helping Paek behind the bench is another marquee name: Richard Park, the second Korean-born player in the NHL, who followed Paek into the league in the 1994-95 season and played for 14 seasons for six different teams.

Park, 41, was playing professionally in Switzerland when Paek called, and decided to retire and join him as an assistant coach.

“I've known Jim pretty much the majority of my life,” said Park. “We'll always be connected because he was the first Korean player in the NHL, and I truly am of the belief that he made the pathway for myself a lot easier and smoother.”

Park, fresh from playing, also quickly realized that the challenge to mold the team was going to be daunting.

“It wasn't just one step away [to competing internationally],” said Park. “It wouldn't be possible. We had to take the mindset that you're going to take baby steps, with the idea of knowing where you want to get to in four years.”

While the Olympics are the main focus for the coming months, Paek is also looking further afield, dreaming of developing Korea into a nation of hockey players.

There are nearly 1,800 boys and girls under 12 playing hockey in South Korea, and Paek is hoping the Olympics will spark a new craze.

“There's lots of interest now, there's lots of kids playing hockey,” Paek said. “We just have to find a way to keep them playing. This area is untapped. When I look at minor hockey here, there's a lot of skill. If you develop it the right way, I think they could be very good hockey players.”

The men’s team has already taken bigger strides than anyone might have imagined a few years ago. But still, is the dream of a Miracle on Ice for the Koreans on their home soil just too far-fetched?

“You know, why not?” said Paek. “You never know. My whole thing is, why do you prepare for something if you think you're going to lose? You’ve got to go in there thinking you're going to win and prepare yourself. We have nothing to lose. Just to go and say 'Ah, it's good enough to be close.’ That's not good enough for them anymore.”