Hockey Day in Korea

To coincide with Hockey Day in Canada back home, this past Saturday was Hockey Day in Korea for me. It started at 9:30am with a game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and ended with a professional hockey game in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do here in South Korea. Yes, professional hockey in Korea. It exists!

Above: With my new MacBook showing Ducks vs. Lightning, my (now malfunctioning) HP laptop showing my hockey Twitter, and the American Forces Network showing Dallas vs. Colorado on the TV, and combined with going to a live game in the evening, it was truly Hockey Day in Korea.

The first game was pretty cool, with the Ducks winning it thanks to James Wisniewski, who is quickly becoming a shootout king. Almost immediately after, I had to start planning my way to Anyang, which is a suburban city outside Seoul. The traffic from my area is pretty significant due to the central location -- outside the city center, it's easier because you don't battle the traffic until you get to the subway. I have to do it before the subway.

The game I went to was Anyang Halla vs. Oji Eagles. They are part of a professional hockey league in Asia called Asia League Ice Hockey, which has teams in South Korea, China and Japan. Each team is mostly made up of home-grown talent (ie. Koreans make up most of the Halla roster), with a few imports allowed to increase competitiveness. The Halla are based out of Anyang, while the Oji Eagles are from Hokkaido, Japan. Anyang's most notable alumni is former NHLer (and Vancouver Canucks player) Esa Tikkanen.

There were a lot of expats at the game -- mostly Canadians. It was just like a hockey game back home, besides how scaled-down it was, obviously. They had the regular stuff, like player introductions, national anthems, warm-ups, and so forth. However, one interesting difference they had was the bowing. Players apparently bow to the crowd before the anthems, and bow to the crowd after the game and shake hands with the opposing team (even though it was the first half of a back-to-back series in Anyang).

Above: Players for the Oji Eagles prepare to bow to the crowd before their game against the Anyang Halla.

There was a lot less hitting than at an NHL game, relying more on finesse and skill, although there was the occasional hit. The no-touch icing rule was in effect, which is something that many people think should be in the NHL as well.

Despite the fact that Korea's not a big hockey market, the game looked SOLD OUT. A lot of people even bought standing room tickets. The arena was absolutely packed, loud and energized, which was pretty awesome. It makes me wonder how much potential hockey can have in Korea if someone had enough money to invest in the sport over here.

Above: Game action between the Anyang Halla and the Oji Eagles.

The cool thing is that this was my friend Kavita's first live hockey game, despite being Canadian. Both of us have something in common -- we both had a Canadian "first" in Korea. For me, my first ever poutine was a few months ago in the Itaewon district of Seoul!

Above: A player for the Oji Eagles.

Overall, it was a cool game. While the Anyang-Oji game wasn't even close (Anyang won 5-0), it was well worth the trip out there. I'm sure I'll make the trip again some day.