Korea to face tough opponents in Universiade men's ice hockey
By Nam Hyun-woo
With the 2015 Winter Universiade's ice hockey event starting in Spain, today, Korea's men's team will face tough opponents, including the reigning champions Canada.
Paired with Canada, Sweden and Russia in Group B, the Koreans jetted off to Granada on Jan. 31, after a two-week training session at Korea University. After a game with Canada at 11:30 p.m. (KST), they will take on Russia, on Feb. 5 at 9:30 p.m., and Sweden on Feb. 7 also at 9:30 p.m.
Group B members, except for Korea, are widely considered as leading powerhouses in the sport, forcing the Koreans to set a realistic goal of focusing on ranking-deciding games after the preliminary round to earn a spot in the next Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2017.
In the biennial Games, the bottom two countries out of 11 will lose qualification to the next event. Korea missed the 2013 event, because they finished 11th in the 2011 event in Turkey.
Since their first debut at the Universiade stage in 1981, the Koreans have made a series of appearances at the competition, which has been a rare opportunity for them to experience international ice hockey competitions.
This year's event features Korea, Spain, Canada, Sweden, Russia, the U.S., Czech Republic, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, China and Japan. Placed in three uneven groups, the top eight teams will compete in the knock-out stage.
Korea's coach Kim Hee-woo called up 22 seniors and juniors from five local universities, including Korea, Yonsei and Hanyang, for the campaign.
The Canadians, seeking to defend their gold medal, are comprised of the Canada West conference and will be led by six players from the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) champion the University of Alberta. Among them, Jordan Hickmott and Taylor Joseph Foster are No. 1 and No. 2 scorers in the 2014-2015 CIS season.
This year's Winter Universiade is co-hosted by Spain and Slovakia, with ski jumping, cross-country skiing, the biathlon and Nordic skiing having taken place in Strbske Pleso and Osrblie in the latter from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1. Korea failed to win a single medal in the events.
From Feb. 3 to 14, other events will be staged at Granada, with an opening ceremony to be held on Feb. 4.
Korean men's national ice hockey team for the 2015 Universiade
Goalies: Bae Jang-woo, Lee Chang-min
Defenses: Yang Sung-hun, Cho Seok-jun, Han Geon-hee, Lee Seung-won, Lee Jae-gyu, Kim Tae-gyum, Lee Sung-jun, Hwang Woo-tae
Forwards: Lim Jin-soo, Oh Se-ahn, Yu Shin-chul, Ban Han-soo, Kang Byung-geul, Kang Yoon-seok, Lee Sung-jin, Jang Ho-jun, Cho Hyeon-kuk, Yoon Sang-won, Lee Doung-gun, Ha Jae-jun
Head coach: Kim Hee-woo