Kim Ki-sung named Asia League MVP

Anyang Halla forward Kim Ki-sung, center, shoots to score during an Asia League Ice Hockey game against China Dragon in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Feb. 12. / Courtesy of the Korea Ice Hockey Association

By Nam Hyun-woo

Anyang Halla forward Kim Ki-sung, 30, won the 2014-15 season Asia League Ice Hockey MVP award, becoming the first ethnic Korean to do so.

The organizers of the Asian League announced Friday nine skaters who won individual titles for the season and named Kim as the top player. He appeared in 45 games in total and recorded 28 goals and 42 assists as his side won the pennant.

For the Korean team, Kim is the third Asia League MVP in its history, following Brock Radunske in the 2008-09 season and Patrick Martineck in the subsequent season.

“It is a great honor to become the first Korean to win the MVP title,” said Kim. “Playing on a good team with great teammates led to winning the personal title. However, I believe that I can truly deserve the MVP award only after winning the Champion title. I will do my utmost in the play-offs to lead my team to become champions.”

On March 7, Halla will play the winner of the preliminary play-off game between High 1 and Oji Eagles in the best-of-five semifinals of the 2014-15 Asia League Ice Hockey play-offs.

Among fans, Kim is regarded as one of the supreme forwards in Korean ice hockey history. He has been an aspiring hockey player since high school and earned his first cap as a sophomore at Yonsei University in 2005. He has the record for points in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship games among Koreans, with 35 goals and 34 assists in 44 matches.

Joining Halla in 2008, he won rookie of the year after scoring 21 goals and making 18 assists in 35 games in the 2008-09 season and led his side to win both the pennant and play-off trophy in the following season.

Kim also briefly played in the now-defunct Central Hockey League in the U.S. and Mestis, the second tier ice hockey league in Finland, from 2011 and was conscripted to play for military club Daemyung Sangmu for two years from 2012. Returning to Halla this season, he changed his position from wing to center and had a career-high season.

Along with Kim, Halla had two other award winners from its squad this season. Radunske, a Canadian-born-Korean, topped the assists table with 56 assists and Matt Dalton won the best goalie title after recording the league’s lowest 2.02 goals against average and .926 save percentage.