The first South Korean to get his name on the Stanley Cup will now seek a different kind of history, as former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jim Paek will be taking over his home country’s national hockey program.
As first reported by Pete Wallner of the Grand Rapids Press, Paek will not only be the new director of the Korea Ice Hockey Association, he will also coach the men’s national team as it attempts to qualify for the 2018 Olympics, which will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
This is a gutsy move for Paek, who has carved out a successful career as a coach at the AHL level. The 47-year-old was an assistant with the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Griffins for the past nine seasons, where he helped develop the many prospects that parent club Detroit has fed through West Michigan.
He also could’ve been considered a candidate to coach Grand Rapids soon, with current Griffins boss Jeff Blashill regarded as a good bet to move to the NHL in the near future. Instead, Paek will take over a team ranked 23rd in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation after a sixth-place finish in the second-tier world championship this spring. The Koreans have never competed in an Olympic tournament.
Although the IIHF used to give automatic Olympic bids to home teams – witness Italy’s inclusion in 2006 and Japan’s in 1998 – that’s no longer the case. According to NBCSports.com, Korean officials successfully lobbied the IIHF to allow them to participate assuming they can make “progress in performance” by May 2016.
Bringing Paek in to lead lends instant credibility to the Korean effort. A five-season NHL veteran, Paek won two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh, a Turner Cup with the IHL’s Houston Aeros and a Calder Cup title last year in Grand Rapids.
Born in the Korean capital city of Seoul, the man with the given name of Baek Chi-sun was raised in Toronto and was drafted by the Penguins in 1985. After three seasons in the IHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Paek made his NHL debut in 1990. Interestingly enough, he played 48 games for the Canadian national team in the early ’90s.
As an aside, I had the chance to cover the Griffins on their 2013 championship run for Michigan Hockey magazine. Paek had developed a good reputation as a teacher, especially when it came to the defensive aspects of the game. He also had great things to say about Pittsburgh in a one-on-one interview I did with him two years ago.
Paek faces quite the challenge, but it’s difficult to imagine Korea picking a better man for the job.
