South Korea names former NHL player Jim Paek as national team coach

The Korea Ice Hockey Association hired former NHL player Jim Paek as their director of hockey and head coach of the Korean Men’s National Team.

Paek, who was the first Korean-born player to play in the NHL, has been an assistant coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins of American Hockey League for the past nine seasons. The Griffins are the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

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Paek played five seasons in the NHL, totaling 34 points and 155 penalty minutes in 217 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators. He was part of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup winning teams in 1991 and 1992. 

South Korea has never earned a berth in Olympic hockey before. The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“I know Korea hockey is aiming for the 2018 Winter Games, it’s a great challenge but if we are organized and have a plan and teach the process good things will come,” Paek said, via the IIHF. “We cannot lose focus on the process.”

- Scooby Axson