Challenge Cup of Asia

[Steve_v3 289]

FLEDGLING PLAYERS STRUT THEIR STUFF IN CHALLENGE CUP OF ASIA

It would be interesting to see the level of play.

[chippa13 1844]

Report said about a Division 3-4 high school game. Hey, they've got to start somewhere.

[fatwabbit 93]

Well, not having played ice myself in hometown Singapore, but here's my 0.02

The sport definitely isnt as big as elsewhere, due to the limited facilities/rinks they have available. I believe the two rinks in Singapore have since closed, and the guys that play have access to a rink in Malaysia (4hours drive)... not sure how often they play, but to drive that far to play, thats dedication... might not be the best, fastest or have the hardest shot, but its all about the passion to play. How many of us dream to play at a high level, sponsorships for gear, and get paid buckets of money to play the sport we all love...

Kudos for these guys who turned up at the tournament... I know that most, if not all would have had to pay for everything to get there... flights, accomodations, food, etc... Its the same here in Australia, where you fork out $2k (or more) just so that you could play maybe 6 games over a week...

[AIREAYE 248]

When im older, I would love to play in one of these things, reppin China of course :P

[Sghockey21 1]

China doesn't play...would probably be much too good.

Just came back from the tournament yesterday and it was a good tournament. Taipei won the finals against UAE 3-2. Taipei probably has the best players overall in the region..and the best development. They have kids in every age group...can't say the same for most of the other countries.. and they all start with inline hockey.

As for us, we were blown out by Thailand in our first game 11-0...blame that on finding out skating legs or learning how to ice skate again. Our next few games were better, we actually led the 3 games before tying it or losing it late in the game. Oh well, Our new rink should be up in 2012 and then we'll be skating again.

[fatwabbit 93]

2012? where will they be building the rink?

[Sghockey21 1]

Capitaland is rebuilding the Jurong Entertainment Center in Jurong East. It is SUPPOSED to have a new olympic sized ice there. But I'll only believe it when I see it. :)

Maybe we'll be able to host the challenge cup of asia in 2014.

[Scoobersti 0]

This isn't really about the article, but one of the comments on the bottom was from a Canadian guy who said his son will be the first Asian (or half asian) to play in the NHL. I'd hate to be the one to crush his dreams and let him know there have been Asian and part Asian players in the NHL already.

[chippa13 1844]

Perhaps he has never heard of Richard Park or Paul Kariya.

[Scoobersti 0]

Perhaps he has never heard of Richard Park or Paul Kariya.

That's my guess too.

[fatwabbit 93]

Capitaland is rebuilding the Jurong Entertainment Center in Jurong East. It is SUPPOSED to have a new olympic sized ice there. But I'll only believe it when I see it. :)

Maybe we'll be able to host the challenge cup of asia in 2014.

Cool... 15 min drive from my place.

Oh.... and that depends on me being back, which I'm working hard not to.

[mack 44]

I guess I can't fault the guy when people here forgot about Jim Paek.

[Kevin.Lum 0]

Cool... 15 min drive from my place.

Oh.... and that depends on me being back, which I'm working hard not to.

you should try to come back, and start playing hockey with us..

New ice ring in Jurong.. hummm.. would they allow us to play hockey there??? i know Kallang dun allow... zzzzzzz

I wold love to get back on the ice, after so long, but sure forgot how to stop on ice been alr 10yrs since i last touch the ice.

[automorph 0]

Jim Paek Korean

Richard Park Korean

Devin Setoguchi Cdn/Japanese

Kariya Family

Brandon Yip Chinese

Probably a handful more

Bunch in ECHL/AHL

Kevin Du

Matt Kang

[Scoobersti 0]

there are a lot more than I thought, well according to Wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ice_h...f_Asian_descent

[AIREAYE 248]

If you guys wanna know more about Asian hockey in general, check out Tropic of Hockey by Dave Bidini:

http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display....n=9780771014581

...one of my favourite books of all time, he goes to China (and Hong Kong), Romania and the UAE

[dayroc 0]

i would love to play for HOng kong and rep them for this tourny!.

[monoclub 5]

Taiwan even has an NHL Hall of Famer in .... Rod Langway!!!

[samson35 0]

the programs in Taipei seems to be really taking off. They love roller hockey there and there's a pretty good chuck of kids who are starting to play ice as well. The level isn't great, but its a fantastic starting point. You have to love the passion the kids have. They all have the same aspirations as we do as kids. It just sucks that they don't get any free TV coverage of NHL games. It's just not big enough there. Many of them don't consistently watch hockey like some of us, so it's a little hard for them to emulate the pros. Watching pros do it is one of the great ways to learn, and it seems like many of them don't have the natural hockey sense that some lower level player has just from watching a lot of hockey. Nevertheless, I would LOVE to play in Taipei some time. I go there almost every summer and I think it'd be a great experience.