Two Canadian-born ice hockey players join South Korean national team

By Park Sae-jin Posted : March 31, 2016, 16:06 Updated : March 31, 2016, 16:06

[Courtesy of South Korea's ice hockey association]


Two Canadian-born players have joined South Korea's national ice hockey team by acquiring citizenship, the Korea Ice Hockey Association said Thursday.

Goalie Matt Dalton, 29, and defenseman Eric Regan, 27, can represent South Korea at international games this month, the association said.

With the participation of Dalton and Regan, South Korea's 22-man national team will have a total of six naturalized players including former Canadian forwards Brock Radunske and Michael Swift, American forward Mike Testwuide, and Canadian defenseman Bryan Young.

Dalton, Regan, Radunske and Testwuide are teammates on South Korea's club Anyang Halla.

"The six naturalized players will bolster our power, but it's not enough for our team to secure a medal at the next Winter Olympics" in the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang, an association official told Aju News.

"We just hope to win at least one game in the Olympics," he said, referring to a wide gap with Canada and other ice hockey powerhouses. South Korea take on Canada, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in the preliminary round.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
 
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