Gearing Up

When David Kyu-Ho Min was six years old, his mother and older brother, Josh Kyu-Don Min, flew from their home in Seoul, South Korea, to Vancouver, B.C., to explore the possibility of moving the family to the Coquitlam, B.C., area. They returned to Seoul with a more detailed plan and a full set of hockey gear for Min.
"It was much easier to buy a full set in Canada," says Min, recently announced as a player development coach specializing in youth hockey at the Kraken Training Center.

Josh, then 12, played hockey at a local public rink in Seoul and little bro wanted to be just like him-well, actually more than that: "It's as simple as brotherly competitiveness," says David Min. "I wanted to be just like him and be better than him if I could."
When the Min family moved to B.C. and then 18 months later to Seattle, David started playing hockey in that set of gear. It helped form who he is and shored up his communication skills.

"I had no idea how to talk or read English," says Min. "My parents put me in all hockey programs possible, which helped me learn the language, along with watching TV."
As Min grew older, he learned how to surf YouTube for hockey highlights and training video. A favorite to watch over and over was former Detroit star Pavel Datsyuk, who was a pure magician with his stickhandling and shooting skills during his NHL career and later playing five more seasons for his Russian homeland's Kontinental Hockey League.
"More than that, hockey was a way for me to transition into the culture," says Min. "It made me feel part of the team. A fist pump after I made a great play showed a positive action toward me, made me feel like an equal."
There are many reasons why Min is "unbelievably thrilled" to be joining the Kraken Training Center player development and coaching staff. One is a desire to be part of the Kraken building as an organization that reaches beyond the goal of winning a Stanley Cup.

"Representation is so important," said Min, who grew up in a low-income family where English was not the first language spoken at home. "The Kraken organization is doing a fantastic job of taking on difficult topics and being inclusive. For me, I want people to feel comfortable about trying the sport no matter their financial status. We are in position to truly expand the sport. We will be mindful of the barriers to entry to hockey."
When asked about racial bias as a player, acknowledging this story is part of the Kraken marking Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Min says he experienced his share of both "financial and racial adversities" but found a haven among teammates and plenty of parents and coaches.
"I'm really comfortable talking about [the adversities] to help people understand how we can make things better," said Min. "As a young player starting out at Sno-King [Ice Arena in Snoqualmie]. I had my own fears about being a Korean kid in North America. As an older player [pre-teens and teens], I heard more from uneducated folks or opponents trying to get in my head."
Min says none of those comments were or are acceptable or to be tolerated. He adds it made him "stronger" but we can all agree there are better ways to inspire youth hockey players of color. His own mom devised one: When Min first moved to Seattle, she asked her son what "American name" do you want. Min was at first perplexed but understood his mom's intention was to help her son fit in, an action emblematic of why Asian immigrants (who arrive from more than 50 different countries) have been labeled the "model minority."

"My mom told me the story of David and Goliath all the time," says Min. "I thought about that and told my mom I wanted to be called 'David.' "
The rewards of feeling included and equal to his Sno-King teammates and coaches motivated Min to work even harder on his skating, stick skills and what scouts call hockey intelligence (anticipating plays and puck movement, navigating the movement of others on the ice, knowing your position).
"I listened to my coaches," said Min. "I worked on my skating. I ended up being one of the better skaters on my teams … but I wanted to feel comfortable, never thought ice time and other things would be handed to me. I wanted to earn the trust of my teammates. As a player, you want to do the daily things to improve."
It paid off with a lot of ice time as a forward and defenseman, including powerplay duties. Min played youth hockey with the Eastside's Sno-King Amateur Hockey Association for eight years before earning a scholarship to play in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League for Banff Hockey Academy in Alberta. He won the national North American Tier III Hockey League (NA3HL) championship with the North Iowa Bulls in 2016.
Min has fond memories of Sno-King coaching staff and as a 25-year-old coach was working alongside some of those same coaches, including Doug Kirton (Sno-King hockey director) and Jamie Huscroft, Sno-King director of operations, before accepting the Kraken position. Min served as Sno-King head skills coach for "Hockey 1" classes through U18 traveling squads. During this interview, he called in from Denver, where he was coaching Sno-King's successful U14 girls team.

"I'm the type of guy who loves to ask questions, maybe even to an annoying extent," says Min, laughing a bit. "I learned so much from them, listening, implementing, understanding how to teach. Doug taught me about USA Hockey's approach to sports science and long-term athletic development, the interaction of how players and coaches interact."
Min and his mentors call it "player-centered coaching," a common view he shared when interviewing with Rob Lampman, general manager of the Kraken Training Center.
"The idea is we want to develop the whole person [in girls and boys] in our programs," said Min. "That's first, then good athlete, then a good hockey player. I am unbelievably thrilled with the opportunity to be part of the athletic learning environment we will all create."
Registration for skating and hockey programs at the training center in the Northgate neighborhood will begin later this month. The Kraken players practicing and training in that environment will be supercharged in Min's view:
"I can't wait for everyone to have the access to watch professional players as role models looking to improve, inspiring the young players to put in the work. Whether it's at the Kraken Training Center, Sno-King, Tri-City, every rink and association [across the region], presence of an NHL club will hit home."
The Kraken and the NHL are marking "Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month" throughout May. Check back for more stories about Asians in hockey, including a Kraken-sponsored AAPI Heritage video conference panel presentation featuring Julie Chu, Team USA's most decorated women's national team player, Kraken pro scout Cammi Granato and former Team Japan goalie and Seattleite Tamae Satsu.