Color of Hockey: South Korea-born Shin chasing dream to play in NHL

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of NHL.com's celebration of Asian Pacific Islander Month, he profiles forward Sanghoon Shin, who joined Atlanta of the ECHL after moving from South Korea to pursue his dream of playing in the NHL.

Sanghoon Shin arrived in suburban Atlanta from South Korea on a mission.

"My goal is to play in the NHL," Shin said. "I aspire to become a role model for younger players back in Korea to play in bigger leagues."

Shin has been chasing that dream as a forward for Atlanta, the ECHL affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, for the past two seasons.

The 29-year-old Seoul native was Atlanta's third-leading scorer with 52 points (30 goals, 22 assists) in 70 games this season and was second in goals behind forward Cody Sylvester's 38 in 70 games.

He has 74 points (43 goals, 31 assists) in 101 ECHL games from 2021-23 and 153 points (79 goals, 74 assists) in 183 games with South Korea's Anyang Halla of the Asia League from 2014-23.

Shin attributes part of his ECHL success to advice he received from Jim Paek, who became the NHL's first Korea-born player when the defenseman debuted with the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on October 13, 1990.

Paek coached Shin and Korea's national men's team at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, and has counseled him on playing hockey in North America.

"When he (Paek) came to visit one of my games last season," Shin said, "he told me to also aim towards the net and have a shooting mind."

Paek isn't surprised the 5-foot-8, 170-pounder has been successful.

"He has that ability, I want to say that Korean DNA, never-give-up DNA," said Paek, who became Anyang Halla's coach earlier this year. "He went over this year with the mindset to be one of the best players because his goal is to one day play in the NHL. I don't know if that is going to happen, but he sure is working for it."

Paek told Shin he's a pioneer to young players in Korea.

"'You're kind of like a hero, an idol,'" he told him. "'They're going to watch you to see how well you do over in North America. You're one of the first to ever do this, play professional over in North America at this level, and play well. So you're a role model, you have to act accordingly and work extremely hard. But most of all, enjoy this life experience.'"

Atlanta coach Jeff Pyle said Shin is the most disciplined player he has ever coached.

"He's committed to details, skates really well, and is a great teammate," Pyle said. "He played well for us amidst the call-ups and injuries we had last season. This year in particular, we had so many guys in the season come to us from the Tucson Roadrunners of the [American Hockey League]. However, once those guys went back up, he got his chance and had a terrific second half."

Pyle, who is also Atlanta's director of hockey operations, said he first noticed Shin when the team hosted Anyang Halla for a preseason game on October 16, 2021, which Atlanta won 3-2 in overtime.

"I saw them practicing and just keyed in on how well that all skated, and just how fast and skilled they all were," Pyle said, "but Sanghoon definitely stood out."

Atlanta signed Shin on January 31, 2022, fulfilling his desire to challenge himself by playing in North America. But the transition wasn't easy.

"It was hard adjusting to the size of the ice rink because it is smaller in America compared to Korea," Shin said. "However, I was lucky enough to have great teammates who helped me adjust."

Pyle said Shin did well once he learned to play a heavier game on the smaller North American rinks.

"One time, he came into my office and asked if we had a playbook," he said. "Once I started explaining everything, he immediately wrote it down in his notebook and never asked another question after that. From that day, he was 100 percent committed to the system and has been an excellent player for us."

Off the ice, Shin's adjustment to being about 7,150 miles from home was eased by Georgia having more than 71,000 residents of Korean descent, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.

Census estimates in 2019 showed more than 22,000 people of Korean heritage live in Gwinnett County, where Gas South Arena, the ECHL team's home, is located.

It's a community so large and vibrant that Explore Gwinnett, the county's tourism and film arm, organizes "Seoul of the South" tours of local restaurants.

"It has helped me because there were times I missed the food back home," Shin said. "I was lucky enough to have many restaurants close by because it made me feel more at home."

Shin said his presence has helped Gwinnett's Korean community become more familiar with hockey.

"A lot of Korean fans came to several games in order to support the team and me," he said.

Photos: Taylor Trebotte