The title of hockey being Canada’s game may be up for grabs at the Bell Capital Cup. The tournament, running until Dec. 31 across Ottawa, is one of the largest youth hockey tournaments in the world, attracting teams from every part of the globe. “It’s got a good reputation, not just in Canada, but all around the world,” says Bell Capital Cup general manager Mark Sluban. “Teams come to this tournament, and they go back home, and they tell their friends, and their friends tell friends.” Sluban says this year, 284 teams are competing in the 25th edition of the tournament, with roughly 200 from Canada, 50 from the United States, and the rest from various hockey-playing nations. Taking to the ice at the Bell Sensplex on day two of the event were teams from Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan. “Last year they came here, and they won the cup in the U13 A (division),” says Christine Dayoon Lee, the local coordinator for the Gyeonggido Ice Hockey Association from South Korea. “So, this year there are a lot of kids in Korea very eager to join this Bell Capital Cup and then experience Canada. So, they organized the two teams.” “I’m so proud to play in Canada,” said Hwang Seohoo, a 13-year-old hockey player who has played in the Bell Capital Cup twice now. Hockey isn’t very popular in South Korea currently, still falling below baseball, soccer and other sports in the pecking order. But the sport is gaining traction, and these young players believe they have what it takes to go toe-to-toe with Canadian and American teams. “Oh, we’re better than the USA and Canada,” said Seohoo. The Gyeonggido Ice Hockey Association has been attending the Bell Capital Cup for 10 years now, first starting in the house league division, and now finding themselves in AA. “It’s not as difficult as I expected,” said Seong Lee, president of the Gyeonggido Ice Hockey Association. “But of course there are good teams here, and we’re not the best team in the world, but we try to improve every year and continue to participate and continue to move up to the different division.” “This is amazing, and we want to do the same thing in Korea in the future,” Lee added. Sluban says while the international teams do not have as many people playing the game of hockey across their respective countries, many foreign teams attend with squad of players handpicked as the best from their leagues. “They do fairly well,” says Sluban. “Some of them have won the tournament in their divisions in the past. And we expect that’s probably going to happen again this year—or at least make the final for some of them.” For many of these teams, the journey is long and expensive, and travelling all the way to Ottawa for the fun of playing the games is not enough of a payoff. Matti Fagerstrom, head coach of the Greater Bay Lions U11 AA team from Hong Kong, is optimistic his team will be showcased on the biggest stage the tournament has to offer. “Our goal is to be in the final, and with the organization, we want to play in the main arena,” said Fagerstrom. “The finals are played in the Ottawa Senators arena, and we want to bring our team, our organization to that arena for more people to see us.”
