Korea brings home ice hockey bronze amid questionable calls, innovative coaching at 2025 Asian Winter Games

Men's and women's teams deserve kudos for near misses, innovative strategies

By David Wagner

Ice hockey in South Korea has, for many years, been in the shadow of the country’s strong performances in other winter sports, notably speed skating and figure skating. This month’s Asian Winter Games, perhaps the biggest stage for the country’s winter athletes since the 2018 Olympics, was an opportunity for Korea to show how much it has improved in the sport of ice hockey.

So winning a bronze medal for the men at Harbin Ice Arena behind Japan and Kazakhstan, their fifth bronze in ice hockey at the Asian Winter Games, was a disappointment for many. But a closer analysis shows that the final medal table was probably altered by a questionable call during their semifinal against Japan, and by most measures, Korea’s men played a stronger game than Japan.

At Harbin Sport University, on the east side of the city, the women’s team was looking for their first medal, having placed fourth or fifth in previous Asian Winter Games, and having shared the ice with North Korea in 2018. In international rankings, the team has risen to third among the participants in Harbin, behind Japan and China. Thus, hopes were high for a bronze, or possibly even a better medal this time around.

However, the women were outmaneuvered by both Kazakhstan and China, and the result was a disappointing fourth-place finish. Although, the women did not bring home a medal, the team nevertheless gave a world-class performance.

Back at Harbin Ice Arena, the men faced Japan in Thursday’s semifinal, having won their previous meeting 5-2. Things seemed to be going well, as Korea took an early 2-0 lead in the first period. Japan battled back, but Korea still led 3-1 when, with 12 minutes to go in the second period, a slap shot was deflected out of midair by Japan’s captain Nakajima Shogo, into Korea’s net.

Suspecting a high stick, Korea asked for, and got, a video review of the play. If the deflection was below the crossbar, then the goal should be allowed. If the deflection was above, then “no goal” should be called. But it seems only one camera caught the deflection, and from that camera’s viewpoint, it was difficult to determine if the point of contact between the puck and the stick was above or below the crossbar.

The review would take more than three minutes before the play was declared a goal. This decision would eventually allow Japan to tie the game and send it into overtime. With no goals during overtime, the game would be decided by penalty shots. Japan would go on to win the penalty shot contest and the game.

However, looking at additional evidence, it can be determined that the deflection was indeed above the crossbar. A disallowed goal would very likely have resulted in a win for Korea and a trip to the gold medal game.

Although the height of the deflection in relation to the crossbar was difficult to determine from the only video perspective on the play, it can be seen that the deflection happened above the circular logo in the middle of Nakajima’s jersey. And video at other points during the play shows that the top of the logo is well above the crossbar. But the referees probably could not put all of this together during the review, and a goal was the only call they could make.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday at Harbin Sports University, the women would face off against 2nd ranked China. This game had a possible penalty shot call on a covered puck in the crease at the 14-minute mark of the first period, but the officials missed this in the ensuing brawl. Forward Eom Su-yeon would score early in the second period, but China would go on to win the game 2-1.

On Friday, Korea’s women would play their final game of the tournament against Kazakhstan, needing to win by two goals in order to be guaranteed a bronze. Goalkeeper Kim Yeon-ju played exceptionally, nullifying two breakaways and stopping 17 of 18 shots in the first two periods. Midway through the second period they were down 2-0, and thus needed four goals for a bronze medal. Realizing the difficulty of their situation, Coach Kim Do-yun made the highly unusual, but not entirely illogical, decision to pull the goalie with seven minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, a minute later, a blocked shot would allow defender Dariya Moldabay to score from behind her own blue line, giving Kazakhstan a 3-0 lead.

The goalkeeper returned to the net, and all seemed lost. But Coach Kim must have realized at this moment that there was another path to a medal. If the team could simply win this game, and if China lost to Japan by seven or more points, then Korea and China would both have a 1-2 record, but Korea would beat China on goal differentials and secure a bronze. A minute later the goalkeeper was pulled again, and the same strategy was tried. A subsequent penalty by Kazakhstan would create a six-against-four situation, a shooting frenzy by Team Korea and possibly the most exciting few minutes of the tournament.

Later that same day it would indeed follow that China lost to Japan by seven goals. Korea prevented further goals by Kazakhstan but failed to score themselves. Without a win in the finals, Korea’s women finished fourth overall.

Rather than faulting the officials or questioning the coach in all of this, we should acknowledge that Korea played at the level of the best ice hockey teams in Asia. Had there been some additional technology, an official standing in a different place or perhaps just one more camera in the room, the calls and the medals could easily have been different. Korea should be proud of the talent that was on display.

David Wagner is a professor in Seoul. He has been playing ice hockey for 27 years, and is a supporter of Korean team Anyang HL.