Korean scorer 'not surprised' with team's winning streak at hockey worlds

The Division I Group A is the second-highest level of men's international hockey. The top two teams after round-robin play will be promoted to the top-flight IIHF World Championship next year, while the worst team will drop to Division I Group B.

Once a doormat that often lost games by double figures, South Korea, coached by former National Hockey League defenseman Jim Paek, has undergone a complete makeover in recent years.

But the sense of surprise is apparently not shared in the team's locker room.

"Things happened as we expected," forward Shin Sang-hoon, who scored the game-winning goal against Hungary, told IIHF.com. "We're not surprised that we won three games because we are trying really hard to get better every day. We want people to see us and to look forward to our development and bright future."

Case in point: South Korea was shut out by No. 16 Kazakhstan 4-0 at the Sapporo Asian Winter Games two months ago, when the Central Asian nation didn't even bring all of its best players.

Then on Sunday in Kiev, with Kazakhstan represented by former NHL players from Canada and the United States and South Korea using virtually the same lineup as the Asian Winter Games, South Korea won the game 5-2. It scored four straight goals in a seven-minute stretch in the third period.

Before that, South Korea defeated Poland 4-2, winning the first game of the Division I Group A tournament for the first time in five tries.

Then, against Hungary South Korea went down in the second period before rallying with three unanswered goals. And there was plenty of brotherly acts on the score sheet.

For the equalizer, Kim Sang-wook set up his older brother Kim Ki-sung from behind the net. Then Shin Sang-hoon scored the go-ahead goal in a tremendous individual effort -- dumping the pick off the end board and pouncing on his own rebound to beat goalie Bence Balizs on the short side.

"When I was in front of the goal, I tried to get a second shot and just put it in and it turned out well," Shin said of his goal.

Shin's older brother, Sin Sang-woo, got the insurance goal late in the third, converting on a two-on-one breakaway after poking the puck past defenseman Bence Sziranyi, who had pinched in too deep.

Paek, who won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992, said hockey is "a funny game" because of how luck can play a crucial role.

"We try to control what we can control. Sometimes a lucky bounce or a penalty call can change a game," he said. "You have to get all the stars and moons lined up and with your work ethic you hope to have some success."

South Korea's next game is against No. 17 Austria on Thursday, followed by the finale against 22nd-ranked Ukraine on Friday.

Austria has two wins and a loss so far to rank second behind South Korea, while Ukraine is the only winless country with three straight losses.

Paek said he's feeling "very good about the process" and the players are riding high, but the tournament is not over yet.

"This is a long tournament. We have two more games," he said. "The next game is going to be even harder and the last game is probably going to be the hardest. We have to keep focused." (Yonhap)