On Friday September 9th at 8:30, there will be a Flying Farangs vs Phuket Pirates game in charity game for the family of Jeff LaMantia.
The game will be held at the Thailand International Ice Hockey Arena.
Admission for the game is free. All donations will go to the LaMantia family.
Over the two days of November 21, 2020 and November 22, 2020, there was a hockey tournament held at Imperial Samrong ice rink.
The teams involved in this tournament were Chiang Mai, Warriors A & B, Old Timers, Southern Wolf, Ice Breakers, Lion State Flying Farangs.
The Flying Farangs for this tournament were Alasdair Fawcett (F), Bruno Severin (D), Janne Kankaanpaa (F), Jari Eerikainen (D), Jason Bitter (F), Lance Parker (G), Luc Maurice (F), Mark Huskins (F), Matt McGovern (F), Ono Nutdanai (D), Ralf Dittmer (D), Tommi Hakkinen (D), Toni Andersson (F), Top Rutthapong (F/D), Gary Cosby (F/D), Dom Dumais (D/F), Adam Simpson (F).
Sadly, for the Flying Farangs, the first day of games didn’t go so well for them. They lost their first game to the Warriors B teams 5-0. In the second game, they did manage to score two goals, one from Jari Eerikainen and one from Janne Kankaanpaa, but they lost this game to Chiang Mai 9-2.
The third game was against Lion State, and it was a much closer 7-5 game, with the goals coming from Mark Huskins, Toni Andersson, Top Rutthapong and two from Tommi Haakinen.
Losing the first three games put the Flying Farangs in the Recreational Division for the second day of games.
The first game of the day for the Flying Farangs was against Southern Wolf. The Flying Farangs started to come together as a team in this one and they beat Southern Wolf 2-1. The goals for the Flying Farangs came from Mark Huskins and Gary Cosby.
The second game of the day was against the Old Timers. This was another close for the the Flying Farangs, but they hold things together and won this one 1-0 with the game winning goal going to Mark Huskins.
Winning these two games on November 22 gave the Recreations Division cup to the Flying Farangs.
Written by Andrew Tse
“Why did you choose to live in Bangkok?” It’s a question I hear more often than not. I’ll do my best to leave politics and my own personal views out of this read for the sake keeping things PG.
One doesn’t need to be a Noble Prize winning economist to see the trends of the world now. It’s clear that EME’s (Emerging Market Economies) will afford the most opportunity to those with the drive and ambition to capitalize. Yes I am a greedy New Yorker. I view everything in money/time/opportunity costs with everything else being a far second to my decision making process. So with that out of the way, let’s get to it.
Why Bangkok you ask? The journey here wasn’t clearly defined like many others who came here by securing a job prior to moving to the Big Mango. To sum it up, I was seeking a similar lifestyle to what I was accustomed to at home, with the elimination of some negative factors I felt the western world had just come to accept as the norms of….well the western world. We’ll save those for another day. So I created a simple Yes/No checklist for a bunch of cities which I had previously visited. Most of these are boring boxes, but at the top of my list and probably shocking to anyone I talk to was Ice Hockey. Yes, beyond safety, culture, etc. ice hockey was my top criteria for a relocation destination. I easily adapt to my environment, but not having ice hockey was not a life I would accept. So here I am in Bangkok playing ice hockey.
It started sometime in the late 80’s, on West 33rd street, up on some high floor at the original Sky Rink. I took my first ice skating lesson. The rink closed in the early 90’s and is now Chelsea Piers. If you think hockey isn’t popular now, imagine it 30 years ago. The popularity of hockey grew in the mid 90’s with 2 specific events. The year is 1994, the Rangers win the Cup, all of a sudden hockey is popular in New York. There is talk of rinks, projects, hockey related stuff in the city and its surroundings. Fast Forward to 1996 the US wins the World Cup. I don’t know what made this so special at the time, but it absolutely was a catalyst for the growth of hockey in America.
My dad wasn’t a hockey player but he was athletic so he took me and my cousins skating once a week. Myself and one other ended up playing ice hockey and his younger sister ended up figure skater. Everybody competes, plays at different levels/places, but in reality none of that really matters in the end. I’m not a fortune teller, but for hockey players I can guarantee one thing is certain. You will end up in the beer league. No one ever told me this, and my father not being a hockey player could not have known. The hockey community is full of great people who all look out for one another, even if you’ve only known some a short time. It’s like moving to a foreign place and the immediate bond you have with meeting someone from your hometown. Meeting other hockey players, in non-hockey cities is the same except you have grown up in completely different worlds/cultures. It’s a small community and it’s very hard to describe to someone who’s not part of it or doesn’t identify as a hockey player.
My journey to Bangkok is actually quite short. In 2012 after finishing my MBA, I went to Taipei for 3 months to learn Mandarin. There I was playing with The Taipei Gentleman’s Club. Seeing how far advanced this society was compared to where I came from was the turning point. From this moment on I was set on relocation. 2016, operating my own business, my parents randomly ask me if I can go with them to Hong Kong to visit my cousins. There was also the added bonus of a 2 week stop in Tokyo prior to this. In my early –mid 20’s I would have cringed at going on vacation with my parents, but with age comes wisdom. Who am I to turn down a free vacation, plus I was burning out hard working 100+ hour weeks. Long work weeks are driven by what’s known as “American Greed.” It’s a dark slippery slope most people fall into and can never get out of. Especially if you own a business and there is infinite work/money available.
I booked a one way ticket with this being my opportunity to visit potential relocation cities. First stop Tokyo. Great city, but unfortunately because of their economic conditions it wasn’t on my list. Off to Hong Kong, the motherland! Mega Ice in Kowloon would be my home if this would be the chosen city. For those who think that Chelsea Piers’ view of the Hudson River is amazing, it’s nothing compared to Mega Ice’s view of Kowloon Bay. My parents finally leave back to NY. Next stop is Jakarta to visit some old classmates/coworkers. To my amazement this city has a handful of rinks. Even one larger sheet that isn’t even used for hockey sadly. Finally Bangkok! I check out the city and the hockey for 6 weeks. Sadly I need to leave to attend to a work emergency. If you think going back to work after a 2 week vacation is hard, try 3 months…brutal.
So my focus is set on relocation. Prior to leaving I entered contract for one last project but it was set to be finished by 2018. After it finished, I liquidated everything via local sources and eBay. March 2018, I start looking for 1-way tickets to somewhere in the EME ASEAN region. Randomly Singapore Airlines is having a special to Jakarta. 450 bucks later I land in Jakarta mid-April. Randomly one of my old D-Partners who works for the UN is in the city. He doesn’t have his gear, but gladly takes a ride with me to the rink. Somehow in Jakarta Indonesia I ended up playing 4 times/week for a month. Who would have guessed? While I made some great friends, whom I see whenever they come to Bangkok for tournaments, Jakarta’s traffic and lack of mass transit wasn’t quite a fit for me.
Next stop Ho Chi Mihn City aka Saigon. Mind you, this city wasn’t in my 2016 trip because the rink wasn’t yet built. The evening after arriving I’m on the only sheet of ice in the city. Typical Canadian hockey community with some others mixed in. Shortly after I arrive, I’m told a Hong Kong team will be coming to play some games to initiate the rink. They don’t have enough players and everyone from Saigon wants to play, so being the new guy and having HK roots I gladly volunteer. Great games, friends made, bonding afterwards. Everyone goes their separate ways. Saigon doesn’t have enough players to support hockey while all the teacher are gone for the summer, this was unknown to me prior to arrival. 3 months is here and a visa run is due. I’m looking for a cheap flight to somewhere with an ice rink. To my astonishment I remember hearing about ice hockey in Phuket from one of the veteran players on the HK team. Rink confirmed, get some beach time in? I’m there.
Arrive in Phuket early afternoon, check into my Airbnb, meet up with my hockey connect, better known as Phuket Jo, for lunch at his restaurant and meet his wife, who eventually ends up being my Thai mom. Quick stroll to the beach then back to my room. Few hours later Jo swings by, I pop the trunk only to see a set of goalie pads. When we played together in Saigon he was skating out. Little did I know this Canadian took it upon himself to play goalie since Phuket didn’t have one. Brings new meaning to the phrase “never say never.” I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. Somehow on this tropical Island in Thailand I’m playing 3 times/week. Phuket holds its first tournament, great, make new friends, many whom I eventually end up playing with in Bangkok. Sadly Jo suddenly passed, and it was obvious his crucial part in keeping the community together. Everything happens for a reason. This was the stimulus for me to move to Bangkok. While the beach life was fun, I’m a city boy at heart.
Notable mention: My parents came to visit Phuket and my mother was very animate about not living in a communist country. Our HK roots are very strong, so that would rule out Vietnam and sadly now Hong Kong.
Arriving in Bangkok was easy as I had already been living in Thailand for 9 months and could speak a considerable amount of Thai. Next day after arriving I’m on the ice for Shinny. I see some familiar faces and make introductions. It’s the summer, but we still have hockey thanks to the large community of expats/Thais supporting the game. I’ve gone from the Big Apple to the Big Mango. Finally fall is here and the SHL is in flight. Great city, great times, great people. Hard to really ask for more. My life here is nearly identical to my New York life, minus the cold and crime with a better work/life balance. Will I be in Bangkok forever? I’ve found a great life and community here, but places/people/circumstances are ever changing. If you asked me in 2010 I would have told you I would live in New York my whole life. All one can do is prepare and adapt. Life is full of the unexpected…
Original story written by Jeff Olsen for the Roseau Times-Region (Volume 128 – Number 31) Saturday, August 5, 2017
With close ties to Roseau County, Dom Dumais and Bill Bredesen, two former Twin Cities residents who share a flair for ice hockey, recently got acquainted for the first time in the strangest of places.
In early July, Malung’s Julane Kjaer sent a photo of two white guys in a hockey arena in Bangkok, Thailand, which is twelve-time zones away and where ice cream melts rapidly.
Unbeknownst to Dom and Bill, they share an extended historical connection to Roseau County.
Dom’s late mother was a McMillin, which guarantees that at any one time in Roseau County, they can field a complete baseball team of McMillins.
Make that two teams!
Bill’s family ties in Roseau County extend all the way back to the 1890s when his maternal great-grandfather, Olof E. Olsen, arrived here from Sweden in 1892 and was an original member of the Roseau Volunteer Fire Department when it was organized in 1903.
His wife, Anna Connelly Olsen, was the Roseau County Superintendent of Schools from 1909-1915.
On a side note, Bill Bredesen is my sister Katie’s youngest son, who used to visit here many summers ago.
In her text, Julane Kjaer explained that Dom is her cousin’s son.
“Small world,” she added.
Yes, it is.
In early July, Bill, 37, and soon to be a first-time father just a few days later, spoke by cellphone on What’s App from Bangkok.
It was 10 p.m. here and 10 a.m. the next morning in Bangkok.
On another side note, both Bill and Dom found love in Bangkok.
Bill is married to Soey, a talented young woman, and both are employed by international news media agencies.
Immediately, the ice rink came up.
They have a Zamboni, youth hockey teams, and an enthusiastic group of Thai kids who will someday be as nuts about hockey as the kids are in Roseau and Warroad.
“We play every Thursday, a pick-up game, and then I play in the Bangkok Hockey League (BHL), that’s run by Thai guys,” he said.
“The majority of every team is Thai-ten Thai players and five farangs (foreigners),” he said, explaining that farang actually means white foreigner.
“You get all these Thai teenagers out on a date, and they press their faces up against the plexiglass and watch us play, wondering what the hell is going on,” he laughed.
But get this.
They actually have tournaments where Thailand plays against Mongolia and other countries.
“Hockey isn’t big over here, but it’s got a following,” he said.
Bill has done well for himself.
“I’ve worked for the German Press Agency (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) since 2014,” he said, adding that his title is Asia Coordinator.
“I basically look after our network of correspondents and stringers in about 20 countries, spanning from New Zealand and Australia to India, including China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and everywhere else in-between,” he said, adding that he reported on President Obama’s trip to Vietnam in 2016.
From 2008 to 2014, he worked for a lifestyle magazine published by the Bangkok Post in which he covered the arts, culture, and nightlife.
What a wonderful gig!
Dining out, bar hopping and dancing, and then writing about it.
“Soey (pronounced Soy) works for Reuters, and she does big time news on Reuters TV,” he said, “She’s interviewed all the prime ministers, and she’s out there in the streets when there are demonstrations,” he said.
On Tuesday, July 11, Soey gave birth to Charles Arthit Bredesen, their first baby.
“I have 14 days of paternal leave, and Soey will have four months of maternal leave,” he said, laughing about how upset little Charlie can get when he’s hungry. Arthit, his middle name, is Thai for the sun and sunny days.
Dom Dumais, 46, also lives an interesting life and once served as a submariner, lost his mother when he was a teenager, has a quick laugh and a flair for podcasting.
Yes, and he loves hockey.
“My mother was a McMillin,” he said, which means he has many aunts and uncles and scores of cousins up here.
“Everybody called her Layne, but her first name was Doris,” he said, adding that he was 16 when she died.
He has one other tie to this area.
“My father, who now lives in New York, is from Warroad. I was born in Roseau and grew up in the Twin Cities, but I used to spend sum-mers and Christmas up there,” he said, adding that he’s been in Thailand for 11 years.
It’s funny how people make connections. Take Bill and Dom, who recently bumped into each other at the rink.
It took just one question.
“You from Minnesota?” asked Bill, and Dom had replied, “Yes.” and they struck up a conversation.
Who knows who snapped their photo? Probably some Yank or Canadian.
In Bangkok, the expatriates refer to just one hockey league of note -the SHL – the Siam Hockey League.
Dom is the administrator and official podcaster for the SHL.
On their website, siamhock-eyleague.com, there’s a catchy heading Siam Hockey League -Brought To You By The Flying Farangs
“It’s been nine years since I took my wife up to Roseau for the first time,” he said. “Tracy is British and works for the British Council, and we’ve been married for 10 years. We got married in Thailand.”
He laughed when recalling how strangers back in the States gave him weird looks during meals when he ate with a spoon while dining out.
“There are forks in Thailand, but spoons are the preferred utensil,” he said.
He served as a radioman in the U.S. Navy from 1990-94.
“I was on a submarine, but I also did a lot of shore stuff,” he said.
In a metropolitan area of over 14 million people, Dom knows the preferred methods of transportation in Bangkok.
“I use a bicycle some days. Depending on where I’m going, I use the subway or a motorcycle taxi,” he said.
His wife designs English instruction Apps for Thai students, “I teach math and English to first, second and third graders in a Thai school,” he said. “They’re great and a lot of fun to teach.”
Dumais is an unusual name.
“It’s French Canadian and Italian,” he said, and then explained who plays hockey in the Bangkok Hockey League (BHL).
There is a mix of Thais, Japanese, British, American, Canadian, Russian, Finnish and Swedes on all the teams,” he said, adding that he just plays in pick-up games since he registered too late.
“I’ve been away from hockey since 1989,” he said, speaking by cellphone on What’s App in mid-July.
It had to be asked of a happily married man of ten years.
“Do you do the dishes?”
“Of course,” he laughed. “I do the dishes, the laundry, we share it all.”
He’s an easy interview, which comes from a master who does numerous interviews on his Dom Dumais in Bangkok podcast at http://domdumais.com.
He’s twelve-time zones away, but he can be sitting in your living room. He’s a McMillin, so he has a gift of gab and a great love of sports.
One final note: Dom and Bill never have to worry about slipping on icy sidewalks over there.
BANGKOK, Thailand – Former New Jersey Devil right wing Troy Crowder has come a long way since his days as one of the NHL’s most feared enforcers. Last week he came 15,000 kilometres to be precise.
Crowder, whose on-ice scraps with top heavyweight Bob Probert of the Detroit Red Wings became the stuff of legend, made the journey to Bangkok, Thailand – along with some 400 hockey players from around the globe – to contest the “Land of Smiles” international ice hockey tournament.
While ice sport and the balmy Thai climate may seem an unlikely combination, hockey has blossomed in this steamy Southeast Asian nation.
“When I first heard about the tournament, I didn’t even think Bangkok had an arena,” said the 39-year-old Crowder, who was recruited by former junior teammate Brent Bywater to play for the North Bay Fighting Muskies. “The ice is really soft and it took some time to get used to, but it’s been a lot of fun playing here.”
Thirty teams from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia participated in the tournament, organized by local company Jamcomb Sports from Oct. 24-27.
Crowder didn’t disappoint after assuming the goal scorer’s role.
The six-foot-four, 240-pounder showed off his soft hands by scoring two shootout goals to lead his team to the semifinals.
The Fighting Muskies were eventually eliminated by a high-scoring United Arab Emirates team stacked with Belorussians, which eventually went on to win the competition.
Nonetheless, the experience was extraordinary, Crowder said, one he’ll never forget. He’s vowed to start recruiting as soon as he returns to his home in Sudbury, Ont., and return with a stronger team in 2008.
Crowder’s attendance continued a burgeoning NHL tradition in Bangkok after U.S. Olympian Neil Broten brought a team that won the tournament in 2001.
The Bangkok Flying Farangs team – “farang” being the Thai word for foreigner – has hosted the tourney since 1995. Despite many obstacles, the sport has steadily developed and the Thai capital has become Southeast Asia’s hockey hub.
The recreational Thai-World Hockey League entered its fifth season in September, boasting a blend of former Canadian junior and U.S. collegiate players, alongside skaters from Thailand, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Germany.
The TWHL’s marquee draw is former Sweden player Reine Rauhala, who once shared a dressing room with NHL stars such as Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund in the early 1990s.
Hockey has also captured the imagination of the locals. Despite a lack of government sponsorship and interest, Thailand deploys its national team to compete in international play – though sometimes the result is a devastating blowout.
Unranked by the International Ice Hockey Federation, Thailand squared off against world No. 11 Kazakhstan last February at the Asian Winter Games, leaving the ice on the losing end of a 52-1 scoreline as the tournament favourite Kazakhs mercilessly out-shot the Thais 97-7.
Thai-American goaltender Jason Cotsmire, originally from Long Island, N.Y., played half that game.
“I was thinking, ‘what did I get myself into?”‘ he said. “We were oversized and overmatched. It was more of a practice than a game.”
But like most Thai players, Cotsmire took the defeat in his stride, and the lessons learned with a smile.
“It was an once-in-a-lifetime experience. How many guys can say they played at that calibre?”
As well as entertaining the bemused locals, the Flying Farangs raise money each year for charitable causes, including some of Bangkok’s most disadvantaged children.
One of the team’s proudest moments came in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami that ravaged the country in 2004, when Bangkok’s hockey players teamed up with the NHL to raise more than US$40,000 for tsunami survivors with a charity game.
| Through trials and tribulations, Thai hockey persists |
| Bill Meltzer | NHL.com correspondent |
Most people in the west are unaware that organized ice hockey even exists in Thailand. Unfortunately, few in the Far East are aware of it, either. In a country of 62 million people, there are only about 200 natives who play hockey – 80 adult men, 100 boys and 20 women.
But hockey in Thailand actually has three decades worth of history, and a Thai national team represents the country at Asian-based hockey tournaments. The vast majority of the hockey community in Thailand is comprised of expatriates from Canada, the United States, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Japan and other countries.
As with most non-traditional hockey countries, hockey equipment is tough (and expensive) to come by in Thailand. The tropical Thai climate also seems inhospitable to the sport, but there are several ice rinks available, foggy but functional.
Seek and you shall find hockey
There are currently three rinks in Thailand. It takes some effort to seek out hockey at the facilities, but you’ll find it at two of them. Today, there’s an Olympic-sized ice rink, called the World Ice Skating Center, located on the seventh floor of the Thai World Trade Center Complex in Bangkok. It is the biggest rink in Southeast Asia. But the facility places a low priority on hosting ice hockey. The sport’s development has never been atop the agenda of the Bangkok-based Thai Ice Skating Association. It’s primarily figure skating, not hockey that rinks are built for and stay in existence.
As a result, most hockey games and clinics are centered in the other two facilities. Most tournaments take place at the reopened Imperial Samrong Rink in Bangkok and the Bully Sky Ice rink in the city of Chiangmai. The full-sized Chiangmai rink is on the fifth floor of the Kad Suan Kaew Shopping Complex adjacent to a large hotel. The Bangkok facility is located at the Imperial World Samrong Shopping Complex, about 30 minutes outside the downtown area.
Thai hockey is in the same situation as other countries when it comes to providing equipment for local and foreign players. Most of it is either donated by visiting players or obtained via fundraising efforts by the expatriate community.
A veteran Thai player, Sakchai “Jeab” Chinanuvatana, imports equipment from North America and Europe and supplies the gear to as many other players as possible. The problem is that it’s a costly business to operate within Thailand, and the equipment is simply too expensive for most native Thais to be able to afford. As a result, most youth hockey participants in the country are from well-to-do families. The lower income youth players typically obtain second-hand equipment.
Showing the same “when there’s a will, there’s a way” spirit exhibited in many developing hockey countries, it’s not uncommon for Thai players to tape broken sticks together and play with ill-fitting gloves— or no gloves at all. Whatever it takes to play the game, the Thai players will gladly do.
Two years ago, the International Ice Hockey Federation hosted an Asian hockey development camp in Chiangmai. Along with Thai players, attendees from Taiwan, India, Singapore and Thailand braved oppressive heat outside and sweltering conditions inside the Bully Sky ice rink for the chance to learn from players from countries with IIHF World Championship experience.
Demonstrator Stephan Speck, a New Zealander, got an education of his own when he saw that some of the players did not even own a complete hockey uniform, but went all out in the sessions. “I was surprised to see some of the players wearing jeans. One player was wearing his turban under his helmet,” he told the IIHF Ice Times.
Added fellow instructor Stephan McClutcheon; “I came away with a feeling that every individual at the camp had gotten at least 50 percent better. It was definitely a worthwhile trip, and I hope that all the players at the camp continue to carry on with their hockey.”
Flying Farangs and Thai World Hockey League
Without the assistance and leadership of the expatriate hockey community in Thailand, it’s unlikely that the sport would still exist on an organized level in the country.
In 1994, the Flying Farangs club was first organized by a group of expatriate hockey players who were coaching some of the Thai hockey teams. Farang is the Thai word for foreigner.
A Canadian player, Craig O’Brien, founded the Farangs. A mechanical engineer by day, O’Brien organized a group of foreigners from diverse backgrounds sharing a common love for playing the game. Upon his return home, other Farang members took over the leadership mantle. In more recent years, defenseman Kevin Hall has spearheaded the team’s fund-raising efforts.
The Flying Farangs have become the keystone of Thai hockey to most of the global hockey community. A team jersey hangs in an exhibit on global hockey at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
In 1999, the Bangkok Hockey league was established, consisting of five teams. The next year, the league expanded to 10 teams – nine featuring Thai players and one club of expatriates vying for the championships. When the Samrong Ice Rink closed in 2002, the league was temporarily disbanded. The Flying Farangs, however, continued to press on, sending teams to tournaments in Asia. Teams from Thailand have played in tournaments held in Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, and Ulaanbaatar.
Each October, in conjunction with Jancomb Sports Ltd., the Flying Farangs co-host an international fund-raising hockey tournament dubbed the OK Cup. Now entering its 13th year, the 2007 tournament will take place from Oct. 24-27 at the Samrong Rink. The tourney has the dual purpose of supporting the development of Thai hockey and raising money for needy children at the Human Development Center operated by Father Joseph Maier in Klongtoey.
Participating teams have come from as far away as Canada, Finland, Russia and the Czech Republic, but the regular foreign squads are from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Beijing and Tokyo. Thailand is represented by the Flying Farangs and three or four all-Thai teams such as Canstar, the Grizzly Bears and the Rockets. At the end of the tournament, all of the players from every team mix together at a big “thank you” party.
In addition to the hockey event, the Flying Farangs host a charity golf tournament each August at a country club in the tourist haven of Pattaya. Now in its fourth year, the tournament proceeds are donated to the Thai Fund Foundation and to the further development of the Thai hockey program. In addition to the time spent on the links, participants can usually be found enjoying the Pattaya nightlife.
When the Samrong rink in Bangkok reopened, the Farangs quickly moved back into their old haunt. The team scrimmages there on Wednesday nights and its member also participate in the Thai World Ice Hockey League on Sunday evenings at the same venue.
The TWIHL is entering its fourth year of operations with five teams. In the modern circuit, there is even mixture of Thai and farang players on each squad. In addition to the native Thai players, you’ll find Canadians, Americans, Swedes, Finns, Germans, Japanese and Australians.
The skill level of the players varies widely. There are some former semi-professional players, but there are also novices who simply want to play. The circuit’s primary goal is to promote the sport as a fun way for people of all nationalities to bond and engage in friendly competition.
To date, the most skilled native player Thai hockey has produced is forward Vanchalerm “Top” Rattapong, and even he has never played outside of Asia. Rattapong works for a local modeling agency and his combination of flashy stickhandling and stylish appearance led him to be dubbed the Jaromir Jagr of Thailand by the farang players.
The multi-cultural makeup of the teams is intended to help advance the skill level of the Thai participants. Because goaltending is largely an individual position, there are three Thai goalies and three farang goalies in the league who rotate each week to play for different teams. This year, the league has added a support fund for players, intended to help subsidize the costs of equipment and ice time, especially for Thais who want to participate in the game.
The joy of competition
Earlier this year, Thailand participated in the Asian Winter Games in Changchun, China. The hockey tournament field was utterly lopsided. Participants ranged from Kazakhstan (a country that has produced NHL players, has played in the Olympics and at the elite level of IIHF World Championship competitions and, at worst, is a top Division I team) to the Division II caliber host nation to borderline Division III caliber United Arab Emirates down to the comparatively novice Thai and Hong Kong teams.
The Thais were coached by an American, Michael Rolanti. A former college player at RPI, Rolanti operates a chain of English language schools in the Thai capital.
The Thai players were extremely excited to pull on a national team sweater, even though they knew full well they had no chance of winning the hockey tournament and the Kazakhs were a shoo-in to win. Simply taking to the ice against a team like Kazakhstan was an honor.
Team Thailand played hard in every game, and lost by a respectable 4-0 score to the United Arab Emirates. But it was the game against Kazakhstan that drew attention overseas. The Thai team, plucky and courageous as it was, was simply out of its league.
Kazakhstan scored 52 goals in the game, seven of which came off the stick of left winger Oleg Eremeev, a professional player who has competed at the World Junior Championships and Division I World Championships. The Kazakhs out-shot the Thais 97-7, with six of the Thai shots coming in the third period. Nevertheless, the Thai players skated for 60 minutes as though the score were 0-0.
“I think it was a good game for us, because we never gave up,” Rolanti told The Toronto Sun.
While such words may sound trite – and perhaps even comical – those familiar with Thai hockey understood that simply not getting discouraged and continuing to play hard was the Thai team’s primary ambition. Scoring even a single goal would be a victory in its own right.
Seven minutes into the third period, the Thais shot wildly at the net, and the puck caromed right into the slot. Thai forward Arthit Thamwongsin just about lept out of his skates to pounce on the loose puck and ferociously slam the puck into the net past startled Kazakh goaltender Sergey Ogureshnikov.
Ogureshnikov is a top goaltender in the Kazakh league for Kazzinc Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk and has played in the World Championships at both the elite and Division I levels. To the Thais, scoring a goal on Ogureshnikov was almost like scoring on Martin Brodeur, because he represented competition at hockey’s top levels. Several minutes later, the Thais generated a breakaway opportunity, but Ogureshnikov made an easy stop.
Despite the epic rout, the Thais left with a positive feeling. The excitement of the lone goal was what they took away from the game, along with the experience of having played a well-established international opponent. It left the players hungry for more.
Recognition for work on, off ice
Bill Meltzer | NHL.com correspondent
Thai hockey occasionally drifts into the consciousness of the rest of the hockey world. In the early 1990s an on-ice appearance by former NHL player, 1980 Olympic gold medalist and Stanley Cup winner Neal Broten at a fund-raising tournament drew mild attention from overseas. More recently, Thai hockey was featured on an Asian sports television show, and print stories in Asia, Europe and North America.
Most notably, the NHL joined with the Thai hockey community two years ago in the wake of the deadly tsunami of December 2004. A fund-raising game organized by the Flying Farangs and Thai World Ice Hockey League nearly drew 800 onlookers to a rink not designed for spectator-driven hockey (the building was filled to capacity) and raised $50,000 (U.S.) in relief funds.
The NHL donated $2,600 for each goal scored in the game. Billed as “Canada vs. The World,” the match featured an all-Canadian squad took on a team of players from the United States, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Japan and Thailand. The World team won by a 7-6 score. In addition to the NHL donation, about $5,000 was raised through gate receipts at the door.
”We’ve played a lot of hockey here for more than 10 years, but this is the team’s proudest moment,” Flying Farangs defenseman Kevin Hall said to the Associated Press.
