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RED DEER – The Alberta Collegiate Athletic Conference (ACAC) went international last month as Alberta teams welcomed the Korea University Tigers for a set of exhibition contests.

The Seoul-based Tigers began their trip to Alberta on Jan. 12 against the Concordia University (Edmonton) Thunder, which Concordia won 4-3 in overtime. Korea University follows that up with games against NAIT, Portage College, Augustana and Briercrest. The game against SAIT was canceled due to an injury error on the Trojans' roster.

ACAC Chief Executive Officer Mark Kosak said planning for this exhibition tour began in September when Korea University played Augustana in a pair of exhibition matches.

“The Korean team was in Canada, exploring the possibility of playing a Canadian tournament,” Kosak said. “They're the dominant varsity team in Korea, so they've been here for a few exhibition games.”

When the team was in the country, the Tigers tried to play more games against ACAC opponents.

“They contacted my office to see if they could discuss the prospect of joining the ACAC in the near future … it seemed like a crazy idea at the time that they wanted to play in our conference,” Kosak said. . “We met to better understand their point of view. One of the requirements was for them to come back this year and play our teams to see if they were competitive and could legitimately be an ACAC team.

The Tigers proved they can hang with their Alberta counterparts, defeating Portage College 7-3 and losing a pair of close games at NAIT and Augustana. The Tigers ended their trip with a 5-1 loss to top-ranked Briercrest College.

“It surprised me, it shouldn't have happened because they wouldn't have asked for this opportunity or gone on this tour if they didn't believe they could be competitive,” Kosak said. “They did their research and I trust them because they knew the ACAC level of play and they felt they could compete with our ACAC athletes. What we've seen is that they're highly skilled and very structured.”

The team has since applied to play in the ACAC next season. Their application is currently under review, and a decision will be made in May. There are many logistics involved in making this a feasible option. Does Korea University play all road games? Will they have a home base in Canada? Kosak said the two sides are working to put together a possible solution.

“It has a lot of moving parts and it's not something that happens quickly. But the plan is for them to relocate to Calgary and play their games at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex,” Kosak said. “They would move to Calgary in October with the entire team, a delegation of support staff and about 30 players, and they would stay in Calgary until the end of March and follow the same schedule as any other ACAC team.”

The school year in South Korea is different from that in Canada. The first semester starts in March and ends in mid-July, then starts again in August and lasts until mid-February. ACAC exhibition games begin in September and conference play usually begins in mid-October. Korean students will take online courses for the duration of their time in Canada and return in March after the season ends.

“It's unique. There is absolutely no idea that they will join our league. “No one has ever done this, thought about it, or contacted us,” said Kosak. “I'm very proud of our conference because we have an open mind, because it would be an easy decision to say, 'No, no, we can't do that.' It's crazy. Let's not even waste time and effort. I believe that every participant has a responsibility to the sport of hockey to do everything possible to contribute to the growth of hockey worldwide. ACAC has always been limited in what we can do in this regard. But this is our opportunity to help develop hockey in South Korea.”

The ACAC currently has seven teams with bye weeks on the schedule, so adding an eighth team to the conference would allow teams to play games more often.