Korean War Veteran Internet Journal for the World s Veterans of the Korean War December 1, 2014 CBC TV reports on Imjin Cup Memorial Hockey Game held in Ottawa on ice of the Ottawa Senators in tribute to original 1952 players and hundredth anniversaries of Princess Patricia s Canadian Light Infantry and the Royal 22e Regiment. On November 29 hockey teams from the Princess Patricia s Canadian Light Infantry and the Royal 22e Regiment faced off at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa to play a commemorative game. It honoured their regimental forebears who played hockey on the frozen Imjin River in Korea in the winter of 1951-1952. Our good friend Major (Ret d) Charles Kim, who served in both the Korean War and in Vietnam with the ROK Army, and has long been a member of KVA Canada and avid photographer did standout duty on the last night of November by photographing a CBC television newscast that described the game, with interviews of historic figures and of the game s organizers, South Korea s Ambassador to Canada Hee-yong Cho and his defence attache, Colonel Jang Min Choi.
This is Charles first grab from the TV screen, showing short 20-second promo ahead of the news item. It depicts, of course, the actual rink formed on the frozen Imjin, reportedly with the Princess Patricia s Canadian Light Infantry doing battle on the blades with soldiers from the Royal 22e Regiment, circa, winter, 1952. His first photograph from the actual news segment showing Sergeant Dennis Moore being interviewed. Dennis served in Korea with 2 and 1 PPCLI and played in the first match ever held on the Imjin in January, 1952, between the PPCLI and 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade headquarters. It is said that Dennis would have donned the blades and showed the more youthful players how the game should be played, but time and too many matches and adventures have worn out one of his hips. The photo inadvertently is a good advertisement for Samsung of Korea; the picture quality is excellent, as is Charles photographic skill.
The faceoff between present day hockey players from the two regiments. The Vandoos player in bue and white jersey would prevail and later skate with much spirit with the famed Imjin River Memorial Cup held high above his head. The Patricias captain thought it embarrassing to be beaten by a team from a hundred year old Regiment, but then remembered his PPCLI Regiment, like the R22eR, had turned 100 this year. Both were founded to serve in World War One. Both served in World War One, World War Two, Korea, and in every major NATO and United Nations deployment Canadian troops have been involved in.
Ambassador Hee-yong Cho and his defence attache, Colonel Jang Min Choi, with the coveted Imjin River Cup. The cup does not date from the Korean War. There are a few thousand young Canadian expats living in Korea and some of them formed hockey teams. In 2000, one of the players was in Uijongbu and found a remarkable photograph of soldiers playing hockey on a frozen river. He brought it back with him to Gecko s restaurant and saloon in the Itaewon district of Seoul. The pubisher of the Korean War Veteran was present during a discussion of the photo and explained that it was of the Princess Patricias playing on the frozen Imjin. The young players were taken aback. Could this be? Did they play hockey close to the front lines during the war? Yes, within sound of the guns, they were told. The publisher, then resident in Korea, wrote out a history of the games and the proprietor of Geckos bought the cup, had it engraved and somehow or other the publisher s name wound up on one of its commemorative plates. Some tellers of the story of the Imjin River cup and how the photograph had been identified elevated the publisher s rank to Lieutenant Colonel and commanding officer, which was quite a stretch, but a nice touch. The Geckos team sewed PPCLI insignia on their jerseys and the first Imjin River Memorial Cup game was held in a Seoul arena. The tournament has been held in South Korea every year since, with flame snorting young Canadians, and some Koreans and others, vying for hockey s highest honour in that nation. Because of budget the tournament often takes place past midnight in the low ice rink rent wee hours of the morning, and thus evades the interest of Korea s sports writers. Like the Stanley Cup in North America, the Imjin River Memorial Cup grows in size year by year.
Colonel Jang Min Choi, who approached Senator Yonah Martin with the thought of holding a commemorative match in Ottawa to mark the hundredth anniversaries of the two proud regiments that had helped save his nation during the war, is interviewed and obviously delighted with the way things worked out. Senator Martin, who had held a spectacular memorial match on the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottawa in 2012, had her staff partner with the Korean Embassy and work with them on the November 29 game that was held in the Canadian Tire Centre arena in Ottawa home ice of the Ottawa Senators.
The Vandoos general manager looks anxious. Is it possible that his team might lose? Is it possible that they will hold their lead and win? The pressure tells on Captain Jonathan Hancock. This is the great clash between two famous regiments, both celebrating their hundredth birthday. Victory means a great deal. But the rivals have been friends for a century. Whoever wins, it will be
a victory for both of them; a century of friendship and service to their nation foretells another century of the same. There will be no real losers this night; only winners. Still, it is nice to leave the ice with a victory grin. Is this a winning handshake? Did the Vandoos prevail? All s well that ends well! This year the Vandoos were victorious on the ice, trouncing the intrepid Patricias by a score of seven to four. However, next year the Patricias will have worked on their game and maybe they can play it on river ice,
as in the days of the original games in 1952. One thing everyone in the world is thankful for; the guns in Korea have been long silent, since July 27, 1953. We owe part of that to the Canadian Army hockey players, who took a few hours out from the war!