GANGNEUNG, South Korea -- Canadian-born South Korean hockey forward Brock Radunske dedicated his first Olympic goal on Tuesday to the partisan fans who supported the team.
Radunske, the first foreign native to be naturalized on the men's hockey team here, scored South Korea's first goal in its 5-2 loss to Finland in the qualification playoff match of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. With several thousand fans packing Gangneung Hockey Center, South Korea was down 3-0 when Radunske put the home team on the board. Buoyed by the opening goal, South Korea added another about two minutes later, before losing steam and then the game.
Radunske, former National Hockey League draft pick by the Edmonton Oilers, said he wanted to give those fans something to cheer for.
South Korean forward Brock Radunske celebrates his goal against Finland during the qualification playoff match in the men`s hockey tournament of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Feb. 20, 2018. (Yonhap)
"The crowd deserved to see the puck go into the net," he said. "They've been behind us all tournament and it was, more than anything, for them."
South Korea was coming off back-to-back shutout losses to Switzerland and Canada. Radunske said the players felt they deserved better fate in those games, and they were confident that as long as they kept "doing the right things long enough," the pucks would start going in.
"You need a little bit of puck luck in this game," he said. "The goal felt unbelievable. The biggest thing is the crowd got behind us. And two minutes later, the next line went out there and scored a big goal. It gave confidence to the whole team."
Once a highly-touted prospect out of Michigan State, Radunske landed in South Korea without having played an NHL game. But he feels "pretty proud" to be a part of the national team for his adopted country now.
"To be in a one-goal game against Finland in the third period was a pretty special moment for Korean hockey," he said. "And I think the crowd gave us a lot of energy. It felt good to reward them with a couple of goals and have them celebrate."
(Yonhap)
Radunske missed a big chunk of last year after undergoing right hip surgery. He said his goal was to return to the national team in time for the Olympics and make a contribution in the biggest tournament of his life.
And he said his Olympic experience has "exceeded anything that I thought it could be."
"The professionalism of all the athletes coming together ...
this is a very special event," he said. "I haven't been a part of anything like this before. I am very thankful to be a part of it." (Yonhap)
