page_title: High1
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: High1 / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Alex Kim of High1 discussing strategy on ice
context_page_description: High1 is an ice hockey team based in Chuncheon, South Korea. Formed in 2004, the team was initially made up of players from the defunct Korean league who didn't immediately move to Anyang Halla from the Hyundai and Dongwon teams as well as other disbanded teams and players who had returned from military service. Prior to the 2007–08 season, the team was known as Kangwon Land, named after their owner, Kangwon Land Corporation. Between 2005 and 2019, High1 competed in the Asia League Ice Hockey.
context_section_description: The team was formed as Kangwon Land in 2004, named after the owner. The team was formed with the intention of joining the Asia League and was expected to have an operating cost of 2 billion won. The owners also felt that the team's creation would aid in a bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The team's formation was first announced in January 2004. The team hired former Dong-won Dreams head coach, Kim Hee-woo. Their founding ceremony was on 15 September 2004 at COEX. Their first game was held at 1:00 pm on 5 October 2004 against Korea University as part of the 59th Korean Domestic Championship. They lost their first game by a score of 3-2. However, they finished as runner-up and took third place in the Kangwon Cup in December of the same year. In July 2005 it was announced that Kangwon Land would be admitted to the Asia League. At that time the team also announced that it would spend 46 days in Canada training, including playing 10 games, in preparation for the season.
  Kangwon Land became the second Korean team to enter the Asia League during the 2005–06 season. They played 38 regular season games. All of their 19 home games were played in Chuncheon at the Eui Am ice rink. They were swept in their regular season series against Kokudo and the Nippon Paper Cranes while only managing to win one out of nine games against fellow South Korean team, Halla. They finished in seventh place with 28 points. The team also failed to break the top 10 in any of the point rankings. Joshua Liebenow led the team with 16 goals, Park Jin-hong led with 18 assists and Kim Kyu-hyun led the team with 26 points overall. Hwang Byung-wook led the team in plus-minus with a +3 for the season. Kangwon Land failed to make the playoffs as only the top six teams advanced to the postseason. After the conclusion of the season Kangwon Land played a friendly against North Korea. Kangwon Land won the match by a score of 3 to 1.
  In the 2006–07 season the league reduced the number of games played to 34 with the departure of the Nordic Vikings. During the season the team participated in the Korea Domestic Championship and took first place for the first time in their three-year participation. After finishing out of the playoffs in their first season, they finished in fourth place with 62 points and advanced. They also swept their season series against Changchun Fuao and improved on the previous years performance against Halla by only losing a single game to them. The team played in mixed arenas, playing 11 games in Chuncheon, four games in Mok-dong and 2 games in Goyang. The points race also saw Kangwon Land perform much better. Tim Smith led the leagues in goals with 30 and Kim Kyu-hyun led the team with 38 assists, placed third in the league with 26 goals and 64 points. Kangwon Land had a total of 8 placings in the top 10 for goals, assists and points. Tim Smith also led the team in plus-minus with a +44 The team had to face Halla in the first round of the playoffs. They continued their season long success against them and swept them in three games. Kangwon's sweep of Halla marked the first time a non-Japanese team won a playoff series in the Asia League. After defeating Halla they were swept in three games by the Nippon Paper Cranes in the semi-finals. Even with the early exit from the playoffs, Tim Smith managed a second-place finish in the assists category.
  With the two China teams merging into a single one, the league reduced the number of games to only 30 in the 2007–08 season. Prior to the start of the season Kangwon Land changed their name to High1. The team again won the Korea Domestic Championship in November 2007. High1 further improved and finished the season in second place with 58 points which included a sweep of the newly formed China Sharks. Coach Kim credit the entire team for doing well but singled out their goalie, Eum Hyun-seung as really shining. The team's home schedule was not as mixed as the previous season and they played 13 games in Chuncheon while playing two in Goyang. There was further improvement in the point rankings as Alex Kim ranke
caption: Alex Kim discusses strategy on-ice with Jeremy van Hoof. Kim won two points titles his first year in the league.
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