News Article about academy Alum Jackson Jong-Min Lee.  Lee played for the BWC Bantam AAA, BWC Academy E15s, and last year for BWC Academy U18s.

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games are never far from Jackson Lee’s mind.

After all, they’re being played in his home country.

Lee, a Kamloops Storm forward, hails from the city of Incheon, South Korea, about 150 kilometres west of Pyeongchang, home of the 2018 Games.

He dreams of being on the Korean national team when the Games come to South Korea a little over two years from now.

This summer, Lee’s Olympic dream became a little more real as he made the South Korean team for the 2016 IIHF World Under-18 Championship being played in Asiago, Italy.

The Division 1 Group B tournament includes Hungary, Japan, Italy, Slovenia and Ukraine.

“Obviously, it will be a great experience for me, playing against all the guys from other countries and going to Italy with the team,” Lee told KTW.

He returned to Korea for tryouts in August and will head straight to Italy following the end of the Kamloops Storm’s KIJHL season in March.

And, while the tournament is certainly on his mind, Lee’s current focus is his season with the Storm. Head coach Ed Patterson said Lee figures to be a big part of his club’s success, part of a forward corps that may be faster and more skilled than the group that took Kamloops to the KIJHL championship last season.

Patterson played for the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins at the same time as Jim Paek, director of hockey for the Korea Ice Hockey Association. That, coupled with seeing Lee play in a few tournaments for the Burnaby Winter Club Academy against his son, former Kamloops Storm forward Max Patterson, was enough to have the coach excited about what Lee could bring to the Tournament Capital.

“He skates great, he’s got a heavy shot, he’s competitive, strong on the puck and great in his own end,” Patterson said.

“He just has to draw out the offensive side of his game a bit more — he has it, he just has to learn how to use it a little better because he has always been so reliable and so dependable.

“He won’t be in the league for very long.”

Lee had one point in Kamloops’ opening weekend on the road. Storm fans will have their first opportunity to watch the forward this weekend, with the club’s season opener against the Revelstoke Grizzles tonight and a game against the defending KIJHL champion Kimberly Dynamiters tomorrow.

Both games go at 7 p.m. on McArthur Island.

Lee, who turnes 17 on Dec. 9, is still too young to be considered for the South Korean national team. But, a lot can change in two years, just as a lot has changed since he first came to Canada three years ago.

Lee left Korea when he was in Grade 9, determined to play in a hockey-mad nation where he felt he had the most to gain. Hockey in Korea doesn’t compare to baseball or soccer — there are limited options for a player like Lee, who was always one step ahead of the rest of his age group.

The experience wasn’t always easy — he billeted with a family in Vancouver and said he hated it. He spoke next to no English and there weren’t many people he felt he could relate to.

After his sister moved to Vancouver from Australia, things got a little better. His English improved — Lee speaks with only a hint of an accent now — and he started to enjoy life in Canada.

And, playing in the nation home to the last two gold medals in Olympic hockey has had the impact Lee hoped for when he first left his home in Incheon.

“When I was in Korea, I was with my friends and I was at the same level as them for hockey,” he said.

“Being in Canada for a couple of years, I go back, see my friends, have practice with them and I see the gap.

“I’m always happy for that — I’m getting better.”

Lee heads to Italy with the intention of winning a gold medal for his country — still a fledgling nation in comparison to the world’s hockey superpowers.

But, he also hopes to turn a few heads and to be noticed by those selecting the Korean Olympic team for the 2018 Games.

When asked what it would mean for him to play in the tournament, he talked about playing against his favourite player, Pavel Datsyuk of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.

He had no words to describe being an Olympian in his home nation, in front of his parents who let him come to Canada to pursue his dream years ago.

Most of all, he smiled.

“It’s actually my idols becoming my enemies,” he said.

“That would be great.”