In the travelogue Tropic of Hockey: My Search for the Game in Unlikely Places, Canadian writer and rocker Dave Bidini tells how he rediscovered the game he loved by playing the sport off the beaten track.
Though he never made it to Taiwan - there wasn't a well-established hockey league on the island at that time - the book reveals why people are willing to pack up their skates and sticks and haul them all over the world.
It's a sentiment Mike Thorburn understands well. When the 24-year-old was deciding where to teach in Asia, he narrowed his choices down to Korea, Japan and Taiwan. He chose Taiwan, in part, because of the Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League (CIHL, 中國冰球聯盟).
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE CHL
"That was [what] really got me over here," he said to the Taipei Times over a hot cup of coffee in the icy belly of the Taipei Arena (臺北小巨蛋).
The Toronto native says that living in a country that pays foreign teachers relatively well is fun, and hitting the ice here is a nostalgic reminder of home - minus, of course, the below-zero temperatures.
Thorburn's sentiments are shared by many of the other players in the International Division of the CIHL who have recently arrived and by those debating whether to sign on for another season.
In addition to playing, Thorburn has joined the league's committee of representatives - a group that interacts with the local community to increase the profile of hockey in Taiwan.
The league's organizers are made up of players who volunteer their time because they love the sport and want to pass the game on to others.
"We are out here for fun," Thorburn said when asked about egos and the fights that often accompany professional hockey games in North America. "I mean nobody is getting paid."
The CIHL consists of two divisions. The larger of the two is the International Division, which is composed of roughly 100 players, a quarter of whom are Taiwanese, playing on eight teams. Five of the teams are from Taipei, with the remaining three based in Taichung, Chiayi and Kaohsiung.
Although hockey doesn't rival baseball in popularity, the CIHL has seen its numbers grow. That rise has been matched by an increase in the number of games played. "Last year there were 14 games," Thorburn said, "this year there are 21."
The Club Division has four teams, is composed strictly of Taiwanese people and pits players at the same level against each other. Players in the Club Division can be drafted into the International League, but the competition there is tougher.
To help promote hockey on the island and entice players to hit the ice, the league subsidizes the fees and sponsors all the local players.
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