from the Korea Times,

South Korea lost both of its two men's hockey friendly games against Russia over the weekend on home ice, but the team's strong efforts still surprised many.

That includes Alexei Zhamnov, former National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star now handling scouting for the Russian national team.

Russia beat South Korea 4-3 on Saturday and 5-2 on Sunday at Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, some 230 kilometers east of Seoul. The new rink will also be the venue for the hockey tournament at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Russia didn't have its top NHL players and assembled a team of mostly under-25 players in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). On Saturday, the world No. 2 had some late adventures against the 23rd-ranked South Korea on Saturday, as the host scored three times in the third period. On Sunday, Russia trailed 2-1 early in the second period but rallied with four unanswered goals....

"To be honest, I was kind of surprised (with the South Korean team)," Zhamnov told Yonhap News Agency after Sunday's game. "I know the coach (Paek). He has a lot of experience on the bench, and he did a tremendous job in these games. He made the right decisions. The Korean guys played consistently and stayed with their system."

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