Lee Chin
By John Harrington
Lee Chin’s ‘Toughest Trade’ lived up to its name when he swapped his hurley for an ice-hockey stick for six days.
The Wexford hurler travelled to Canada two weeks ago where he joined up with the Vancouver Canucks ice-hockey team for the popular AIB documentary.
He had a fair idea the learning curve was going to be a steep one, but was still taken aback by just how challenging the experience was.
“Definitely (harder than expected),” said Chin today. “I knew I was going to be surprised when I got there, but I didn't realise I would be so surprised.
“Just what level I had to get to. Not to compete, but even just to be on the ice with these lads. I suppose I thought that, if you could skate in a straight line and turn back around, I'd be fine.
“But when I got there, and saw the speed the game is played with my own eyes, I thought 'this is something I'm not able to do,' especially after the first day. Confidence was low!
“Just the speed and elegance of them on the ice and their footwork was just incredible so that kind of stuff, looking at it, you just know yourself that you're way out of your depth.
“These lads grew up doing this, they're so used to it, they'd do this (skate) the way I'd walk down the street, that's how easy it is to them. When I saw how quick they were on the ice and how intense it was, it did scare me.”
If you thought some of the skills of hurling might transfer well to ice-hockey, it turns out you’d be sorely mistaken.
Chin is one of the best hurlers in the country, but he doesn’t think that counted for much when he padded up and went on the ice.
“There was no similarities at all, absolutely none,” he says. “And that was another thing that scared me because I thought, when I got there, I might have one or two things I might be able to show them but then I got there and I was like 'no, I've got nothing, absolutely nothing, so I'll just have to get these boys to show me what to do.'
“The stick is so different, the length of it, the grip, everything is so different and I just felt no similarity at all.
“The other thing that did help was the fact that I train a lot so I had core work and core strength and just being active all the time, that stood to me more so physically and mentally. But as for the similarities of the games, no.”
Lee Chin
That natural athleticism combined with a dogged determination to learn as much as he could in a short space of time meant by the end of the week Chin was a lot more comfortable on the ice and with the demands of the game.
“Oh yeah, I felt I improved massively and the one-on-one sessions I did were really beneficial,” he says. “The lads doing them with me were so patient.
“I don’t think they fully understood I’d no ice-skating experience at all. I think they thought they’d be touching up on it and didn’t realise I’d nothing but I think it was fun for them too!”
Ice-hockey isn’t just one of the fastest and most technical sports in the world, it can also be one of the most brutal.
One-on-one, gloves off, fighting is regarded as a legitimate part of the sport, and Chin discovered why that’s always likely to be the case.
“There was one thing on the ice that fascinated me massively, and I love telling people about it, was the physical side of hockey and the fighting side of it,” he says.
“I could never understand how this was allowed in a sport to have such brutality. Out of nowhere it comes around and you wonder 'what was that for?'
“When I was over there I had a massive interest in it and asking lads about it. (Vancouver Canucks player) Erik Gudbranson told me about it, and he’s a massive fan of it because he loves fighting himself.
“He expressed to me on more than one occasion that he loves fighting. He wasn’t shy about telling me that he was good at it too!
“I couldn’t understand why there wasn’t a rule to avoid it. He was telling me that the players police the rule. It’s in the players’ control. If one player is being dirty on the ice to another, he has to pay for his actions.
“That’s where the fighting comes in. They won’t get rid of the rule, because if they do, the game will get filthier.
“Weaker guys who just want to skate, may get bullied on the ice. Lads don’t want to be too sneaky, otherwise they will get a puck in the mouth for themselves!”
Lee Chin
Chin successfully avoided getting a puck in the mouth himself while in Canada and came away from the whole experience with a whole new appreciation of the sport of ice-hockey. So much so, he doesn’t want the ‘Toughest Trade’ to be his last experience of it.
“Definitely. I think I came home with a massive interest level. I was saying to some of the crew coming home that it's definitely something that I'm going to be interested in.
“It got so enjoyable towards the end of the week. I just couldn't wait to put on the skates. The start of the week was more of an effort. I was thinking, 'I can't do this.'
“Then you got the sessions in and you started to be able to control yourself more on the ice. It just got so much more enjoyable. It was really therapeutic to down the ice because there was less of a thought process. It's definitely something I will try to stay in touch with.
“There's a guy back home with my club who played ice hockey in Canada. He's living in Ireland now. He plays with a team and they travel to Belfast once or twice a month to play. I'll be getting in touch with him to see if he'll bring me along.”
**Watch Lee Chin in AIB’s The Toughest Trade this Friday at 10:35pm on RTÉ2. The Toughest Trade, part of the #TheToughest campaign, will see Chin swap his boots for a pair of ice skates to join NHL team the Vancouver Canucks while former ice hockey star Alex Auld will travel to Wexford to experience life as an amateur GAA player with Faythe Harriers. **
