One year playing for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks changed the course of Patrick Choi’s hockey career.

Choi, who committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at Bentley College on Dec. 19, lived in Seoul, South Korea, until he was 12, then moved with his parents to London, Ontario, Canada, in search for more opportunities in hockey.

“My parents and I wanted me to compete in a bigger field. I needed to play more hockey,” Choi said. “In Korea you would play 10 games per year vs. 80 or so in North America.”

Choi had been certain his next step would be major junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League. After all, he was playing for the London Jr. Knights, a minor program affiliated with the OHL powerhouse of the same nickname.

Choi remembered watching Jr. Ducks Director of Player Personnel Alex Kim play many times when Kim was a hockey pro in Asia. Little did he know the role Kim and his new employer, the Jr. Ducks, would play in helping him.

“Everyone knows who Alex is in South Korea,” Choi said. “My second year of 16U I wanted a new start with a different team and coach. I went to his hockey camp in Korea, so I knew him from that.

“I told him about my situation, and he invited me to try out for his team. The Jr. Ducks program helped me find the right track for my hockey career. Alex and the club helped every single player on our (2014-15) team and prepared us for the next level.”

Choi, a 1998 birth year, has played the past two seasons in the U.S. Premier Hockey League’s Premier Division, last season with Syracuse and this season with the Boston Jr. Bruins. The skilled forward had 39 points in 38 games in ’15-16 and had 14 through 25 games this season.

“Just because a player is done playing for us doesn’t mean we’re done with you,” Kim said. “The after-service the Jr. Ducks can provide is important to us, and there are so many people in our club who contribute to this process. And it is a process.

“It takes time for these opportunities to come about for many players. We want to help them find the right program and the right coach. The Boston Jr. Bruins have done a great job with Patrick and so many other players, and our goal is to have these types of relationships in junior and college hockey. 

Choi said his season in Anaheim stood out for several reasons.

Not only did he amass 36 points in 25 North American Prospects Hockey League games and 15 more in 16 CAHA game for the Jr. Ducks – numbers that caused scouts to take notice – but he gained a close a group of friends.

“That ’98 team was probably the closest one I’ve every played for,” Choi said. “Everyone loved each other. We still have a group chat so most of us can stay in touch.”

Kim said that ’14-15 Jr. Ducks Midget 16U AAA team, which won CAHA and Pacific District titles en route to a berth at the USA Hockey National Championships, was the right team at the right time for Choi in his development.

“It jumpstarted a new era for Patrick in terms of his confidence,” Kim said. “Having success with the team and as an individual helped him, as did a good group of teammates.”

Choi is the fourth player from the Jr. Ducks ‘’98 team to make a Division I commitment, joining forwards Justin Dixson (UMass-Amherst) and Jack Gates (Colorado College) and defenseman Chad Sasaki (Colorado College). Several more teammates are playing junior A hockey this season.

Choi said the relationship he and his family forged with Kim and his family, who immigrated to Southern California from South Korea several years ago, added another positive layer to his time with the Jr. Ducks.

“The best part for my parents was they could finally talk to my coach in Korean,” Choi said. “And it helped me a lot, too. He was very supportive on and off the ice.”

Choi billeted with Kim’s parents that season, and the two families have remained close, he said, adding he still returns to Southern California every year to work with Kim.

“He is one of the best skills coaches out there,” Choi said.

Choi will enter Bentley in the fall of 2018 and plans to study business.

“It’s a great fit for me because of the business school and hockey,” he said. “I’m glad I found it. None of this would have been possible without the Jr. Ducks. So many people helped me.

“It was an honor for me to play for them. All of this is an honor for me. I came to North America seven years ago and now I’ve committed to a school I like. My parents and I couldn’t be happier.”

Choi is one of six players with ties to the Jr. Ducks who have made NCAA Division I college commitments this season.

Longtime Jr. Ducks 2001s Cameron York (Boston College) and Nicholas Kent (Quinnipiac) committed in early fall. Eetu Selanne (Northeastern) and Rourke Russell (Miami) – who played a couple of seasons of Bantam AAA with the Jr. Ducks – committed later in the fall, and Slava Demin (Denver) also committed this week.

That also brings the number of D-I commitments for the program to 10 in the past two years. Dixson, Gates and Sasaki committed during the 2014-15 season and Rory Herrman (Arizona State) committed last season. In addition, one of Herrman’s teammates, goaltender Carl Stankowski, is playing for Seattle of the Western Hockey League.

-- Chris Bayee