The Norfolk Admirals announced today they have signed Seoul, South Korea native Sanghoon Shin to a standard player contract for the 2024-25 ECHL season. At 31 years old with experience already in the ECHL and at the Olympic level, Jeff Carr saw all these as reasons for Shin to be a “must sign” for the Admirals. Shin is just the second Koren-born player to play in the ECHL, joining Daniel Kim, who spent three seasons from 2004 to 2007.
The 31-year-old has two seasons of ECHL experience with the Atlanta Gladiators in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. Shin has played 105 games, tallying 44 goals and 33 assists between the regular season and Kelly Cup Playoffs. He spent the 2023-24 season in his home country, playing for HL Anyang “A” in the Asia League. In 32 regular season games with Anyang, he tallied 16 goals and 18 assists with an incredible plus-43 goal differential rating. In a playoff run that saw HL Anyang win the Asia League Championship, he notched two points with a goal and assists in four games.
“Shin is a massive high-motor, goal-scoring forward,” said Jeff Carr, Admirals General Manager & Head Coach. “His international play, Olympic experience, and scoring 30 goals in an ECHL season all made him a must signing for us.”
-Head Coach Jeff Carr on the signing of Shin (Via Norfolk Admirals Press Release)
Having played most of his career in South Korea, Shin has won the Asia League Championship two other times with Anyang Halla in 2015-16 and 2016-17. In his six-year career, he has played 232 games, tallying 117 goals and 105 assists between the regular season and playoffs, which included a very impressive plus-142 rating.
Shin has a long history of international play with South Korea. In the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, he represented his country at the World Junior Championships U18 D1 tournament. Through 10 games between those tournaments, he tallied 12 goals and six assists. He was named the 2010 U18 WJC D1A Top Player on his team. In 2011-12, he was named to the U20 South Korean National Team for the Challenge Cup of Asia tournament. In four games, he put up two points per game with five goals and three assists. His accomplishments in the international landscape include a silver medal at the U20 WJC D2B level in 2013, World Championship gold medal at the D1B level in 2014-15, and World Championship bronze medal at the D1A tournament at the 2018-19 tournament.
