Minden’s Carey Durant pauses for a moment, smiles and looks down at the bronze medallion hanging around his neck, allowing himself to feel every emotion as he reflects on nine months of work advancing the Hong Kong China national hockey program.
From September 2024 to May, Durant served as the head coach of the men’s and women’s teams in the special administrative region of China, while also guiding youth squads at U18, U14, and U11. He returned home May 31.
After taking a year-long leave of absence from his civilian role with the Haliburton Highlands OPP, Durant said he’s pleased to be back in the County. He didn’t come home empty-handed, armed with a lifetime’s worth of memories and a third-place medal from the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) Div. III World Championships, held in Mexico in April.
He also guided the men’s team to its best-ever finish at the Asia Winter Games, held in Harbin, China in January, and coached the women at the IIHF Div. II World Championships in New Zealand.
This all coming two-and-a-bit years on from a Stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis, Durant still pinches himself daily to make sure he wasn’t daydreaming and that this did all happen. ‘“One day I’m cleaning a toilet or fixing a police car at the detachment in Minden, the next I’m shaking hands with [John Lee] the chief executive of Hong Kong, meeting guys like Bob Nicholson (former CEO of Hockey Canada], and Luc Tardif, the IIHF president,” Durant told The Highlander in a recent interview.
“What an opportunity for me to go and experience something just absolutely incredible, coaching at the Asia Winter Games is just like being at the Olympics” he added. “Two years ago, I was on the brink. Next thing I’m coaching on the biggest stage in the world. Don’t ever give up on your dreams, always bet on yourself.”
What an honour
While it was a hectic start to life in Hong Kong – Durant had to formulate his own player pool, develop training programs, and establish team systems, he was proud of how much everything had progressed by the time he travelled to Harbin in early January. Right on the Russian-Chinese border, he said it’s a hockey-loving area.
He was nervous walking into the rink for the first time, saying whenever he closes his eyes he can still make out the people staring at him from the crowd, the scoreboard, and the players whipping around the ice.
“Surreal – I still get goosebumps any time I talk or think about it,” Durant said.
Hong Kong swept Group C, recording big wins over India, Macau and Turkmenistan. Despite taking a 5-2 lead over Kyrgyzstan in the qualifying round of playoffs, Hong Kong dropped a 6-5 decision in overtime – setting up what would be a humbling game against Kazakhstan.
“We lost 24-0 – they had a team full of professional players, signed to teams in the Kontinental Hockey League. We had a couple guys who played [college and junior] hockey, but they all have regular day jobs,” Durant said. “To see a team that good up close, I don’t care what the score was, every one of us learned something that day.”
The team wrapped the tournament in eighth place – it’s best-ever finish.
That gave Durant and his team the confidence to express themselves at the IIHF World Championships a couple months later. Despite dropping their first two games during round robin to Mexico and the People’s Republic of Korea, the team rallied winning three straight against the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia to earn bronze.
There was another “cool” accolade – in dressing 52-year-old goaltender Emerson Keung, Durant played a part in setting a world record for the oldest player to appear in an IIHF men’s world championship game.
In the Div. II women’s event, Durant guided an injury-riddled Hong Kong squad to a 1-4 record, beating Turkey but losing to Belgium, Ukraine, New Zealand and Australia. It was on that trip he met Tardif, spending two hours with the hockey executive.
“What an amazing human being – he gave me the history of him, how he bounced back [from not making it to the National Hockey League] to play in Europe, his involvement with the French Ice Hockey Federation and run with IIHF. He gave me some great advice as a coach and person,” Durant said.
Keeping options open
While there was an offer to extend his stint with the Hong Kong program for five more years, Durant said he’s committed to seeing out his time with the OPP – he has six years to go before retirement.
Not interested in taking on a junior coaching role, Durant has already resumed his scouting gig with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm. He’s been working with up-and-coming names like Lachlan Whelan and Andrew Laurin, top prospects for the 2026 OHL draft.
He’s not sure what doors will open in the future, but said he’ll keep an open mind to opportunities that come his way – just like he did with Hong Kong.
Reflecting on the impact he made over there, Durant said he hopes the changes he implemented will help the Hong Kong program progress up the ladder. The region will host the men’s and women’s Div. 3 IIHF World Championships next year.
“They’re years behind places like Canada and the U.S. Hockey just isn’t a focus there. Renting an hour of ice time is $1,500, it costs kids $20,000 a year to play,” he said, adding there are no professional facilities. “The rink we used [for practice] is on the 10th floor of a shopping mall, there weren’t any changing rooms. But they’re developing… they’re building their own rink for the world championships, which is a big deal.
“I think hockey is going to take off there… I’m happy and proud to have played my part. We really changed the culture of hockey in Hong Kong, we made players work for everything they got,” he added. “I think the door will always be open for me to go back if I wanted, so never say never.”
He thanked his wife, Lori, colleagues at the OPP Paul McDonald and Mike Cavanagh for encouraging him to live out a lifelong dream, and provincial police commissioner Thomas Carrique for approving it.
“I understand what it’s like now winning the lottery,” Durant beamed.
