It's the third period. There's less than a minute left. The 'Ref' drops the puck and the players scramble to gain control of it. With one last burst of energy a forward bearing the red jersey of the home team breaks away from the pack. His blades barely touch the ice as he flies towards the opposition's goalie for that one last shot, that one last chance at glory.

The crowd cheers at a feverish pitch. Five seconds left--he shoots, he doesn't score! The buzzer goes off. It's the end of the game and the visitors have won, but the fans still applaud their hometown heroes, proud of their heartfelt effort.

To anyone who has ever lived in Canada this may seem like just another snapshot of the Great White North--another cold, winter evening when people congregate at the local rink, sit on uncomfortable plank benches and sip watery hot chocolate as they cheer on family members and friends participating in Canada's most famed past time: hockey.

But this isn't winter. It's May and the temperature outside is a humid 30 degrees C. The fans forgo nasty hot chocolate for iced mochas from the nearest Starbucks and the air conditioning provides much needed relief from the midday sun.

Dubai champions celebrate their win

Forget the scrappy players of North America or the smooth finesse of the Northern Europeans. This is hockey Asian-style. This is hockey night in Malaysia, writes Kelly McDonald in the open-source Korean website Ohmynews.com

Within the past 10 years there has been growing interest among many Asian nations in ice hockey. Each year more tournaments are popping up--from the Dubai to Mongolia.

The World Ice Hockey Fives International Tournament held in Kuala Lumpur from May 10 to 14 was yet another example of the growing popularity of hockey in Asia.

Teams representing Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Beijing, Malaysia, Taiwan and Dubai played it out in this intense four-day tournament. Squirt, Junior, Men's and Women's divisions all fought for the top prize in front of an impressive crowd of locals who cheered them on from multiple levels of the opulent Lagoon Resort Shopping mall, roughly 40 minutes from Kuala Lumpur's city center.

A major force behind hockey's growth in East Asia is Tom Burnes, founder and executive director of Asia Sports, based out of Hong Kong. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Burnes moved to Hong Kong in the early 90s.

Working for Star TV in Hong Kong, he quickly got involved in the budding hockey community in Hong Kong, playing pick-up on Monday nights, organizing tournaments and even producing a highlight show for Star. By 1995, the small league in Hong Kong had grown to four full teams.

"By that point," says Burnes, "I found myself as involved with organizing hockey as I did with my actual job, so decided to make hockey my job." In 1996 Burnes founded Asia Sports which is dedicated to the promotion and running of hockey in Asia.

Very much a grass roots initiative, Burnes sold shares of the company to local Hong Kong players. He also organized numerous softball, golf and roller hockey tournaments, as well as refereed and coached hockey to support himself and his fledgling company.

He shoots, he doesn't score!

In 2003, Asia sports hired CFO Dave Saunders, who is also the principle shareholder of the company. Presently, Asia Sports is highly involved in organizing hockey tournaments, such as their recent competition in Kuala Lumpur, as well as manufacturing hockey sticks.

There are also plans to open an official sized rink in Hong Kong within the next few years.

"Most rinks are in malls and they are generally meant to figure skating and recreational skating which is no good for hockey," notes Burns.

The new rink will also be located in a mall, which Burnes sees as an advantage. "It's good exposure and gets people out to see a game."

This definitely held true at the Kuala Lumpur tournament. Hundreds of people gathered round the rink, many of them have very little knowledge of the rules of hockey but that doesn't seem to bother them.

"I like cheering for my country in any sport, and this game is so fast and exciting to watch," said one woman who has stopped to watch the game and rest after a fruitful day of shoe shopping.

"Yahhh go go go!!" she yelled as the home team caught a break away. Another hockey fan is born.

Female fans aside, the growth of hockey in Asia remains substantially larger among men, and according to Burnes, Asian men between in the ages of 18 and 35. He says that they tend to be attracted to the aggressive nature of hockey.

They also have the means to pay for the extensive amount of hockey equipment needed to play; equipment that is far more expensive in Asia than in other parts of the world.

But despite this, hockey seems to be growing at varied rates amongst all contingents of Asia's population. "Hockey is seen as a kind of extreme sport," Burnes explains.

"It's fast and physical and a new kind of challenge for people living here. And it's a team sport, so there's also that social aspect which makes it fun to play."

And all that is great about hockey was seen at the Kuala Lumpur tournament. Limited by the smaller ice surface, the games were played with two forwards instead of three and the periods have been whittled down to 12 minutes.

Nevertheless there was a strong showing of athletic skill, well-thought-out play making and good old hockey grit.

The games were clean and the spirit lively.

Players and fans alike celebrated the victories and lamented the defeats, sharing a bond that is made between those who have become infatuated with this sport.

The new face of hockey

"Dude!" shouted one nine-year-old goalie from Beijing, while watching the skills competition on the last day of the tournament. "Check out that guys slap shot," pointing to team member from Dubai.

"No man," retorted his young friend from Singapore. "That, is a snap shot. This is a slap shot," demonstrating the two skills and highlighting their differences.

The new friends laughed continued to watch their older mentors, dreaming of the day they could score like them, thankful for the friends they have made so far, eager to learn more about the sport that they have grown to love. This is a snapshot of hockey at its best--a game that can be any night and anywhere in the world.