 Soon after arriving in the United States, Hyun became a fan of National Hockey League player Paul Kariya who is of partial Japanese ancestry.After failing to be picked in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft during the World U-17 Championships in Moncton, Canada in 1997, Hyun put aside his pursuit of a professional NHL hockey career, and enrolled in Colchester, Vermont's Saint Michael's College, where he played NCAA Division II hockey.In 2002 Hyun won the ECAC Division II Northeast Championship with the Purple Knights.