German ice hockey fans probably know little about the Chinese ice hockey team. But those who followed the German Ice Hockey League five or six years ago will definitely remember one player: Ye Jinguang. He played one season and a few games for the Adler Mannheim and then another season in Düsseldorf. You can't remember him even though you Fans are you the Adler or the DEG? Hmm, maybe the name Brandon Yip means something to you. It will definitely ring a bell. And also PENNY DEL-Fans other clubs will definitely have a slight idea. Yip stood out in his two years with over 100 penalty minutes per season, so he had slight adjustment problems, as is always so beautifully described.
After moving to the Chinese team Kunlun Red Star in the Russian-dominated Continental Hockey League (KHL), he seemed to limit himself to playing ice hockey again. After all, the now 36-year-old, who was born in the Canadian province of British Columbia, had previously played almost 200 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). Like all of his Red Stars teammates, he got his new Chinese name, Ye Jinguang, before the Olympic Games. The national team of the Olympic hosts is identical to the KHL team, which played its home games in the greater Moscow area in the last two seasons due to the pandemic. However, this was not quite as successful. Kunlun is in last place, but was still able to get 25 points from 48 games.
Of course, other North Americans also got Chinese names. Kunlun's top scorer Spencer Foo (27 years old, born in Edmonton, Canada), who scored 14 goals and 19 assists, is now called Fu Jiang. His brother Parker, who is four years younger and was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, now goes by the name Fu Shuai. And goalkeeper Jeremy Smith, who has played the most games for Kunlun in the league so far, was born in Michigan (USA) and also has ten NHL games on his resume, is now called Jieruimi Shimisi.
But not all of the players in the Chinese squad come from North America. Defender Dannisi Aoxibofu, better known as Denis Osipov, was born in Moscow and won the KHL title with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Kunlun's squad also includes at least three Beijing-born Chinese. We can all watch live on television how much ice time these players will actually receive in the matches of the Olympic tournament.
Basically, it can be stated that something has changed in ice hockey since the Winter Olympics were held in Beijing in 2015. The women, even in history until 2009, were not that far away from the wider world leadership, have moved closer again. A lot has happened for men in the country, which has had its ice hockey association since 1963 and has been playing in world championships since 1972. Young talent tournaments were organized to which European teams were flown. European coaches were hired. The NHL played its season opening games in China.
The Olympic ice hockey tournament may come a few years too early for the national team, but if the performances spark just a bit of euphoria, there could very well soon be competitive ice hockey teams in China, with almost 900 ice surfaces available.
Olympic record since 1990
Germany vs. China
no Olympic duels so far