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Beijing Winter Olympics 2022
SportChina
Patrick Blennerhassett
Patrick Blennerhassett

Opinion | Beijing 2022: China’s abysmal ice hockey team a fault of its own as NHL talent looms large ahead of potential Olympic humiliation

  • The 32nd ranked team in the world is set to get blitzed by NHL superstars at its Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
  • How did a team so poorly managed end up in what will be the planet’s most talent-rich ice hockey tournament in eight years?

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China’s men’s ice hockey team will be largely made up of players from the Kunlun Red Star team, which plays out of Beijing. But how will they fair against NHL superstars come the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing? Photo: Getty Images
Patrick Blennerhassett

China’s men’s ice hockey team, ranked 32nd in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), could find themselves as whipping boys in what will be a National Hockey League star-studded tournament come February at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

How did we get here, with a team that has no business competing in this tournament? And why is China’s ice hockey team still so bad given it had as far back as 2015 to prepare for this eventuality after successfully lobbying the IIHF for a spot?

The IIHF bought into China’s push, as reported by China Sports Insider, because it has a “mandate to grow the game globally”, and China, the most populous country in the world with the second largest economy, catching hockey fever would be good for the sport.

When China was awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics eight years ago, it immediately set about pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into winter sports infrastructure and coaching with an eye on nabbing as many medals as possible on home soil. Reportedly, China has set a goal of having 300 million people actively participating in winter sports by 2022, which is part of a broader strategy by Xi Jinping to tackle the country’s growing obesity epidemic.
How badly will China’s men’s team do at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing? Most KHL players never made the NHL. Photo: AP
How badly will China’s men’s team do at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing? Most KHL players never made the NHL. Photo: AP
One of the initiatives was for China to have 800 ice rinks built by 2022, a number they have achieved as state news agency Xinhua reported. According to the IIHF, China has 537 indoor and 285 outdoor rinks for a total of 822. The ice hockey portion of Beijing 2022 will be held at the Wukesong Arena, which was originally built ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
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