Team China 2022

[Fjorden]

Not the right call with this timing IMO. It's four months away at this point, they should just run with it - maybe the right call 2 or 3 years ago when they had first announced it. Bend the passport rules if they have to. KRS+reinforcements is unlikely to get beaten 15-0.

No offense to Norway but that isn't going to help the international game grow, this isn't an up and coming hockey nation at all and I doubt Olympic participation where they're likely 4 games and out is going to move the needle. China's 1.4 billion people, Norway is 5.3 million. A "Chinese" team getting drubbed converting 500k viewers into fans would be a success. That's still only 0.05% or like 1 of 2000 of the population..

And before people accuse me of picking on Norway, A. they're essentially getting gifted a spot without qualifying and B. Can't say the same for Latvians, Slovakia, Swiss or Germans who have been producing some pretty decent draft classes of late. I'd rather see Belarus.

I think what is problematic is that on this Kunulun Red Star team only six of the players are chinese born. 18 canadians, 4 americans and 1 russian. That's not a chinese national team. The olympics is not a club tournament it is a tournament for nations.

If you open for this that national teams just can "naturalize" a whole team and call it China, it is a problem. I would call it cheating, it's much worse than e.g doping. And cheating to win a spot in the olympics is not in the olympic spirit.

So their should be some clear rules to stop this naturlaization and the iihf should also require a high standard for teams participating in their elite tournaments. Think about this other countries have spent lots of time and money to become better hockeyplayers and hockeyteams, coaches, players, sponsors,leaders and they are being denied to participate becaues a other team(China) have only imported and naturalized a lot of north americans and call it China.

 

[kaiser matias]

I think what is problematic is that on this Kunulun Red Star team only six of the players are chinese born. 18 canadians, 4 americans and 1 russian. That's not a chinese national team. The olympics is not a club tournament it is a tournament for nations.

If you open for this that national teams just can "naturalize" a whole team and call it China, it is a problem. I would call it cheating, it's much worse than e.g doping. And cheating to win a spot in the olympics is not in the olympic spirit.

So their should be some clear rules to stop this naturlaization and the iihf should also require a high standard for teams participating in their elite tournaments. Think about this other countries have spent lots of time and money to become better hockeyplayers and hockeyteams, coaches, players, sponsors,leaders and they are being denied to participate becaues a other team(China) have only imported and naturalized a lot of north americans and call it China.

This happens in other sports at the Olympics as well. Table tennis is notorious for only having Chinese-born players regardless of the country they represent, and the Qatar handball team recently had a team made up of players from Germany and Brazil (and some other places, but not Qatar).

The IIHF actually has one of the stricter nationalization requirements out there, in that players have to spend at least two full years playing in the country before they can represent them internationally. Obviously that isn't too much, and we've seen it exploited in many places (look at the Cronucks from a few years ago in Croatia, or Kazakhstan and Belarus's recent efforts to bring in washed up Canadian-born NHLers), but I don't see them changing this, as too many federations support this type of move, despite the adverse effects it has on local development. After all, even while China is going to get embarrassed in their three games, having a roster full of Chinese-born and developed players would have been that much worse.

And just to clarify, I am fully in favour of stricter nationalization requirements. The two-year rule is too short, and I think they should move it to four-years for everyone (as it is for players who want to switch national teams), at a minimum, and go from there.

 

[Albatros]

The problem with China remains that they have completely broken all promises to develop hockey in the country. If there are only six Chinese-born players in the national team then that's what it is, others have set the precedent long ago making this acceptable. But unlike those other teams, China has not earned their place in the tournament, they were given it as hosts based on the aforementioned promises that were not kept. That is why they should be disqualified from the Olympic tournament. If they want to enter the next Division II World Championship tournament with a team including six Chinese-born players then they remain free to do so.

 

[Namejs]

1.4 billion gets flaunted around a lot, yet the distinct majority of them live in Southern latitudes and a climate not suited for winter sports. It's like expecting hockey to become the next big thing in Mexico or Morocco.

The sport seems unusual, foreign and weird for anyone outside the snow belt.

The only natural region of PRC suited for ice hockey is Heilongjiang, with most actual Chinese players coming from Harbin and other parts of NE China.

If anything, the focus should be on promoting the sport there.

Hockey is barely surviving in the Southern US despite hundreds of millions being injected by the NHL and franchise owners. China is getting only a tiny fraction of that amount of money.

You can't realistically expect for the sport to explode and take off in China just because some kid saw a bunch of weird white guys in bladed shoes with sticks on TV.

Obviously, there is some potential in showcasing the sport and gaining some traction, but these were always going to be marginal gains.

There is no easy way, no fast track to developing an NHL star. There won't be any Yao Mings in ice hockey.

And you certainly won't get a cult following by getting the entire nation of 1.4 billion humiliated.

So stop with the daydreaming. Norway would obviously be a much better fit.

 

[kabidjan18]

For me it's really simple. We paid for it, so we deserve to have a team there.

 

[Tutu to]

If China uses their KHL team they should play against Norway in a qualifying match.

If they use actual Chinese players Id love to watch them get steamrolled 40-0 by Canada and the United States.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Frankly, I don't think Norway with few days of practice, likely without Zuccarello and Pettersen, stands a chance against reasonably well-oiled Kunlun in a must-win game. So that qualifying match doesn't really change much.

Just checked, Holos is also expected to be out until February so not even him.

 

[Boonk]

Frankly, I don't think Norway with few days of practice, likely without Zuccarello and Pettersen, stands a chance against reasonably well-oiled Kunlun in a must-win game. So that qualifying match doesn't really change much.

Just checked, Holos is also expected to be out until February so not even him.

That Norweigan team has several years of experience playing together at the top division/Olympics and has several guys playing in the SHL and other top Euro leagues even w/o Zuccarello.

 

[SoundAndFury]

That Norweigan team has several years of experience playing together at the top division/Olympics and has several guys playing in the SHL and other top Euro leagues even w/o Zuccarello.

Good for them but doesn't counter my point in any way because so it happens Kunlun has quite a few of such guys. It's like they have an entire team of KHLers or something, with all due respect "several guys playing in the SHL" doesn't really scare them.

 

[Boonk]

Good for them but doesn't counter my point in any way because so it happens Kunlun has quite a few of such guys. It's like they have an entire team of KHLers or something, with all due respect "several guys playing in the SHL" doesn't really scare them.

Yeah no. Sorry but a bottom feeder KRS team that happens to play in the KHL is not going to make a good national team. Considering that Norway has years of experience playing against best on best national teams and is good enough to even qualify to play in such a tournament with their top guys from SHL and other euro leagues, you're vastly overrating KRS.

 

[PettersonHughes]

Lol so you're saying there's a chance that the likes of Gilbert Brule, Wojtek Wolski, Victor Bartley, Ryan Sproul, Andrej Sustr and Brandon Yip get to pit themselves against All-Stars? Against weaker defenses they might stand a chance but even with these "ringers" they'll still get steamrolled by the powerhouses.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yeah no. Sorry but a bottom feeder KRS team that happens to play in the KHL is not going to make a good national team. Considering that Norway has years of experience playing against best on best national teams and is good enough to even qualify to play in such a tournament with their top guys from SHL and other euro leagues, you're vastly overrating KRS.

I think you are vastly overrating Norway's "top guys". Not saying it's impossible but I don't know where is this certainty on your part coming from. Pound for pound Kunlun is just the better team at this point AND they will undoubtedly have an edge in preparation, no matter how many years you play together in the international tournaments it's not the same as playing 40 games together that very season.

Lol so you're saying there's a chance that the likes of Gilbert Brule, Wojtek Wolski, Victor Bartley, Ryan Sproul, Andrej Sustr and Brandon Yip get to pit themselves against All-Stars? Against weaker defenses they might stand a chance but even with these "ringers" they'll still get steamrolled by the powerhouses.

I'm not sure who are you replying to, nobody is doubting that.

 

[Boonk]

I think you are vastly overrating Norway's "top guys". Not saying it's impossible but I don't know where is this certainty on your part coming from. Pound for pound Kunlun is just the better team at this point AND they will undoubtedly have an edge in preparation, no matter how many years you play together in the international tournaments it's not the same as playing 40 games together that very season.


I'm not sure who are you replying to, nobody is doubting that.

KRS can't even beat mediocre teams in the KHL and is at the bottom of the standings in that league lol. If you think they'd be able to muster a win against a Norway team with their top Euro guys and many more years of experience playing together, good luck to you. They are not a better team.

 

[SoundAndFury]

KRS can't even beat mediocre teams in the KHL and is at the bottom of the standings lol in that league. If you think they'd be able to muster a win against a Norway team with their top Euro guys and many more years of experience playing together, good luck to you. They are not a better team.

I think you have no clue about European hockey. But in case you do, please provide some actual arguments instead of throwing vague "they have guys here and there" around. If Zucc, Pettersen can't come and Holos is still injured, Norway's "top guys" are average SHL goalie, 2nd pairing D and bottom-6 forward. That is far worse than "mediocre teams in the KHL".

 

[Namejs]

KRS can't even beat mediocre teams in the KHL and is at the bottom of the standings in that league lol. If you think they'd be able to muster a win against a Norway team with their top Euro guys and many more years of experience playing together, good luck to you. They are not a better team.

Have you even looked at both of the rosters?

If we ignore ethics and fairness and just assume that this Chinese team is actually Chinese, they would be relatively evenly matched with Norway. Maybe a little worse, maybe not.

 

[Albatros]

We are yet to see what comes out of this, I have not seen a confirmation so far that China would indeed need to win the showcase games it is required to play.

 

[SoundAndFury]

If anything, one of the legitimate arguments in Norway's favor you could make is that their forwards are better than very weak leagues/teams they have chosen to play for would indicate. But that's also kinda vague, maybe they are, maybe they aren't.

 

[Webster]

Norway is ranked 11th in the world by the IIHF.

So here we have the classic flaw, people just make assumptions and don't really know much about it.

 

[Pardus]

Norway sucks at playing hockey. They are a skiing and a soccer country but not ice hockey. Who wants to see them at Olympics besides Norwegians themselves?

I really really doubt team Norway could beat Kunlun Red Star.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Who wants to see them at Olympics besides Norwegians themselves?

People who don't want to see a fake Chinese team at the Olympics.

And best on best, team Norway not only could beat Kunlun but would also be favorites. Having said that, it's unlikely that those difference-making guys on the Norwegian side could attend this quasi-qualifying tournament. Which presses the scales in Kunlun's favor.

 

[Exarz]

Norway sucks at playing hockey. They are a skiing and a soccer country but not ice hockey. Who wants to see them at Olympics besides Norwegians themselves?

I really really doubt team Norway could beat Kunlun Red Star.

 

[vorky]

At least we know what a popularity of one soccer player makes with fans. Haaland´s popularity = Norway as soccer country.

 

[Tomas W]

Good for them but doesn't counter my point in any way because so it happens Kunlun has quite a few of such guys. It's like they have an entire team of KHLers or something, with all due respect "several guys playing in the SHL" doesn't really scare them.

Normally China doesnt stand a chance against Norway, 10-0 to the Norwegians wouldnt be strange, but maybe it could be some kind of game out of it now that its Chinas own tournament. With some help from homecrowd and home ref.

 

[Exarz]

Normally China doesnt stand a chance against Norway, 10-0 to the Norwegians wouldnt be strange, but maybe it could be some kind of game out of it now that its Chinas own tournament. With some help from homecrowd and home ref.

This isn't a normal scenario since it's basically all of Kunlun Red Star suiting up for the Olympics.

 

[Tomas W]

This isn't a normal scenario since it's basically all of Kunlun Red Star suiting up for the Olympics.

So a bunch of second rate Canadians? Well they should have good chemistry within the team then.