Hockey hopefuls show 'character, resilience'

MYTISHCHI, Russia－The players hoping to represent China in men's hockey at next year's Beijing Olympics lost to a Russian club in overtime on Monday in a game used by international officials to assess the Chinese team's competitive strength.

Kunlun Red Star, wearing red shirts with Chinese flag patches on the shoulder, fought back from a four-goal deficit to force overtime before losing to Amur Khabarovsk 5-4 in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League.

"It was a very strong sign of the upside," said Kunlun coach Ivano Zanatta, who played for Italy at the 1992 Olympics. "There are definitely signs of character, resilience and there's more upside, no question."

Kunlun has been playing in the KHL as a proxy for the China team and a base for naturalized players who grew up in the United States and Canada. The team has won seven of 28 games in the league this season.

Amur led 4-0 with five minutes to go in the second period in a near-empty arena in the Moscow suburbs before the comeback started.

Officials from the International Ice Hockey Federation were in attendance to watch the game, and will monitor another on Wednesday to "evaluate the status of the team's preparations" amid concerns the China squad will lose big on the Olympic stage.

Defense will be the priority in a preliminary round group also containing the United States, Canada and 2018 Olympic silver medalist Germany.

The IIHF has refused to confirm which Kunlun players are eligible for Olympic roster spots, but one of those eyeing Beijing is winger Brandon Yip, who played 174 NHL games over five seasons, mostly for the Colorado Avalanche.

Yip scored Kunlun's first goal on Monday before former NHL prospect Josh Nicholls, Russian forward Mikhail Abramov and former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ryan Sproul took the game to overtime, where Czech forward Radan Lenc won the game for Amur.

KHL records list 19 players on the Kunlun roster as having Chinese nationality, and more could be naturalized in time for the Olympics. Time spent playing for Kunlun counts toward the IIHF-mandated two years of residence needed to qualify for international play, even though Kunlun has been based in Russia since early 2020 because of pandemic-related travel restrictions.

China was awarded spots in the Olympic hockey tournaments as the host country, and the IIHF recently said it will not remove the teams from next year's Games.

Agencies Via Xinhua