IIHF organizes big test for Chinese national team next week

If China isn't going to participate at the Beijing Olympic hockey tournament, that decision will come from their government, not the IIHF. Last week, the International Ice Hockey Federation made their final decision regarding China's participation at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The IIHF said that they would allow China to remain in the men's hockey tournament in February's Olympics despite worries that their group match games against Canada, Germany, and the United States could cause record scores and global embarrassment.

The Chinese national team will head to Moscow, Russia next week for a series of games against 'Russian professionals', which was set up by the IIHF to see how competitive the team is, since they haven't played a game since 2019.

"The team we will have in front of us, in two games, we will just see the score and the way the game was playing, we will quickly know if they've got the level or not," IIHF president Luc Tardif said. "It will be not only the score but the way the game was played."

China's team will likely include players from other countries, much like South Korea did in 2018. Two of the players that could be on their roster are Brandon Yip, Spencer Foo, both of whom have Chinese heritage. Defenceman Ryan Sproul and goaltender Jeremy Smith, who play for China's KHL team, Kunlun Red Star, are also options pending IIHF approval.

"Obviously, when you look at our teams on paper, it's a big discrepancy," Yip said. "We obviously know what we're up against. They're the best players in the world, so we've got a big task in front of us."

Yip added, "If I'm sitting on the couch 20 years from now and I flip on the TV and you see a Chinese national player getting drafted in the first round or the Chinese men's hockey team in the Olympics again, and they interview one of those players: 'Why did you get into hockey?' And they said, 'I watched the Chinese national team in Beijing in 2022 and that inspired me' — that would be really what success is determined by this whole experience,"

China, currently ranked 32nd by the IIHF, will play the United States on February 10th, Germany on February 12th, and Canada on February 13th. After their group matches, China will have likely finished twelfth and will then play the fifth place team in the qualification playoff round on February 15th.

"We obviously know what we're up against."

China's men's team is ranked 32nd in the world, and it is in a group with the U.S. and Canada, two of the medal favourites among the 12 teams going to the Winter Games in February. https://t.co/6vMx9Ccin3— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 12, 2021

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