IIHF makes final decision regarding China's participation at 2022 Winter Olympics
Ahead of the 2021/22 international calendar, the IIHF council met in Switzerland to discuss a number of topics including the China's participation at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
The IIHF announced that they have given the Chinese Men's National Team the green light to participate at the 2022 Winter Olympics in February.
Many hockey experts were and still are worried that China's participation could cause global embarrassment because their program hasn't grown much since Beijing was announced as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics back in July 2015.
"The IIHF Council also discussed the status of the Chinese men's ice hockey team ahead of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The Council confirmed that it will uphold the decision by the 2018 IIHF Congress to grant the Chinese men's national team a host qualification position in the 2022 Olympic Games," the IIHF's statement said.
China's National Men's Team is currently ranked 32nd in the world and has only played two games since 2019. The IIHF set up a pair of games for the Kunlun Red Star, China's lone team in the KHL, using them as a test team for the Olympics. Kunlun Red Star consists of many Chinese nationals along with former NHLers Brandon Yip, Spencer Foo and Ryan Sproul. Kunlun Red Star lost both of their games against Amur Khabarovsk (5-4 OT loss), and Avangard Omsk (4-1 loss).
China will be in Group A of the Men's Olympic Hockey Tournament and will take on the United States (February 10th), Germany (February 12th), and Canada (February 13th).
Ahead of the beginning of the 2021/22 IIHF Championship season, the IIHF Council concluded a two-day meeting in Zurich. Story: https://t.co/QXjk2Sul10 pic.twitter.com/LyjLWCYCs7— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 7, 2021
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Connor McDavid | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Evan Bouchard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||