There has been much said, written and debated about the NHL's ventures into Europe. Meanwhile, there are even more ambitious long-term efforts underway to tap into the vast (but still largely underdeveloped) potential of hockey in China. As the Summer Olympics in Beijing wind down, I thought now would be a good time to look at these efforts.
This week's NHL.com "Across the Pond" looks at the
San Jose Sharks' efforts in China. For those who don't know, the Sharks own and operate the Chinese team -- the China Sharks -- in the Asia League of Ice Hockey (ALIH).
A few weeks ago, I looked at the
development of one of the Korean teams in the ALIH. Officials in the Asia League have been negotiating with an NHL club (rumored to be the New York Rangers) to play an exhibition game in South Korea next year against the Anyang Halla team.
The possibilities and challenges in Korea (and Japan) are fascinating in their own right. For purposes of this blog, however, I'm focusing soley on NHL efforts in China.
Chinese hockey receives zero support from the communist government, and the program is extremely weak. Even the Korean program is considerably stronger than its Chinese counterpart, and the Japanese program (which is hardly a world power) is miles ahead of the Chinese. In fact, Chinese hockey would almost certainly die if it didn't receive foreign support.
Currently, participation in hockey within China is limited to small areas in the sub-artic cities of Harbin (population 9.5 million) and Qiqihar (5.61 million people). But if even a small percentage of youngsters in those two cities and elsewhere in Heilongjiang province (home to some 35 million people overall) get involved in hockey, China could someday have a huge pool of talent.
That's what the New York Islanders'
Project Hope is designed to develop, along with English education opportunities for young Chinese players and business opportunities for corporate partners who donate new equipment and participate in Charles Wang's plan to build 40 outdoor rinks around Heilongjiang. If the program proves successful, the program could provide Chinese hockey equivalent of 10 to 15 years worth of "organic" development in a relatively short period of time.
But for hockey to truly take off in China, there will have to be Chinese stars and Chinese teams that produce the hockey equivalent of basketball's Yao Ming and the Chinese Basketball Association (which has now produced five players that have reached the NBA). The long-term prospects of the ALIH remain uncertain, although there are signs of progress through stronger financial commitments.
Unfortunately, the Chinese participants in the ALIH have been utterly humiliated by the Japanese and Korean teams (which often feature several former NHL and/or Euro elite league players). Even after the league contracted the two Chinese teams into a single club -- essentially making the Chinese national senior team roster the same group that plays on the ALIH club -- they still routinely lost by seven to 10 goals per game.
Last year, the NHL's San Jose Sharks took over ownership of the Chinese team in the ALIH, renaming it the China Sharks. The team relocated to Beijing and signed a handful of ECHL-caliber North Americans, but were still no match for the other six teams in the league. They won just three of 30 games.
This year, the China Sharks have considerably strengthened their roster with several key additions (a new ALIH rule will allow the Chinese team to dress up to seven imports per game, while the Korean clubs are limited to five and the Japanese two).
The most important signings, which were announced two weeks ago, were of former San Jose Sharks goalie Wade Flaherty (who will double as the goaltending coach for the national team) and former NHL defenseman/forward/enforcer Steve McKenna (who will also serve as an assistant coach).
The China Sharks have relocated again, this time to Shanghai. They will dress the maximum of seven foreigners per game and should be improved this season, although they are still likely to finish at or near the bottom of the ALIH standings.
While it sounds contrary to the goals of the league to increase the number of imports, the more immediate goal is to create a more competitive Chinese-based team and then hope the Chinese junior development system (strengthened by coaches with NHL experience and backed financially by western sponsors) starts to produce a higher caliber of young players.
For that to happen, though, the China Sharks have to be willing to invest a lot of money and wait for as long as a decade to start getting any sort of return on investment. The long-term payoff, however, would be extremely lucrative if allowed to run its course.
The Sharks aren't the first outside group to take a shot at developing ALIH pro hockey in China. A Scandinavian group tried it (forming a Beijing-based team called the Nordic Vikings) and Russian investors tried it, only to find that they were hemorrhaging money. The overhead was astronomical in a multi-national league with little or no ticket revenue, modest sponsorship money and no television deal.
The NHL teams have a much better shot of making a go of the ALIH/Chinese hockey development project, especially if multiple clubs (beyond San Jose and the Islanders) make commitments to it.
While many will call such projects an enormous waste of money and time, one only has to look at how far (and how quickly) Chinese participation in other non-traditional sports has come. For instance, as recently as 1993 there wasn't even a viable Chinese basketball league to speak of, much less an NBA-caliber talent pipeline.
China doesn't need widespread hockey participation (on a percentage basis) or a national team that competes at the IIHF's elite level (a viable Division I caliber program would be sufficient) to ultimately be a money-making investment for NHL investors. But it will need plenty of patience, enormous monetary commitment and a willingness to ignore ridicule through severe growing pains.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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