The ripple effect

19 December 2023

China’s U20s secured fourth place in IIHF World Championship Division IIA at the weekend, consolidating well after winning promotion last season.

The junior Dragons had one win from five games in Dumfries, Scotland, but was competitive right through the competition. And even though Red Star was not directly represented on the team, the influence of our club and its role in leading Chinese hockey could still be felt.

Team captain Kailin Chen led China in scoring at the tournament, finishing with a goal and three assists. And this teenaged Captain China admitted that he learned a lot from linking up with our own Brandon Yip and colleagues on the national team back in April.

Chen was the youngest player called into the men’s team for Division IB action in Tallinn, helping to secure bronze on the country’s return to IIHF Division I play. Barely a year after watching the team at the Olympics, he found himself sharing a locker room with the stars.

“For a younger player like me to get the chance to get together with those guys was great,” Chen said. “I really learned a lot about my game: skill wise, play wise, attitude. Just seeing how to be, how to treat stuff on a day-to-day basis, I feel like I learned a lot.”

Once again, it’s evidence that the KRS project is delivering on its objective to elevate Chinese hockey to new levels. Chen, like the rest of the team in Dumfries, has not been part of our club. The pandemic put a temporary halt to our own junior program and saw several of China’s top prospects heading overseas to refine their game. Chen is among them, currently featuring for the Pickering Panthers in Canada’s OJHL.

Nonetheless, given the chance to work closely with players who boast extensive experience of high-level pro hockey on both sides of the Atlantic, it can only help to boost skill levels.

“We get to see how they play, we get to see what the next level is,” Chen added. “We watch a lot of video from the big leagues and try to learn from that, but this is another step.”

That experience, plus the added motivation of seeing China represented at the top level of world hockey during Beijing 2022, helped kickstart the national junior program. Promotion in 2022/23 was followed by consolidation this season: a fourth-place finish in Division IIA preserves the team’s status and offers a foundation for further growth.

And there were some memorable moments in Dumfries: a convincing opening win over Spain, followed by two games in which the junior Dragons went toe-to-toe with leading medal contenders Great Britain and Korea showed that our guys are not out of place on this stage. Even if China couldn’t manage a win against GB or the eventual tournament winner, these were games of fine margins. Next year, with added experience, things could be very different.