Sports Big Business No. 2808, welcome to pay attention to the leading sports industry information platform
Wen | Tan Liwen
Sports big business reporter
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics rewrote many of its histories.
Beijing is the first city in the world to host both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games; the Beijing Winter Olympics is the first global comprehensive sports event to be held as scheduled since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic; the "Water Cube" is the first Olympic venue in the world to complete the "water ice conversion"; the Shougang Ski Jump is the world's first permanently retained ski jump...
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics also witnessed a historic moment for the Chinese men's ice hockey team – standing on the venue of the Winter Olympics for the first time.
Chinese men's ice debuted at the Winter Olympics
In the Men's Hockey Group A match at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 10, the Chinese men's ice hockey team lost 8-0 to the U.S. ice hockey team, which consisted mainly of college players, including 15 active U.S. university sports association players, eight European professional players and two players from the American Hockey League.
During the game, the players of the two teams broke out several times, and the topic of the conflict between the Chinese men's ice hockey team and the American opponent also quickly appeared on the Weibo hot search list, triggering a heated discussion among netizens.
This match of Sino-AMERICAN men's ice rushed to weibo hot search
Despite the strength gap with the opponent, stepping on the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics is already a great encouragement for Chinese male ice.
Due to its fast offensive and defensive conversion speed and flexibility, ice hockey determines that if the strength of the opponent is too large, it will cause a one-sided situation. For this reason, hockey is different from other sports, and its grouping is often based on world rankings, that is, strength, rather than the common form of lottery.
From the perspective of the ice hockey world championship format and grouping, the top 16 teams (16 teams in ab groups), 12 teams in class A (12 teams in ab groups), 12 teams in class B are divided into 12 teams in AB group and 6 teams in class C. The Chinese men's ice hockey team was successfully promoted to Group A of the Second Division of the World Hockey Championships in 2015, but the team's record in 2016 was not ideal, and it was relegated to Group B with five wins and five losses, and the bottom of the group.
As we all know, ice hockey is not popular in China, and the Chinese men's ice hockey team has never appeared on the field of the Winter Olympics in history. With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics held at home, it gave the Chinese men's ice hockey team the opportunity to participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time. In the latest world ranking released by the International Ice Hockey Federation, Chinese male ice currently ranks 32nd, the lowest ranking of the 12 teams participating in the Winter Olympics.
The latest world rankings published by the International Hockey Federation
In this Winter Olympic Games, the Chinese team was divided into Group A with the United States, Canada and Germany. Despite the strength of the opponents, the domestic ice hockey development of the United States and Canada need not be repeated, and the German team is also the runner-up winner of the men's ice hockey at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
To use the analogy of the familiar football project, the opponent level of the Chinese men's ice group is equivalent to the national football team and France, Brazil, Belgium in the same group.
For the first time, Chinese men's ice skaters stood on the Winter Olympics
In the first game, the Chinese men's ice did not show weakness, relying on home advantage and the high spirit of the team to compete with the opponent round after round. Compared with winning or losing, it is more important for Chinese men's ice to learn how to improve in the process of confrontation with the world's strongest teams. If grouped according to the world ranking, the Chinese team has almost no chance to play against the strong team in the world competition.
As Chinese men's ice hockey coach Zanata Ivano said after the game, for Chinese men's ice hockey, this game took an important big step.
Beijing Winter Olympics, a new starting point for the development of Chinese ice hockey?
As we all know, ice hockey does not have the same strong foundation of ice hockey in China as in the United States and Canada. But with the arrival of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the development of Chinese ice hockey has pressed the acceleration.
Looking back at the development of China's ice hockey history, after the founding of New China, an ice hockey boom was set off in the northeast and north China, and amateur teams such as the Hita Ice Hockey Team and the Changchun White Bears team were quite famous at that time. Their appearance became the backbone of the development of domestic ice hockey at that time.
Hita Ice Hockey Team
From 1953 to 1956, China hosted three consecutive Ice Games. The holding of the Ice Games has effectively promoted the popularization and development of ice hockey throughout the country, so that more and more people know about the sport of ice hockey.
By 1956, the Chinese ice hockey team ushered in its first international competition. At the 11th Winter Universiade held in Poland in 1956, the Chinese student ice hockey team played a total of four games and won the honorary award of sportsmanship.
The history of Chinese ice hockey ushered in the most glorious era in the 1980s. In the 1981 World Hockey Group C Championship held in Beijing, the then Chinese team lianke France, Hungary and other strong opponents, with 7 wins and 6 wins, scored 46 goals, conceded 14 goals and won the second place in the group, successfully promoted to Group B. At this point, the Chinese public's attention to ice hockey has reached an unprecedented height.
Ice hockey is the most popular competition in the Winter Olympic Games, and it is also the most market-worthy and professional winter sport. However, due to the constraints of various objective factors, the professional level of Chinese male ice in China is not high. But 2016 has become a new starting point for the professional development of Male Ice in China.
In June 2016, under the joint witness of the heads of state of China and Russia, Beijing Kunlun Hongxing Ice Hockey Club and the Mainland Ice Hockey League signed the "Authorization Agreement for Participating in the Mainland Ice Hockey League", which marked the birth of China's first professional club to join the world's top ice hockey league in Beijing, and Kunlun Hongxing will represent China in the 2016-2017 Continental Ice Hockey League.
The well-known director Yingda's son Yingrudi plays for Kunlun Hongxing
During the preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese men's ice as the host was almost "replaced". In September 2021, the then newly elected president of the International Ice Federation, Tadif, told Agence France-Presse and other media that if the Chinese ice hockey team could not come up with a satisfactory state in the near future, it would replace the Chinese olympic team with Norway. But then the Hockey League said it would not make a move to replace China's Olympic seat.
The reason why Tadif made such a consideration is from the perspective of the development of Chinese ice hockey and the world's ice hockey. He said that if the Chinese ice hockey team plays a 0-15 fiasco in the official match of the Winter Olympics, it will not be a good thing for China and for the development of ice hockey. But judging at least from the course of the game on February 10, the performance of the Chinese team was not as embarrassing as Tadif said.
"Dancing with Wolves" and "Naturalization Plan"
One of the biggest problems facing Chinese male ice skaters participating in the Winter Olympics is the lack of talents. According to New Sports, the number of registered ice hockey players in China soared in a few years from 540 in 2010 to nearly 10,000 in 2021. But that's not enough.
In order to let the team get better training, the "dance with wolves" strategy surfaced. "Dancing with Wolves" means that the ice hockey team composed of elite players and foreign aides of the national team constantly goes overseas to train troops, that is, the model of participating in professional leagues with the "national club" as the team. The men's and women's ice hockey national teams participated in the 2021-2022 Russian men's and women's ice hockey league under the name of Beijing and Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing Ice Hockey Club, which is the representative work of the "Dance with Wolves" strategy.
Beijing Kunlun Hongxing participated in KHL "leveling"
Looking back now, the proposal of the "dance with wolves" strategy has indeed significantly improved the level of Chinese ice hockey. Through the training of overseas high-level leagues, Beijing and Shenzhen Kunlun Hongxing have laid a solid foundation for the outstanding performance of "local players" in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Like Ying Rudi, Chen Zimeng and Yan Juncheng in the current team, they are all beneficiaries of the "dance with wolves" strategy.
Although the "dance with wolves" strategy has improved the level of local players, it is obviously unrealistic to significantly improve the level of Chinese ice hockey in just a few years, and it is obviously unrealistic to rely solely on the "dance with wolves" strategy. The "naturalization plan" has become another key task for Chinese men's ice to prepare for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The historic decision of the International Ice Federation has accelerated the naturalization of Chinese male ice. In 2017, the International Ice Hockey Federation voted in Copenhagen, Denmark, and passed the Chinese men's and women's ice hockey teams 47-0 to qualify for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The International Ice Federation has been pinning its hopes on opening up the Chinese market through the Beijing Winter Olympics, and of course this process cannot be without the participation of the Chinese team.
As a result, the International Ice Federation set a precedent for the host to reach the men's ice finals of the Winter Olympics. In previous Winter Olympics, hosts still needed to pass the Winter Olympic qualification tournament to advance to the finals.
Naturalization has become one of the labels of Chinese men's ice in this Winter Olympics. According to the official website of the Olympic Games, the Chinese men's ice hockey team has a total of 25 players, only 10 local players, and 15 "naturalized players", of which 11 are of Chinese descent.
With the joint efforts of naturalized players and local players, the Chinese team lost to the United States in the first game 0-8. The course of the game was not as one-sided as the outside world imagined. After this game, the Chinese men's ice team may be able to walk more confidently in the next Winter Olympics.
Chinese male ice captain Ye Jinguang said before the game, "I want young boys and girls in China to fall in love with this sport by watching the ice hockey game at the Winter Olympics, just like we used to do." ”
The "Icebreaker" tour is long and obstructive
The lack of high-level local professional ice hockey teams, the lack of influential Chinese ice hockey players, and the fact that they are too far from daily life restrict the development of China's ice hockey market, making this popular sport in North America in China for a long time in a "frozen" state, and the "ice-breaking" journey of ice hockey in China is still long.
But fortunately, Chinese ice hockey is using the influence of the Beijing Winter Olympics to continue to infiltrate the society and fans who love ice hockey. Through the broadcast footage of the match between the Chinese team and the United States team, we can see that hundreds of enthusiastic spectators appeared at the game site, who enjoyed the fast and brave characteristics of ice hockey.
In China, ice hockey has become one of the new business cards of Beijing sports. In Beijing, during the 2019-2020 season cycle, more than 4,500 young ice hockey players were registered, ranging in age from 4 to 18. Beijing also has three ice hockey youth leagues, including one with schools as the main competition. According to information disclosed by the Beijing Ice Hockey Association, there are 32 ice hockey youth clubs in the city.
In recent years, ice hockey has become more closely linked to China. The NHL held "China Tournaments" in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai in 2017 and 2018 respectively, enhancing the influence of ice hockey in China. On February 10, 2022, the International Hockey Federation announced the invitation of Chinese actor Wu Jing as the World Ice Hockey Ambassador.
From the landing of the NHL China Tournament and the invitation of Wu Jing as a spokesperson, it can be seen that the International Ice Hockey Federation promotes the attitude of ice hockey in the Chinese market, and the International Ice Hockey Federation is sparing no effort to enhance the influence and popularity of ice hockey in China.
Wu Jing served as the World Hockey Ambassador
Through the "ice-breaking" journey of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the popularity and popularity of ice hockey in China have achieved certain results. In the "Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Economic Heritage Report (2022)" released by the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, it is clearly mentioned that the Beijing ice and snow events have gradually become systematic, "vigorously cultivating the North American professional ice hockey league China, the mainland ice hockey league, the "Silk Road Cup" ice hockey league, the "Olympic City Cup" international youth ice hockey invitational tournament and other brand events, and accelerating the formation of ice hockey events in North China and Northeast China." Beijing has become the central city of youth ice hockey in Asia. ”
Ye Jinguang, the head of the Chinese men's ice hockey team, wrote on Weibo that he would use his performance on the field at this moment to plant a seed for the future of Chinese ice hockey: "If there is a Chinese athlete who stands on the highest stage of ice hockey 20 years later, and people ask him why he practices ice hockey, he will answer 'In 2022, I watched the game of the Chinese team', that is the success of our generation." ”
Note: The images used in this article are from the Internet