Ye Jinguang, who will turn 37 in April, is the oldest athlete in the Chinese delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics. At the end of his career, the Canadian-born Chinese hockey player returned to China and appeared at the Beijing Winter Olympics. "Our goal is not only to participate in the competition, but also to make China as a home team proud." The captain of the Chinese men's ice hockey team, who has a deep blood relationship in his heart, said, "I want to promote the development of this sport in China because we love ice hockey. ”
More than 140 years ago, Ye Jinguang's great-grandfather traveled to Canada by boat and took root in the local area with the wisdom and diligence of the Chinese. Born in Vancouver in 1985 as a fourth generation of immigrants, Ye Jinguang received his father's ice hockey initiation in his backyard at a young age. "My grandmother gave me this Chinese name when I was very young, and I thought it was really cool." Ye Jinguang said, "Although she has passed away, I think she would be very proud if she saw this name printed on the jersey." ”
In 2004, Ye was drafted by the Colorado Avalanches in the eighth round of the NHL (North American Professional Hockey League) draft. Subsequently, he attended Boston University to study Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) and became a reserve RCMP. Because of his college major and the harmonic sound of his name, many Chinese fans like to call him "Officer Ye". In his first season in the NCAA (University Sports Association) League, Ye Jinguang was elected "Best Rookie in the East Side", and in his senior year, he helped the team win the league championship. After graduation, Ye Jinguang entered the NHL as he wished, completing 174 games in five seasons and scoring 56 points.
After leaving the NHL and playing in the German league for three seasons, in the 2017-2018 season, Ye Jinguang joined Kunlun Hongxing, China's first professional hockey club, and began to compete in the KHL (Mainland Hockey League) second only to the NHL. In his second season, he was elected captain. During his time in the team, he was not only an important firepower point for the team's attack, but also the spiritual leader of the whole team. Finally, with a stable and excellent performance, Ye Jinguang was selected for the Winter Olympic team and put on the Chinese team shirt printed with the letter "C (Captain)".
"When I was 18 years old, a friend said to me, you will join the Chinese ice hockey team in the future. I didn't expect this to become a reality. Ye Jinguang said, "For me, this is a great honor. ”
It is true that as a new army in the Winter Olympic Games, in the face of various European and American giants, the performance prospects of Chinese men's ice are not optimistic. Ye Jinguang always inspires his teammates: we must make 100% efforts to prove to the world that we have come. 'Over the years, I've seen the growth of those homegrown players, who have come a long way from when they first met. Ye Jinguang bluntly said that he was proud of his young teammates, "They performed very well in front of their hometown fans, which means a lot to them. ”
While doing his best to perform well, Captain Ye also has a bigger vision. "I think hockey belongs to everyone and I would like to see more kids watch our game and become interested in ice hockey and join the sport." "In 20 years, if I turn on the TV and see that the Chinese team is no longer playing in the Winter Olympics by virtue of being the host, or that a Chinese player has landed on the world's top stage, when someone asks why he plays ice hockey, he will say, because in 2022, I personally witnessed the Chinese team playing in the Winter Olympics." I think that's the success of our generation. ”