On the evening of the 13th, the Chinese men's ice hockey team welcomed the last opponent of the group at the National Gymnasium - the world's number one Canadian team. The Chinese team did not give up after conceding three goals in the opening half, and finally lost to the opponent 0-5, and the group stage was inked in three games, ranking at the bottom.
Canada has won eight Winter Olympic gold medals in its history, ranking first among all teams. But in the last Winter Olympics, due to the absence of NHL (North American Hockey Professional League) players, the team's strength was greatly reduced, and eventually won the bronze medal, missing three consecutive championships. In the two group games that have ended, the team first defeated Germany 5-1, and then lost to the United States 2-4.
The Chinese men's ice team, ranked 32nd in the world, made its debut in the Winter Olympics since the Chinese Ice Hockey Association joined the International Ice Federation in 1963. However, the boys who held the host's "wild card" to compete did well, facing the strong American team in the first game, they dared to fight, only 0-1 in the first quarter, and in the second game, they chased two goals in a row in the case of 0-3, almost forcing the draw with the last runner-up Germany in the conventional time.
In this game, the Chinese team replaced the main goalkeeper Smith and used the 21-year-old young goalkeeper Oban Wynn. The hosts of the previous two games who wore white uniforms also changed into bright "Chinese red" team uniforms. Facing a formidable opponent, the Chinese team fell into passivity at the beginning, conceding a goal in just 2 minutes and 09 seconds, and was scored by Canadian striker Johnson in front of the goal by grabbing a defensive gap. At 6:14 and 10:06, Canada scored two more goals. The Chinese team trailed 0-3 in the first quarter, with little threat of attack.
However, the Chinese team, which was three goals behind, did not give up. In the second quarter, the team's performance in the front court was stronger than in the first quarter, and even at one point it was equal to the gestures. The audience also enthusiastically cheered on the home team, applauding the team for every successful defense and threatening attack. Both sides failed to score for a longer period of time in the quarter. With only 1 minute and 57 seconds left in the game, Johnson scored twice, rewriting the point difference to four goals. In the whole quarter, the effective number of shots of the Chinese team was only 10-12 behind.
In the last quarter, the Chinese team's offensive firepower was sharply reduced, and most of the time it was tired of defending, and it conceded another point in the 6 minutes and 23 seconds of the quarter, and finally lost 0-5. According to the format, the 12 men's ice hockey teams participating in the Winter Olympics are divided into three groups, each group plays a single round robin first, and the three teams that win the first place and the second place with the best results directly advance to the top 8. The other eight teams will be cross-played based on the results of the group stage, resulting in the remaining four top 8 places. On the 15th, the Chinese team will appear again in the promotion match.