Pro Sports

NHL looks at China as a 'very long-term relationship'

Posted March 30, 2017 7:00 am

By STEPHEN WHYNO

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2016, file photo, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, center left, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, center right, drop the puck for a face-off in a friendly game amongst youth hockey players in Montreal. Sparked by Chinaâs interest in learning and improving at hockey, the NHL is making the country of almost 1.4 billion people a top priority internationally. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP, File) The Associated Press

China wants to get its hockey program up to par before hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The NHL is using that as a starting point for a long-term vision to turn the country into a hockey nation.

The league is making the country of almost 1.4 billion people a top priority internationally. The Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks will play exhibition games in Shanghai and Beijing in September, and the games and the Olympics are only the beginning of what the NHL hopes is a bigger investment.

"The way we're looking at it is it's really not about 2022. It's about 2032 and '42 and so on and really building the game," NHL executive vice president of media and international strategy David Proper said by phone from Beijing. "It's doing a disservice ultimately to the building of hockey in China to just target a five-year range and not be looking past that."

At a news conference announcing the exhibition games, commissioner Gary Bettman called them "the beginning of what we believe will be a very long-term relationship."

The upcoming Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next year has created conflict for the league, which has expressed reluctance to stop its season to play 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time in a place that isn't necessarily a hockey market. The NHL may yet decide to go to Korea because of players' interest but also in part because of the lure of Beijing.

The NHL looks at the NBA, which has had a foothold in China for decades, as a blueprint for the future. But before there's a hockey version of Yao Ming, Chinese fans need to learn more about the sport.

Andong Song, the first Chinese player drafted by an NHL team, said most people in his homeland didn't know much about hockey even when the New York Islanders took him in the sixth round in June of 2015. Song was part of China's presentation to the International Olympic Committee alongside Yao and said getting the Games in 2022 got people buzzing about hockey and other winter sports.

From the initial meetings with Chinese government officials, the league and NHL Players' Association saw untapped potential.

"The exciting thing is you're starting from a baseline of zero, so any effect that we have is going to be a positive effect," NHL chief revenue officer and executive VP of global partnerships Keith Wachtel said by phone from Beijing. "The question is just how much, and that's going to be about the dedication of resources that we have."

While the exact financial investment the league is making in China was not revealed, it's substantial.

Proper said the league will put on at least 15 clinics in China this year in addition to what teams might also be doing. The Canucks, Kings, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals have already conducted camps for young Chinese players.

As China aims for 2022, Proper considers it a "perfect storm" of a motivated government and private sector combined with a league that wants to spread out far beyond North America and Europe.

"When somebody comes to you and says, 'We are committed to 300 million people playing winter sports and hockey is one of the primary winter sports we want to focus on,' you have to make that country a priority and you really have to kind of figure out how to help them as best they can to achieve their goals," Proper said.

The NHL is getting a lift from goaltender-turned-billionaire Zhou Yunjie, chairman of metal can manufacturing company ORG Packaging, in making strides in China. The league signed a multiyear deal with ORG Packaging and will use some of that money to help refine Chinese hockey infrastructure while trying to increase exposure, sell jerseys and make an impact.

The ultimate goal is talent development, which will spawn fandom and interest if a Chinese player turns into an NHL star.

"We think that it's only a matter of time till we're able to get a Chinese national into the NHL," Wachtel said. "That will be the proof point when millions of kids are playing the sport in China and one day that you see one of those kids that was in a clinic that was run by the NHL and ORG and all our other partners that that kid is playing in the NHL."

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Follow Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno .

FILE - In this Saturday, March 4, 2017, file photo, Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin, left, of Sweden, passes the puck against Los Angeles Kings defenseman Derek Forbort during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles. The NHL will play its first games in China this fall when the Kings and Canucks meet in Beijing and Shanghai. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo, File) The Associated Press

In this Feb. 18, 2017, photo, Chinese players compete for the puck beneath a Chinese flag during a youth ice hockey tournament in Beijing. Sparked by Chinaâs interest in learning and improving at hockey, the NHL is making the country of almost 1.4 billion people a top priority internationally. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this June 27, 2015, file photo, Andong Song, of China, shakes hands with a team executive after being chosen 172nd overall by the New York Islanders in the sixth round of the NHL hockey draft in Sunrise, Fla. Song, the first Chinese player drafted by an NHL team, said most people in his homeland didnât know much about hockey even when the New York Islanders took him in the sixth round in June of 2015. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2017, file photo, ORG Packaging Chairman Zhou Yunjie (8) prepares for the ceremonial puck drop with Boston Bruins' Zdeno Chara (33), of Slovakia, and Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty (67) before an NHL hockey game in Boston. While being awarded the Olympics was impetus for the Chinese government to pour resources into hockey, itâs getting some help from the private sector in the form of ORG Packaging chairman Zhou Yunjie. Known as âMr. Zhou,â the goaltender-turned-billionaire is at the forefront of hockeyâs growth in China through NHL partnerships and sponsorships and hopes the league can be as successful as the NBA in his country.(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this June 22, 2016, file photo, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks during a news conference in Las Vegas. The NHL is eyeing opportunities to crack the biggest market in the world: China. With the 2022 Olympics in Beijing following 2018 in Pyeongchang, the NHL and NHLPA see the country of a billion people as hockey's next frontier. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) The Associated Press

In this Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, photo, Chinese players watch the action during a youth ice hockey tournament in Beijing. The NHL sees China as hockeyâs next great frontier. With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China is eager to step up its game and the league is intrigued by the potential of a new nontraditional market with 1.3 billion people that might take to hockey like it did basketball.(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) The Associated Press

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