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(c) The Ottawa Citizen by Kate Jaimet, with files from Vito
Pilieci, The Ottawa Citizen Most of the players on the Qiqihar Snow Leopards admit to feeling a little apprehensive about playing in their first overseas tournament at the Bell Capital Cup this weekend. But not Zhang Zhihao, a spunky 10-year-old with the cockiness of a winner. "Not me!" he pipes up, when asked through a translator whether he's nervous about playing the Canadians. He began playing hockey three years ago, he explains through the translator, learning to skate on an outdoor basketball court that froze over during the winter. At first, he had no equipment but a cheap stick and a couple of pucks. But then, he was spotted by coach Hou Wencai, who recruited him to play on the Snow Leopards. The team gives Zhihao equipment and a proper ice surface to play on. Now, it's also given him the chance to travel to Canada, to see the calibre of hockey played in a nation that claims the sport as its own. Here at the Bell Capital Cup, the Qiqihar Snow Leopards and two other Chinese teams, the Harbin Red Stars and the Sinoca Beijing Dragons, have been slotted into the least competitive division. They'll play against Canadian recreational house league teams. But in China, they're the top players of their age-class -- and they're being groomed for a future in which they may form an Olympic hockey team. "That is China's hope," said Chen Danian, vice-director of hockey for the Qiqihar club. He said there is currently no Olympic hockey team in China, because their level of play is not high enough to compete internationally. "We know that Canada is the birthplace of hockey. We want the kids to see where the standard is," he said. "The idea is to come here and learn." Qiqihar and Harbin are the first Chinese teams of this age group ever to play in Canada, Mr. Chen said. The two teams' trip was funded by the New York Islanders, whose Chinese-born owner, Charles Wang, has opened a satellite office in China to promote and support hockey. In fact, the coach of the Qiqihar team, Mr. Hou, credits the Islanders with saving his team, which has suffered from lack of public funding after the Chinese government decided to focus its money into sports where China has a better chance of winning Olympic medals. The Islanders' owner is so enthusiastic about hockey in China that he's starting to talk about building rinks there, said Mike Milbury, the Islanders' general manager. Nor will Mr. Milbury rule out the possibility of future NHLers coming from that country. That's still a long way off, but, certainly in the minds of the Chinese hockey coaches, this tournament is an important step. The third team from China, the Sinoca Beijing Dragons, is coached by Ken Jiang. The team heard about the Bell Canada Cup and the two other Chinese teams that would be playing in it and Mr. Jiang sprang into action, furiously e-mailing organizers and asking if his team could also participate. "We just got all these e-mails in September," said Aaron Robinson, general manager of the Bell Capital Cup. "He wanted to know if his team could come over too and Mr. Jiang made it happen."
______________________________________ New York Islanders: http://www.newyorkislanders.com
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