Following in Italy's footsteps: China's strange ice hockey story

Several dual nationals are ensuring that the host, for whom there are some parallels to the selection of Italy, will receive Olympic honors for the first time from February 9th. One of them sits in the coaching bench and has a past in Italy, as does one of his assistant coaches.

30 years ago the Olympic Games took place in Albertville. The ice hockey tournament was held in Meribel in 1992. At that time, there were 22 dual citizens in Italy's 16-man squad. China's ice hockey team even competes in the games in its own country with 17 naturalized players and is still considered a blatant outsider. It was only last November that the host received the green light from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to be allowed to take part in the 5 Rings tournament. After all, there had been fears for a long time that number 32 in the world rankings was too bad. For comparison: Italy is currently in 17th place. Four years ago, China's attempt to qualify for the Pyeongchang Games failed at the first hurdle after finishing last in a qualifying group containing Serbia, Spain and Iceland. The last game under the Olympic flag ended with a 4:3 defeat against Iceland. From February 11th, the ice hockey exotic will compete on home ice with Canada, the USA and Germany.

China's selection is already training in the Olympic ice stadium in Beijing. © ANSA / ROMAN PILIPEY

To overcome this challenge, China collaborated with Russia's KHL. Kunlun Red Star was founded in 2016. The Beijing-based club, which recently had to play its home games in Moscow due to Corona, is currently in last place in the KHL by a wide margin. The 25-member Olympic squad is made up entirely of the Kunlun team. The trainers are also the same. The head coach and one of the two assistants are no strangers to this country.

The head of the Chinese bank will be the Italian-Canadian Ivano Zanatta. The former Cortina, Devils Milan and Varese striker was one of the 16 dual nationals in the Italy team in Meribel. The now 61-year-old has worked as a coach in Serie A, Switzerland, Russia and the Czech Republic and was hired by Kunlun last summer. In the 2014/15 season, Zanatta was general manager of the “Azzurri”.

His assistant Clayton Beddoes, who ended his playing career in Vipiteno, was head coach of Italy between 2017 and 2019 and at the same time at HCB Südtirol. With Alexei Kowalev, a former Russian NHL star and Stanley Cup winner who won the gold medal in Meribel in 1992 is also sitting on the Chinese bench. “We don’t have to put on a show.” National coach Ivano Zanatta It will not be enough for the host of these games to win a medal. For him, the Olympic motto “Being there is everything” applies. The 16 players who were born in North America cannot change that. 13 cracks come from Canada, 3 from the USA. Together they play an impressive 358 NHL games. There is also a Russian. They have all taken Chinese citizenship. The remaining 9 actors are “real” Chinese. Only 2019 players remained from the last World Cup in 6 in the fourth-tier Division II Group A.

“It is a lifelong dream for the Chinese boys to play in the Beijing Olympics,” Zanatta said recently. “We told the boys that we have to earn the respect of the hockey world. We don't have to put on a show. So we train to be the best physically and tactically.” Of the 25 players, Jake Chelios has the most prominent name. The 30-year-old defenseman is the son of Chris Chelios, who played in the NHL for 26 years. Brandon Yip has the most NHL games to his name. The 36-year-old native of Canada with a history in Germany has played 174 games in the best league in the world and will lead the home team as captain.

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Following in Italy's footsteps: China's strange ice hockey story

Too bad for the Olympics? For a long time it was not clear whether the Chinese national ice hockey team would be allowed to take part in the games in Beijing. Now the unusual team from the host country is at the start - and with ice hockey knowledge from Italy.

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