FILE - Russia hockey club Amur Khabarovsk's Danil Faizullin, left, tries to score against Kunlun Red Star's goalie Jeremy Smith, center, on Nov. 15, 2021. Host China has finalized its roster for the men's hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics. American Jeremy Smith is expected to be China's starting goaltender. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
BEIJING – Host nation China has finalized its roster for the men’s hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics, which includes a dozen players from North America, including Greek-American Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios’ son Jake.
American Jeremy Smith is expected to be China’s starter in goal. Fellow U.S. players on the roster include defenseman Jake Chelios and forward Cory Kane.
Canadian Brandon Yip, who has Chinese ancestry, was also named to the team after being captain of Kunlun Red Star in the Russia-based KHL that served as a proxy for China’s national team. Defensemen Ryan Sproul, Ty Schultz, and Jason Fram, forwards Spencer Foo, Parker Foo, Ethan Werek, Tyler Wong, and Luke Lockhart, and goaltender Paris O’Brien are the other Canadians on the roster.
Kunlun Red Star posted the roster for China’s first Olympic hockey team which includes Greek-American Jake Chelios, son of Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios. Photo: Twitter
Arizona State University’s Peter Zhong, who was born in Beijing and began playing hockey in the U.S., is one of the youngest players on the team. Eddie Yan was born in Toronto and played for China in under-20 tournaments in recent years.
There are eight homegrown Chinese players on the 25-man roster: forwards Jianing Guo, Xudong Xiang, Rudy Ying and Zesen Zhang, defensemen Zimeng Chen, Ruinan Yan, Pengfei Zhang and goaltender Pengfei Han.
“Chelios, who played in college at Michigan State and appeared in 61 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins and five games for the Detroit Red Wings in 2018-19, has been playing for Kunlun Red Star, a Beijing-based team in Europe’s Kontinental Hockey League,” MLive reported on January 27, adding that “every member of China’s team has played for Kunlun Red Star since it made it easier for players with no Chinese heritage, such as Chelios, to become eligible to represent China at the 2022 games.”
“China, ranked 32nd in the world, was given a spot in the 12-nation Beijing Olympic tournament as host nation without having to qualify,” MLive reported, noting that “China is grouped with the U.S., Canada, and 2018 Olympic silver medalist Germany, and even with NHL players out of the competition due to COVID-19, China will be an extreme long shot to earn any points.”
Kunlun Red Star posted about the team roster on Twitter: “25 #KRS players are about to make history by representing #TeamChina at #Beijing2022 Winter Olympic Games!”
China’s first Olympic hockey team will make its debut on February 10 against the United States.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
MELBOURNE — A "devastated" Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the Australian Open on Monday — the day before he was scheduled to play his first-round singles match — because of an injured left knee that needs arthroscopic surgery.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
To purchase a gift subscription, please log out of your account, and purchase the subscription with a new email ID.
On April 2, 2021, we celebrated The National Herald’s 106th Anniversary. Help us maintain our independent journalism and continue serving Hellenism worldwide.
In order to deliver a more personalized, responsive, and improved experience, we use cookies to remember information about how you use this site. By Continuing to access the website, you agree that we will store data in a cookie as outlined in our Privacy Policy.
We use cookies on our site to personalize your experience, bring you the most relevant content, show you the most useful ads, and to help report any issues with our site. You can update your preferences at any time by visiting preferences. By selecting Accept, you consent to our use of cookies. To learn more about how your data is used, visit our cookie policy.
You’re reading 1 of 3 free articles this month. Get unlimited access to The National Herald. or Log In
You’ve reached your limit of free articles for this month. Get unlimited access to the best in independent Greek journalism starting as low as $1/week.