Before heading to the upcoming season, the women’s ice hockey team got a chance to warm up in a three-game exhibition series against a professional club from China: the Kunlun Redstar.
Their opportunity to face the Chinese heavyweights comes just a year after
After two hours’ battle, the Thunderbirds fell short to Shenzhen in the last match of the serieswith the score of 6-3 at Father Bauer Arena Thursday night.
This game was a wrapping-up-match for the Kunlun Redstar training camp which took place in the UBC ice hockey school. The team is made up of North American student hockey playerswhich have a Chinese background, many of them are either born or raised in Canada.
“Our goal in this team is to select young and talented University hockey players with handful experiences to help develop the ice hockey industry in China and prepare for the 2022 Winter Olympic,"Kunlun Redstar team manager, Claire Liu, said in an interview translated from Mandarin.
Unlike Canada, winter sports, especially ice hockey, is not something that Chinese people used to chase after for. Although becoming the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic makes Beijing the first Chinese city which has its own hockey club, in other cities such as Shenzhen, the hometown of Kunlun Redstar, ice hockey is still a piece of virgin soil. For the newly-founded club, Liu said it’s important for them to practice their skill in matches with valued opponents.
This year is also the Canada-China Year of Tourism, and Liu believes that by holding a training camp here in UBC, they can help to bound the two countries closer with their common love for this sport. “UBC is a university with great hockey tradition and population,” quoted Liu, “they made a huge contribution to the foundation of the training camp, and we’re very fortunate to have the chance to compete with the Thunderbirds. This is a team with high-level performance skill.”
For the Thunderbirds, it’s not the first time that they encountered the guest from China. Back in 2016, the T-Birds had a chance to play with the Chinese National women ice hockey team which they ended up earning a huge victory of 4-1. (Link: UBC defeats Team China 4-1 in exhibition game)
The club also offers opportunities for the T-Birds to showcase their skills overseas. Out of twenty-one players on the team roster, three of them are either previously or currently enrolled in UBC athletic program. This including the fifth year forward Emily Costales, second-year forward Jenna Fletcher and Tiffany Chiu. The club is looking forward to seeing the rising of the new power in the National team among the girls.