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Thread on the clusterf*ck facing Chinese ice hockey right now, with less than 9 months to go to the Olympics.
Back in May 2018, ice hockey's world governing body @IIHFHockey used its discretion to give automatic berths to China for the men's and women's Olympic 
tournaments @beijing2022, after lobbying from China.
tournaments @beijing2022, after lobbying from China.
This made sense to both sides. China wanted in for its home tournament, and the IIHF wanted to incentivize China to fast track its hockey development. It had done the same for Korea @pyeongchang2018 (to mixed effect), but upside seemed to outweigh the potential negatives.
China wasn't likely to qualify by right, with its men’s team ranked #32, and its women’s team ranked #19, so the IIHF obliged. But then a double disaster struck.
1. China was drawn in a group with 
. 2. NHL players provisionally agreed to return to the Olympics. So that means @cmcdavid97, @AM34, Draisaitl and the rest.
. 2. NHL players provisionally agreed to return to the Olympics. So that means @cmcdavid97, @AM34, Draisaitl and the rest.
One hockey executive I spoke to called it a "slaughter" waiting to happen. Another coach, who has first-hand experience of the Chinese team, predicted scores of 100-0.
So far, this is all public. But it's just been blown wide open. The IIHF is threatening to throw the Chinese team out of its home Olympic tournament if it doesn't get its act together quickly. How to do that? Recruit foreign-born players.
Kunlun Red Star (KRS) has spent years recruiting ethnically-Chinese North Americans specifically for Beijing 2022, but KRS has fallen out with the Chinese Ice Hockey Association, who themselves have been essentially sacked by the General Administration of Sports.
The upshot is that the KRS recruits are being iced out (sorry) of the naturalization process, and GAS is desperately looking for "new" foreigners to satisfy IIHF. But who else is there? Soviets, Central Asians, even white guys are being considered - they're desperate.
Even more scandalous: the IIHF has said it will waive its two-year eligibility requirements for China so that it can bolster its team with foreigners asap. Remember, the IIHF bears some responsibility for for the mess by granting the automatic berths in the first place.
I understand China is looking to fast-track naturalize between 6-10 players for the men's team. By comparison, Korea brought in 7 North Americans for its team in 2018.
Enter Curt Fraser, the man with the hardest job in hockey right now. He's the brand new coach of this motley crew - straight out of quarantine and into the fire. https://twitter.com/DreyerChina/status/1388499559576334341
So how does this get resolved? Seems like either China exits the Olympic tournament (gracefully or otherwise) or ships in a few second-tier players and does its best against the NHL All Stars. Either way, it ain't pretty.
