The Fredonia State hockey team will take on the Chinese National Team in Niagara Fall, Ontario, Canada on Jan. 24
Head Coach Jeff Meredith was contacted in September by former Stevenson University assistant coach, Cole Bell, who now works with the Chinese National team. According to Bell, the squad began its training camp in Toronto in late December and will play exhibition games against the Blue Devils and a handful of USports programs in preparation for the Asian Winter Games, which happen once every four years.
"Most of the players we selected play for the top Beijing team -- Beijing Hockey Academy -- who also travel to Japan to play Japanese professional teams," said Bell. Back in November, they traveled to Almaty, Kazakhstan for the Asian Cup, competing against Kazakhstan, Japan and South Korea.
For the men's stage, the Chinese team is considered relatively young. "With that being said," according to Bell, "we also had a couple players who were on the roster in 2022 for the Olympic Winter Games that took place in Beijing... At last year's Men's World Championship our roster consisted of seven players that had also competed for Team China at the U20 World Championship earlier in the year. Our starting goalie at that tournament was voted the best player on our team."
The majority of the players play in the National Chinese league. A small handful have experience playing in North America, mostly junior hockey. A couple will be playing in the U.S. this year, one at Stevenson and one in the NAHL. The oldest players on the team are about 27 or 28, and the youngest is 18, with an average age around 23-24 years old.
The game will give the Blue Devils a chance to experience some international culture as well. Coach Meredith indicated that the teams will partake in a post game meal together.
The contest will be played at the Gale Center in Nagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, just over an hour from campus. Meredith used his connections in the hockey world to set up the game in Canada to avoid any international travel visa issues for the Chinese team. The Devils currently feature 15 Canadian players on their roster.
Gametime is slated for a 1 p.m. puck drop.
