Later this month, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly "will take a business trip to China," according to Josh Cooper of YAHOO. Along with other items on his itinerary, Daly "hopes to get a better sense on whether NHL games in China are practical, paving the way for more involvement" from the league in the country. Daly said, "I think it’s fair to say we hope to be in a position to stage NHL games there, probably initially preseason games and then potentially on a longer-term basis, regular-season games." Daly’s trip "should be one of the biggest steps" in the league’s recent push into China, the world’s most populous nation with 1.3 billion people. The next step will come when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is "expected to go in the early spring, according to Daly." Currently, China has a total of 1,101 players and 360 combined indoor and outdoor rinks according to the IIHF’s website, but the league "believes these numbers should trend upwards with the coming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing." L.A. Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille said, "We think there's a huge opportunity for growth (in China). We know a lot of our games are being televised over there" (YAHOO, 1/6).
