The Canadian Women's Hockey League announced on Monday that it would expand to China, beginning next season, "becoming one of the first North American professional sports leagues to field a team in Asia," according to Seth Berkman of the N.Y. TIMES. Beijing’s Kunlun Red Star hockey club, which began its first season in the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League last year, will have a women's team in the CWHL. The team's home games "will be played in Shenzhen." The CWHL, founded in '07, has teams in Boston, Brampton, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. The CWHL "has not yet offered salaries to its players," but it is expected to "begin paying players next season." An investment from China "would help make that happen." CWHL Commissioner Brenda Andress said, "This expansion will have a significant impact on women’s hockey around the world and indeed on women’s sports." The five-year deal "opens professional women’s hockey to an untapped market in Asia full of sponsorship opportunities," but it also signifies China’s push to "establish a competitive team" for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. Kunlun Red Star Founder Billy Ngok said in a statement that his team was "the national club of China" and that through cooperation with the sport's national governing body, "we will prepare for our teams to compete in Beijing 2022" and "promote the game in China." Kunlun Red Star will be coached by Digit Murphy, who formerly led the CWHL's Boston Blades and Brown University. Andress: “There’s no doubt about it; it’s going to increase the fan base and appreciation of our game” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/5).
In Toronto, Rachel Brady reported Red Star "will be built mainly through the CWHL draft" in August. It will "likely include some women who already play for the Chinese national team or who may be eligible to play for the host country" at the 2022 Olympics. The team can also sign free agents, "and two high-profile ones" were photographed in Red Star uniforms on Monday: Finnish Olympic goalie Noora Raty and U.S. Olympian Kelli Stack, "recently left off Team USA's centralization camp" for the 2018 Olympics. Scotty MacPherson is a Toronto native who had a hand in founding the Kontinental Hockey League and now works as VP and int'l development director for the Kunlun Red Star management group. He said, "It would be an amazing opportunity for players from North America or Europe, as they are going to be treated very well by the CWHL team in China. We plan to help the women find jobs there. It's the People’s Republic of China, and its president supports the project." Kunlun Red Star "is led by two wealthy businessmen who are passionate about hockey." Xiaoyu Zhao is a long-time banking exec and Ngok is a Chinese oil and gas investor who "also famously bought the Sergio Tacchini clothing label out of bankruptcy and turned a big profit" (
GLOBE AND MAIL, 6/5).
