OLYMPIC DREAMS
Cowichan Valley’s Simon Chen hopes to represent his native China in 2022
Simon Chen’s excellent adventure nearly ended before it got a competitive start. In the early portion of a Vancouver Canucks development camp scrimmage at UBC last Wednesday, the diminutive defenceman had to be helped off the ice, unable to put any weight on his left leg, then limped away for further evaluation.
It looked like a curious camp invite for the Beijing-born blueliner, who played for the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the B.C. Hockey League last season, was going to be a short story of brief exposure to a higher brand of hockey to help fuel his dream of representing China in the 2022 Olympics.
However, Chen bounced back that day, and also participated in the Summer Showdown on Thursday at Rogers Arena.
“I went into the corner and banged knees with a guy,” Chen said of his UBC collision. “I’m OK.” Chen, 20, will be much more than just OK if China can do what South Korea did in the lead-up to the 2018 Olympics. By successfully lobbying the International Ice Hockey Federation to be in the 12-team men’s hockey tournament — the host country simply wasn’t good enough to qualify outright — then Chen could be the author of an even better and much longer story if China follows suit.
It’s all part of hockey becoming a global game. The Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League expanded to Beijing last season with the Red Star Kunlun and, in part, that’s why the Canucks extended Chen a camp invitation.
Call it some smart marketing in a game with expanding borders and branding opportunities. Beijing has a population of 21.5 million in a country that houses 1.3 billion inhabitants.
Even though the exuberant Chen is generously listed at 5-foot-10 and scored but one BCHL goal last season in 52 games, the 180-pound fire hydrant has NCAA aspirations and he knows the BCHL is the top feeder system for U.S. college programs.
Chen’s father, Ray Zhang, is major- ity owner of the Cowichan Valley franchise and wants to grow the game in China with camps in B.C. to unify the two countries on the hockey front.
The Canucks will play a pair of exhibition games in China this September against the Los Angeles Kings — Sept. 21 in Shanghai and two days later in Beijing to help established a winter-sports presence — but Chen doesn’t have the game to compete at that level. And playing professionally would affect his NCAA eligibility, should he land a scholarship.
However, even harbouring a distant dream to be an Olympian in a country where the game once attracted but 300 registered players and has grown to more than 1,500 is admirable.
China gained promotion to the IIHF world championship Division 2 Group A ranking by winning a tournament in New Zealand in April to improve its rating to 35th. It was 37th in 2015.
Run all this by Chen and you get wide-eyed enthusiasm that comes with pursuing a goal that was only heighten in exposure to the Canucks camp.
“I feel like it’s already made me a better player and human being and this was such a special experience for me on and off the ice,” said Chen. “I’ve learned so much in the drills that I’ve never had before like pivoting and crossing over and how to make better passes.
“To be honest, this camp was a pretty big jump for me. I was playing prep hockey in the U.S. (Brooks School in North Andover, Mass.) for two years and even my first games in the BCHL last year were a big jump.”
Of course, the biggest jump for Chen was his first interaction with a sport that was foreign to China. And he stumbled upon it by chance when he was six years old and living in Beijing.
“We went to this mall in Beijing with my mom and they got bored with us kids and they dropped us off at an ice rink,” recalled Chen. “We put the skates on and also saw two kids with hockey gear on. We said: ‘Wow, that’s a sport we want to pick up.’
“I was a pretty chubby kid and needed to lose some weight. That was pretty good cardio, and I have an uncle in Sweden who brought some equipment back to China. That’s how I started skating.”
Chen also played for China in world under-18 Division 2B competition in 2014-015 and has gone from dabbling in the sport to trying to make his mark on the biggest international stage in the 2022 Olympics. And it may not be that far-fetched.
In 2015, the New York Islanders made defenceman Andog Song, a Beijing native, the first Chinese player to be drafted when he was selected in the sixth round.
“Anything is possible,” said Chen. “Hockey has changed dramatically over the last five or 10 years. Personally, I’m pretty confident as a player and I can use my edges to get from side to side and get up the ice.
“I’m pretty undersized, so I have have to position myself well to win battles. But I’ve got a pretty good work ethic and I’m confident. I can battle with anybody on the ice, even if they’re 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds.”
In that respect, Chen hasn’t had to look far for inspiration. Whether it’s Ryan Ellis with the Nashville Predators, Torey Krug of the Boston Bruins, Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild or Troy Stecher of the Canucks.
“I watch Stecher play a lot,” Chen said of the Vancouver defenceman who shares a similar physical stature. “He has a great shot and a great work ethic and uses his skating well in all zones and somebody I really try to learn from.”