Grizzlies alumni Yan set to become an Olympian
There weren’t many ice rinks in Beijing when former Victoria Grizzlies forward Eddie Yan was growing up. Yan was in one of the few, watching sister Emily figure skate, when he noticed a kiosk renting hockey skates. He took it from there, all the way to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in his hometown.
“There were two or three rinks when I was growing up in Beijing … not a lot, for sure,” he told the Times Colonist, upon arriving on the Island.
The speedy Yan graduated from the Grizzlies last year after playing three seasons in Victoria with 40 points in 88 games.
The five-foot-11, 180-pounder was born in Beijing and came to Toronto at age nine and was recruited out of Upper Canada College by the Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon after Yan attended a Grizzlies prospects camp.
“The ability and skill on this Grizzlies team is amazing and I’ve learned a lot. That confidence will help me at the national-team level,” Yan said, when he came to Victoria.
“I’m a playmaker who creates chances with good speed and vision.”
He certainly showed flashes of that in his time at The Q Centre.
Yan is among two former players for Island Division teams in the B.C. Hockey League that will represent host China in Olympic men’s hockey, joining former Cowichan Valley Capitals defenceman Zimeng “Simon” Chen, who played in Duncan from the 2016 to 2018 seasons and earned an NCAA athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
“We are excited for Eddie [Yan]. This was a goal for his since he came to us with the Grizzlies,” said Didmon.
“Our program has helped players achieve their dreams. Eddie has earned this opportunity with his skills and desire to reach this level.”
Chen, meanwhile, is the son of Capitals owner Ray Zhang, and is also from Beijing and became intrigued with hockey after accidently coming across a game taking place in a rink mall in Beijing. He was hooked. Chen drew national media coverage when he was invited to the Vancouver Canucks development camp in 2017.
Coquitlam Express graduate and former NHLer Brandon Yip and Vernon Vipers alumnus Cory Kane are also out of the BCHL and named to the host China team for the Olympics. All four former BCHLers are now with Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League.
“We’re trying to build a really good team for the Olympics,” Yan said, when he captained China in the 2019 IIHF Div. III world junior tournament in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Yan recalled being eight years old and watching Lionel Messi score for Argentina in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Fourteen years later he will also march into Bird’s Nest Stadium, and later hope to score China’s first-ever goal in Olympic hockey.
That won’t be easy as debutant China will play in Group A with Canada, the U.S. and Germany beginning Feb. 10.
ICE CHIPS: Yan’s old buddies on the Grizzlies (17-16) host the Powell River Kings (10-18-4) in BCHL actiton tonight at The Q Centre followed by a Grizzlies-Kings matinée on Sunday at 1 p.m.