The enthusiasm for ice hockey has been reignited in Hangzhou, following the Winter Olympics, culminating in a thrilling conclusion to the “War Horse Cup” 3rd National College Ice Hockey League at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium on March 14th. Sponsored by Aozhong Sports, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ORG, China's premier packaging company since 2017, the tournament showcased emerging talent and relentless dedication.
In a display of skill and teamwork, the Yantai University team clinched a 2-0 victory over the Harbin Institute team, securing the championship of the Sunshine Group (Group B). Meanwhile, the Beijing Sport University team outplayed the Harbin Institute of Technology team in a gripping 7-5 match to win the High-level Group championship (Group C).
This year's League not only celebrated the victories but also marked significant progress in developing ice sports in Southern China. ORG Ice Hockey Club, through its collaboration with Aozhong Sports, has been pivotal in nurturing six athletes who competed in the recent Beijing Winter Olympics.
Zhou Yunjie, the chairman of ORG, commended the Aozhong Sports team for their perseverance, stating, "We must do it, no matter how difficult it is, we must persevere. Only by persevering can our children see hope!" This spirit underscores the growing narrative of Chinese ice hockey, which continues to evolve with each season, fueled by the dedication of many.
"A single spark can start a prairie fire." With many passionate individuals nurturing its growth, Chinese ice hockey is destined to unveil one extraordinary story after another.
A seed
The Aozhong Ice Sports Center, the esteemed training hub for the ORG Ice Hockey Club, has played a crucial role in the evolution of Chinese ice hockey. The center has proudly served as the training ground for notable national players such as Guo Jianing, Ying Rudi, Paris O'Brien, Zhang Zesen, Zhang Pengfei, and Xiang Xudong. These athletes, who first sharpened their skills in ORG’s team, went on to represent China at the Winter Olympics, exemplifying the center’s impact on the national stage.
Photo: Group photo of players from the 3rd National College Ice Hockey League
Over the past year, the dedicated team at Aozhong Sports meticulously orchestrated the 3rd National College Ice Hockey League, becoming unsung heroes of this national event. Their efforts might well shape the future stars of China's ice hockey, especially with the strategic move of the League's finals to southern China—a move aimed at widening the sport's appeal and discovering more promising talent.
In a landmark partnership in 2015, ORG signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the NHL's Boston Bruins, marking a significant stride in China's ice hockey. This collaboration bore fruit two years later, when the NHL China Game was held in Beijing on September 23, 2017, bringing the highest-level professional ice hockey game to Chinese soil for the first time. The event, held amid the cheers of 12,759 spectators as the Five-star Red Flag shimmered on the ice, highlighted ORG's pivotal role in introducing and popularizing ice hockey in China.
That same year, ORG established the country's first NHL-standard ice sports training base, the Aozhong Ice Sports Center, and founded its wholly-owned subsidiary, Aozhong Sports, dedicated to winter sports. This was soon followed by a joint venture with Kunlun Red Star Ice Hockey Club to form the Kunlun Red Star ORG team, marking another chapter in China's ice hockey saga.
Paris O'Brien journeyed from Canada to launch his professional ice hockey career with the team, using the Aozhong Ice Sports Center as his home base. Ying Rudi, previously trained with the NHL's Boston Bruins junior team, soon joined him as a teammate. Following their lead, talents such as Guo Jianing, Zhang Zesen, Zhang Pengfei, and Xiang Xudong also became members of the team.
One dream
On September 23, 2017, the NHL China Game took place, a landmark event largely credited to Zhou Yunjie, the chairman of ORG, who was also present at the game. Reflecting on his journey, Zhou might have recalled starting his ice hockey career 40 years earlier at the Shichahai Sports School. Despite the disbandment of his ice hockey class in 1979, Zhou and his former teammates later reunited to form the "Beijing 1979" ice hockey team, a group of veterans now averaging 60 years old. Now, they train at the Aozhong Ice Sports Center every Wednesday and Saturday and compete across various provinces and cities.
In a nod to their enduring spirit, the " Beijing 1979" team name was featured on the Xi Wang nutrition drink cans, a product launched by ORG in collaboration with the China Sports Industry Group right before the 2022 Winter Olympics. The China Sports Industry Group, a subsidiary of the General Administration of Sport, is a licensed retailer for the Winter Olympics. The name "1979 ice hockey team" is popularized through Xi Wang's stylish packaging. Xi Wang, represented by a vibrant rhinoceros, has become the mascot of the ORG ice hockey team, symbolizing the resilience and determination of Chinese ice hockey players across generations.
In 2018, the ORG ice hockey team participated in the Silk Road Hockey League, which served as crucial preparation for many young national team players ahead of the Winter Olympics. In a post-game interview, Ying Rudi expressed his aspirations to rapidly progress in the League and shine at the Beijing Winter Olympics, reflecting the recurring dreams of generations—both the veterans of 1979 and the young athletes of 2018.
At the entrance of the Aozhong Ice Sports Center hangs a forty-year-old group photo of the "1979 ice hockey team", a constant reminder of their journey. When passing by, current Winter Olympics athletes are reminded of the legacy tied to their sport.
Photo: The 3rd National College Ice Hockey League finals, Sunshine Group Champion Yantai University team
Zhou Yunjie remains committed to the cause, driven by the philosophy to "never forget why you started", he has been advocating for the expansion of ice hockey in universities to ensure young enthusiasts don’t abandon their passion in high school. This sentiment captures the youthful spirit that continues, even 40 years later.
Unsung Heroes
On February 12th, during the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese team squared off against Germany. Zhang Zesen, wearing jersey number 56, played a crucial role by vigorously contesting for the puck and effectively disrupting the German team's offense. His efforts on the ice were captured in a short video that quickly went viral online.
Flashback to four years prior at the Silk Road Cup, during the final home series of the 2018/2019 season for the ORG team, Zhang Zesen scored a pivotal goal against the Russian Khimik team. That game not only highlighted his prowess but also brought defenseman Hu Tianyu into the spotlight, who assisted in the goal and exemplified the unsung hero in ice hockey.
Four years later, while Zhang Zesen was making strides on the Olympic ice, Hu Tianyu, due to various reasons, missed the chance to represent China at the Olympics. Instead, he continued his career with the Tohoku Free Blades in Japan, still harboring dreams of Olympic glory.
The path to the Olympics is fraught with such narratives. Consider the ORG team, where over thirty athletes trained in hopes of participating in the Winter Olympics, yet only six realized that dream. Paris O'Brien, another notable mention, made an impressive debut in the 2021 KHL season, blocking 16 shots. However, the glory of reaching top-tier professional leagues is a rarity, underscoring a reality where great achievements are built on countless sacrifices.
This fierce competition underscores a broader challenge within the sports industry, as more parents become hesitant to direct their children towards sports careers. The substantial task of developing ice hockey in China thus rests not only on the young athletes and their coaches but also on industry operators like Zhou Yunjie and ORG.
As a publicly listed company, ORG feels the pressure acutely. During the Winter Olympics, there were 95 stocks tied to the event, covering infrastructure, venue construction, green transportation, event broadcasting, and sponsorship providers. Among these, Yuanlong Yato, often referred to as "the No. 1 Bing Dwen Dwen stock", drew significant attention in the capital market, hitting limit up consecutively. In contrast, ORG garnered far less attention. Only a handful of investors queried on the company’s interactive platform about ORG's endeavors in the winter sports industry, its progress, involvement in the Winter Olympics, and the impact of the games on this business segment.
Perhaps, as a foundational element of the events supporting the players and the industry at large, ORG and similar entities don't capture the spotlight as much as the suppliers of Bing Dwen Dwen and Xue Rongrong plush toys, figurines, pins, crystal balls, mystery boxes, and badges.
Despite this, some investors remain optimistic, believing that ORG's association with ice hockey will elevate its profile significantly especially after the Olympics. It is a sentiment echoing the broader hope that perseverance and visibility in niche areas eventually garner the recognition they deserve.
Fertile Ground
In 2013, Zhou Yunjie, a prominent figure in the business world, happened to watch an NHL game in Boston. The excitement of the game inspired him to bring the NHL experience to China, setting the stage for ORG's various initiatives in the ice hockey industry. During that game, Zhou witnessed the Boston Bruins in action, coincidentally at a time when the 15-year-old Ying Rudi was training with the Bruins' youth team.
By 2016, Zhou Yunjie had orchestrated the Boston Bruins’ first promotional event in China, held at Beijing's Longhu Changying Tianjie shopping center, with ORG's client Want Want as the title sponsor. That same year, 18-year-old Ying Rudi entered the NHL draft, committing to a professional ice hockey career. Concurrently, Ye Jinguang, the future Olympic team captain, was making his mark in the NHL, playing 174 games over five seasons and scoring 56 points, positioning himself as one of the highest-scoring Chinese men in world professional ice hockey.
ORG's involvement extended beyond event promotion to fostering a professional ecosystem for domestic ice hockey. Collaborations included participating in the VHL league through the Russian Continental Hockey League (KHL), developing an Olympic training base with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, and running youth hockey training programs with major NHL teams like the Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings.
Photo: The 3rd National College Ice Hockey League regular season participants
These efforts aimed to nurture talent and expand professional opportunities within the sport, demonstrating a commitment to the future of China's ice hockey. By December 2021, Xing He, the executive vice secretary-general of the Beijing Ice Hockey Association, estimated that over 8,000 people were regularly participating in ice hockey in Beijing, reflecting the growing popularity of the sport. Zhou Yunjie believed a goal scored by the Chinese team may encourage at least 2,000 kids to take up ice hockey. Zhou’s vision was clear: to embed ice hockey into the Chinese lifestyle, transforming it from a mere sport to a cultural cornerstone for millions.
With the national goal of engaging three hundred million people in winter sports, ice hockey is witnessing an unprecedented surge in interest across China. As the National College Ice Hockey League continues, it serves not only as a platform for college athletes but also as a beacon for the burgeoning Chinese ice hockey dream, where, according to Zhou Yunjie, nurturing young talent remains a critical endeavor: "We can let ourselves down, but we can't let the children down."
Source: People’s Daily
