HC Kunlun Red Star
| Kunlun Red Star | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Beijing |
| League | KHL 2016–present |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Home arena |
LeSports Center[1] (capacity: 14,000) |
| Colours |
Red, White, Yellow |
| General manager | Vladimir Krechin |
| Head coach | Mike Keenan |
| Captain | Vacant[2] |
| Website |
hcredstar |
| Franchise history | |
| HC Kunlun Red Star | |
HC Kunlun Red Star (simplified Chinese: 北京昆仑红星 or 昆仑红星; traditional Chinese: 北京崑崙紅星 or 崑崙紅星; pinyin: Běijīng Kūnlún Hóngxīng or Kūnlún Hóngxīng) is a Chinese ice hockey club that joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) prior to the 2016–17 season.[3][4][5]
History
Preparation of the team
In March 2016, representatives of Kunlun Red Star and the KHL signed a protocol of intent to have a Chinese-based team enter the KHL. The protocol was signed by the representative from the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak, the chairman of the KHL Gennady Timchenko and the board of Kunlun Red Star. In mid-April, the President of IIHF (René Fasel) shared his opinion about the intention of the Chinese club to join the KHL. He expressed hope that this will help China to bring their hockey to a higher level.[6]
If the club meets their contractual economic conditions by 30 April 2016, they will be allowed to join the KHL.[3] According to Roman Rotenberg, HC Kunlun Red Star applied to fulfill its obligations, but there is a coherent number of formalities, the final decision about team should be taken in June 2016.[7] In early May, the KHL president Dmitry Chernyshenko considered the affiliation of the club to the league as an already done deal: "The club has provided all the documents on the scene, the structure of the club, finance, and they have the permission of the Chinese Ice Hockey Association."[8]
It was announced on 25 June 2016 that the KHL board of directors had officially accepted the club's application, and that they would be participating in the upcoming 2016–17 KHL season.[4] The Beijing announcement ceremony included Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.[5]
The team will play their home games at the LeSports Center in Beijing; in addition, they will play games at the Sports Center Pavilion in Shanghai.[9] In November 2016 it was reported the team was playing its games at the Feiyang Skating Center in Shanghai as the Beijing faciity was booked full with concerts and basketball games, though plans were to return to Beijing in December.[5]
2016–17 season
On July 24, 2016, the team played its first pre-season game, in which it was defeated 2–0 by Traktor Chelyabinsk.[10]
In a later exhibition match, on August 8, 2016 against Barys Astana, a fight broke out minutes into the game when defenceman Damir Ryspayev punched Kunlun forward Tomas Marcinko in the face, then attacked three other Kunlun players before trying to jump into the Red Star bench. The attack appeared to be retaliation for a Kunlun hit in an earlier game that had left Barys forward Dustin Boyd with a broken leg. Officials cancelled the game, and Ryspayev was suspended and eventually given a lifetime ban from the KHL.[5]
The Kunlun Red Star won its regular season KHL debut against Amur Khabarovsk by a score of 2–1.[11] The first goal in franchise history was scored by Sean Collins at 14:00 of the first period.[5] The team also won its second game, a home game in front of a crowd of 7,832 people, defeating Admiral Vladivostok by a final of 6–3.[12]
On October 27, 2016 Chinese-Canadian defenceman Zach Yuen, a Vancouver, B.C.-born draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets, became the first player of Chinese descent to score in a league game, in a 1–0 win over Khabarovsk. There are also four Chinese-born players on the team. KHL roster guidelines require that Red Star has any combination of at least 10 Russian and Chinese players.[5]
After the team's first home game in Beijing, the team had to play its home games during the fall in Shanghai, as the arena in Beijing wasn't available. However, the interest in Shanghai for games was poor; average attendance was only 1,100 for the first 14 games in Shanghai. The team returned to Beijing in mid-December.[13] Since returning to Beijing, attendance has improved, and the team began attracting crowds of around 7,500, which is comparable with more established KHL teams.[14] Red Star finished the season with an average attendance of 2,952, the highest of any team in Asia. Games in Shanghai averaged 1,280, while their matches in Beijing saw an average of 5,137 spectators.[15]
Kunlun Red Star qualified for the 2017 KHL postseason and faced the defending Gagarin Cup champions Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the conference quarterfinals.[16] Defenceman Tuukka Mäntylä scored the first two playoff goals in the Beijing club's history in a 4–2 loss to Metallurg.[17]
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, OTW = Overtime/Shootout Wins, OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses, L = Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Season | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Top Scorer | Playoffs |
| 2016–17 | 60 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 83 | 139 | 144 | 5th, Chernyshev | Chad Rau (40 points: 20 G, 20 A; 60 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–4 (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) |
Players
Current roster
Updated July 18, 2017.[18]
References
- ↑ "Russia-based KHL expands into China with Beijing team". 14 December 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ↑ Game minutes, Instagram, Retrieved 28 July 2016
- 1 2 "KHL and RIHF sign a Protocol of Intention with a Chinese Club". khl.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- 1 2 "It's Official! Kunlun Red Star joins the KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pinchevsky, Tal (November 7, 2016). "China, Meet Hockey. Russia, Meet a Huge Untapped Market.". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ↑ "Фазель: я был бы счастлив, если бы русские помогли китайцам в развитии хоккея" (in Russian). 16 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ↑ "Ķīnas klubs iesniedz oficiālu pieteikumu dalībai KHL" (in Latvian). sportacentrs.com. 1 May 2016.
- ↑ "Чернышенко: недостатка в ярких звездах с уходом Радулова, Зайцева у КХЛ не возникнет". rsport.ru (in Russian). 6 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ↑ "Nya KHL-laget kommer spela flera matcher i Shanghai" (in Swedish). August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
- ↑ "Гатиятулин: "Куньлунь" уже в первой игре показал, что в КХЛ они не мальчики для битья". www.rsport.ru. July 24, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
- ↑ "Red Star shines bright on debut". www.khl.ru. September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
- ↑ "Box score, Kunlun-Admiral". September 5, 2016.
- ↑ "China Wants to Be the Next Hockey Heavyweight". November 22, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- ↑ "Red Star ready to shine". February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ↑ Merk, Martin (2017-03-14). "Swiss lead attendance study". IIHF.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
- ↑ "Enter the Dragon - Kunlun brings playoff hockey to China!". February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ↑ "Early excitement, late drama - day two of the playoffs". February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
- ↑ "Kunlun Red Star Roster". eliteprospects.com. 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
See Also
- Kunlun Red Star WIH – Women's team operated by Kunlun Red Star in the CWHL.
External links
- Official website (in Russian)
- Kunlun Red Star on khl.ru
- Hockey Club Kunlun Red Star on HCRedStar.net
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