HC Kunlun Red Star

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Kunlun Red Star
HC Kunlun Red Star logo.png
CityBeijing, China
LeagueKHL
ConferenceEastern
DivisionChernyshev
Founded2016
Home arenaShougang Ice Hockey Arena, Beijing [1]
Alternate:
Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre
Arena Mytishchi
(capacity: 3,000 (Beijing)
14,000 (Shenzhen)
7,000 (Mythishchi))
Colours     
Owner(s)Billy Ngok
General managerNikolay Feoktistov
Head coachIvano Zanatta
CaptainBrandon Yip
Affiliate(s)KRS-BSU (VHL)
(MHL)
Websitehcredstar.com
Franchise history
2016–presentHC Kunlun Red Star
Current season

HC Kunlun Red Star (simplified Chinese: 昆仑鸿星; traditional Chinese: 崑崙鴻星; pinyin: Kūnlún Hóngxīng) is a Chinese ice hockey club that joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) prior to the 2016–17 season.[2][3][4]

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, expressing hope that this would help China bring their hockey to a higher level.[5]

The club was required to meet contractual economic conditions by 30 April 2016 in order to join the KHL.[2] According to Roman Rotenberg, HC Kunlun Red Star applied to fulfill its obligations, but there was a coherent number of formalities for the final decision about team to be taken by June 2016.[6] 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."[7]

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.[3] The Beijing announcement ceremony included Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.[4]

Home games were to be played at the LeSports Center in Beijing and at the in Shanghai.[8] In November 2016, it was reported the team was playing its games at the Feiyang Skating Center in Shanghai as the Beijing facility was booked full with concerts and basketball games, though plans were to return to Beijing in December.[4]

There were early rumours that Ilya Kovalchuk would join the team as a player, and that Mike Keenan would be the first head coach[9] but both proved false, as Kovalchuk remained with SKA Saint Petersburg, and Vladimir Yurzinov Jr. was named the first head coach of Kunlun.[10]

2016–17 season[]

Kunlun Red Star players prior to a match in 2017

On 24 July 2016, the team played its first pre-season game, in which it was defeated 2–0 by Traktor Chelyabinsk.[11]

In a later exhibition match, on 8 August 2016 against Barys Astana, a fight broke out minutes into the game when defenceman Damir Ryspayev punched Kunlun forward Tomáš 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.[4]

The Kunlun Red Star won its regular season KHL debut against Amur Khabarovsk by a score of 2–1.[12] The first goal in franchise history was scored by Sean Collins at 14:00 of the first period.[4] 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.[13]

On 27 October 2016, Chinese-Canadian defenceman Zach Yuen, a Vancouver-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 were also four Chinese-born players on the team. KHL roster guidelines required that Red Star has any combination of at least 10 Russian and Chinese players.[4]

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 was not 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.[14] After returning to Beijing, attendance improved and the team began attracting crowds of around 7,500, comparable with the more established KHL teams.[15] 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.[16]

Kunlun Red Star qualified for the 2017 KHL postseason and faced the defending Gagarin Cup champions Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the conference quarterfinals.[17] Defenceman Tuukka Mäntylä scored the first two playoff goals in the Beijing club's history in a 4–2 loss to Metallurg.[18]

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)
2017–18 56 15 4 8 29 61 103 146 7th, Chernyshev Gilbert Brulé (35 points: 17 G, 18 A; 47 GP) Did not qualify
2018–19 62 19 1 11 31 51 142 190 5th, Chernyshev Brandon Yip (36 points: 21 G, 15 A; 62 GP) Did not qualify
2019–20 62 20 6 8 28 60 139 158 5th, Chernyshev Brandon Yip (31 points: 15 G, 16 A; 50 GP) Did not qualify
2020–21 60 11 2 8 39 34 139 213 6th, Chernyshev Ethan Werek (32 points: 15 G, 17 A; 53 GP) Did not qualify

Players[]

Current roster[]

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Updated 6 September 2021.[19]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
64 Canada Victor Bartley (A) D L 33 2021 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
7 United States Jake Chelios D L 30 2019 Chicago, Illinois, United States
– China D L 24 2021 Beijing, China
22 Canada LW L 23 2020 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
15 Canada Spencer Foo RW R 27 2019 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
2 Canada Jason Fram D R 26 2019 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
17 China F R 21 2021 Beijing, China
8 China C R 25 2021 Guangzhou, China
4 Canada D L 33 2021 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
47 United States C L 31 2017 Irvine, California, United States
20 Canada C R 29 2017 Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
40 Russia Aleksandr Lazushin G L 33 2021 Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR
10 Canada Josh Nicholls RW R 29 2021 Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
1 Canada G L 21 2021 Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
13 Canada C R 25 2019 Oakville, Ontario, Canada
98 China Ying Rudi C R 23 2021 Beijing, China
9 Canada LW L 24 2018 Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
45 United States Jeremy Smith G L 32 2019 Dearborn, Michigan, United States
5 Canada Ryan Sproul (A) D R 28 2019 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
26 United States Greg Squires RW R 33 2021 White Plains, New York, United States
52 Canada Mikaël Tam D L 30 2021 Quebec, Quebec, Canada
61 Canada Ethan Werek C L 29 2019 Markham, Ontario, Canada
91 Canada RW R 25 2019 Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
– China F L 26 2021 Beijing, China
86 China D L 20 2021 Beijing, China
18 Canada Brandon Yip (C) RW R 36 2021 Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
93 Canada Zach Yuen D L 28 2021 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
56 China F R 25 2021 Beijing, China

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Kunlun Red Star team page". Kontinental Hockey League. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b "KHL and RIHF sign a Protocol of Intention with a Chinese Club". khl.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b "It's Official! Kunlun Red Star joins the KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Pinchevsky, Tal (November 7, 2016). "China, Meet Hockey. Russia, Meet a Huge Untapped Market". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  5. ^ Фазель: я был бы счастлив, если бы русские помогли китайцам в развитии хоккея (in Russian). 16 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Ķīnas klubs iesniedz oficiālu pieteikumu dalībai KHL" (in Latvian). sportacentrs.com. 1 May 2016.
  7. ^ Чернышенко: недостатка в ярких звездах с уходом Радулова, Зайцева у КХЛ не возникнет. rsport.ru (in Russian). 6 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Nya KHL-laget kommer spela flera matcher i Shanghai" (in Swedish). August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  9. ^ Lerner, Matt (13 April 2016). "Russian Hockey Comes to China". The Diplomat. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  10. ^ "It's Official! Kunlun Red Star joins the KHL". en.KHL.ru. Kontinental Hockey League. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Red Star shines bright on debut". www.khl.ru. September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  13. ^ "Box score, Kunlun-Admiral". September 5, 2016.
  14. ^ "China Wants to Be the Next Hockey Heavyweight". November 22, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  15. ^ "Red Star ready to shine". February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  16. ^ Merk, Martin (2017-03-14). "Swiss lead attendance study". IIHF.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  17. ^ "Enter the Dragon – Kunlun brings playoff hockey to China!". February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  18. ^ "Early excitement, late drama – day two of the playoffs". February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  19. ^ "Kunlun Red Star Roster". en.khl.ru. 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  20. ^ Maura Sun (3 August 2018). "Kunlun Red Stars Announce Team Name Change". Canadian Women's Hockey League. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2018.

External links[]

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