Boston Bruins grow game in eye opening trip to China

Matt Beleskey was intrigued when the Boston Bruins asked players if they wanted to take part in a ‘grow the game’ type trip to China this summer.

The team planted the seed in players’ heads around Christmas and Beleskey quickly told his wife about the possibility to taking the trip.

“The Bruins asked most of the guys on the team, and obviously it’s hard for guys who have kids. There are guys who are younger that are getting used to being in the NHL, so it kind of worked out for a perfect time for my wife and I to be able to get the chance to go to China,” the 28-year-old Beleskey said. “It’s not too often you have a chance to go there with the translator and someone that can show you around. We looked at it and jumped at the chance.”

From July 11-23, Beleskey and fellow forward David Pastrnak along with Bruins’ alumni Andrew Raycroft and Bob Sweeney worked hockey clinics in Beijing and Shanghai to help grow the game and the Bruins brand in the large Asian market. Members of the Bruins Youth Hockey Development Team also went.

“I think we were in two cities that have a combined population of 40 million,” Raycroft said. “If you can get a small percentage of those people to become fans of hockey and particularly the Bruins, I think there’s nothing but positives there.”

The Bruins’ visit to China, which was done in partnership with Beijing based O.R.G. Packaging, was the second major NHL-related trip to the country this offseason.

Earlier in the summer Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid became the first active player to officially visit the country on promotional business.

McDavid’s trip was sponsored by the Canadian sports nutrition company BioSteel and while he did attend some hockey practices the Oilers forward admitted it was more of a marketing visit.

For the current and former Bruins players, the trip was much more hockey centric with clinics in the two major cities.

“I think it’s an area where there are so many people in China – it’s an area that can really take off and grow and I think the exposure for the game is great to have over there,” Beleskey said.

Both Shanghai and Beijing were different in the development of their infrastructure so both needed different strategies from the contingent to make a large impact. The Kunlun Red Star KHL team will start play in 2016-17 in Beijing.

“Beijing there is actual hockey. The coaching is decent there, they have a good facility. It was more advanced, so the kids know the game. They can skate, they all have good skills. It was fun to give them some ideas and a different way of coaching,” Raycroft said. “Shanghai was more awareness and growing the game and showing up and a little more basic on the ice. They were pretty excited.”

Beleskey said there were local hockey coaches there who spoke English that helped with the translation. But mostly the dialect of the game itself enabled the current and former professionals to get their message through to the players.

“The cool thing to see was the language of hockey translates the motion and you can show them how to do something and they pick up what you’re trying to show them,” Beleskey said. “It was cool to see how the language of hockey translates on the other side of the world.”

Added Beleskey, “They asked a lot about what it takes being in the NHL. ‘What is your training? What do you have to do to be able to play in the NHL?’ It was kind of cool seeing kids nine and 10 and that age focusing on ‘what do I need to do?’ and ‘what should I be doing to play in the NHL?’ I think hockey is something that could catch on in China and could be really big for the NHL and the sport.”

There was time for sightseeing. The group went to the Great Wall of China along with the Beijing Summer Palace.

“We took a ride up on a chairlift and came down on a toboggan after walking to the watchtowers (on the Great Wall) and it’s just something – I don’t think I ever saw myself doing but being there was surreal,” Beleskey said.

The trip itself also gave all involved an appreciation for the potential in China as a hockey country.

“That’s a large market,” Beleskey said. “If you see how much they enjoy basketball, even with the time change they watch the games in the morning. It’s something I think that if it could catch on in China it could be life changing for our sport.”

The NHL is reportedly bullish on going to China for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics because of its large economy and population of 1.382 billion people. Los Angeles Kings alumni Derek Armstrong and Brandon Convery represented the team at a clinic in Shanghai in early July.

The league is considered less excited about stopping its season for two weeks for the the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea for several reasons including insurance for players and visibility based off time zone differential. It’s currently unclear if not going to South Korea will harm the NHL’s ability to play in China.

For those who went with the Bruins and saw the raw potential of China as a hockey market first-hand, the decision to push hard for the NHL in Beijing in 2022 is almost a no-brainer.

“The Olympics will be there in six years. There’s going to be hockey at some point there – whether the NHL is involved or not,” Raycroft said. “At some point it’s just the math of it that more people are going to get involved.”

Added Beleskey, “I think it’s something that’s on people’s mind. The Canadian team is a very difficult team to make so it’s not like something where, ‘I’m going to Beijing as part of Team Canada.’ It’s a little unrealistic with the talent we have, but I want to support it and being over there and seeing it – we got to go to the Olympic Stadium to the Bird’s Nest where they had the 2008 summer Games and you see the heritage and the history that they thrive on in China, I think the Olympics will do great there.”

Even if the NHL decides to not pursue further involvement in China the members of the Bruins contingent believe it’s a trip to the country is a worthwhile life experience. Both for them and the players they coached at the clinics along with the hockey supporters they met along the way.

“It definitely opened up my eyes,” Beleskey said. “There are many other places I’d like to try in Asia now after being there. You kind of see it and get a feel for it. It’s something that’s definitely exciting and would like to do again for sure.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper