International hockey officials are hoping to avoid a Humiliation On Ice when the Chinese men’s national team debuts at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
They begged the NHL to send players to the Games in China, but now they are worried that the home team might not even be able to score a goal.
The host nation automatically qualifies for every sport at the Olympics, but the Chinese men’s lineup — with a handful of naturalized Americans and Canadians — will face off against virtual NHL all-star teams from Canada and the United States in the first round.