There will be plenty of international flavor in the preseason match-ups this week between the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings. The games on Thursday and Saturday will be played in Shanghi and Beijing, China respectively.
The National Hockey League is looking to build its visibility in China. It will hold its first two preseason games in the nation of 1.2 billion people this week,
According to the The Province, the Canucks have signed Chinese national team goalie Zehao Sun to an amateur tryout contract. He is not expected to see action in the games, but will act as the Canucks’ third goalie in China.
"You see when you come over here that it is a big deal." Henrik speaks on the importance of taking in all the sights China has to offer. pic.twitter.com/0ZStF3BSCF
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 20, 2017
Canucks winger Henrik Sedin says he can see how big a deal this event is now that the team is in China. “It’s going to be exciting to see the fans tomorrow. How they treat the game and how knowledgeable they are.”
Canucks and Kings fans better set an alarm clock The puck drops at 4:30AM Pacific at Mercedes-Benz Arena.
(KPUG – Doug Lange with information from Associated Press)