Through youth hockey Islanders build bridge to China

China Travel Services

Sunday evening was a very special night of acknowledgement for the two youth hockey teams from Harbin and QiQiHar that are being sponsored by the Islanders.

Following the conclusion of the Bell Capital Cup, in which the QiQiHar Snow Leopards placed third in the Atom B Level of the tournament (Harbin was eliminated in the quarterfinals by QiQiHar), the two teams were invited for a special reception at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa that same evening. There, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Lu Shumin spoke to the group and congratulated the players on their wonderful performances.

"It was a very nice event," said Harbin player Zhu Ziyang through our interpreter. "To meet an important man like the Ambassador was very important. I wish we had won the tournament, though!"

In a gracious gesture, the families from the Orleans Devils, who hosted the Harbin team, gave their jerseys off their players’ backs – literally – to the Harbin players as one of the many gifts that they provided the players. The Cumberland Devils, who hosted the QiQiHar players, presented the QiQiHar coaching staff with a banner that lists the players of both the Cumberland and QiQiHar players that’s to be hung in QiQiHar’s home rink in China.

Like an NHL team, Monday was a travel day for both teams as they boarded buses outside the Ottawa Westin for the trek down to Long Island at 9am. Prior to that, the host families said their goodbyes to the players whom they had made a part of their homes for a week.

"It’s tough to see these kids go," said Orleans coach Marc Gagnon, "because we really enjoyed every minute of it. [The week] was a tremendous experience for everyone, win or lose. I really hope that come back next year or some time down the road. Everyone who was a part of this experience will cherish it forever."

The team teams arrived at the Long Island Marriott at approximately 7:15pm for the Long Island leg of their trip. Once settled in, they caught the second and third periods of the Islanders-Tampa Bay game.

On Tuesday, the Chinese teams got another opportunity, as they did in Ottawa, to meet and greet the Islanders prior to the team’s morning practice at the Coliseum. Then, it was off to lunch at PF Chang’s at the Source Mall in Westbury followed by arcade time at Dave and Buster’s. The Islanders’ guests finished the afternoon fun with a shopping spree at Roosevelt Field and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Wednesday will provide more hockey time for the Harbin and QiQiHar players as they will play two exhibitions at 1pm and 2:15pm on the Coliseum ice. They will then be a part of the pre-game festivities for the Islanders-Panthers matchup at 7pm.

"All he said was, 'Go experience China and come back and tell me what you see,' " Milbury recalled yesterday.

Wang, laughing now, added, "Mike thought he was being punished."

Milbury jokes that he warmed to the idea when "I found myself standing in Tiananmen Square, looking at a giant mural of Mao and thinking to myself, 'Wonder what the other NHL general managers are doing today?'"

Down on the Nassau Coliseum ice as Milbury and Wang spoke, a team of 10- to 12-year-olds from the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin was playing the Oyster Bay Ice Cats yesterday afternoon. In the stands sat another Chinese boys team from Qiqihar, an ancient city of 5.6 million. They had just played the Long Island Gulls.

Except for the lettering on their jerseys, the Chinese boys didn't look much different than the Americans. They fidgeted on the bench between shifts, clacked their stick blades on the ice when they wanted a pass, and shot up their arms when they scored a goal.

Afterward, as the two Chinese teams hurried off to their next adventure on the jam-packed, goodwill trip that the Islanders are sponsoring them on to New York and Ottawa, the last player to straggle out to the team bus was Harbin's chubby, rosy-cheeked little goalie, lugging his cumbersome equipment like all poor netminders are required to do.

The boys' trip - a 10-day whirlwind that ends tomorrow - was Milbury's idea, with encouragement from Wang and a spark of inspiration from Ottawa Senators president Roy Mlakar.

Hockey is still a nascent sport in China. Milbury estimates there are only 300 players of all ages in all of Harbin, a city of 9.5 million, but the Islanders opened an office there in 2004 because Wang wanted to establish ties. Milbury was touched during his visit by the players' enthusiasm despite the rudimentary facilities and lack of equipment. The Senators' Mlakar read an online article that Milbury wrote shortly after his return, and called to say if the Isles could get the Chinese to Ottawa to play in the Bell Capital Cup, a 7,000-player, 415-team international youth event, the Senators would help look after the boys once there.

Not that Milbury or the Isles knew exactly what they were getting into. There were passports to arrange, visas to secure, thousands of dollars to raise. Some rabid Islanders season-ticket holders, including Stan Pesner and Paul Packer, helped Milbury organize a benefit dinner, and Wang matched the $40,000-plus take from that night. The Isles even held an eBay auction for dinners with Wang, Milbury and coach Steve Stirling. All told, they raised more than $100,000.

"All Charles said was 'Make it an experience of a lifetime for the kids' and needless to say, we're over budget," Milbury cracked. Not that Wang cares. The smiles on the boys' faces has been priceless.

In addition to being introduced before last night's Islanders-Panthers game, the boys' schedule has or will include two embassy-sponsored meals in their honor, a shopping trip to a Garden City sporting goods store, a much-enjoyed visit to a video arcade and dinner with Wang Tuesday night at a Chinese restaurant in Bethpage ("a soy sauce fix," Wang joked.).

When asked what he expected before the trip, 10-year-old Harbin defenseman Zhu Ziyang said through an interpreter, "I heard that America was a lot of fun. And I heard there were a lot of skyscrapers here." Twelve-year-old Qiqihar defenseman Zheng Canji added, "At first we thought the teams we would play here might be tough. But after we played them - not so tough." Teammate Hu Liang reported that he spent part of his $50 gift from the Islanders on perfume for a favorite teacher back home. "I tried some on first," Hu said, "and I smelled good all day!"

At Tuesday's dinner with Wang, one Chinese boy surprised everyone by standing and singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - in English.

Another of Wang's fond memories of the night came when one of the little boys confidently approached him to strike a binding deal. Says Wang: "He had his hand stuck out to shake, and he kept saying to me, 'I come back next year, right? Promise you bring me back next year.'"