China claims historic silver

From having to rely on naturalized troops at its home Olympics to securing a silver medal at the worlds with an all-Chinese roster, China's men's ice hockey has come a long way over the past four years.

With gloves tossed in the air and the crowd on its feet roaring, pucksters in red and white collided in bear hugs, as the wild celebration at the Universiade Center Arena in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Tuesday sent a strong message to ice hockey's elite — the long-overdue rise of China's men's program is happening for real and, remarkably, on its own.

The elation was triggered by the host squad's 3-2 penalty shootout win (4-3 overall) over Estonia in its fifth and final round-robin game at the International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championships Division I Group B tournament to clinch a silver medal at the third-tier event in the IIHF Worlds system. It marked the Chinese men's best result since the current multi-division worlds format was adopted in 2001.

The awe-inspiring podium finish, witnessed by a rapturous home crowd, is expected to place Team China at 24th overall in IIHF's 2026 standings, after the completion of the top — and second-tier championships at the end of May, giving the country its highest-ever ranking in the traditionally Western-dominated sport since it claimed 20th place way back in 1994.

Team China's strong campaign at the six-nation Shenzhen tourney — eventually won by Estonia with four straight regulation wins, two more than the host — has produced a more profound boost, beyond just statistical feats, for the game domestically, given its dramatic shift of strategy over the past four years.

Rather than recruiting North American-born players with Chinese heritage, like the country did around the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, this current national program has put together a new breed of young talent all born and raised in China, yet nurturing their hockey prowess in overseas minor leagues, and mixed them up with the best of the domestic league to represent their nation on the international stage.

Ten of Team China's 23 players in Shenzhen are currently honing their game in overseas programs, such as the US college league, the Japan-based Asian league and Canada's Ontario Hockey League.

The untapped potential of this young cohort, and the camaraderie among them, have created a more united squad with greater pride in representing their home country than the naturalized Olympic squads of four years ago, where over half of China's men's and women's lineups were born either in the United States or Canada.

And, arguably, nobody has embodied the program's new approach more than China's teen prospect Wang Haoxi.

The 18-year-old, 1.96-meter Beijing native, who became the highest-selected Chinese player in NHL history after being picked by the San Jose Sharks at 33rd overall in the 2025 draft, lived up to his billing as the new face of Team China by winning the tournament's Best Defenseman award.

Wang, who goes by the name Simon in Canada where he plays in the OHL, made no secret of Team China's ambition, throwing down the gauntlet to the world's elite.

"No, it did not exceed our own expectations, because we know how good a team we are," Wang said after the penalty shootout victory over Estonia.

"Our team is very strong, and we fought our hardest in every game. If we hadn't needed overtime to beat Romania (in the second game), we could've secured the gold and the promotion," said Wang, who appeared in 57 games in the 2025-26 OHL season, recording 26 points between the Oshawa Generals and Niagara IceDogs.

Tying with Estonia on the total number of wins, Team China had to settle with a runner-up finish, three points shy of the European side, due to, as Wang pointed out, its two overtime wins.

With an upbringing and development path similar to Wang's, 17-year-old goalie Tu Yueran couldn't hold back his pride after making his senior international debut for Team China in Shenzhen, having stood out in Canada's minor program.

Tu's composure beyond his years and solid skills took over in the critical shootout as he denied three of Estonia's five attempts to help secure the win together with teammate Zheng Mingju, who sent the crowd into frenzy by scoring China's final and fifth penalty to close out the match.

"Being able to represent China is the best feeling in the world (for us). I am glad we got the job done," said Tu, who goes by the name Eric in Canada and, somewhat appropriately, has an image of the impenetrable Great Wall on the back of his helmet.

"To play for your country with so many people rallying behind you feels so different from playing for a club overseas," said Tu, who made 1035 saves representing the Calgary Hitmen in 45 games in the 2025-26 Western Hockey League season.

"Winning the game gave us a lot of confidence. We had that belief in the room already, and winning has just added to that."

China's head coach Perry Pearn, a Canadian former assistant coach with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, said the trajectory of China's young core is fascinating.

"It's exciting, because we let some young players go (without being called up) that are pretty close to being here, who are playing pretty good junior hockey in North America," said the 74-year-old, who coached Canada's women's national team and Japan's men's squad before taking the China's men's team job in 2025.

"I don't think it will be long before they are ready to come here. Of course, Eric (Tu) and Simon Wang are pretty good kids from the standpoint of hockey in general. I think that really bodes well for the Chinese game."