TORONTO - The Canadian Women's Hockey League is expanding into China.
The league announced the expansion Monday night at a press conference at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The new team, the CWHL's sixth, will be based in Shenzhen and will be known as the Kunlun Red Star.
"This is a historic moment in time for women's hockey to grow on a global stage, creating a template for many winter sports to follow heading into the 2022 Olympics to be held in China," said commissioner Brenda Andress. "This is not just about hockey it is about the opportunity for the growth of women in all sports and creating career opportunities."
The Kunlun Red Star will join the Toronto Furies, Boston Blades, Brampton Thunder, Calgary Inferno and Montreal Canadiennes.
With the addition of KRS, the league will see the 2017-2018 schedule increase from 24 to 30 regular season games with each CWHL team travelling to China to play a three-game series. KRS will travel to North America and visit the other CWHL teams in a similar three-game series. The KRS roster will feature a core group of Chinese national team players, and top international talent.
"We're extremely excited to announce this exciting partnership with the Canadian Women's Hockey league," said Alex Zhao, chairman of the board of KRS. "As part of the CWHL, the premier professional women's league, our mission is to develop a top-tier professional team in order to develop a strong base of female players for our national programs, and new audiences for the sport in China, in the lead-up to hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022."
KRS will also encourage the growing interest in hockey and female sport in China in advance of the country hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. Through this partnership, KRS aims to have an immediate impact on growing the interest in hockey, more specifically in women's hockey.
The CWHL was founded in 2007.
