in some ways the chinese market is the golden goose for the NHL terms of tapping into a market that they have zero presence...
i've always wonder why the chinese lagged behind countries like South Korea or Japan in soccer? if SC and Japan can be reasonably successful at a high international level, there's no reason to believe that china couldn't be better than what currently demonstrates.
I agree with the article however, that the NHL requires a star of chinese descent to really bring more chinese to take an interest in the sport...until that happens there's no real reason for the chinese to follow the sport. The exhibition games are a kind of curio, not unlike the NFL games were in London when they first started.
but even if there is some interest, the time zone challenges make it pretty tough to become an avid follower of the sport... that's not something easily overcome no matter how many exhibition games you play in China
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