AHL Hockey...

AHL or Asian Hockey League is the pro league in China, Japan and Korea. China has 3 teams, one in Harbin. Tonight we took the team to see the game against the Ice Bucks of Japan.

The building would take one back to the 1960's or 70's. It seats about 4500 people and had maybe 700 tonight. I was escorted to the best seat in the house a row of padded leather chairs that sat in a press box style row in the first row immediately behind the bench but up above the glass with the players and the rink below. Behind me were about 10 other rows of nice theather style seats in the VIP area. I sat with and next to the Vice General Secretary, Mr. Ji Junfeng. He was knowledgeable about hockey and spoke the best english I have heard since arriving (not counting video and audio IM's).

The level is tough to describe. The pace was good, but the skills were not. The passing was not precise and the puckhandling and shooting was sloppy. But the players played hard. I was told by the Mr Ji that the officials were always from th home team's country and always very biased. This was very clear in this game as Harbin was awarded three 5 on 3 powerplays during the game as well as a very lopsided amount of powerplays. The Japanese team was stronger though and won 4-1. Each team has a limit on the number of foreign players, so most are from their home country. Harbin has four from Sweden and they are not a whole lot better.

The Blog will be short tonight as I need to get some sleep for a busy day tomorrow. In the morning I head out for my medical exam as the first step in the long process of obtaining my Z-visa allowing me to work, reside and go in and out of China for a 6-12 month period. Signing off from Harbin, remember AHL does not just stand for American Hockey League....