Entertainment

Revs slay Dragons, Warriors for crown

By Ray Plumber (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-09 08:02

Clockwise from top: Players from the Emperors (left) and Revs battle for the puck during the Beijing International Ice Hockey League finals on Saturday; Emperors goalie prepares to stop a shot; It is all smiles on the ice after time is called on the game. Photos by Cui Meng / China Daily

Int'l brigade enlivens the league

On Saturday, an unlikely combination of a young Brazilian, a Finnish engineer and two Canadians, one an oilman and the other a diplomat, joined forces to help the Revs win the Beijing International Ice Hockey League championship.

The finals, a one-day tournament that gives any of the six teams in the league a chance to win the championship, was the culmination of the 2010-11 season.

Beijing International Ice Hockey is the largest and oldest organized men's league, with a history starting with just a dozen players in the 1990s.

It has now grown to six teams with more than 100 players from 13 countries.

In this nonprofit amateur league, the average age is 35, although the players range in age from 17 to 60.

Canadians make up half of the players. Chinese, US citizens, Finns and Russians are the next largest nationalities, with a smattering of Swedes, Germans, Britons, Swiss, Austrians, Brazilians, Kazaks and New Zealanders. Players all work or study in Beijing, and the league provides one or two games a week, from September to May.

In the finals tournament, the Revs, who came third in the season, knocked out the first-placed Dragons, and then defeated the fifth-placed Warriors 5-3 to win the championship in an exciting game with end-to-end action.

The Revs, lead by Brazilian rookie of the year Bruno Carvalho, who scored one goal in the final, were aided by a pair of goals from Canadian diplomat Len Del Pino, with singles from Canadian oilman Mike Duncan and Finnish engineer Niko Railo. US goalie Benny Schaeffer, playing in his fifth game for the day, turned away enough pucks to ensure victory.

For China Daily

(China Daily 05/09/2011)