Song Andong: NHL draft makes him the next Yao Ming of Hockey?

Song Andong, an 18-year-old native of Beijing, became the first player from China to ever get drafted by the National Hockey League. He was selected by the New York Islanders with the No. 172 pick in the draft on last Saturday.

The news of the first Chinese player drafted into the U.S. professional ice hockey league will be a big boost to the game in China, a leading sports official said, as the country awaits the outcome of Beijing's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. When interviewed by NBC News, the officer said Song could be "the Yao Ming of Chinese ice hockey," the official told NBC News.

"His selection has been the dream of several generations of ice hockey players in China," said Yu Tiande, ice hockey chief of China's ministry of sports and head of the country's hockey team. "It will drive many parents to care for the sport and support hockey players, he added with expectation that China “will send more players to train in North America."

The government hopes that a successful bid to host the Winter Olympics will popularize winter sports which China is generally weak in with only 3 gold medals won at the last Winter Olympics. And the official said the NHL draft will have a "positive impact" on Beijing's bid, which will be decided later this month.

Besides the positive impact of Song’s draft on the Winter Olympics bid, the market-opening potential of the NHL draft is also significant.

"I can see that NHL will size up the China market again, as more professional teams engage Chinese broadcasters and businesses for greater market promotion and endorsement deals," blogged Yang Wang, a magazine editor.

Additionally, Song’s case reflects cultivation pattern for Hockey talents in China for the past 2 decades. Once Song’s talent was spotted, his family moved to Canada and he quickly excelled when he began playing as a 10-year-old. Differently, however, China had only tens registered junior Hockey players who were age-matched with Song at that time. Hockey, then, was more like a family-sponsored game than a government-sponsored one.

With the rise of Song Andong and the Winter Olympics bid, China is seen an ideal land for Hockey. The sport has gained more presence in the country as the popularity emerges with the empowerment by NHL and participants multiples with over 2,000 registered players merely in Beijing.