Song set to boost China's puck luck

Nation's first NHL draftee happy to shoulder tall task ahead of 2022

As the NHL's first draftee from China, Song Andong is living up to his billing as the face of hockey in this country by embracing the tall task of helping launch the game into the national sports mainstream ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Since Beijing was awarded the Games in July 2015, hockey's rise from obscurity to burgeoning popularity in the capital has been obvious, as evidenced by the impressive turnout at Saturday's NHL China Games finale between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings that drew more than 12,000 raucous fans at Wukesong Arena.