Grassroots the key to nurturing talent

China's hopes rest on getting more kids interested in skates, sticks and pucks

With China busy trying to build a competitive hockey program for the 2022 home Olympics, the sport's international governing body has called for equal efforts at the grassroots level to keep the puck moving forward.

As part of an ambitious effort to perform respectably in all 109 events at the 2022 Games, China has revamped its national hockey program through a series of bold measures, including entering teams in overseas leagues and drafting talent from abroad and from other disciplines.