(Beijing) It’s an incredible story. That of Chinese millionaires ready to invest many, many, many yuan to convince Quebec coaches to set up a large hockey academy in Beijing. Whistleblower alert: it didn’t go exactly as planned…
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
We are in the fall of 2016, a few months after the announcement of the awarding of the 2022 Winter Games to China. Jacques Blouin, then coordinator at Hockey Quebec, receives an unusual call. “Mr. Blouin, do you know any Quebec coaches who would like to come and teach hockey in China? »
Uh…
His interlocutor – an interpreter – explains the main lines of the project to him. It’s for a hockey academy. The Beijing Knights. the coach just left. The owners are looking for a replacement, and a contact in Montreal told them about the expertise of the Quebec coaches.
After discussing with the resigning coach, Jacques Blouin accepts the role of intermediary. He posts an ad on LinkedIn. The craze for the position is immediate: 68 coaches from here apply. And not the least. Among them, we find in particular former coaches of the National Hockey League, and others who will become so.
“It was very, very well paid, recalls Jacques Blouin. Especially for only nine hours of work per week. Hotel accommodation and transportation were provided, and meals at the restaurant next door to the arena were free. »
The Chinese have a very specific idea of the coach they want to hire. One coach strict, demanding and flamboyant.
Think of the head coach of the American team at the Lake Placid Games, Herb Brooks, renowned for bringing out the best in his players by pushing them to the limit. Or Mike Keenan, one of the toughest head coaches in the NHL, recruited in 2017 to lead the only Chinese club in the KHL.
“What they knew of hockey, explains Jacques Blouin, was what they had seen in Miracle. Or in Slapshot. Pip-puff-poof. From coaches who shout, who yell, who make their players band to band. For them, hockey was a military sport that would allow their children to learn discipline. »
Jacques Blouin leans more towards a coach “with a certain panache”, who has already worked in a school program or a hockey school. Of the 68 applicants, half a dozen are interviewed. The process is complicated. The Chinese insist on seeing the candidate in action, on a video.
“Sometimes they would see one and they’d say, ‘No, he’s too soft.’ They really wanted the coach be spectacular. Let him put on a show. »
After three rounds of interviews, the assistant coach of the University of Ottawa women’s team, Philippe Bergeron, was recruited.
* * *
Total transparency: I know Philippe Bergeron. He is now the trainer of my youngest. And believe me, his teaching methods have absolutely nothing to do with those of Herb Brooks in Miracle. (So much the better.)
The owners of the Knights, thrilled by his profile, offered him a three-year contract from the outset. A proposal that surprises him. “I said to them, ‘Wait a minute here. I don’t know what it’s going to be like, and I’ve never been to China in my life.” »
The Chinese continue their campaign of seduction. Philippe Bergeron’s Chinese assistant picks him up at the airport in a luxury car. A Maserati. The Quebecer is blown away. “I was like, ‘What world am I in?’ His new employers then invite him to an equally luxurious restaurant. “They had sold me the project of a hockey academy with 25 players of pee-wee age. »
Silence…
” It was not this ?
– No. Not at all. not even close [rires]. I arrived during their New Year’s vacation. The first Monday at the arena there were… four young people. They were 8-9 years old. They didn’t really know how to skate. The ice looked like that of an outdoor skating rink. There was about two inches of snow. I asked my assistant, “Do you think they’ll make the ice cream?” He replied, “It depends.” “It depends on what ?” “It depends if the guy wants to do it.” »
The locker room window is broken. It is cold. “Between 0 and -10. At 9:30 a.m., just as he was about to hit the ice for the first time, Philippe Bergeron realized that his group would not be alone. “Half the rink was occupied by female skaters. And in our half, there was another coach, with three very good 9-year-old players, and me, with four bad players. The other coach was very skillful. He must have been a former player. But he was stern. Don’t get me wrong: severe from severe. »
Philippe Bergeron, he does his business on his side. “I was miming. I was making demos. It was fun. A great experience. The little guys were improving fast. But after a practice, my assistant came to talk to me. Parents had gone to see him to ask him why I didn’t yell at young people. He said to me: ‘You have the right to hit them with a stick, if you want.’ »
Not quite his type.
Later in the week, he witnesses a scene that marks him. A coach from another group throws his stick at a goalie’s helmet. “Like a javelin. I was freaking out. The guy had a big shot. The goalkeeper must have been 8-9 years old. His mitt veered off. I turned to my deputy and asked, “What is he doing here?” »
Deputy’s response: “Well, he didn’t stop the shot…”
Philippe Bergeron, he is not an emulator of Herb Brooks. He finished his first week, as provided for in his agreement, but the gap between the promises made and the reality convinced him to return to Canada.
“It was an enriching experience. It was very cool. Everything was paid. Every evening, I was invited to super good restaurants. The owners showed me apartments that looked like palaces. Money was no problem. This academy was really a rich thing. »
* * *
Philippe Bergeron is right: hockey, in China, is a sport for the rich.
For a very simple reason.
Lack of ice rinks.
According to the International Hockey Federation, there are currently 887 rinks in China, for a population of 1.4 billion. That is one ice rink for every 1.5 million inhabitants. Quick calculation: it’s as if there were only six arenas to serve all of Quebec. Since demand is high and supply limited, “rental costs are exorbitant,” explains Jacques Blouin.
This is reflected in the cost of private lessons. Often between $40 and $60 per hour, with an experienced trainer. However, the average salary in China is around $10,000 a year. These high entry costs are a major obstacle to the growth of Chinese hockey.
But for the Beijing Knights, money was not a problem. After the departure of Philippe Bergeron, the owners are looking for a new trainer. They call again on Jacques Blouin, of Hockey Quebec, who has a candidate in mind.
Henry Izard.
This seasoned coach has just left the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, in the QMJHL, for a job at Cégep de Sainte-Foy. The leaders of the Knights wish to meet him. They invite him to their academy’s training camp – in Montreal!
“It was really professional, recalls Henri Izard. There were washers on the strip, towels, water bottles were all lined up. I was blown away. There were to be six young people from 6 to 12 years old, of different levels. After the session, parents invited me to eat with them. Right away, they told me about salary. Clearly they had money. »
A week later, Henri Izard receives a call from the Knights. They want him to come to China.
” When ? “, he asks.
As soon as possible. Three weeks later, he finds himself on the ice, in Beijing. He is entitled to the same carousel of seduction as Philippe Bergeron – less the Maserati.
Their goal was to set up the organization, but also to instill a Western culture in their children. They pushed a lot on it.
Henri Izard
During the first sessions, Henri Izard was in turn marked by the harsh methods used by the coaches he met. ” One coach was working with a 5-6 year old. It wasn’t working. He took his stick in one hand and kicked him on the helmet. I looked at the mother in the stands. I said to myself: she will react, that’s for sure. But no. Afterwards, in the locker room, she yelled at her son because he hadn’t listened to the coach. »
Let’s get along, coaches hard, they are everywhere. In all sports. But in Chinese hockey, according to the observations of Henri Izard and Philippe Bergeron, it was more often the norm than the exception.
In the winter of 2017, Henri Izard coached between 12 and 20 Chinese children, aged 6 to 12. Sometimes on quarter ice. But also on weekends, on a full ice rink. To swell the ranks of the academy, he offers owners to recruit. The problem ? The hockey players in Beijing are already registered in a club. Henri Izard therefore begins a tour of free skating sessions in Beijing, looking for children who skate easily. When he sees one, he gives his parents a card with his coordinates.
“How many have you recruited like that?”
– A good dozen. »
However, the pool of players remains limited. China has only 13,000 federated hockey players. This is roughly the equivalent of the number of players in the Québec–Chaudière-Appalaches region, before the pandemic.
“There are school teams. In a tournament, I saw between 24 and 30. There is also a junior league. But overall, there are few organizations, like in Quebec. It really is a sport of millionaires. »
“Another recruitment issue, he continues, is that when young people arrive at secondary school, they study more. Only a few continue to play hockey. The funnel closes very quickly. I was offered to lead the national under-16 team. I was wondering: where am I going to take them, these players? I had not seen high caliber players. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JOCELYNE LARENTE
China has only 13,000 federated hockey players.
What was the caliber of play, precisely, in the competitions he attended?
“With us, the best would play in the AA, or in the second division in the RSEQ,” says the man who now heads the integrated structure of the Blizzard, in the Quebec region.
“In China, the coaches develop the individual skills of the players a lot. Except that team play is not very strong. The youngster grabs the puck, rides it side to side, tries to outsmart three guys and put it in. The passes are difficult. »
Henri Izard finally stayed five months in China. He loved his stay. Both on and off the ice. “The experience of a lifetime”, he says enthusiastically.
Chinese hockey, on the other hand, continues to progress – in very small steps. The Chinese are at 20and world rank. Men, at 32and rank. Behind the Spaniards, Serbs and Japanese. Despite this classification, the two national teams will participate in these Games. A privilege granted to the host country.
The dream scenario? A few goals. And maybe, who knows, a victory.
Question that the Chinese live, in turn, their miracle on ice.