The National Hockey League (NHL), the world's most popular ice hockey league, wants to enter in China. The NHL's afflation for the rapidly growing Chinese market is evidently clear as league's deputy commissioner Bill Daly is all set to commence his trip to China later this month.

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During the visit, Daly would push for staging NHL games in China in a bid to acquaint Chinese people with ice hockey.  

"I think it's fair to say we hope to be in a position to stage NHL games there, probably initially preseason games and then potentially on a longer-term basis, regular-season games," Daly said in a phone interview with Yahoo Sports.          

Daly claimed that the league is working hard to stage games in China as early as next year, adding that with this visit, it will be known whether the league could pull it off or not.

He also claimed that league commissioner Gary Bettman would be visiting China very soon and sincerely hoped that the visit will eventually pave the way for the league in the country.  

As of now, the world's most populous nation boosts merely 1,101 ice hockey players and 360 combined indoor and outdoor rinks, as per the information on IIHF's official website. However, the league is hopeful that these numbers will go up ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Currently, ice hockey enjoys popularity only in selected countries including the US, Canada, and quite a few European countries. The game is virtually nonexistent in Asian region where games like cricket, football, and badminton still rule the roost.

NHL joins the list of foreign sports like Rugby and National Football League that are also trying to enter in the lucrative Chinese market.  The china's sports market is growing at stupendous pace, owing to the increasing television and online audiences. 

TagsNHL China, National Hockey League China, nhl, Ice Hockey China, china