Okotoks' Corban Knight nets goal in 5-0 Olympic men's hockey win over China

BEIJING — Paris O'Brien was still soaking it in.

And to top it all off, Canadian captain Eric Staal — an Olympic gold medallist and Stanley Cup champion — waited patiently for the Chinese goaltender from Coquitlam, B.C., to finish answering a couple questions following his moment in the spotlight.

"Still can't believe it," said the 21-year-old. "I dreamed of this."

O'Brien was on the losing end in what will likely be his only appearance at the Beijing Olympics — or any future Games.

It hardly mattered.

"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he continued. "It's a dream that's been achieved."

Kent Johnson and Eric O'Dell had a goal and an assist each on Sunday as Canada beat China 5-0 in men's hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Ben Street, Adam Tambellini and Corban Knight also scored for the Canadians (2-1), who got 26 saves from Matt Tomkins. Tyler Wotherspoon and Josh Ho-Sang both added two assists.

O'Brien stopped 39 shots for China, which is taking part in the tournament for the first time. The hosts have been outscored a combined 16-2 through three round-robin contests, but kept things close in Saturday's 3-2 loss to Germany and did all they could to stay with Canada.

"A lot of hard work and a lot of long hours," O'Brien said. "It's been worth it to get to this point."

And while Canada's roster of non-NHLers had a significant territorial advantage in a game that was never in doubt, China didn't have to deal with the likes of Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon after the league withdrew from the Games because of COVID-19 concerns.

"A good effort by our guys," Staal said. "We came out ready.

"But credit them. They played hard."

The Canadians, who beat Germany 5-1 on Thursday before losing to the United States 4-2 on Saturday, finished second in Group A.

Despite the victory Sunday, Canada will move to the tournament's qualification round as the No. 5 seed. They'll have a Tuesday rematch against China for a spot in the quarterfinals after Finland beat Sweden 4-3 in overtime and the U.S. downed Germany 3-2.

"A lot of good things to take from this game," Canadian head coach Claude Julien said after being disappointed by a 20-minute lapse that was the difference versus Americans. "We played a team that seems to be getting better all the time.

"A team that doesn't quit, that competes hard."

The U.S., Russian Olympic Committee and Finland automatically advanced to the quarters as group winners, while Sweden also moved on with the best record among the eight remaining countries.

Of the 25 players representing China in Beijing, 18 were born or grew up in North America, including 11 with strong ties to Canada, while one is Russian. The team is comprised of the roster of state-owned Kunlun Red Star of the KHL, a franchise created to boost the country's shallow talent pool ahead of the Olympics.

"Give those guys a lot of credit," Knight said. "They have a lot of pride."

Vancouver native and former NHLer Brandon Yip, who had three grandparents born in China and is known as Jinguang Ye at the Olympics, is the captain.

But other players, including American defenceman Jake Chelios, the son of Hall of Famer Chris Chelios, and Canadian forward Ethan Werek had no ties to the country before signing with Kunlun.

The International Ice Hockey Federation, which contemplated replacing China with Norway at the Olympics, ruled players in that category met residency requirements despite the fact Kunlun relocated to the Moscow area the last two seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I can't ask for more," Toronto-born Chinese coach Ivano Zanatta said of Sunday's performance. "I'm extremely proud.

"China should be very proud."

Two players dressed Sunday didn't see a shift for China, while three more hit the ice for less than three minutes apiece.

"We know our reality," said Zanatta, who has what amounts to two and a half forward lines at his disposal. "We know what we have. I'm not even looking at the score. I'm looking at the effort.

"And it's there every shift."

Tomkins, an Edmonton native playing in Sweden's top league, started for Canada in the second of a back-to-back after Edward Pasquale got the nod against Germany and the U.S.

Devon Levi, who was named MVP of the 2021 world junior hockey championship and has put up incredible numbers in the NCAA this season, dressed for the first time in Beijing as the backup.

O'Brien had a 1-6-0 record and an .891 save percentage in the KHL in 2021-22 for last-place Kunlun, but got the start in place of American-born netminder Jeremy Smith for China, which took the ice to tepid applause from a few hundred fans at Beijing's National Indoor Stadium.

"It's nice to represent the home country and represent the roots of my Chinese heritage," said O'Brien, whose name at the Olympics is Yongli Ouban. 

"Our main goal being here is to spread awareness for hockey and inspire the next generation."

Canada went up 1-0 just over two minutes into the first when Street banged a loose puck home after Johnson took it hard to the net.

Tambellini doubled the lead on a breakaway, and O'Dell made it 3-0 midway through the period off a sweet feed from Ho-Sang.

There was a strange moment at the start of the second when O'Brien skated to the wrong crease, scraped up the ice and then realized it wasn't his net. A confused Tomkins arrived on the scene and asked one of the officials for an explanation.

The Chinese came close to getting on the board on a power play once the action resumed, but hit two posts, including a Parker Foo deflection.

Canada wasn't all that crisp in its execution, but Johnson made it 4-0 with 1:57 left in the period.

Knight stretched the advantage to five in the third period, tipping Owen Power's shot through O'Brien on a power play. The assist was the first point of the Olympics for the 19-year-old Power, who was selected first overall by the Buffalo Sabres at the 2021 NHL draft.

Canada now turns its attention to another date with China before a likely matchup with Sweden in the quarters.

"One bad bounce here or there can make a big difference," Julien said. "We're going to prepare the same way we did for this one.

"We took this one seriously."

They'll do it again Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2022.

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Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press