Jin Fengling and Zhang Shuang carry China's flag in a lap around the arena after exploding for three goals in a 3-1 defeat of Slovakia in women's Olympic hockey at UBC Thunderbird Arena on Feb 22, 2010. The win placed them in 7th place in the 2010 Olympics. Jin and Zhang assisted on Sun Rui's game winning goal. Jin (2G-1A), Sun (1G-2A) and captain Wang Linuo (3G) were the top scorers for China in the tournament with three points each.

Team China exploded for three goals in a 3-1 defeat of Slovakia on Monday night.

I always thought they were a little too gentle on the ice. Most of the penalties came, I believe, as a result of trying to handle bodies that were much bigger than them. From segments of this game that I did watch though, they did seem a little bit more physical.

At the start of the tournament, and during their pre-Olympic training camp, they also looked confused, often running into each other. They also seemed clueless as to what to do with the puck. The clearing attempts were feeble, barely making it out of the zone. But throughout this tournament, they were learning. The lessons culminated in two great goals.

The second goal by Sun Rui was a wraparound topped off with an awesome accurate shot over the left shoulder of the Slovak goalie Tomcikova.

The third goal by the captain Wang Linuo was also a beauty, fighting off a defender as she charged to the net and tipped it past Tomickova.

The top three scorers of the tournament all had three points.

Jin Fengling (2G, 1A)

Wang Linuo (3G)

Sun Rui (1G, 2A)

Those three players were also three of the veterans on the team. I hope the younger players learned a lot from this tournament and will take the lessons home to become an even stronger team for the next generation of the Chinese women’s hockey team.

Aside from Canada, they were the only other team I was cheering for in the tournament as I covered their story during their pre-Olympic training camp and, well, I am Chinese (though not born in China).

To quote our mayor, “I hope the Chinese win gold! … as long as it is not against Canada!”

It was a good run Team China! Good luck in the next Olympics!

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