China Dragon The China Dragon are a professional ice hockey team based in Shanghai , China , and a member of Asia League Ice Hockey . The team was formed in 1954 as two different clubs , Harbin and Qiqihar , as part of the China League . In 2004 the clubs joined Asia League Ice Hockey and in 2007 they merged into a single club , China Sharks , backed by the National Hockey League ' s San Jose Sharks , for financial reasons . The team was renamed the China Dragon in 2009 when San Jose pulled out . History . The China Dragon began their history as two separate teams , both playing in China . Changchun Fuao . Changchun Fuao was founded as Qiqihar in 1954 and captured 28 championships in the China League . Their mascot was the snow leopard . The team joined Asia League Ice Hockey in the 2004 - 2005 season . They played out of the Qiqihar Gymnasium . The season was opened in the two Chinese rinks . They played 42 games in their initial season only winning a single game and finished in last place with four points . Their only win came against fellow Chinese team , Harbin . They gave up a staggering 326 goals while only managing to score 53 . Fu Nan led his team in scoring with eight goals . Liu Henan had eight assists and 14 points . The team also gave up the most short handed goals while being the only team who didn ' t score any . The team rotated coaches from game to game rather than have a single coach lead the team for the season . The team had three import players on the roster , but only two of them each played a single game during the season . As part of the Nordic Vikings entry into the league , Qiqihar sent three players to play on their team for the 2005 - 2006 season . In return , the Vikings provided three players , a coach and an official to Qiqihar . While improving on their first year ' s showing , the team still finished in last place with 11 points . With the schedule reduced to 38 games , the team gave up 278 goals while scoring 61 . Their success came mainly against Harbin , but they managed an overtime loss to Kangwon Land from South Korea who were playing in their first season . The team stopped fielding their Swedish exchange players after their November 28 , 2005 game against Anyang Halla . However , Anders Westerlund continued to coach the team until the end of the season . The team was led in scoring by Jayden Der with 11 goals and 15 points . Guo Xin had the most assists with nine . For the second year in a row the team gave up the most short handed goals while being the only team not to score one . There were several changes to the team in the 2006 - 2007 season . The Nordic Vikings left the league which means the player and staff that were exchanged were no longer available to them . The team also gained new sponsorship . Their name was changed to " Changchun Fuao " and they moved to Changchun , the future site of the 2007 Asian Winter Games . The league reduced the amount of games played to 34 . Changchun Fuao slid backwards from the previous season and only won 2 games . Both wins came against Hose , formerly Harbin , and they finished with six points . On December 3 , Changchun was involved in a bench - clearing brawl against the Nikko Ice Bucks . Five Ice Bucks players received game misconduct penalties while seven Changchun players received the same and one Changchun player , Fu Nan , received a match penalty . The league later suspended all of the penalized players for one game , except for Fu who received a two game suspension . Lie Henan again led the team with 20 points and also led scoring with 13 . Fu Nan led with nine assists . Fuao did improve in the short handed goals department . They gave up the most of any team , but managed to score six during the season which put them ahead of the Nikko Ice Bucks who only scored three . With the departure of their year long coach from Sweden , the team was back to switching coaches during the season . Due to financial difficulty the team merged with Hosa at the end of the 2006 - 2007 season to form the China Sharks . Hosa . Like Qiqihar , Hosa was also formed in 1954 with the name Harbin and took part in the China League . They had the most championship wins in Chinese hockey . Harbin took their name from Harbin City and played out of the Harbin Ice Hockey Rink . They joined Asia League Ice Hockey in the 2004 - 2005 season . In their first season of 42 games they finished in seventh place with 26 points . They had seven wins , including two against the Nikko Ice Bucks . They scored 91 goals while allowing 225 . Unlike Qiqihar , Harbin used import players on their team . Tomas Hruby finished sixth in the league and led the team with 23 goals , 19 assists and 42 points . Harbin also led the league in short handed goals with nine . Captain Yin Kai was absent from two games on December 4 and 7 during which time the team played with no captain on the ice . On December 11 , 2004 Wang Dahai began filling the position of captain . In contrast to Qiqihar , Harbin maintained the same coach through the season . In their second season , 2005 – 2006 , Harbin again won seven of their 38 games . Including three games against new Korean entry , Kangwon Land . They scored 68 goals while allowing 198 . They also received three players , a coach and official from the Nordic Vikings organization . The Swedish coach took over for the year and their coach from the previous year worked as an assistant coach . Yin Kai returned to the Harbin line - up on November 23 , 2005 and after a couple of games he resumed the position of captain on December 1 . Harbin removed the Swedish players from their roster after the December 13 game against the Nippon Paper Cranes . Du Chao was the team leader with 13 goals and 18 points . Wang Dahai recorded 13 assists . After the previous year ' s strong showing in short handed goals , Harbin finished near the bottom with only 2 . Harbin was sponsored by the Hosa sporting goods company in the 2006 - 2007 season . As part of the sponsorship deal the team moved to Beijing and changed their name to Hosa . It was announced that they would still play some home games in Harbin . Their new home was the Hosa Skating Center . Of the 34 games that Hosa played they won six and finished in seventh place with 19 points , scoring 86 goals while allowing 188 . They were swept by three of the four Japanese teams . With the departure of their Swedish imports , Hosa brought Tomas Hruby back to the roster . He led the team with 22 goals again finishing sixth in the league . Juri Hubacek finished sixth in assists with 35 and eight in points overall with 51 . Hruby finished in eighth place with 50 points . For the second time in their three year history in the league the team was leading in the league in short handed goals , tied for 10 with two other teams . The team played six of their 17 home games in Harbin . At the end of the season they merged with Chanchun Fuao to form the China Sharks . China Sharks . Under the management of Chinese Ice Hockey Association , players were selected from the two teams to form the new team , originally sponsored by Hosa Sports . As a result of negotiation between the Chinese Association and the San Jose Sharks , the NHL team agreed to send five players and three coaches to the Chinese team , in exchange for the team naming rights . The team ' s logo is similar to the Cleveland Barons , a previous affiliate of the Sharks . By merging the only two professional hockey clubs in China , the China Sharks essentially became the Chinese national team which would compete in the Asia League Ice Hockey and eventually in the Olympics . Since this sounded like a truly unique experience to teach and spread the game of hockey into Asia while expanding into a new market , the parent company of the San Jose Sharks , Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment , made a decision to send players and coaches to China prior to the 2007 - 08 season . The partnership between the San Jose Sharks and China ’ s national team happened largely through the work of China Sharks ’ GM Chris Collins . While working for the San Jose Sharks , Collins investigated China ’ s athletic market and was able to convince San Jose Sharks ’ President Greg Jamison that the club should invest in China . After the partnership became official , Collins soon moved to China and became GM of the new club . The team now has two major offices in Shanghai which employ marketing and operations professionals . Though the team played its first season in Beijing , it moved into a new arena called Songjiang Stadium in the Songjiang District of Shanghai for the 2008 - 09 season . On October 11 , 2008 the China Sharks played the first home game in their new arena , beating the Seibu Prince Rabbits by a score of 3 - 1 . Prior to this , the team held its 2008 - 09 training camp in the northern Chinese city of Suihua . Also before the 2008 - 09 season , three China Sharks players trained in the United States at the San Jose Sharks rookie training camp in Oakland , California . Cui Zhinan , Lui Heenan , and Wang Jiang , all came to spread awareness of the team and skate with the club each afternoon . The men stayed for different periods of time , with some staying as long as ten days . The San Jose Sharks ’ decision to partner with the Chinese national team was not the first initiative by an NHL team to spread hockey into Asia . In 2006 , the New York Islanders helped launch Project Hope , an initiative which included building several rinks , providing hockey equipment , coaching , and providing English classes to those living in the Heilongjiang Province of China . Like the New York Islanders , the San Jose Sharks plan to work with the Chinese government and local investors to build youth and industrial leagues across China . Also a part of this plan would be to help develop rinks and other hockey venues to encourage the game . While the game has been somewhat popular in northern China , the game is relatively unknown in southern parts of the country . Part of these initiatives will be to help spread hockey throughout all of China . At the current time , the New York Islanders and the San Jose Sharks are the only two NHL teams with a presence in China . The China Sharks ’ eventual goal is to prepare its young Chinese players to eventually compete in the winter Olympics . However , the level of play in China is still significantly lower than in other countries . In 2008 - 09 , the China Sharks finished near the bottom of the Asia League Ice Hockey , winning only five of their thirty - six regular - season games . Roster . 2010 - 11 Season