Breaking new ice

The CIHA backed up its new policy by launching revamped domestic women's and men's leagues at the end of 2023 and 2024, respectively, with both men's and women's clubs allowed to sign import players for the first time in history.

"I think it's a good start," Zhang said of the 2024-25 men's league season, which will kick off its semifinal phase next month in Beijing, with four clubs fighting for the inaugural national title.

"We need to play more games on a more consistent basis, and I think the league has built a much better platform than the old-format national championships we had," said Zhang, who was on the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic roster.

On the women's side, the home Winter Asiad could've offered a redemption for its failure to earn itself a 2026 Olympic ticket at the final qualification tournament, which took place just before the Harbin Games in Hokkaido, Japan.

However, the emotional blow and physical toll of missing out on the sole Olympic quota place on offer, eventually secured by the host Japan, proved too much for the worn-out Chinese squad which failed to fully regroup for the continental event.

The Chinese women were defeated again by Japan, 8-1, in its final round-robin match in Harbin last Friday, following its 4-1 loss to the same opponent in the Olympic qualifier on Feb 9, eventually settling for bronze in Harbin, trailing Japan and runner-up Kazakhstan.

"We did all we could at the Olympic qualifying tournament and we couldn't recover enough to perform as hard as we needed to here," the women's team captain Yu Baiwei said after the loss.

"We are now experiencing a transitional period, with the younger generation coming up quickly. They just need time to grow. We have to set our sights on the future," said the 36-year-old defender.