Team China played in front of sell-out crowd at Victoria Village
Leaside Girls Hockey Association hosted pre-Olympic game
Team China played in front of sell-out crowd at Victoria Village.
Shi Yao makes a glove save for the Women's Olympic Team of China as they face the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks at Victoria Village Arena Wednesday evening. The exhibition game hosted by the Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association ended in a 3-1 win for Laurier.
It seems Victoria Village Arena was the place to be on Wednesday, Jan. 27, night.The Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association hosted a pre-Olympic match between Team China and the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks. The teams played to a crammed arena."The building was absolutely full," said Ron Baker, president of the Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association. "The bleachers hold about 500 people and there were another 100 standing around the glass watching."The Golden Hawks beat Team China 3-1 in the game, but Team China won the exhibition shoot-out 1-0 following the game."This wasn't just hockey families showing up," he said. "There was a public response and there were a least a few hundred from the public, from the community, from the general area and from the Chinese community."He estimated about half the crowd were Leaside Girls Hockey Association families.The rest he said came out to see the game."That was Team China," he said. "That is the women's hockey team from the People's Republic of China that will be in Vancouver in about three weeks. The Chinese Consulate supported the event as well as the Chinese community. That was evident."He said there was a very large People's Republic of China flag in the bleachers."When China scored its goal during the game there was a big, big cheer," he said. "It was nice to see the community embrace both teams."