A Chinese men’s hockey team led mostly by North American-born players suffered a dominating 8-0 loss at the hands of Team USA on Thursday.
According to NBC Sports, Harvard University forward Sean Farrell scored the first Olympic hat trick for Team USA since Phil Kessel did so in 2014.
His first goal was arguably the most impressive of the three as he beat China’s goalie, Jeremy Smith, to the top left corner toward the end of the second period.
🚨 @seanfarrell_21 pickin' corners! #WinterOlympics | #TeamUSA 🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/ewnBUP4XMT
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 10, 2022
In addition to his three goals, Farrell notched two assists to bring his point total to five for the game. It was the second-highest ever for an American in a single Olympics game, NBC reported.
The kids are alright.#TeamUSA | #WinterOlympics
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 10, 2022
Boston University goalie Drew Commesso, the youngest starting goalie ever for the United States in the Olympics, showed no signs of nerves, stopping 29 shots en route to the shutout.
Our prospect Drew Commesso stopped 29 shots in a 8-0 shutout in his first Olympic game 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9OSDZCWL78
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 10, 2022
Coming into the game, much was made of the Chinese men’s hockey roster. According to NBC Sports, 18 out of 25 players on the roster were born, raised or both in North America.
The International Ice Hockey Federation allows players to represent a country in international play if they have lived there for at least two years and played for the country’s national team.
Jeremy Smith, who got the start in net for China against the United States, was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and played 10 NHL games for the Colorado Avalanche, ESPN reported.
Smith was playing for the Bridgeport Tigers, the New York Islanders’ AHL affiliate, in 2018 when his agent received a call from the Kunlun Red Star, a KHL team based in Beijing. The team offered him a two-year contract.
According to ESPN, this was all part of the plan for China. It recruited American players such as Smith and fellow Jake Chelios up to four years in advance in hopes of fielding a competitive team when it hosted the Winter Games.
Chelios, the son of NHL Hall of Famer Chris Chelios, agreed to change his name to “Jieke Kailiaosi” to aid Chinese fans, Firstpost reported. For the same reason, Smith agreed to go by “Jieruimi Shimisi.”
Smith did have one condition — he was not willing to renounce his U.S. citizenship.
“They were like, ‘Do not worry. We will not ask you,’” Smith told ESPN. “‘This is not what this whole process is about. It’s about getting you qualified for the Olympics.’”
Even so, he arguably turned his back on America by agreeing to compete for a global rival against Team USA. Before the game on Thursday, Smith told ESPN he was dreaming of an upset.
“We’re the underdogs, by far,” he said. “But if we can pull out a win against the U.S., it would be astronomical. It would be unbelievable.”
Team USA apparently did not take too kindly to that idea, and the young Americans got the last laugh by hanging eight goals on the former NHL goalie.