Chinese ice hockey club HC Kunlun Red Star has reached a strategic collaboration with ORG Packaging’s subsidiary, A.Z. Sports, to co-establish a new ice hockey club, KRS-ORG. 

The new club, KRS-ORG, will play in the Silk Road Supreme Hockey League, starting this September. It will also function as a center for training and testing potential talent for HC Kunlun Red Star, who play in the Kontinental Hockey League. 

The Silk Road Supreme Hockey League is a newly founded ice hockey league in China. It was jointly set up by the China International Culture Communication Center, Chinese Ice Hockey Association and Ice Hockey Federation of Russia and received permission from the General Administration of Sport of China.  

The league is designed to have 30 teams from China, Russia and Kazakhstan, and in the future teams from East Asia and Southeast Asia. The first season will kick off this September. Currently, there are two Chinese teams signed up to play in the league, Jilin City Chengtou Ice Hockey Club who play in the VHL (Supreme Hockey League in Russia), and KRS-ORG. 16 teams will compete in playoffs to compete to be the final winner. 

SRHL is considered one of the ways in developing Chinese ice hockey for Beijing 2022. 

Ice hockey players signed by HC Kunlun Red Star will have the possibility of being moved between HC Kunlun Red Star and KRS-ORG based on their performance and capabilities. Therefore, KRS-ORG can support HC Kunlun Red Star with its player selection and development. 

A.Z. Sports, a subsidiary of ORG Packaging, was founded in 2017 as a dedicated sports arm of ORG Packaging. They have been focusing on ice hockey in China, communicating with international ice hockey communities and implementing youth ice hockey training projects. In 2018, they recently officially launched a 2000-seat ice hockey venue, the A.Z. Ice Sports Club. 

Reference: Renmin Sports 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick