Canadian Olympic champion Emma Maltais gave thumbs up for the progress made by the China's ice hockey team and its efforts in developing players.
By Martina Fuchs
TORONTO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Canadian professional ice hockey player Emma Maltais has applauded the Chinese national team for their "good job developing their players" at Collision in Toronto.
Maltais is a forward for Toronto of the Professional Women's Hockey League and also a member of Canada women's national ice hockey team.
She has been a part of gold medal victories at the 2021, and 2022 and 2024 IIHF Women's World Championships, and at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Discussing her Team Canada's gold win at the women's Olympic hockey at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Maltais told Xinhua on Wednesday: "We played against the Chinese national team in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. They did really, really well there. Since then, Chinese hockey has really developed. They've done a really good job developing their players. I'm excited to see where their team goes in the next World Championship and how they do."
Maltais continued: "It was really cool to go to Beijing. Obviously, playing the Olympic Games was unforgettable. The opening ceremony was like so, so remarkable. I think the experience as a whole was amazing and I hope to be able to compete another one time there one day."
Discussing the upcoming winter season in Canada from November 2024 to May 2025, Maltais said during Collision, one of the world's biggest technology conferences taking place in Toronto from June 17-20: "I'm obviously hoping to win the championship, but it's going to be a tough season. It's going to be even more competitive, even more fun to watch and entertaining."
The event which is part of the Web Summit conference series has gathered 37,832 attendees from 117 countries and regions this week. It is also the last Collision in Toronto before it transitions to Web Summit Vancouver in May 2025.
The IIHF announced Ceska Budejovice in the Czech Republic as the official host of the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship from April 9 to April 20 next year. ■