Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays

The Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays are a professional women's hockey team based in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. They became a member of the Russian Women's Hockey League (WHL) after the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) folded in 2019. The team was known as Kunlun Red Star WIH (simplified Chinese: 深圳昆仑鸿星 or 昆仑鸿星; traditional Chinese: 深圳崑崙鴻星 or 崑崙鴻星; pinyin: Shēnzhèn Kūnlún Hóngxīng or Kūnlún Hóngxīng; Cantonese Yale: Sāmzan Kwānlèuhn Hùhngsīng or Kwānlèuhn Hùhngsīng) during its first season in 2017–18, but changed its name after the second Chinese team, the Vanke Rays, was shut down and merged into Red Star. The team is operated by the Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League and began operation in 2017.

Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays
CityShenzhen, Guangdong, China
LeagueCWHL (2017–2019)
WHL (2019–present)
Founded2017
Home arenaShenzhen Dayun Arena
ColorsRed, white
         
Owner(s)Kunlun Red Star
General managerNan Liu
Head coachBrian Idalski
CaptainAlexandra Carpenter
Websitekunlun.thecwhl.com
Franchise history
First franchise (CWHL)
2017–2018Kunlun Red Star WIH
2018–2019Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays
Second franchise (WHL)
2019–presentShenzhen KRS Vanke Rays
Championships
Playoff championships1 (2019–20)

The KRS Vanke Rays play home games at Shenzhen Dayun Arena in Shenzhen.

History

Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL): 2017–2019

The Kunlun Red Star women's ice hockey team was established on June 5, 2017, in an effort to improve the China women's national ice hockey team in preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics,[1] in association the Kunlun Red Star men's team that had joined the Kontinental Hockey League the previous year. The team signed two players prior to the official announcement of the team in Noora Räty and forward Kelli Stack.[2] Red Star announced Digit Murphy, formerly of the Boston Blades as head coach.[3] The team also signed Rob Morgan from Yale as associate head coach[4] but soon after became the head coach of the second Chinese team, the Vanke Rays.

With their first round pick in the 2017 CWHL Draft, the Red Star selected Noora Räty.[5] The club proceeded to select Alexandra Carpenter in the second round,[6] while the third round saw the franchise select from NWHL All-Star Shiann Darkangelo.

On October 21, 2017, the Red Star competed in their first game, facing the Markham Thunder. Kelli Stack and Baiwei Yu both earned assists on the first goal in Kunlun Red Star history scored by Zoe Hickel.[7] During the regular season, teams that traveled to China played a three-game series against the Red Star in an effort to reduce travel costs.

By season's end, Noora Räty was the CWHL's regular season goaltending champion, leading the league in goals against average. In addition, she tied for the league in shutouts with goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer of Les Canadiennes, with six. Räty also won the CWHL Goaltender of the Year award, the first European-born goaltender to capture the honor, and Kelli Stack led the CWHL in scoring, the first American-born player to win the Angela James Bowl.

Räty was also the starting goaltender for the Red Star in the 2018 Clarkson Cup finals in Toronto. Facing the Markham Thunder, the final went into overtime, where Laura Stacey scored with 2:11 left in the 4-on-4 overtime as Markham prevailed by a 2–1 score for its first Clarkson Cup win.[8] Räty recorded 37 saves in the game while Stack scored the only goal of the game for the Red Star.[9] Head coach Digit Murphy left the team in May and Kunlun Red Star named Bob Deraney, formerly the head coach of the Providence Friars women's ice hockey team, as the new head coach on June 12, 2018.[10]

Prior to the 2018–19 season, the CWHL shut down the other Chinese team, the Vanke Rays. On August 3, 2018, Kunlun Red Star changed its name to Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays. Rob Morgan, who served as the head coach of the Vanke Rays during its only season was named as the general manager for the consolidated club. Kunlun Red Star brand was continued to be used by a separate hockey team for the Chinese national players as part of the national team's development in preparation for the 2022 Olympics.[11]

In February 2019, the KRS Vanke Rays announced coach Deraney had stepped down and Mike LaZazzera would take over the rest of the season.[12] The team missed qualifying for the final playoff spot via tiebreaker with the Toronto Furies.

Following the season, the CWHL ceased operations citing that the league had become financially infeasible, but that the Chinese partnership had kept the league operating during the previous seasons.[13]

Russian Women's Hockey League (WHL): 2019–present

On July 25, 2019, the team announced it was joining the Russian Women's Hockey League (WHL) for the 2019–20 season.[14] The team also hired former North Dakota head coach Brian Idalski as the team's fourth head coach.[15]

Roster

As of December 7, 2019[16]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
9 Megan Bozek D R 29 2019 Buffalo Grove, Illinois
5 Alexandra Carpenter C L 25 2018 North Reading, Massachusetts
11 Emily Costales F R 24 2019 Vancouver, British Columbia
18 Taylor Flaherty D L 24 2019 Lakeville, Minnesota
13 He Siye G L 21 2017
81 Hou Cui F L 31 2019
6 Melanie Jue F/D L 32 2017 Richmond, British Columbia
4 Claudia Kepler LW R 24 2019 Verona, Wisconsin
44 Rebekah Kolstad F L 24 2019 Mankato, Minnesota
10 Liu Yufei F L 21 2019
93 Liu Zhixin D L 27 2017 Qiqihar, China
91 Rachel Llanes F R 29 2017 San Jose, California
7 Leah Lum F L 24 2018 Richmond, British Columbia
2 Amy Menke F L 25 2018 Shakopee, Minnesota
34 Hannah Miller F L 24 2019 North Vancouver, British Columbia
31 Kimberly Newell G L 24 2018 Nelson, British Columbia
14 Pi Yunlin F R 20 2019
55 Qi Xueting D R 33 2019 Harbin, China
41 Noora Räty G L 31 2017 Espoo, Finland
24 Tang Liang F L 34 2019
22 Kaitlin Tse D L 23 2019 Toronto, Ontario
49 Jessica Wong D L 29 2019 Sydney, Nova Scotia
8 Yang Liying F R 22 2018
66 Zhang Shuang D L 33 2019 Harbin, China

Awards and honors

References
  1. Price, Satchel (5 June 2017). "Canadian Women's Hockey League expanding to China next season". SBNation.com.
  2. "CWHL unveils Chinese expansion franchise for 2017-18". Sportsnet.ca. June 5, 2017.
  3. Berkman, Seth (5 June 2017). "Canadian Women's Hockey League to Add a Team From China" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. "Red Star Women's Ice Hockey Name Rob Morgan as Associate Head Coach – Kunlan Red Star". www.hcredstar.us.
  5. "Forward Courtney Turner taken with first pick in CWHL draft". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  6. "Kristyn Capizzano And Alex Carpenter Taken In 2017 CWHL Draft". www.bcinterruption.com. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  7. "Game #: 5 - Saturday, October 21, 2017". CWHL. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  8. Kevin McGran (25 March 2018). "Laura Stacey's overtime winner gives Markham its first Clarkson Cup". Toronto Star. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  9. "Game # 0 - Sunday, March 25, 2018". CWHL. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  10. "Bob Deraney named head coach of Kunlun Red Stars". TheIceGarden.com. 12 June 2018.
  11. Maura Sun (3 August 2018). "Kunlun Red Stars Announce Team Name Change". Canadian Women's Hockey League. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  12. "MIKE LAZAZZERA TO COMPLETE THE REST OF THE SEASON AS THE INTERIM HEAD COACH FOR RAYS". CWHL. 13 February 2019.
  13. "Final Public Communication" (PDF). CWHL. 2 July 2019.
  14. "Kunlun Red Stars Vanke Rays officially joining the Russian Women's Hockey League". The Ice Garden. 25 July 2019.
  15. "Brian Idalski tabbed as next head coach of the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays". The Ice Garden. 12 June 2019.
  16. "Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays Elite Prospects". EliteProspects.com. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  17. "Raty Named Top CWHL Goaltender". Minnesota Golden Gophers Athletics. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  18. Grant Salzano (24 March 2018). "Kelli Stack Named CWHL MVP". SB Nation: BC Interruption. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
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