Song Andong poses after being selected 172nd overall by the New York Islanders during the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center on June 27, 2015 in Sunrise, Florida. [Photo/Agencies]

As co-host of the tryout camps, Red Star has assembled a 12-member expert panel, led by head coach Mike Keenan, NHL legend Phil Esposito and scout Robert Carpenter, to assess the draftees and consult on the national program development.

"China deserves to be one of the powerhouses in hockey and that's why we are here - to help achieve that goal," said Keenan, the only coach in the world who has won the Stanley Cup (NHL) and Gagarin Cup (KHL).

"The first thing you have to do is to identify people that can play, who can grow bigger and better in our program.

"We also want to introduce that culture of hockey to people in China to involve the youngsters. It means developing programs very quickly to teach people how to win in a sport that we've been teaching and coaching for decades."

After recent domestic tryouts, 24 men and 40 women have been selected for the initial national teams program, which will be expanded after the tryouts in Canada.

High-profile homegrown stars such as Beijing-born defenseman Song Andong, who became the first Chinese drafted into the NHL by the New York Islanders in 2015, and Red Star's Ying Rudi, the first Chinese player in the KHL, have already been assured spots on Team China.

After the Canadian tryouts, the men's national team will be sent to the Czech Republic and Finland while the women's squad will be dispatched to the United States for intensive training over the summer before joining Russia's Supreme Hockey League and the Canadian Women's Hockey League for game conditioning in the fall.

"The new concept of running the national program as a club allows us to play these groups of players in league competitions between international events, which will help them mature in regular league competitions," said Wang Qiangjun, vice-head of the ice hockey department of the winter sports center.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn