ASIAN ICE HOCKEY

Chinese Ice Hockey League (CIHL) 2025–26 Season: Results, Standings, and Player Stats

The second edition of the Chinese Ice Hockey League (CIHL) is underway, featuring four teams: Beijing Lions, Kunlun Red Star Shenzhen, Anhui Xinhua, and Liaoning Shenyang. Reigning champions Beijing Lions return to defend their crown in the 2025–26 season.

Latest Stories from the CIHL

Zehao Sun, the First Chinese Goalie in KHL History, Retires

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Beijing Jingshi Hockey Club in the Spotlight – Can the Lions Defend Their Title?

The CIHL was established as a key initiative by the Chinese Ice Hockey Association, aiming to expand the talent pool for Chinese hockey.

The Beijing Lions (also known as Beijing Jingshi) effectively serve as the core of China’s national squad – the only team without foreign imports, apart from Canadian-born Enlai Zheng (Ty Schultz), who holds Chinese citizenship.

Interestingly, Zheng remains the sole player naturalized for the 2022 Winter Olympics who continued his career in China after the Olympic project ended.

CIHL Results: Game Scores and Key Outcomes

Here you’ll be able to follow the progress of the CIHL – we’ll be updating this section with all results from the 2025–26 season.

Full 2025–26 CIHL Schedule: Dates, Venues, and Match Details

The CIHL is not yet a traditional long-season league. Instead, the regular season follows a tournament-based format – teams take part in three week-long events held in different cities, facing each opponent twice in a round-robin setup. In total, each team plays 18 games. The season will conclude in March with playoff games in Beijing.

CIHL Standings: Team Rankings and Points Table

Defending champions Beijing Lions enter the new CIHL season as the clear favorites once again. However, the Kunlun Red Star Shenzhen squad is expected to offer stronger resistance this time – keeping the famous Kunlun brand alive after the main KHL team changed ownership and rebranded as the Shanghai Dragons.

CIHL Scoring Leaders: Top Players and Statistics

The CIHL saw the departure of its two biggest homegrown stars, Yuyang Hou and Jing Wang, who both joined the ALIH club Stars Kobe.

One of those who stepped up in their absence was Jianing Guo – a former KHL veteran who had been lighting it up offensively, but unfortunately suffered an injury at the national team training camp ahead of the 2026 IIHF Asia Championship. As a result, he missed not only the championship itself but also the second CIHL tournament.

Since then, he has been overtaken among domestic players by sniper Mingju Zheng, who currently ranks second in overall scoring and leads the goal-scoring chart. Another Chinese player keeping pace in the league’s scoring race is Zesen Zhang.

The scoring leaderboard is clearly dominated by imports. To raise the level of competition, the teams have added a combined total of 14 foreign players (12 Russians, one Belarusian and one Kazakh) many with experience from the VHL, Proligasy, and even the KHL.

Goalie Stats: Top Goaltenders and Save Percentages

League officials have decided not to use foreign imports in the goaltending position, aiming to further develop domestic talent.

A surprising twist unfolded around the New Year during the third tournament stop in Qiqihar, as Chinese goaltending legend Zehao Sun came out of retirement – a move few expected after he had called it a career back in March 2025.

The defending champion Beijing Lions were facing some turbulence in goal during their tight battle for first place with Kunlun Red Star Shenzhen, and Sun’s return delivered an immediate boost.

While young netminders Boyan Tian and Peng Gao had shown decent form, Sun wasted no time making an impact – after just four starts, he surged to the top of the league’s goaltending stats.

Shenzhen’s Haoran Hu has also been holding his own between the pipes. Like Gao, he’s already earned a senior national team call-up – though so far only as a backup.

Sources, Quotes and Notes:

1. icehockeychina.cn