'It's very fast and exciting': Chinese immigrant shares love of Canada's game

Roland Liu is crazy about hockey and about the Charlottetown Islanders.

Liu emigratedto P.E.I. four years ago from Beijing.

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He attended hisfirst Islanders game towards the end of the 2014/15 season. He was hooked from the opening faceoff.

"I likeeverything," he said. "The power play, fighting, time outs, quick substitutions. It's very fast and exciting."

Liu, who operates a local tour business,regularly hosts families from China at gamesto see if they might be interested in emigratingto P.E.I.

'Local traditional culture"

"Most people who come to P.E.I., only stay here for a year or so, then quickly move to Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal," he said."We need to change that. We need culture to attract newcomers."

Liu jumped on board as asponsor of the QMJHL club this season, hosting as many as 400 visitorsat a game.

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Hockey, he said, is an easy way to introducenewcomers toCanadian culture.

"People from China need to get involved in local life," he said. "We need to do business with local people. We also need to learn some local traditional culture. What's more local and traditional than Canadian hockey?"

'Being part of the community'

According to the P.E.I. Association for Newcomers to Canada, close to 3,000 Chinese immigrants now call the Island home.

Craig Foster, president of operations with the Charlottetown Islanders, sees the new partnership as a great opportunity to grow the team's fan base.

"We're lucky the newcomers have taken a real interest in hockey as much as they have," he said.

"It's probably a pretty cool, unique experience for people who may not have experienced that before. We wantbring them to the rink, get them to enjoy their time here and hopefully get them to come back."

Liu plans to introduce the game of hockey to as many tourists andnewcomers as he can, in hopes of attracting and retaining more immigrants in P.E.I.

"We need to get them here, fall in love with the game of hockey and to fall in love with the country," he said. "This is the connection we need more of."

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