The China Dragon () was a professional ice hockey team which played its home games in three cities in China, including Harbin, Qiqihar, and Shanghai. The team was a member of Asia League Ice Hockey between 2007 and 2017. The team was formed in 1954 as two clubs, Harbin and Qiqihar, as part of the China League. In 2004, the clubs joined Asia League Ice Hockey and in 2007 they merged into a single club, China Sharks, backed by the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks for financial reasons. The team was renamed the China Dragon in 2009 when San Jose pulled out. The team was dissolved following the 2016–17 Asia League Ice Hockey season, after which KHL club Kunlun Red Star became the primary Chinese ice hockey team.
History
The China Dragon began their history as two separate teams, both playing in China.
Qiqihar
Qiqihar Ice hockey team was founded in 1954 and captured 28 championships in the China League. Their mascot was the snow leopard. The team joined Asia League Ice Hockey in the 2004–2005 season. They played out of the Qiqihar Gymnasium. The season was opened in the two Chinese rinks. They played 42 games in their initial season only winning a single game and finished in last place with four points. Their only win came against fellow Chinese team, Harbin. They gave up a staggering 326 goals while only managing to score 53. Fu Nan led his team in scoring with eight goals. Liu Henan had eight assists and 14 points. The team also gave up the most short handed goals while being the only team who didn't score any. The team rotated coaches from game to game rather than have a single coach lead the team for the season. The team had three import players on the roster, but only two of them each played a single game during the season.
As part of the Nordic Vikings entry into the league, Qiqihar sent three players to play on their team for the 2005–2006 season. In return, the Vikings provided three players, a coach and an official to Qiqihar. While improving on their first year's showing, the team still finished in last place with 11 points. With the schedule reduced to 38 games, the team gave up 278 goals while scoring 61. Their success came mainly against Harbin, but they managed an overtime loss to Kangwon Land from South Korea who were playing in their first season. The team stopped fielding their Swedish exchange players after their November 28, 2005 game against Anyang Halla. However, Anders Westerlund continued to coach the team until the end of the season. The team was led in scoring by Jayden Der with 11 goals and 15 points. Guo Xin had the most assists with nine. For the second year in a row the team gave up the most short handed goals while being the only team not to score one.
There were several changes to the team in the 2006–2007 season. The Nordic Vikings left the league which means the player and staff that were exchanged were no longer available to them. The team also gained new sponsorship. Their name was changed to "Changchun Fuao" and they moved to Changchun, the future site of the 2007 Asian Winter Games. The league reduced the number of games played to 34. Changchun Fuao slid backwards from the previous season and only won two games. Both wins came against Hose, formerly Harbin, and they finished with six points. On December 3, Changchun was involved in a bench-clearing brawl against the Nikko Ice Bucks. Five Ice Bucks players received game misconduct penalties while seven Changchun players received the same and one Changchun player, Fu Nan, received a match penalty. The league later suspended all of the penalized players for one game, except for Fu who received a two-game suspension. Lie Henan again led the team with 20 points and also led scoring with 13. Fu Nan led with nine assists. Fuao did improve in the short handed goals department. They gave up the most of any team, but managed to score six during the season which put them ahead of the Nikko Ice Bucks who only scored three. With the departure of their year-long coach from Sweden, the team was back to switching coaches during the season. Due to financial difficulty the team merged with Hosa at the end of the 2006–2007 season to form the China Sharks.