Portage College Voyageurs to face Chinese national hockey team in northern Alberta

The Bold Centre in Lac La Biche, Alta. will be on the international stage later this week when the Chinese national men’s hockey team takes on the Portage College Voyageurs in a rare northern Alberta exhibition series.

The Chinese team is scheduled to face the Voyageurs in two exhibition games. The first game will be held on Friday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. and then on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. The games are part of a two-week Canadian tour that includes seven games against five Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) teams.

“It’s an opportunity to see something unique in our communities,” said Jim Knight, manager of Portage College Athletics and Recreation in an official release. “It connects our communities to the world stage, and lets the world see how great our communities are.”

For Voyageurs assistant coach Pierre Sparklingeyes, who is from the Goodfish Lake Cree Nation in northern Alberta, the matchup carries personal significance. A former Portage College student-athlete himself, Sparklingeyes returned to the program with experience from national- and grassroots-level hockey.

“I first started with the team in 2015–16 as a student-athlete,” Sparklingeyes said. “After that year, I decided my family would get more of my time, so I stepped away from hockey and focused on school.”

He rejoined the program in the 2024–25 season when a “very fortunate” opportunity became available. Before joining the college coaching ranks, Sparklingeyes coached in minor hockey and with Team Alberta at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, experiences that helped shape his transition to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. Now in his second season behind the bench, Sparklingeyes has taken on a larger role with the Voyageurs, including overseeing the team’s power play while continuing to develop under head coach Kevin McClelland.

The Voyageurs compete in the ACAC, a league largely made up of former junior players between the ages of 20 and 26. Many attend Portage College for short-term academic programs, according to Sparklingeyes, and move on with their careers after around two years.

Against that backdrop, the opportunity to face a national team with Olympic experience is rare — especially for players from northern, rural, and Indigenous communities. The Chinese team is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and has competed on the world stage, including the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing where they finished 12th overall.

For many Voyageurs players, it will be the first time competing against an international opponent.

“Well, I think it’s a great opportunity for our student-athletes and for myself,” Sparklingeyes said. “Usually, depending on your success in hockey, you don’t get too many opportunities like this.”

Sparklingeyes said the experience extends beyond the players to the broader Lac La Biche region, which is surrounded by First Nations and Métis communities.

“I think it’s great for any fan of hockey to experience, because it’s at a higher level,” he said.

While the games are exhibition matchups that do not count toward league standings, Sparklingeyes said they remain meaningful for player development and community engagement.

“You want to go in there and compete as best you can,” he said. “You want to perform well, especially for our community and our fan base here that supports us.”

At the same time, he acknowledged the realities of a long season, noting that the matches are exhibition only and that he hopes the team comes through without sustaining any injuries.

The matchup will also serve as a reality check for players assessing their own development.

“It’s a good measuring stick to see where you can work on things or how you can get better,” Sparklingeyes said.

For Indigenous athletes, Sparklingeyes said Portage College has long served as a point of access to post-secondary sport. Since the program’s inaugural season in 2008, he noted that Indigenous representation has remained a consistent presence on the roster.

The college’s culture and small size can make a difference for students transitioning from Indigenous communities into college athletics.

“I think having that nucleus for the student body makes it pretty welcoming for Indigenous athletes,” he said.

That visibility can be crucial for youth considering their own paths in sport and education.

“Hopefully what this college offers becomes more and more attractive to any Indigenous athlete looking to come in and play at the next level,” Sparklingeyes said.

While Indigenous players compete across the ACAC, Sparklingeyes said Portage’s community-based approach sets it apart.

“We have the benefit of being a smaller community college that has its roots based in an Indigenous upbringing, and that kind of history is important,” he said.

As the weekend approaches, Sparklingeyes said the focus remains on preparation — and on making the most of a rare international test on home ice. With the Chinese national team bringing Olympic and world-level experience to Lac La Biche, the exhibition series offers local fans a chance to watch elite hockey unfold live or on screen, while giving Voyageurs players a stage to measure themselves against global competition.

“We hope that there’s a big crowd for us and to come and support us, or even just to enjoy watching the hockey,” Sparklingeyes said. “We’re definitely looking to put on a good show for the weekend.”

The full schedule of games, which run to Feb. 5, is available at ACACTV.ca. All games are free to attend in person, while fans who wish to livestream the full seven-game series can stream through ACACTV for a small fee. The Chinese team departs Canada on Feb. 7.

To learn more about Portage College and the Voyageurs, visit PortageCollege.ca.