Canadas largest sports company wants the Maple Leafs to become Chinas favourite hockey team, in much the same way Manchester United is the most popular soccer team in the worlds most populous country. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday Free Shipping . At the same time as Chinese government officials have asked the NHL to stage a regular-season game in China as early as next season, TSN has learned four executives with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment are scheduled to leave Friday for Beijing for meetings to help grow hockey in China, an untapped frontier for many sports leagues around the world. MLSE chief commercial officer Dave Hopkinson, Bo Hu, MLSEs executive in charge of Chinese business, and two colleagues will attend meetings in Beijing with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his staff, and Chinese government officials. Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan was scheduled to participate but canceled at the last minute, a team spokesperson said. (The NHL and NHLPA announced forward Carter Ashton was suspended for 20 games on Thursday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Ashton said he borrowed another athletes asthma inhaler.) MLSE executives, the 27-year-old Hu in particular, have quietly laid the groundwork for building the companys profile in China over the past three years. Because basketball is so popular in China, MLSE staff first established relationships with companies interested in sponsorship agreements with the Raptors. The basketball team now has sponsorships with Chinese auto tire maker Aeolus Tires and Asus, a laptop maker. MLSE has also partnered with I.T. company Huawei on music-industry projects. Its believed that MLSE garners more than $300,000 from each of those sponsorships. Company officials declined to say how much sponsorship revenue they make from China-based companies. As MLSEs relationships in China matured, the company landed meetings with the Chinese government - meetings where MLSE received an attractive offer. China is competing with Kazakhstan to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. China wants to have hockey teams that are competitive. But with a mens national team thats ranked No. 38 — behind New Zealand, Belgium and Iceland — China needs help getting to that point. China wasnt a sports nation before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, but it is now, Hopkinson said in an interview. The president of the country attended the Team Canada mens hockey games in Sochi and said he fell in love with hockey. Whats important to the president of China is important to China. Chinese officials said in exchange for helping to develop grass-roots hockey programs in China, the government would help MLSE promote the Maple Leafs brand there. This is the most storied and established brand in the game, Hopkinson said. We were told that if they were going to partner in the NFL, it would be with the Dallas Cowboys. If they were doing a baseball deal, it would be with the New York Yankees. And if theres a partnership in the NHL, its going to be with the Maple Leafs. It doesnt hurt that the Leafs are based in Canada. Tensions might appear if a U.S.-based team tried to do what the Leafs hope to do. The Chinese have told us they really appreciate what we are doing, boots on the ground, helping them to develop a hockey competency, said Hopkinson, who has made four previous trips to China. In March, the Leafs converted all of their rink boards to Chinese to welcome Chinese viewers. In August, the team sent staff to Beijing and Shanghai to stage hockey camps for young amateur players. In coming weeks, the Leafs will aid in the production of a 10-part Hockey 101 series to be included in NHL broadcasts on CCTV in China to educate viewers. We arent the only team in China, Hu said. The Canucks and Islanders are there, too, but we really have a plan to become the biggest hockey brand there. We want to keep holding camps for kids, building grass roots interest, and eventually take our Maple Leafs players there. This is the Manchester United model. The worlds most famous soccer club says it has 108 million fans in China, where it has played almost a dozen times since 1975. Hu said because the NHL prevents teams from promoting themselves outside their local territories, MLSE has been targeting Chinese companies such as Air China and the Bank of China that want to expand their business in Canada. There are a lot of Chinese mining companies that have investments in Canada, although we just signed an agreement with a Colombian mining company, Hu said. Hu confirmed Chinese officials have told the NHL they are interested in hosting an NHL game as soon as next season. As any seasoned marketer knows, the payoff for a team to break through in China is huge. In its recent filing for an initial public offering, Alibaba reported just 45.8 per cent of Chinas population uses the Internet, far lower than Canada or the U.S. In 2000, four per cent of urban households in China were considered middle class; by 2012, more than two-thirds of those homes had gained that status, earning between $9,000 and $16,000. In 2022, Chinas middle class may eclipse 630 million consumers. There already are signs that China, a non-traditional hockey market to be sure, is open to a new sport. Last year, the state broadcaster CCTV began showing four live NHL games every week. This is CCTVs second year of a three-year deal with the NHL. NHL games broadcast on the weekend in China have attracted an average 800,000 households - airing at 7 a.m. local time. By comparison, televised Leafs games in Canada with national distribution this season have attracted about 1.5 million viewers. This year, Beijings 150 registered teams have 2,300 players between the ages of six and 15, MLSE says. Still, there are challenges to growing hockey in China. For starters, its an expensive sport, Hu said, thanks to 30 per cent import duties for hockey equipment shipped from the west and expensive ice time. There are politics to consider. In 2005, the newspaper Beijing Today accused western soccer teams of gold-digging, using their tours of China solely to build their brand and commercial presence. Some efforts simply dont translate. Manchester United closed a pair of theme restaurants after fans didnt see a connection between soccer fandom and eating out, The New York Times reported in 2007. Also, its unclear whether the NHL sees a big upside in China. The league does not have a senior vice president in change of expanding its international business, a position common in other pro sports leagues. Moreover, the NBA has a long head start in China, where it began to lay a toehold during the 1990s. Now, the NBA attracts some five million viewers a game in China. In the U.S., NBA broadcasts on cable TV get about two million viewers per game. Its doubtful that the NHL would ever grow business through the sale of team jerseys. While authentic jerseys now sell for $330 in Canada, counterfeiting has flourished in China, bringing down the price of knock-off jerseys to $5 or $10 in some cases. China Shoes Black Friday . Founding members of the Genie Army, a group of Eugenie Bouchard supporters who cheered for the rising tennis star during the Australian Open in January, will be in the city for the Rogers Cup, beginning this weekend. Fake Shoes Black Friday . -- Brandon Hope stopped 46 shots and Kurtis MacDermid scored with 27 seconds remaining in overtime as the Owen Sound Attack edged the visiting Kingston Frontenacs 5-4 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ .J. - Trying to learn and absorb the new West Coast offence being installed by new offensive co-ordinator Ben McAdoo, the New York Giants wrapped their final organized team activity Thursday before a three-day mini-camp next week. CHICAGO -- It started with a pregame video and ran all the way through the final out and a high-five line for the New York Yankees. This was the Derek Jeter show, and it was quite a performance for the shortstops farewell tour. Jeter had four hits and Masahiro Tanaka rebounded nicely from his first major league loss, leading the Yankees to a 7-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. "I just want to try to help us win. Thats it," Jeter said. "Our job is, if theres a guy on second base and Ive got to hit a ground ball to second to move him over, Ill do it. I dont think about personal statistics. I think about trying to help us win." He certainly played a key role as the Yankees closed out an extended stay in Chicago with a pair of wins against the White Sox. Brett Gardner had a big two-run single in New Yorks four-run second inning, and Brian Roberts added a solo homer in the eighth in his return to the lineup after missing a game with a sore right knee. "Everyone contributed today," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Tanaka (7-1) pitched into the seventh inning as New York improved to 3-3 on its unusual nine-game trip to Chicago and St. Louis. The Yankees split two games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and then had another split in their four-game set on Chicagos South Side. Conor Gillaspie had two hits and drove in a run for the White Sox, who had won eight consecutive home games against New York before Saturdays 4-3 loss in 10 innings. Gillaspie is batting .364 (20 for 55) in his past 15 games. Andre Rienzo (4-1) struck out seven in five innings, but allowed four earned runs and seven hits. "It seemed all day he was working from behind," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He wasnt getting ahead. He just wasnt as sharp as hes been in previous outings -- and it cost him." Jeter once again heard loud cheers throughout the day in what likely was his final game in Chicago. The 13-time All-Star plans to retire after the season. "Its one of my favourite cities, and the way the fans have treated me these two series here, its been tremendous," Jeter said. "Its something Ill always remember." The White Sox showed a video highlighting Jeters background before the game and prresented the 39-year-old shortstop with three gifts: a baseball-themed bench made by former White Sox and Yankees player Ron Kittle, enclosed infield clay from the shortstop area at U. Cheap Shoes Black Friday. S. Cellular Field and a $5,000 donation to Jeters Turn 2 Foundation. Jeter waved to the sellout crowd of 39,142 after he received the gifts from White Sox slugger Paul Konerko, who also plans to retire after the season. He also acknowledged the home dugout, where the White Sox applauded the pregame ceremony from the top step. Once the game started, it was all business for the captain. Jeter drove in Roberts with his second single in the second. He tripled past diving centre fielder Adam Eaton in the fourth and scored on Rienzos wild pitch, and then added another run-scoring single in the sixth. "Man. Hes good," Rienzo said. "The first one is cutter, the second one is inside, and the third is cutter, too. Hes a winner. I hope I would win, but its OK." The crowd gave Jeter a standing ovation when he batted for the last time in the eighth, and then applauded again when he struck out swinging to end the inning. It was Jeters first four-hit game since a 9-6 loss at the White Sox on Aug. 20, 2012. New Yorks 10-hit attack was more than enough for Tanaka, who allowed one run and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. The Japanese right-hander struck out six and walked two in his 10th major league start. Tanaka was coming off a 6-1 loss to the lowly Cubs on Tuesday that ended his unbeaten streak at 42 regular-season starts. "I wanted the ball to go down and thats why I made some tweaks to my mechanics," Tanaka said through a translator. Tanaka had been 34-0 in Japan and North America the last two seasons, though he did drop Game 6 of the Japan Series last year before earning the save in Game 7. NOTES: It was Jeters first triple since New Yorks 22-9 victory over Oakland on Aug. 25, 2011. ... Yankees RHP Michael Pineda is scheduled to pitch two innings in an extended spring training game on Tuesday. Pineda was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 6 with a shoulder muscle injury. ... Yankees slugger Carlos Beltran will attempt some dry swings in New York on Monday. Beltran is out with a bone spur in his right elbow that could require surgery. ' ' '