Chinese men's hockey team playing beyond the boxscore in rematch against Canada

The Chinese men's hockey team heard the criticism heading into the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The players — 11 of them with close ties to Canada — knew the hockey world considered them the free space on the proverbial Olympic bingo card. They read the quotes from retired Team Canada head coach Dave King, who worried out loud about lopsided blowouts and resulting embarrassment for the host nation.

Now, King's projections would have come true — most likely — if National Hockey League sharpshooters such as Connor McDavid, Auston Mathews and Cale Makar had played in these Olympics. But, perhaps thankfully for China, the NHL pulled out of the tournament in December due to a rash of game cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After losing 8-0 to the Americans to open the round-robin, China came agonizingly close in a 3-2 loss to Germany and registered a respectable 26 shots in Sunday's 5-0 shutout loss to Canada.

WATCH | Canada blanks China in preliminary round:

Embarrassed? Not for a second.

Proud? You better believe it.

According to Team China goalie Jeremy Smith, Toronto-born head coach Ivan Zanatta gave the players a pep talk in between periods of the game against Germany.

"He said: 'You need to believe in yourself. We belong here. We're not lucky to be here. We've worked so hard for so long to be here. We deserve to be here to be on that same ice and to have the chance to win,'" Smith said.

WATCH | Full replay of Canada vs. China:

They may not have a realistic chance at winning Tuesday's rematch with Canada. An upset would rightly make headlines across the globe.

"They're a hell of a team, they're very well-coached and a good group of guys,"  Team China goalie Paris O'Brien, of Coquitlam, B.C., said of Team