"Again, this struck Smith oddly. He was a native of Dearborn, Michigan, not mainland China. To his knowledge, he did not have any Chinese ancestry. So he wanted to make something clear to his potential new team when responding to the contract offer.
"I told them I can't renounce my U.S. citizenship," said Smith. "They were like, 'Do not worry. We will not ask you. This is not what this whole process is about. It's about getting you qualified for the Olympics.'"
This was, it turns out, no joke: China spent several years trying to avoid being a laughingstock at their own Olympics. They imported players like Smith and former NHL players Brandon Yip, Jake Chelios and Spencer Foo. They hired hockey luminaries like Wayne Gretzky, Phil Esposito and Mike Keenan to lend their program gravitas. They spent countless millions on hockey infrastructure and player development."