These stories are legion in the club.
Barry Roe, 33, has been in Shanghai for three years. He joined the club almost immediately. But for him, playing hockey in new places wasn't new. He had been playing in Shenzhen, another Chinese city, before arriving in Shanghai. Before that, he played in Mexico City. It's been quite the hockey journey for a player who thought his playing days ended after a high school career in New Hampshire.
Now Roe coaches youth hockey at the Feiyang Skating Center, the home rink for the SHC. He will help out at the youth clinics the Kings will host Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the community outreach.
"I love the game, I love playing, and I love being able to regroup with a bunch of like-minded people from all over the world," Roe said. "We're there as hockey players playing for the common cause of hockey because we all love it. That's what is great about it."
Corey Sorrento grew up playing hockey in Sacramento, California, reaching the AAA level at one point. He joined the SHC in 2006, two years after it was founded.
At the time, the club had one division and four teams. He was the captain of one of the teams, the Fog Devils, for nine straight seasons.
"I tried to build a culture around my team," Sorrento said. "We played hockey, but we also made sure we had fun."
Mark Andrews, from Ottawa, is an original member who played during the club's first four years. He arrived to the city in 1997, parlaying a round-trip airfare to anywhere given to him by his grandmother into a life-changing journey to mainland China. He taught English in Beijing and through the countryside before arriving in Shanghai in 1999.
One day in 2004, Andrews was wearing a Hockey Canada jersey and he ran into a Swiss hockey fan. The Swiss fan said he and his buddies played at a rink that was built over a pool. Andrews showed up the next day.
"When I saw the ice, I was so taken aback; it was almost an emotional experience," Andrews said. "We played a game of shinny. It was a hodgepodge of expats. After the game, there was a restaurant nearby and we would get these big bottles of beer and sit and talk for two hours, and that kind of set the stage for what was to come."