 Asia League was created primarily for the development of hockey in Asia . The league allows teams to hire a small number of imports to play on the team in order to even out strength as well as increase the level of competitiveness in the league . Playing against more skilled foreign players will allow players from the participating countries to increase their skills and benefit from having some more experienced players on their teams . China is allowed the most imports while the experienced Japanese teams are allowed the fewest . As part of some sponsorship deals China was provided western players from the San Jose Sharks , and the two Chinese teams were provided Swedish players when the Nordic Vikings were active in the league . 
