BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Although China's women's ice hockey team missed the last eight spot at Beijing 2022, head coach Brian Idalski said he was proud of his players and believes the team's spirit will inspire more to fall in love with the sport.

The women's squad, ranked 20th in the world, took down Denmark and Japan, but failed to make into the quarterfinals after defeats to the Czech Republic and Sweden.

"China's women's ice hockey team competed hard and showed high spirit at Beijing 2022," said Idalski. "Hopefully after the Olympic experience young people in China will be inspired to pursue opportunities to play the game."

It was the first time in 12 years that China's women have competed in ice hockey at an Olympics. They took seventh place in Vancouver 2010, but didn't qualify for the 2014 and 2018 tournaments.

"The Olympics are the pinnacle of women's hockey," the coach said.

"It has been a goal for many years to have this opportunity and I feel blessed to have participated," he noted.

"We are always striving for more and looking to accomplish perfection," the coach added. "Disappointed we did not advance to the top eight, but we made some major strides for China's hockey."

Idalski characterizes the China's team as resilient. "I believe our ability and character to handle adversity," he said.

"We were able to stay focused under some challenging circumstance to prepare and play hard."

Idalski, who spent a decade coaching at the University of North Dakota (UND), has been coaching the Kunlun Red Star Vanke Rays, a Chinese ice hockey club based in Shenzhen since 2019, leading the team to the Women's Hockey League (WHL) title in 2020 and a runner-up finish the following season.

"I believe college hockey is a wonderful development model for players to grow," he said.

"Overall growth begins with the youth level and increasing the number of players that participate," he added.

Looking ahead, the coach said the team "needs a four-year plan for Italy 2026."