NHL viewing Japan as a growing market for the league
This week two players from Japan have been invited to participate in development camps around the league. Ryo Hashimoto attended the Columbus Blue Jackets development camp this past week and the New York Islanders have invited Yuri Terao to their development camp this week.
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Blue Jackets development coach Chris Clark believes that Japan will be a huge source for players one day and that it is a growing market for the NHL. “Our game is global,” he said. “They’re building an international team and they’re building their professional hockey. Down the line it’s going to be an avenue, so why not jump into it?”
Hockey ranks behind baseball and soccer for the most popular sports in Japan. The hockey federation reports that in a nation of 127 million people, around 15,000 play hockey and approximately a third of them are at the junior level. The country only has 230 rinks, 120 of which are outdoors.
Hashimoto was interviewed about his experience at an NHL development camp recently. He recalled how he worked his way through the hockey federations development camp to represent Japan in the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship. He also played professionally the past three seasons with the Oji Eagles in the Asia League. When asked how his experience on the ice compared to playing in the NHL, he joked about the size of the players. “Bigger, taller,” he said as he raised his right arm above his head.
The transition of playing against others who are so much bigger than in the Asia League could be a detriment to potential Japanese athletes trying to make the jump. However taking advantage of other skills such as speed, could be the way for these men to make the transition easier.