East Hokkaido Cranes

The East Hokkaido Cranes (Japanese: ひがし北海道クレインズ Higashi Hokkaidō kureinzu) are a professional ice hockey team based in Kushiro, Japan. They are a members of the Asia League Ice Hockey and play their home games at the Kushiro Ice Arena.

East Hokkaido Cranes
CityKushiro, Hokkaidō
LeagueAsia League Ice Hockey
Founded2019 (2019)
Home arenaKushiro Ice Arena
ColoursBlack, Red, White
              
Owner(s)Tanaka Shigeki
General managerAldis Girgensons
Head coachHiroshi Sato
WebsiteEast Hokkaido Cranes

History

The East Hokkaido Cranes formed in April 2019, as a phoenix club following the demise of the Nippon Paper Cranes franchise.[1] The Paper Cranes had previously existed for 70 years; however, their owners, Nippon Paper Industries, announced in December 2018 that the team would be put up for sale as a result of corporate streamlining and declining revenues.[2] No buyer was found, and as a result the team folded.

The East Hokkaido Ice Hockey Club LLC, led by Tanaka Shigeki, announced that they had secured ¥125 million of founding, enabling the establishment of the new team. Asia League Ice Hockey chairman Sumio Kobayashi announced on 23 April 2019 that the new franchise would join the league, replacing the Paper Cranes, whilst retaining 15 players and playing out of the same arena.[1][3]

The Cranes played their first regular season game on 31 August 2019, losing 3–2 to the Nikkō Ice Bucks, with forward Taiga Irikura scoring the first goal in franchise history.[4]

Roster

Updated December 11, 2019.[5]

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
33 Jānis Auziņš L 2019 Riga, Latvia
39 Yusuke Kinoshita L 2019
1 Yuya Wakimoto L 2019
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
7 Edmunds Augstkalns L 2019 Riga, Latvia
3 Kengo Ito L 2019 Kushiro, Japan
29 Shinnosuke Kato R 2019
23 Kazunari Koizumi R 2019 Tomakomai, Japan
52 Kenta Matsukane (A) R 2019
65 Keigo Minoshima L 2019 Obihiro, Japan
79 Yuki Yamazaki L 2019 Kushiro, Japan
77 Shinya Yanadori L 2019 Kushiro, Japan
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
92 Ikki Ikeda R F 2019 Tomakomai, Japan
8 Taiga Irikura R C 2019 Tomakomai, Japan
14 Shoma Izumi R F 2019 Tomakomai, Japan
40 Takuma Kawai L LW 2019 Eniwa, Japan
47 Naoya Kubo R F 2019 Tomakomai, Japan
11 Masahito Nishiwaki R LW//RW 2019 Kushiro, Japan
10 Kosuke Otsu (A) R F 2018 Nikkō, Japan
91 Takeshi Saito R RW 2019 Kushiro, Japan
18 Shunsuke Shigeno L F 2019 Kushiro, Japan
36 Yokuto Takami L F 2019 Kushiro, Japan
48 Hiroki Ueno (C) L LW/RW 2019 Nagano, Japan
9 Matsuno Yuta F 2019

References
  1. "'East Hokkaido Cranes' to succeed Nippon Paper franchise". The Japan Times. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  2. "Four-time Asia champion Nippon Paper Cranes to fold in 2019". The Japan Times. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  3. "About nominating new teams". Asia League Ice Hockey. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. "Game info East Hokkaido Cranes - Nikko Ice Bucks". East Hokkaido Cranes. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  5. "EliteProspects - East Hokkaido Cranes". Eliteprospects (in Dutch). Retrieved December 11, 2019.
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