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 managerKazuhiko Kiyokawa
Head coachTakeshi Saito
Websitecranes.team

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]

Honours

Roster

Updated April, 2022.[5][6]

Goaltenders
Number Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
29 Japan Yujiro Isobe L 2022
1 Japan Yuya Wakimoto L 2019
Defencemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
3 Japan Kengo Ito L 2019 Kushiro, Japan
74 Japan Ryuichi Kawai R 2020
4 Japan Sena Suzuki R 2022
82 Japan Yusei Otsu (A) L 2020
79 Japan Yuki Yamazaki (A) L 2019 Kushiro, Japan
4 Japan Koki Yoneyama R 2021
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Position Acquired Place of Birth
18 Japan Kodai Aoyama R F 2022
24 Japan Shogo Araki R F 2021
92 Japan Ikki Ikeda L 2019 Tomakomai, Japan
14 Japan Sota Isogai R F 2022
10 Japan Kosuke Otsu (C) R L 2018 Nikkō, Japan
26 Japan Daichi Saito (A) R F 2020 Kushiro, Japan
53 Japan Hiromichi Terao LW L 2020
19 Japan Ryoichiro Yano L F 2022
9 Japan 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.
  6. "2022-2023 Season new team structure Announced". East Hokkaido Cranes. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
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