Akane Shiga Explained

Akane Shiga
Birth Date:3 March 2001
Birth Place:Obihiro, Japan
Height M:1.64
Weight Kg:61
Position:Forward
Shoots:Right
League:SDHL
Team:Luleå HF/MSSK
Sex:f
Ntl Team:JPN
Career Start:2018

is a Japanese ice hockey player and member of the Japanese national team. She is signed in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Luleå HF/MSSK for the 2024–25 SDHL season.

Playing career

Shiga began participating in elite-level ice hockey during the 2010s, playing in both the Women's Japan Ice Hockey League (WJIHL) and All-Japan Women's Ice Hockey Championship. She began her career with the Obihiro Ladies and later played with Toyota Cygnus.[1]

On 22 December 2023, Shiga signed a one-year contract with PWHL Ottawa in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Shiga was both the league's youngest player and the only player from Japan during the PWHL's inaugural season.[2] [3] [4]

In July 2024, she signed a one-year contract with Luleå HF/MSSK in the SDHL.[5]

International play

As a junior player with the Japanese national under-18 team, she participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship Top Division tournaments in 2017 and 2019, and the Division I tournaments in 2016 and 2018.

Shiga made her national senior team debut at the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, at which she notched her first senior-level point – a goal assisted by Ayaka Toko and Hanae Kubo against in the preliminary round.[6] [7] She has subsequently represented Japan at the IIHF Women's World Championship tournaments in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. She was Japan's leading scorer at the tournaments in 2021, 2022, and 2024, and was selected by the coaches as one of the top-three players for Japan by the coaches in the same years.

Shiga represented Japan in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.[8]

With the Japanese national under-25 team, she won a silver medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2023 Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, New York.[9] She was Japan's leading scorer, earning 6 points on 4 goals and 2 assists.

Personal life

Her older sister, Aoi Shiga, is also an ice hockey player, a defenseman, with the Japanese national team.[8]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2018–19Tokachi Obihiro LadiesWJIHL9 8 1 9 22
24 2 0 2 4
PWHL totals 24 2 0 2 4

International

YearTeamEventResultGP G A Pts PIM
2016JapanU18 (Div I)5 2 2 4 0
2017JapanU188th5 0 0 0 2
2018JapanU18 (Div IA)5 0 5 5 0
2019JapanU188th6 1 1 2 0
2019JapanWC8th5 1 0 1 4
2021JapanWC6th7 4 0 4 4
2022JapanOG6th5 2 1 3 2
2022JapanWC5th7 3 2 5 6
2023JapanWC7th6 0 1 1 8
2024JapanWC8th5 2 3 5 4
Junior totals21 3 8 11 2
Senior totals35 12 7 19 28

Notes and References

  1. Web site: International Ice Hockey Federation . IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship Div I Group A . 24 February 2024 . 24 February 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240224212418/https://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/664/IHW6640JPN_33_1_0_JPN.pdf . live . en.
  2. PWHL_Ottawa . 1738307409351733628 . The first Japanese player in PWHL history is all ours! Join us in welcoming Akane Shiga to Ottawa for the 2023-24 season! -------- PWHL史上初の日本人選手を一年契約で獲得! 志賀紅音選手をオタワに迎え入れましょう! . 22 December 2023 . PWHL Ottawa . 24 February 2024.
  3. News: Houpt . Sam . Ted . Raymond . 16 January 2024 . Japan's Akane Shiga finding new home on the ice with Ottawa's PWHL team . CTV News . Ottawa . en . 24 February 2024 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240224211057/https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/japan-s-akane-shiga-finding-new-home-on-the-ice-with-ottawa-s-pwhl-team-1.6727262 . 24 February 2024.
  4. Web site: PWHL Ottawa . 2023-12-12 . ottawa.thepwhl.com . en-US . 12 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231212211112/https://ottawa.thepwhl.com/stats/player/141/2/akane-shiga . live .
  5. News: Kennedy . Ian . Akane Shiga Signs With Lulea In Sweden . 12 July 2024 . . 10 July 2024 . en.
  6. Web site: 女子世界選手権 日本代表メンバー決定. jihf.or.jp. 22 March 2019. 9 May 2019. 12 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190412092751/http://www.jihf.or.jp/whatsnew/detail.php?id=2188. dead. ja.
  7. Web site: International Ice Hockey Federation . 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship roster . 9 May 2019 . 12 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190412092751/http://www.jihf.or.jp/whatsnew/detail.php?id=2188 . live . en.
  8. Web site: Beijing 2022 – Athletes: Akane SHIGA . . 2023-06-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220302134202/https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/ice-hockey/athlete-profile-n1042442-akane-shiga.htm . 2022-03-02 . en.
  9. Web site: Ice Hockey – Women – Medallists. Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games. 21 January 2023. 22 January 2023. 22 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230122035927/https://lakeplacid2023-pdf.microplustimingservices.com/WU2023/IHO/2023-01-21/IHOWTEAM6-------------------------__C92C_1.0.pdf. live. en.