Japan Ice Hockey League Explained

Sport:Ice hockey
Founded:1966
Folded:2004
Teams:Maximum of six
Country: Japan
Champion:Kokudo Tokyo, 2004

The Japan Ice Hockey League (JIHL) (日本アイスホッケーリーグ) was an annual ice hockey league that began in 1966 and ended in 2004 when it was replaced by Asia League Ice Hockey. Only Japanese teams competed in the JIHL.

Baseball and football have been the dominant Japanese sports for decades, but ice hockey in Japan started in the 1920s.

Teams have been competing in the All Japan Championships since 1930, making the tournament one of the oldest sporting competitions in the country.

Professional hockey arrived in 1966 with the Japan Ice Hockey League. Originally a five-team league, the JIHL expanded to six teams in 1974 and stayed that way until tough economic times led to budget cutbacks and eventually the demise of the league in 2004.

Organizers decided the sport could only prosper in Asia if teams in Japan, China and South Korea formed a multinational league, and in 2004 the 38-year-old JIHL was abandoned in favor of Asia League Ice Hockey.

Japan Ice Hockey League champions

SeasonWinner
1966–67Iwakura Tomakomai
1967–68Iwakura Tomakomai
1968–69Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1969–70Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1970–71Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1971–72Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1972–73Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1973–74Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1974–75Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1975–76Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1976–77Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1977–78Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1978–79Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1979–80Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1980–81Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1981–82Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1982–83Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1983–84Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1984–85Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1985–86Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1986–87Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1987–88Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1988–89Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1989–90Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1990–91Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1991–92Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1992–93Kokudo Tokyo
1993–94Shin Oji Tomakomai
1994–95Kokudo Tokyo
1995–96Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1996–97Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1997–98Kokudo Tokyo
1998–99Kokudo Tokyo
1999–00Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
2000–01Kokudo Tokyo
2001–02Kokudo Tokyo
2002–03Kokudo Tokyo
2003–04Kokudo Tokyo

Fictional player

Fictional ice hockey player Taro Tsujimoto was said to have come from the "Tokyo Katanas" of the JIHL; neither the player nor the team existed, but were instead the creation of George Imlach. Imlach, as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, legally drafted Tsujimoto with the 183rd pick in the 1974 NHL Entry Draft, in protest of the league's secrecy policies. When Imlach revealed Tsujimoto was not a real person, the pick was subsequently invalidated.

See also

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External links