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F Aito Iguchi - Saitama Warriors, Japan (2021 Draft)

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Japanese people that don't speak a lick of English flock regularly to Dallas to see Yu Darvish pitch because of how big of a star he is there. I know baseball is more popular than hockey in Japan, but if Aito makes it to the NHL, it could really grow the game in Japan.
 
oconnor9sean said:
Japanese people that don't speak a lick of English flock regularly to Dallas to see Yu Darvish pitch because of how big of a star he is there. I know baseball is more popular than hockey in Japan, but if Aito makes it to the NHL, it could really grow the game in Japan.
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Highly doubtful. If Hockey is still a hard #4 behind Football, Baseball and Basketball in 90% of the major US cities, what makes you think Hockey will suddenly catapult in popularity just because of 1 Japanese kid who ends up making it to the league?
 
He needs to migrate to NA if the kid wants a chance to make it big. He's not going anywhere if he stays home. He should. Kid has some pretty good skill for his age and I'm assuming he dominates his age group.
 
Darkhorse1280 said:
Highly doubtful. If Hockey is still a hard #4 behind Football, Baseball and Basketball in 90% of the major US cities, what makes you think Hockey will suddenly catapult in popularity just because of 1 Japanese kid who ends up making it to the league?
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Stranger things have happened In Japan. I for one believe it can happen especially if he becomes a star.
 
Android 16 said:
He needs to migrate to NA if the kid wants a chance to make it big. He's not going anywhere if he stays home. He should. Kid has some pretty good skill for his age and I'm assuming he dominates his age group.
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Did you even watch the video? He's already moved to Canada...

As for the actual topic, he has great puck handling skills but if he really wants to make it he's going to have to learn from someone better than "Pavel" Barber. Teach him the game, not just the moves.
 
So this barber guy is an amateur stick handler wiz who hit fame on YouTube. I wouldn't exactly put my future in the hands of someone who has never played a lick of pro or even semi pro hockey.
 
He's already talked about in the ''Child prodigy'' thread and his own thread in the prospect section. Too early to tell if he'll be an NHLer or even a draftee.
 
RobBrown4PM said:
So this barber guy is an amateur stick handler wiz who hit fame on YouTube. I wouldn't exactly put my future in the hands of someone who has never played a lick of pro or even semi pro hockey.
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But some random AAA peewee coach will definitely have the qualifications you're looking for.
 
Clearly he's a long way away, he's two years from being drafted into the WHL, and three years from the OHL and QMJHL (I don't know where he's playing in Canada but wherever that is it should be enough time to allow him to be drafted in the domestic drafts). And we've seen plenty of people who were superstars going into their CHL drafts that couldn't even hack it there, so he's got numerous hurdles before we can say anything for certain. But I'll be rooting for him. It's always great to see prospects, let alone top prospects, from non-traditional markets.
 
Darkhorse1280 said:
Highly doubtful. If Hockey is still a hard #4 behind Football, Baseball and Basketball in 90% of the major US cities, what makes you think Hockey will suddenly catapult in popularity just because of 1 Japanese kid who ends up making it to the league?
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Holy hell one of the most ignorant comments I've seen in a long time. It's like you have no idea that there are other cultures beyond the water and they all have different directions, influences, and implications. Having one highly skilled kid from Japan might make a hockey craze era in that country compared to a highly skilled kid from Spain creating zero buzz, each country will react differently. And as for your question, Gretzky in California is pretty much your answer.

Nullus Reverentia said:
Clearly he's a long way away, he's two years from being drafted into the WHL, and three years from the OHL and QMJHL (I don't know where he's playing in Canada but wherever that is it should be enough time to allow him to be drafted in the domestic drafts). And we've seen plenty of people who were superstars going into their CHL drafts that couldn't even hack it there, so he's got numerous hurdles before we can say anything for certain. But I'll be rooting for him. It's always great to see prospects, let alone top prospects, from non-traditional markets.
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What are the rules for imports over bantam draft selection? I noticed that some international players playing in North America, could have been selected in the three league drafts. But others had to be taken in the import draft, is there a fine line of eligibility between the two?

For the record there has been a bigger wave recently of Japanese players coming over to the USHL and NAHL, so I figure that USHL might be the favourites out there to get his rights and that he's good enough. Barber did say in that video that he has taught players around the same type of talent, but no one he has seen comes close to Iguchi's vision and creativity. I think that is going to be a deciding factor if grows into a top 5 potential player or drops to a 7th round risk IMO.
 
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I wonder how tall his parents are - to get a general idea of how tall/short he will probably be after he gets his growth spurt.

The puck skills these days are insane, when I was a kid, nobody could do that ***** and I played with kids who went on to play some OHL and D1 NCAA.
 
S E P H said:
What are the rules for imports over bantam draft selection? I noticed that some international players playing in North America, could have been selected in the three league drafts. But others had to be taken in the import draft, is there a fine line of eligibility between the two?

For the record there has been a bigger wave recently of Japanese players coming over to the USHL and NAHL, so I figure that USHL might be the favourites out there to get his rights and that he's good enough. Barber did say in that video that he has taught players around the same type of talent, but no one he has seen comes close to Iguchi's vision and creativity. I think that is going to be a deciding factor if grows into a top 5 potential player or drops to a 7th round risk IMO.
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Not sure about the rules, but I've seen players only play a single year of hockey in North America (at least, their records indicate only a year). Leo Lazarev, for example, bypassed the CHL rule against international goalies by playing a year for Waterloo as a 16 year old. Kirill Nizhnikov and Pavel Gogolev were two high drafted Russians, but it appears as if they played 2-3 years in Canada before being drafted. Galchenyuk played a partial season in Chicago before being drafted in the OHL, but he may have been able to bypass rules because he was born in the US even though he had at most a season of hockey there.

I couldn't really find anything when I googled it but I admit I didn't try very hard. If I had to guess it's a draft eligible season in North America that allows them to be drafted.
 
Man would love to see him come in and become a star. Hoping more countries around the world start getting into hocker, wish countties in the middle east would get into the sport. There are places in Pakistan where the temperature would be great for hockey, but for hockey to start being played it would require a whole shift in the government. Anyways, hoping this kid succeeds and more players start coming out of non hockey zones.
 
S E P H said:
It's like you have no idea that there are other cultures beyond the water and they all have different directions, influences, and implications..
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I live in Toronto, which is MUCH MORE cosmopolitan than "Avs Country". So I think I have a better idea than you do.


S E P H said:
Having one highly skilled kid from Japan might make a hockey craze era in that country compared to a highly skilled kid from Spain creating zero buzz, each country will react differently. And as for your question, Gretzky in California is pretty much your answer.
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Please list all of the "highly skilled players" that have come out of California in the last 30 years?...And no, Brooks Orpik, Beau Bennett etc don't fall under that category I'm sorry to say. Also, the Kings; despite their cup wins, are still #4 behind the Dodgers, Lakers and now the Rams in the LA area. Please explain this...seeing that you vehemently disagree with me?
 
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Bluesman91 said:
Did you even watch the video? He's already moved to Canada...

As for the actual topic, he has great puck handling skills but if he really wants to make it he's going to have to learn from someone better than "Pavel" Barber. Teach him the game, not just the moves.
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If you watch the entire video you see them working on strengthening his board play and learning to play against bigger players. Of course that's not going to be the whole video because it's boring relative to flashy stick skills.

Darkhorse1280 said:
I live in Toronto, which is MUCH MORE cosmopolitan than "Avs Country". So I think I have a better idea than you do.




Please list of all of the "highly skilled players" that have come out of California in the last 30 years?...And no, Brooks Orpik, Beau Bennett etc don't fall under that category I'm sorry to say. Also, the Kings; despite their cup wins, are still #4 behind the Dodgers, Lakers and now the Rams in the LA area. Please explain this...seeing that you vehemently disagree with me?
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Who cares if it doesn't move the needle for hockey in the US? Even if the kid draws just 10 fans from Japan, or has 50 fans back in his home country, how is that anything other than a good thing? The cynicism in this thread about a 13 year old kid is incredible.
 

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