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The best Japanese player of all time?

Paul Kariya.

"Kariya is half-Japanese through his father, Tetsuhiko. T.K. — as he was better known as — was born in a World War II-era incarceration camp in Greenwood, British Columbia, on Aug. 6, 1943."

www.nbcnews.com

Hall of Famer Paul Kariya brought the NHL one of its first Asian stars

Paul Kariya, who won gold for Canada at the Olympics, was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in November.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
 
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Akira Schmid got to be the best goalie at least? Is he half-Japanese, half-Swiss? Or how does this go?

I completely forgot about forward Paul Kariya. Man, he was fast.
 
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Toby91ca said:
That's not even close to true. Not sure who the leading Asian-born scorer is in history but Richard Park has 241 pts....quite a bit more than the 12pts Kravtsov has.
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Lmao I don't know how on earth this thing had him ranked #1 then, I sorted by place of birth on some stat site and he was the top. Still interesting that he's born in Asia though, I was friends with a girl in high school from the same city as him, right on the border with China & North Korea; on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Only NHL player from there
 
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Riders on the Storm said:
Paul Kariya.

"Kariya is half-Japanese through his father, Tetsuhiko. T.K. — as he was better known as — was born in a World War II-era incarceration camp in Greenwood, British Columbia, on Aug. 6, 1943."

www.nbcnews.com

Hall of Famer Paul Kariya brought the NHL one of its first Asian stars

Paul Kariya, who won gold for Canada at the Olympics, was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in November.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
Click to expand...
I guess Kariya has Japanese heritage on his father's side, but it's not like he'd be able to play for Team Japan....he has no citizenship I'm assuming. His father was born in Canada, so you are going back a long time.

EdJovanovski said:
Lmao I don't know how on earth this thing had him ranked #1 then, I sorted by place of birth on some stat site and he was the top. Still interesting that he's born in Asia though, I was friends with a girl in high school from the same city as him, right on the border with China & North Korea; on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Only NHL player from there
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It's always interesting to look at a map and see the divide line between Europe and Asia for Russia....of course, almost all NHL players would fall on the Europe side.....so maybe that's where this comes from....highest scoring Asian born Russian player.
 
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5minutemajor said:
Akira Schmid got to be the best goalie at least? Is he half-Japanese, half-Swiss? Or how does this go?

I completely forgot about forward Paul Kariya. Man, he was fast.
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It's best not to admit (as this thread seems to) that Paul Kariya was A) completely forgotten about in all things hockey and B) with respect to his Japanese heritage. Just saying.

He's Canadian, but I get it. I do the same thing when I think of the greatest Scottish player of all time: Robert Gordon Orr or the greatest Scottish coach of all time, Scotty Bowman...but they're Canadian as well.
 
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Best full Japanese player has to be Yushiroh Hirano. He's a 6', 216lbs from Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan currently playing between the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL and the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL. He's the first Japanese-born player to play in the USHL, he's the highest scoring Japanese player in North American League history, and he just led Japan to a promotion from the IIHF Worlds group B.
 
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Toby91ca said:
That's not even close to true. Not sure who the leading Asian-born scorer is in history but Richard Park has 241 pts....quite a bit more than the 12pts Kravtsov has.
Click to expand...
Nick Antropov definitely has a decent shot at that title with 465 points. Funny enough both other NHL players from his town - Khudobin and Nabokov - are goalies.

Edit: nevermind, Alex Mogilny is from Khabarovsk, case closed.
 
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Yu Sato is 20 years old and played in 40 games in the KHL this year for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Former Quebec Rempart (QMJHL) and Lincoln Star (USHL). Mostly a grinder.

Yushiroh Hirano, who turns 28 in August, split time between the AHL and ECHL this season and had 14 points in 12 ECHL games. He was Japan's best player in the World Championship Division 1-B with 7 goals and 3 assists in 5 games, as Japan won the group and earned a promotion to Division 1-A for next year.
 
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Toby91ca said:
That's not even close to true. Not sure who the leading Asian-born scorer is in history but Richard Park has 241 pts....quite a bit more than the 12pts Kravtsov has.
Click to expand...

I didn't even think of Richard Park. I was thinking Jim Paek who (after checking) also exceeds Kravtsov. Paek is the first Korean engraved on the cup which is why I had his name tucked in the back of my trivia memory bank. No idea who the actual Asian born scorer is though, but I thought op is about Japanese?
 
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