Nikkō Ice Bucks

HC Nikkō Ice Bucks
City Nikkō, Tochigi
League Asia League Ice Hockey
Founded 1999 (1999)
Home arena Nikkō Kirifuri Ice Arena (capacity 2,000)
Colors               
Owner(s) Kobayashi Sumio
Head coach Mark Pederson
Captain Setaka Tetsuo

Website
http://www.icebucks.jp/

The HC Nikkō Ice Bucks (ホッケークラブ日光アイスバックス Hokkē Kurabu Nikkō Aisu Bakkusu?) are an Asia League Ice Hockey team based in Nikkō, Tochigi, Japan.

Logo design: The word IceBucks in italicized English in black with white trim, with the words "NIKKO KOBE" in bold italics in orange trimmed with white

Mascot: An orange and white furred male deer wearing a hockey helmet.

Contents

History

The Nikkō area has a long history of ice hockey, with the Furukawa Electric semi-professional team (one of the oldest in Japan) having been established in 1925, and becoming a founding member of the Japanese Ice Hockey League in 1966. In 1999, however, the team was forced to disband due to financial difficulties.

A outflow of support from the city and local financing allowed the team to be recreated as a club team, supported locally. It was renamed the HC Nikkō IceBucks and joined the league in time for the next season's start. The team, despite fervent local support, was never one of the successes of the JIHL even when they were supported as Furukawa Electric, and had a rocky start as the HC Nikkō IceBucks, having to relaunch their business model in 2001. The team has consistently placed near or at the bottom of the league.

When the league expanded into the Asia League Ice Hockey, Nikkō was one of the teams that was part of the new league. In the summer of 2005, the team arranged to play a number of its home games in Kobe, Hyogo, and changed its name to the Nikkō Kobe IceBucks to reflect its new two-city home. In 2007-2008 season Kobe is no longer home and the name was reverted to the older HC Nikkō Ice Bucks.

Honours

Year-by-year record

JIHL 1999-2004

Season GP W W(OT) W(PS) T L(PS) L(OT) L GF GA PTS Finish Playoffs
1999-00 30 3 5 22 45 106 11 6th/6 Out of playoffs
2000-01 40 10 1 29 91 164 21 6th/6 Out of playoffs
2001-02 40 6 2 2 2 2 26 103 163 23.0 6th/6 Out of playoffs
2002-03 32 7 0 4 1 2 18 68 114 23.0 5th/5 Out of playoffs
2002-03 24 1 0 1 0 1 21 33 112 4.5 4th/4  ?
2003-04 12 0 0 0 0 0 12 19 56 0.0 4th/4  ?

ALIH 2003-present

complete records for previous seasons[1]

Season GP W W(OT) W(GWS)* T L(GWS)* L(OT) L GF GA PTS Finish Playoffs
2003–04 16 2 0 2 0 12 38 67 6 5th/5 No Playoffs due to shortened season
2004–05 42 13 1 2 2 24 110 125 45 6th/8 N/A
2005–06 38 16 2 2 1 17 103 118 55 6th/9 Lost in quarter-final
2006–07 34 12 0 1 0 21 90 158 37 6th/8 Lost in semi-final
2007–08 30 8 2 2 0 18 60 109 30 6th/7 Lost in quarter-final
2008–09 36 4 2 1 1 1 27 74 161 20 7th/7 N/A
2009–10 36 12 2 1 2 2 17 103 118 46 6th/7 N/A
2010–11 36 10 3 1 0 2 20 95 112 40 6th/7 N/A

*prior to the 2008–2009 season, there were no shoot-outs and games ended in a tie

Current roster

Goaltenders
# Country Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
29 Ito Keisuke L 2010 Nikko, Japan
38 Ono Kohei L 2011 Machida, Japan
44 Fukufuji Yutaka (A) L 2010 Kushiro, Japan
Defencemen
# Country Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
2 Ohkubo Tomohito L 2009 Tomakomai, Japan
3 Yamaguchi Kazuyoshi L 2009 Kushiro, Japan
6 Sumida Yousuke L 2010 Soja, Japan
7 Fukuzawa Noaya R 2008 Tomakomai, Japan
8 Ono Takayuki (A) R 2011 Tomakomai, Japan
9 Yamada Yuya R 2011 Tomakomai, Japan
22 Nakai Hayato L 2011 Hachinohe, Japan
34 Takahashi Junichi R 2011 Nikko, Japan
Forwards
# Country Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
10 Saito Kenta LW L 2011 Kushiro, Japan
11 Tsukada Hiroyuki C L 2008 Tomakomai, Japan
12 Uchiyama Tomohiko LW L 2009 Kushiro, Japan
18 Suzuki Takahito (C) RW R 2009 Tomakomai, Japan
19 Nakai Musashi C/RW L 2007 Hachinohe, Japan
20 Tonosaki Kei LW L 2011 Sapporo, Japan
21 Omachi Noritoshi RW L 2011 Japan
45 Setaka Tetsuo C L 2005 Tomakomai, Japan
48 Ueno Hiroki LW/RW L 2011 Nagano, Japan
51 Dave Bonk C L 2011 Brandon, MB, Canada
67 Andrew Kozek LW L 2011 Revelstoke, BC, Canada
86 Song Dong-hwan RW R 2011 Seoul, South Korea

Past import players

References

External links