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| Coaldale native Steve Tsujiura was a most valuable player in the Western Hockey League, and a prolific scorer in junior and minor league hockey, but he never played a game in the NHL . Source: https://asianamericansinhockey.com /2018/12/28/profile-steve-tsujiura/ (May be subject to copyright) |
For a reason I was only later to discover, he was also public-enemy number one when he brought his Medicine Hat Tigers to Lethbridge to play the Broncos – and for multiple reasons.
He would be most valuable player of the Western Hockey League, notch two 100-plus-point seasons, and be an all-star.
Yet he never played a single game in the National Hockey League.
But for a kid growing up in the 1980s in Southern Alberta, there was no one like Steve Tsujiura.
He really was an unknown star.
Meteoric rise
Steve Tsujiura first gained attention playing with the Taber Golden Suns in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he recorded 71 points in 52 games in the 1976-1977 as a 14-year-old, on 32 goals and 39 assists. He bettered that the next season with 72 points in 55 games on 27 goals and 45 assists.
Steve Tsujiura first gained attention playing with the Taber Golden Suns in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he recorded 71 points in 52 games in the 1976-1977 as a 14-year-old, on 32 goals and 39 assists. He bettered that the next season with 72 points in 55 games on 27 goals and 45 assists.
Taber was affiliated with the Medicine Hat Tigers of what was then called the Western Canada Hockey League, which dropped the Canada in 1978 and became the Western Hockey League.
Tsujiura joined the Tigers at the tail-end of that 1977-1978 season for 17 games, where he scored five goals and added eight assists for 13 points. He also played in 12 playoff games where he scored four goals and set up nine others for 13 points.
The best was yet to come when, as a 16-year-old, he started his first full season with the Tigers.
Tiger by the tail
Tsujiura would play three full seasons and half of a fourth with the Tigers, and definitely leave his mark. He played 62 games in 1978-1979, his first full season with the Tigers, notching 24 goals and 45 assists for 69 points.
Tsujiura would play three full seasons and half of a fourth with the Tigers, and definitely leave his mark. He played 62 games in 1978-1979, his first full season with the Tigers, notching 24 goals and 45 assists for 69 points.
Then his career exploded.
In 1979-1980, Steve Tsijiura had his first 100-plus point season, scoring 25 goals and a startling 77 assists for 102 points in a full 72-game season. He also played 16 games in the playoffs, adding nine goals and four assists for 13 points.
That was just a prelude to the best season of his junior career.
In 1980-1981, Steve Tsijiura again played all 72 games. This time he scored 55 goals and set up 84 more for 139 points, all career highs. He added four more goals and four assists for eight points in five playoff games.
For his effort, he was named the WHL Player of the Year.
In the subsequent 1981 NHL Entry Draft, Steve Tsujiura was taken 205th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers.
He returned to Medicine Hat in the fall of 1981, playing in 31 games where he scored 24 goals and added 45 assists for 69 points. He was dealt to the Calgary Wranglers late in the season for their playoff run, scoring another two goals and eight assists in six games. He would also appear in nine playoff games for the Wranglers, scoring three goals and nine assists for 12 points.
Those would be his last games in the Western Hockey League.
Career minor leaguer
Steve Tsujiura joined the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Maine Mariners, in the fall of 1982, and stayed in the AHL until the 1989-1990 season, playing seven seasons with the Mariners and a one-season stint each with the Springfield Indians and Utica Devils. He played a total of 538 games, scoring 156 goals and adding 326 assists for 482 points.
Steve Tsujiura joined the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Maine Mariners, in the fall of 1982, and stayed in the AHL until the 1989-1990 season, playing seven seasons with the Mariners and a one-season stint each with the Springfield Indians and Utica Devils. He played a total of 538 games, scoring 156 goals and adding 326 assists for 482 points.
After that it was a year in Italy, four-plus seasons in Switzerland, and four seasons in Japan.
He also played four games for Japan in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
He retired from hockey in 1998.
The distinguished gentleman
Tsujiura also brought another element to his game – sportsmanship. He was the Most Sportsmanlike Player in the Western Hockey League in 1979-1980 and 1980-1981.
Tsujiura also brought another element to his game – sportsmanship. He was the Most Sportsmanlike Player in the Western Hockey League in 1979-1980 and 1980-1981.
He also won the American Hockey League’s Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for exemplifying sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey in 1985-1986.
This award is all the more remarkable considering Tsijiura experienced racism continually during his time in the American Hockey League.
That was punctuated by an incident in Sherbrooke in November of 1988. Tricolo, Sherbrooke’s mascot, walked around the arena wearing a head band, waving a Japanese flag, and bowing in a mocking way while the organist played some stereotypical Japanese jingle. It was a direct attack on Steve Tsujiura who was then captain of the Maine Mariners.
Mike Milbury, who coached the Mariners, approached the organist at one point to demand he stop with the racist and demeaning song, but nothing changed. Milbury got so mad he charged up to the organist with some players and had to be restrained by security. Reportedly, several punches were thrown. The game was delayed 15 minutes, Milbury was ejected, and would subsequently be fined $250 by the American Hockey League.
Tsujiura just shrugged off the incident as one in a series. He said he experienced that since he started playing there. It happens and is unfortunate. He accepted it, but didn’t think it should happen.
Sadly, the return game was just as bad, and even worse with fans waving Japanese flags and signs with racial taunts.
Through it all, Steve Tsujiura was all class.
Home town hockey
It was after I watched Tsujiura play against the Lethbridge Broncos that I discovered something very interesting – he was from Coaldale, my hometown.
It was after I watched Tsujiura play against the Lethbridge Broncos that I discovered something very interesting – he was from Coaldale, my hometown.
It now made sense why the fans in Lethbridge were all over him, and gave him a tougher ride than the other Tigers. According to them, he should have been playing for the Lethbridge Broncos, not their bitter rival. That actually made sense to me, although it saddened me.
Over time I discovered more about Tsujiura and his time in Coaldale.
When I was in junior high, Grade 8 I think, our phys ed teacher and track and field coach Mrs. Ober posted the junior high track and field results. The sheets also had the records for the county. As I ran my finger down the columns looking for my own results, I saw Tsujiura’s name. It had been at least 10 years, but he still held a record. He was not only fast on the ice but off it.
Later, Tsujiura’s name came up in a conversation with Ed Ryan, my former guidance councillor. He said Tsujiura was the best athlete he ever saw. Not only hockey, but he referred to the track record, and added Tsujiura was a scratch golfer.
I thought it was really cool he was from Coaldale.
Parting thoughts
It still amazes me that Steve Tsujiura put up those amazing numbers in junior and in the American Hockey League – yet never played a single game in the NHL.
It still amazes me that Steve Tsujiura put up those amazing numbers in junior and in the American Hockey League – yet never played a single game in the NHL.
The reason always seemed to be his size, because he was small in an era when size mattered virtually above all else.
It really is too bad he never got a shot. Every time I saw him play, he was the best player on the ice. He was just so fast and smooth with great hands.
And he never gave up, playing 16 years of pro hockey culminating with a trip to the Olympics.
Not bad, but typical for an unknown star.
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