 |
|
GK
Nihei was last season's MVP |
Cranes
Hungry to Win Their First League Title
This
Season: The Cranes have jumped at the chance
to upgrade their roster over the offseason aqquiring
last season's MVP goaltender Jiro Nihei and his
FW twin brother Taro from Kokudo as well as Kokudo
DF Yujiro Nakajimaya. They were also able to pick
up power forward Ryan Kuwabara who after starring
several years win Kokudo played in the English league
with Belfast and former Seibu forward Matthew Kabayama.
These moves were supposed to push the Cranes over
the top and help them get their first league title.
However, the first of league play found the Cranes
stuggling defensively finishing 3rd. Taro Nihei
was injured for much of the first stage and DF star
Kengo Ito left the team to play in the ECHL. Still,
there is still the Asia league and the second stage
of the JIHL season to see if the team can find a
winning formula.
Last Season: The Cranes finished
a disappointing 3rd in the regular season one year
after finishing 1st. Once again the Cranes ran into
Kokudo in the playoffs and once again they failed
to find a way to get past them. |
 |
Former
Star Allan Conroy |
Founded
as the Jujo Paper hockey club in 1946 the Cranes
joined the JIHL in 1974. In 1993 the team changed
it's name to the Nippon Paper Cranes.
For a long time the Cranes had little success on
the ice but since 1999 they have shown consistent
improvement thanks to players like Darcy Mitani,
Joel Dyck, Rob Dopson, Allan Conroy (above), Kengo
Itoh and Masatoshi Itoh.
The Cranes finished 1st in the regular season in
2001 for the first time. Still, success in the playoffs
has eluded them so far. |
|
|
|
|
Team
Name:
Nippon Seishi (Paper) Cranes
>
Official
Site
Founded:
1946 (changed name to Cranes in 1993)
JIHL Titles:
0
All-Japan Titles:
0
Last Season:
3rd place regular season, lost in first round
of playoffs
|
All-Time
Record: |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
| 276 |
483 |
63 |
.364 |
Power ratings
|
|
 |
