Seibu Prince Rabbits

The nihongo|Seibu Prince Rabbits|SEIBUプリンス ラビッツ|Seibu Purinsu Rabittsu are an Asia League Ice Hockey team based in Nishi-Tokyo City in Tokyo, Japan. The Rabbits have played at the DyDo Drinco Ice Arena since 2006-07.

History

The club was founded as the Kokudo Keikaku Ice Hockey Club in Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972. They won the Japan Ice Hockey League and All Japan Ice Hockey Championship in 1974. Since then, they have won the League 13 times and the Championship 9 times. They moved to Shinagawa, Tokyo in 1984, then to Yokohama, Kanagawa in 1991. They changed their name to the Kokudo Ice Hockey Club according to the change of their parent company's name. They merged with the Seibu Railways Ice Hockey Club in 2003 and moved to the Suntory Higashi-fushimi Ice Arena in Nishitokyo, Tokyo where Seibu had been based. Their parent company Kokudo ceased to exist in 2006 after the merger with Prince Hotels, Inc.. They adopted the new name Seibu Prince Rabbits in 2006. The club also has a women's team called the Seibu Princess Rabbits.

Notable players

*Hiroyuki Miura, drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1992, the first ever Japanese drafted into the NHL.
*Yutaka Fukufuji, who was drafted by the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings and became the first Japanese-born player to appear in an NHL game

Import players

*flagicon|CAN Chris Bright 2003-05, RW
*flagicon|USA Dan Daikawa 2003-04, D
*flagicon|CAN Joel Prpic 2003-present, D (Former Bruins/Avalanche)
*flagicon|CAN Chris Yule 2003-08, F
*flagicon|CAN Richard Rochefort 2007-present, C

External links

*ja icon [http://www1.princehotels.co.jp/icehockey/ Official website]