Hiroto Sato

Hiroto Sato
Date of birth	November 15, 1993
place of birth	Kushiro , Japan
size	171 cm
Weight	72 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
2011-2014	Tōyō University
since 2014	Nikko Icebucks

Hiroto Satō ( Japanese 佐藤 大 翔 , Satō Hiroto ; born November 15, 1993 in Kushiro , Hokkaidō ) is a Japanese ice hockey player who has been under contract with the Nikko Icebucks from the Asia League Ice Hockey since 2014 .

Career

Hiroto Satō began ice hockey at Tokyo University , where he played for the university team for three years. In 2014 he moved to the Nikko Icebucks , for whom he has since played in the Asia League ice hockey .

International

For Japan, Satō first took part in the junior division of the U20-IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia 2012 , in which he won the silver medal behind the Russian MHL Red Stars with the Japanese offspring . The following year he played at the U20 World Cup in 2013 in Division II, where he was voted best defender.

He played for the Japanese men's team for the first time at the Winter Asian Games 2017 , when he and his team won the bronze medal behind Kazakhstan and South Korea . In the same year he also played for the first time at the World Championships in Division I. In 2018 , when he was second best scorer behind his compatriot Ryō Hashimoto together with the Lithuanians Daniel Bogdziul , Povilas Verenis and Arnoldas Bosas , he played in Division I.

Achievements and Awards

• 2012 silver medal at the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia of the U20 Juniors 2012
• 2013 Promotion to Division I, Group B, at the U20 World Cup, Division II, Group A.
• 2013 Best defender at the U20 World Cup, Division II, Group A.
• 2017 bronze medal at the Winter Asian Games

Asia League statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	4th	157	19th	61	80	199
Playoffs	3	11	0	6th	6th	6th

(Status: end of the 2017/18 season)

Web links

• Hiroto Satō at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Hiroto Satō at eurohockey.com
• Sato Hiroto at Nikko Icebucks (Japanese)