Ryan Kuwabara

Ryan Kuwabara
Date of birth	March 23, 1972
place of birth	Hamilton , Ontario , Canada
size	182 cm
Weight	95 kg
position	Right wing
Shot hand	Right
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1990 , 2nd lap, 39th position Canadiens de Montréal
Career stations
1989-1992	Ottawa 67's
1992-1994	Fredericton Canadiens
1994-2002	Kokudo Ice Hockey Team
2002-2003	Belfast Giants
2003-2008	Nippon Paper Cranes
2008-2009	High1
2009-2010	Dundas Real McCoys

Ryan Haruo Kuwabara ( Japanese 桑 原 ラ イ ア ン 春 男 , Kuwabara Raian Haruo ; born March 23, 1972 in Hamilton , Ontario ) is a former Canadian - Japanese ice hockey player .

Career

Ryan Kuwabara began his career as a hockey player with the Ottawa 67’s , for which he was active in the Canadian junior league Ontario Hockey League from 1989 to 1992 . During this period he received the Bobby Smith Trophy in 1990 as the OHL player with the best ratio of school and sporting performance. In addition, the winger was selected in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft in the second round as the 39th player of the Canadiens de Montréal . For their farm team Fredericton Canadiens , he ran from 1992 to 1994 in the American Hockey League . During the same period he also played a few games for the Wheeling Thunderbirds in the ECHL . From 1994 to 2002 he played for the Kokudo Ice Hockey Team in the Japan Ice Hockey League . With the team he won the Japanese championship title in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002. The 2002/03 season he spent with the Belfast Giants , with whom he won the playoff championship of the British Ice Hockey Superleague .

From 2003 to 2008 Kuwabara competed for Nippon Paper Cranes in the newly founded Asia League Ice Hockey and won their championship titles in 2004 and 2007 with his team. He spent the 2008/09 season with the South Korean ALIH participant High1 . He last played for the Canadian amateur team Dundas Real McCoys in the 2009/10 season before ending his career at the age of 38.

International

For Japan , Kuwabara took part in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano . He was also in his country's squad at the A-World Championships in 2000 , 2001 , 2002 and 2003 .

Achievements and Awards

1990 Bobby Smith Trophy 1995 Japanese champion with the Kokudo Ice Hockey Team 1998 Japanese champion with the Kokudo Ice Hockey Team 1999 Japanese champion with the Kokudo Ice Hockey Team 2001 Japanese champion with the Kokudo Ice Hockey Team

2002 Japanese champion with the Kokudo Ice Hockey Team 2003 Ice Hockey Superleague play-off champions with the Belfast Giants 2004 Champion of the Asia League Ice Hockey with the Nippon Paper Cranes 2007 Champion of the Asia League Ice Hockey with the Nippon Paper Cranes

Web links

• Ryan Kuwabara at hockeydb.com (English)
• Ryan Kuwabara at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Ryan Kuwabara in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )