A NEW HOPE - STEVEN TSUJIURA
I recently got to sit down with Steven Tsujiura to talk to him about his hockey career and I thought I would write a blog post to bring more context to his hockey history. You can listen to the podcast at this link.
I grew up as a third generation Japanese Canadian in Coquitlam, BC and played hockey from Novice to adult hockey. I was never a great player but I could hold my own in a house hockey league (lol). But as a kid, you always hoped one day you could play in the big leagues, even though you knew you wouldn’t make it, it's nice to dream right.
One thing that always gave me hope was my cousin Steve Tsujiura . As a kid growing up in the 80s, I was stoked to see any Asian athlete (Michael Chang, Jim Paek, Steven Kariya) in any North American sport. I was even stoked to see Asian actors (Sho Kosuji, Ernie Reyes Jr, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee) in North American television/movies. So I can only imagine that for older generations that they would be super excited to see a Japanese Canadian excelling in the WHL, including such accolades as the MVP in the WHL.MostMo
With Steve being my cousin, any time I spoke to someone who was interested in hockey, I would somehow work into the conversation that Steve was my cousin and he was the WHL Most Valuable Player of the Year in 1980. Steve Tsujiura had an impressive WHL track record and I was told he was the wishful hope of many Japanese Canadians and was also their inspiration. Steve standing at 5 foot 5 inches, he did not fit the normal profile of a NHL player and when anyone said he was too small I would quickly rebut that Steven had a black belt in judo and when got in a fight with John Blum (6’3”, 205 lbs) he flipped him on the ice. I finally found this footage on YouTube and linked it below.
Steven was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers but never got to play in the NHL. Very unfortunate as his WHL and the AHL statistics really said he should have got to play in the big leagues.
AHL Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award (1985–86)
WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player (1979–80 & 1980–81)
WHL Player of the Year (1980–81)
WHL Second All-Star Team (1980-81)
According to an article written by Paul Abramowitz, (Portland Press) Steven was the captain of the New Jersey Devils farm team and averaged almost a point per game (407 in 434) during four seasons in Maine and he stated that Steven’s strong points are defense, penalty killing and winning faceoffs.
It might have been too early, for a 5 foot 5"player in the NHL. Shortly after, players like Cliff Ronning, Theo Fleury had huge success in the league. The counter argument to that is Marcel Dionne and Henri Richard were both considered short players and they had success before Steve was drafted. If the excuse is the NHL wasn't ready for an asian player, the flip side of the argument is Larry Kwong played in the NHL in 1948.
Searching the internet now, there are some strong arguments both ways on why Steven didn’t get a chance to play hockey.
Reasons for Steven not playing
Steven was 5’5” tall.
There were not many short players under 5’8 in the NHL during that time.
Marcel Dionne was considered a short player and he was 5’8 inches tall, so a few significant inches taller than Steven. Marcel had a very successful career in the NHL.
From 1979 to 1983, Steven was tied with Tom Cyr as the shortest players in WHL during that period. Tom also did not play a game in the NHL.
Of the shorter players in WHL from 1979 to 1983, only Steven and Dale Derkatch were drafted by NHL teams. Neither of them played in the NHL. These two points clearly illustrate that size was a major factor during that time.
It was said that Philadelphia Flyers played a large style of hockey and it would be hard for Steven to play in that style.
Theo Fleury 5’6” was drafted 166 overall in 1987 after scoring 160 points in 65 games in the WHL and played for the Flames in 1988. Scoring 160 points and getting drafted 166 overall seems fairly consistent to Steven’s draft order.
There are a few other players in the AHL that had equally productive seasons (70-80pts) and never got called up to the NHL.
Of the 1980-1981 WHL All Star Team there were two players that did not play in the NHL.
According to Steven Tsujiura, his talent was that he was good at things but not exceptional at one thing and the NHL could afford a small player playing the game but you would need to be exceptional at one or two things.
In a 1988 interview, there is a quote from Mike Milbury, 'If people can get past that small-man syndrome, he might get (to the NHL) for a game or two,' said Milbury. 'His size is a significant problem and he gets pushed off the puck, but he checks very well and plays good two-way hockey.'
Reasons for why Steven should have got a shot in the big leagues.
Steven was the MVP in the WHL in 1980.
Winners for the WHL MVP award from ‘75 to ‘85 and names like Bryan Trottier, Bernie Federko, Barry Beck, Ryan Walter, Perry Turnbull, Doug Wickenheiser, Mike Vernon, Ray Ferraro, and Cliff Ronning. All of these players had successful NHL Careers.
Steven finished in the top 15 of goal scores in the WHL, and there were many players with lower stats than him playing in the same position that got a shot in the NHL.
Steven had a successful AHL career, ranging from 66 - 86 points per season. Many players with stats in that range got a chance to play in the NHL but being fair some did not.
Steve had a diverse skillset, racked up significant points but was also known for his work during the penalty kill, faceoffs and his two way hockey.
Steven was the first person and maybe only person to flip a person on ice.
I will let you make your own decision on why Steven didn’t get a chance in the big leagues but nothing will change the past. I definitely had an opinion before doing the research on the conditions of the WHL, NHL and AHL and how shorter statured players were drafted and called up but after my research I can clearly say the argument I had is not as clear as I thought it was.
That said, Steven had a very successful career through hockey including playing in the WHL, drafted in the NHL, playing in the AHL, playing in Europe and in Japan, playing the 1998 Olympics and coaching the Japanese National Team.
Below are some more statistics related to Steven Tsujiura's playing career (source: Wikipedia).
Related Links
Asian Heritage Month - Feature on Steven Tsujiura
And if you want to get into the debate, then you can put your comment into these forums.
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