Color of Hockey: Fukufuji continuing to grow game in Japan

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog for the past 10 years. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of the NHL's celebration of Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, he profiles former Los Angeles Kings goalie Yutaka Fukufuji, who became the first player born in Japan to play in the NHL on Jan. 13, 2007.

Yutaka Fukufuji was almost late for his date with history.

It was Jan. 12, 2007, and the Los Angeles Kings called up the goalie from Kushiro, Japan, from Manchester of the American Hockey League to meet the team in St. Louis and dress for the game against the Blues.

"I have to get there the day before, but my flight was cancelled with bad weather," Fukufuji said. "I get to St. Louis on game day and get to the rink a couple of hours before. Kind of a busy day."

It got busier when Fukufuji started the third period of the game on Jan. 13, 2007, and became the first player born in Japan to play in the NHL. Then Kings coach Marc Crawford told his 24-year-old goalie on the bench, "We make history. You're going in the third."

"I didn't have a practice, I had a warmup," he said. "I was so nervous, but I was excited, too."

The Kings trailed 5-4 after two periods when Crawford decided to replace starter Barry Brust, gave up five goals on 20 shots.

The Blues won 6-5. Fukufuji allowed a power play goal to Dennis Wideman midway through the third period and stopped the four other shots he faced in his 19:17-minute NHL debut.

Fukufuji made history again when he became the first Japanese player to start an NHL game when he faced the Atlanta Thrashers on Jan. 16, 2007. He allowed three goals on nine shots in Atlanta's 6-2 win and was pulled after playing 21:53.

Fukufuji's NHL career was short. He appeared in four games, with a 0-3-0 record, 4.37 goals-against average and .837 save percentage.

"I wasn't ready for the NHL," he said. "If I had more chances to play in the AHL maybe I play better, but there was no time. I wasn't ready for everything, the mental, the skill."

The brief taste of the NHL only fueled Fukufuji's passion for hockey. At 39, he played this past season for the Nikko Ice Bucks of the Asia League where he appeared in 15 games and had a 2.28 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.

He was also a member of Japan's national team at the 2022 IIHF World Championship Division I, Group B that concluded in Tychy, Poland, this past week.

Japan finished second in the tournament, losing to Poland 2-0 in the final.

Fukufuji didn't play, but served as an elder statesman on the Japanese team that had some players with NHL and North American pro hockey ambitions like forward Yushiroh Hirano.

Hirano, who played 30 games for the Vancouver Canucks' AHL affiliate in Abbotsford and 25 games for Cincinnati of the ECHL this past season, led the tournament with 10 points (six goals, four assists) in four games.

"Yushiroh Hirano, I talked to him, and he saw when I played in the NHL and I think it made a pretty good impact for him," Fukufuji said. "I was the same like him when I was his age -- I was always looking to play in the NHL."

Fukufuji said he also wants to help Japan's men's national team qualify for the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1998 when Japan hosted in Nagano.

"Yeah, that's still my dream, playing in the Olympics," he said. "That's why I keep going. I don't think I have a chance to play in the Olympics anymore, but I'm going to try."

Fukufuji began playing hockey as a kid in Kushiro on Japan's island of Hokkaido. He started his pro career in 2001 playing for the Kokudo Rabbits of the Asia League.

His play caught the attention of Glen Williamson, a former Winnipeg Jets assistant coach who was an assistant on Japan's men's national team and a scout for the Kings.

The young goalie already had some North American experience. He appeared in nine games with Cincinnati of the ECHL in 2002-03 and went 4-3-0 with a 3.13 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.

On Williamson's recommendation, the Kings selected Fukufuji in the eighth round (No. 238) of the 2004 NHL Draft, which surprised the goalie and his family.

He became the second player from Japan drafted by an NHL team after defenseman Hiroyuki Miura, who was chosen by the Montreal Canadiens in the 11th round (No. 260) of the 1992 NHL Draft. Miura never played in the NHL.

"Back in my hometown, it was four o'clock in the morning and Glen called me, 'the Kings drafted you,'" Fukufuji said. "I was like, 'What?' Kind of surprised. Good times, great memories."

Fukufuji joined Bakersfield of the ECHL in 2004-05 and posted a career-best 27-9-5 record with a 2.48 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 44 games.

Stints in Reading of the ECHL and two games in Manchester followed before the Kings came calling in 2006-07. They were forced to reach deep into their goalie depth chart due to a rash of injuries to Dan Cloutier, Mathieu Garon and seemingly whoever replaced them. Los Angeles went through five goalies that season, including Sean Burke.

Fukufuji received his first call-up on Dec. 15, 2006 and dressed for the Kings' 4-3 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars the following day but didn't play. He was recalled for the St. Louis game in January after Garon was placed on injured reserve with a finger injury.

Bill Ranford, who was in his first year as the Kings goalie coach, said the 6-foot-1, 160-pound goalie "had some athletic ability in his game" but not enough frame to cover the net.

"He was just perfect to work with, but sometimes you're not good enough to play at the NHL level, and that just happened to be his case," said Ranford, who won the Stanley Cup twice playing with the Edmonton Oilers (1988, 1990), twice coaching with the Kings (2012, 2014) and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1990. "It wasn't for lack of trying or want because he worked as hard as anybody we had come through here."

Fukufuji returned to the minor leagues and bounced between the ECHL and AHL from 2007-09 before playing in the Netherlands in 2009.

He returned to Japan in 2010 and is excited by the progress that hockey is making there, thrilled that he's still able to be a part of it.

"Yeah, I have a lot of passion," Fukufuji said. "Physically, I'm getting old a little bit, but my mental is pretty good, and I want to keep going as much as I can."

Photos: ©ICEBUCKS