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The Imaginary Draft Pick
by Alanah McGinley on 06/16/08 at 08:06 PM ET
Comments (7)
I often worry I should start a blog subject-category entitled “Things Everyone Else Probably Knows Yet Alanah Never Heard Of.” Case in point…
Today, perusing Sabretooth House (and enjoying Anne’s entertaining indictment of Alexander Daigle and the blunders of the Ottawa Senators on draft day 1993) I came across this tidbit from Sabres’ draft history 1974: the drafting of Japanese superstar, Taro Tsujimoto.
Who?
On the off-chance that I’m not the only person who somehow missed out on this awesome bit of hockey history, here’s the story:
From Wikipedia:
Taro Tsujimoto is an imaginary ice hockey player that was legally drafted by the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabres in the 11th round of the 1974 NHL Entry Draft.
The Sabres’ general manager at the time, Punch Imlach, was reportedly fed up with the slow drafting process via the telephone. He decided to have some fun and contacted public relations director Paul Wieland for the translation of Sabre in Japanese and a common Japanese name. When the 11th round surfaced, Imlach chose to select star center Taro Tsujimoto of the Tokyo Katanas. The NHL made the pick official, and so it was reported by all major media outlets including reputable magazine The Hockey News.
Imlach did not clear the air about the fake draft pick until weeks later. He admitted that he had found the name Taro Tsujimoto in a Buffalo phone book, and the team name Tokyo Katanas translated into English as Tokyo Sabres. The NHL would eventually change the pick to an “invalid claim” for its official record-keeping purposes, but this was after Tsujimoto’s name had appeared in several of NHL Guide and Record Books. Tsujimoto is still listed among Sabres’ draft picks in the Sabres media guide.
And a few thoughts from Bill Meltzer at NHL.com in 2006:
As the Buffalo Sabres’ turn came up with the 184th overall pick, legendary general manager Punch Imlach made an announcement that caused everyone else in the room to perk up in astonishment. The Sabres’ pick: Taro Tsujimoto, star center for the Tokyo Katanas of the Japanese Ice Hockey League.
With overseas scouting still in its infancy, the other NHL teams were shocked the Sabres had scouted a player in Japan. Not even Major League Baseball teams were doing that at this point, and Japan was certainly better known for baseball than hockey. In fact, no one in the NHL Headquarters meeting room even knew Japan had a pro or semi-pro hockey league (it did—the Japan Ice Hockey League).
NHL officials dutifully recorded the Tsujimoto pick, making it official. Over the next week, all major North American media outlets listed the pick along with the rest.
That’s got to be the best Draft day story, ever.
Thanks to Sabretooth House for bringing this whole thing to my attention. (And for that photo of Alexander Daigle wearing a nurse’s uniform—if the back-story to that photo had something to do with draft day, it would probably trump this Tsujimoto thing pretty damn quick…) 
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Note: 2008 Draft Day coverage on Kukla’s Korner
Filed in: dumb stuff, nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: nhl+entry+draft, taro+tsujimoto,
Comments
That’s a very weird packet of cards… #1 Sens picks for three seasons in a row, right? (‘92,‘93 and ‘94?)
Look at the bright side: so many Sens fans probably burned a couple of those in frustration, they might actually have some value one day.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 06/16/08 at 09:47 PM ET
The Daigle photo didn’t have anything to do with draft day. But after the Senators drafted Daigle, they built an ad campaign around him—a series of newspaper ads with Daigle dressed as a matador, a gladiator, and in one of the great WTF moments of all time (right up there with the Esposito trade of 1967), a nurse.
Posted by Lloyd Davis from Toronto, ON on 06/17/08 at 08:22 AM ET
Lloyd,
The ad campaign was for a hockey card company, maybe Upper Deck.
Posted by Chemmy from Boston, MA on 06/17/08 at 08:36 AM ET
I think Upper Deck should take it to the next level then. Like putting Sean Avery in drag. That could be fun.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 06/17/08 at 11:20 AM ET
I think Upper Deck should take it to the next level then. Like putting Sean Avery in drag. That could be fun.
I’d be worried he would be a little too comfortable in a dress, though. 
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/17/08 at 11:44 AM ET
The ‘Taro Tsujimoto’ story is actually inaccurate - Imlach called my grandfather, Joshua Tsujimoto, asked permission to use his last name, and wondered what an appropriate team name would be. This wasn’t entirely Punch Imlach’s creation, even if it was pretty devious. It’s been cool to be a distant relative of a fictitious NHL player, however.
Posted by Ben Tsujimoto from Elma, NY on 10/28/09 at 09:11 PM ET
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Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading “parenting for complete idiots” during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.
In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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Nice find!
I remember getting Yashin, Daigle, and Bonk hockey cards in one packet; I was super excited. Then the horrors began.
oh
.
.
god
Posted by Osrt on 06/16/08 at 08:17 PM ET