The were an Asia League Ice Hockey team based in Nishitōkyō City in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan that was folded in 2009. The Rabbits played at the DyDo Drinco Ice Arena from 2006-2009. In December 2008,

Prince Hotels The is the name of a hotel chain company headquartered in Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Seibu Holdings, Inc. Together with Seibu Railway, Prince Hotels is the core company of Seibu Group. Overview During the Allied occupati ...

, the team's owner, announced that the team would be folded at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season.

History

The club was founded as the Kokudo Keikaku Ice Hockey Club in

Karuizawa, Nagano is a resort town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,323 in 9897 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Karuizawa is one of the oldest and most ...

in 1972. They won the

Japan Ice Hockey League The Japan Ice Hockey League (JIHL) (日本アイスホッケーリーグ) was an annual ice hockey league that began in 1966 and ended in 2004 when it was replaced by Asia League Ice Hockey. Only Japanese teams competed in the JIHL. Baseball an ...

and ''All Japan Ice Hockey Championship'' in 1974. Since then, they have won the League 13 times and the All Japan Championship 11 times. They moved to

Shinagawa, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total a ...

in 1984, then to

Yokohama, Kanagawa is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

in 1991. They changed their name to the Kokudo Ice Hockey Club according to the change of their parent company's name. They merged with the Seibu Railways Ice Hockey Club in 2003 and moved to the Suntory Higashi-fushimi Ice Arena (renamed to ''DyDo Drinco Ice Arena'' in 2006 when the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

contract went to DyDo Drico) in

Nishitokyo, Tokyo () is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 206,047, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Nishitokyo is located at th ...

where Seibu had been based. Their parent company Kokudo ceased to exist in 2006 after a merger with

, Inc. They adopted the new name Seibu Prince Rabbits in 2006. The club also had a women's team called the Seibu Princess Rabbits. On December 19, 2008, Prince Hotels & Resorts officially announced its intention to fold the team at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season, citing funding difficulties in a harsh economic climate. Prince Hotels & Resorts negotiated with over twenty companies to find a new owner, however, did not succeed due to the economic situation in Japan, and due to the declining popularity of ice hockey itself. Prince Hotels & Resorts announced the dis-banding of the team as of March 31, 2009.

Honours

* Asia League: **''Winners (2)'': 2004-05, 2005–06 * Japan League: **''Winners (13)'': 1974-75, 1977–78, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 * All Japan Championship: **''Winners (11)'': 1975, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009

Notable players

* Hiroyuki Miura, drafted by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in 1992, the first ever Japanese drafted into the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. *

Yutaka Fukufuji is a Japanese ice hockey player for the Nikko Ice Bucks of the Asia League Ice Hockey. Fukufuji was the first Japanese player to appear in a National Hockey League (NHL) game. The first Japanese draft pick, Hiroyuki Miura (ice hockey), Hi ...

, who was drafted by the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

and became the first Japanese-born player to appear in an NHL game *

Juhani Tamminen Manu Juhani Tamminen (born May 26, 1950) is a Finnish retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga and World Hockey Association. He played for TPS, HJK, HIFK, Cleveland Crusaders, and Phoenix Roadrunners. He represented F ...

, Finnish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and subsequently one of the most controversial ice hockey media personalities in Finland.

Import players

* Terry O'Malley 1972-1977, D * Mel Wakabayashi 1972-1978, F *

1979-1980, 1982-1984, F * John Tucker 1997-2000, C * Chris Bright 2003-05, RW * Dan Daikawa 2003-04, D * Joel Prpic 2003-2009, D (Former Bruins/

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...

) * Chris Yule 2003-08, F * Richard Rochefort 2007-2009, C

References

{{Asia League Ice Hockey Asia League Ice Hockey teams Ice hockey teams in Japan Ice hockey clubs established in 1972 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2009 Sports teams in Tokyo Defunct ice hockey teams 1972 establishments in Japan 2009 disestablishments in Japan