Tohoku Free Blades

The Tohoku Free Blades (東北フリーブレイズ) were founded in 2008 and have played nine seasons in the Asia League. The team has won the league championship three times.

Of the four active teams to win the championship, only the Blades have done so without finishing first in regular season standings.

The team plays in several rinks during the season in order to spread the popularity of the game and has resulted in annual increases in attendance.

The Blades skated into their first season with 16 rookies on the 21 man roster and finished fifth in the seven team league. Although the team failed to make the playoffs, it wasn’t by much.

There were other positives from that first year as well.  Left winger Bruce Mulherin led the team with 51 points and finished third in league scoring. The Blades were also a league best 4 -1 in shootouts.

in 2010-11 the team finish third. Tanaka Go won the league scoring title with 59 points. Cole Jarret was third and led all defensmen with 51 points (Still a Free Blades record), and Suzuki Masahito came in sixth with 46 points (Also a team record for a RW).

The team’s success and first round playoff win quickly became unimportant on March 11, 2011 when a devastating earthquake and Tsunami struck Japan. The finals were cancelled and the Blades and Anyang Halla were declared co-champions.

The Blades have continued to be a formidable team under the coaching of Chris Wakabayashi.