It's All Bunnies

If there's one animal whose representation in hockey hasn't been utilized to its full potential, it might be the Leporidae family. Commonly known as rabbits and hares in English, bunnies rarely seem to be the animal of choice used by hockey teams as their logo and/or team name. As people celebrate Easter weekend over the next few days, the Easter bunny will play a large role in Easter egg hunts, but HBIC wants to take a closer look at the few teams that have bunnies for logos or in team names. There won't be many teams, I assure you, so these next few days might be the perfect time to pull a rabbit out of our hats and make a little hockey bunny magic!

The team pictured above is one of the bunny teams we'll look at, but its history ends far too prematurely. That team shown is the Seibu Prince Rabbits who played in Asia League Ice Hockey, and they first took the ice in 1972! Founded as the Kokudo Keikaku Ice Hockey Club in Karuizawa, Nagano, the Koduko club might have been Japan's most popular and certainly its most successful team until the club folded in 2009, winning the Japan Ice Hockey League 13 times and the All Japan Championship 11 times. What happened to these rabbits, you ask? Let's find out!

The Kokudo Keikaku Ice Hockey Club was founded after a corporate split from the Seibu Tetsudo team, and they had a number of solid players on their roster thanks to that move. They didn't have to wait long for a championship either as they ascended through the standings before winning their first Japan Ice Hockey League and All Japan championships in 1975 - three years after their founding!

Kokudo would follow up that '75 championship run with a second championship in 1977-78, but the team operated under some rather difficult ownership and financial problems that saw the team move between cities as their sponsors changed their support levels over the years. Seibu Tetsudo was a railway company in Tokyo with large holdings. As Seibu looked to diversify its portfolio, the Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo, a construction, land development, and leisure company, pivoted to their own sub-company as they did a large amount of work in building stations and acquiring land for Seibu.

As a result, the split allowed the sub-company, Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo, to also sponsor a team, and the growing company was flush with money to attract talent. As you might be guessing, team sponsors play a large role in the success of the hockey clubs in the Japan Ice Hockey League, so keep this in the back of your mind as you read through this history.

Three-time Olympic hockey captain Terry O'Malley, currently an assistant coach with the Regina Cougars women's hockey program, was part of both teams in the 1970s, playing with Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo in 1971-72 before spending the next six seasons from 1972-73 to 1977-78 with Kokudo Keikaku. He was named as the Japan Ice Hockey League MVP in 1975, and eventually took over the a player/coach role in 1978, but decided to return to Canada to prepare for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games after which he'd retire from playing the game.

In that 1975 MVP season, O'Malley led Kokudo Keikaku to an 8-1-1 record for first-place in the Japan Ice Hockey League, and, more importantly, the club's championship season! Following Seibu winning in 1976 and 1977, O'Malley would help Kokudo Keikaku win a second championship in that player/coach season he had, leading Kokudo to a 12-2-1 record and the championship once again. Needless to say, the Toronto-born O'Malley played a big role in helping Kokudo Keikaku establish itself!

The team would find itself competing annually with the likes of Seibu and Oji Seishi Tomakomai for championships while the business grew steadily. In 1984, after watching Oji win its third-straight championship, the Kokudo Bunnies, as they were affectionately called thanks to the logo they had adopted, moved to Shingawa where they could take advantage of bigger crowds and easier travel. 1984-85 saw Oji win their fourth consecutive championship, but Kokudo would unseat them in 1986 after finishing the season 19-7-4 and winning the championship! For the next few seasons, Oji and Kokudo would be locked in a championship dance with Oji winning in '87 and '88, Kokudo winning in '89, and Oji winning in '90 and '91. The expectations of a championship in downtown Tokyo were an annual thing now, but that would change once again in the summer of 1991.

The economic boom in the 1980s saw the Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo company expand heavily into luxury resorts and tourism as they built a number of resorts in destinations, most notably in Maui and other Hawaiian islands. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi took over as chairman of the Seibu company in 1989, and he built a luxury hotel in Yokohama in 1990 in an effort to attract visitors. The following summer, the Bunnies would relocate to Yokohama where Tsutsumi's gem called home, and the team would begin play there in the 1991-92 season.

The battle with Oji would continue, but it would be Kokudo who would emerge victorious in 1992 as they amassed a 22-5-3 record to capture the Japan Ice Hockey League championship, and they would make it a back-to-back run when Oji faltered while the Kokudo Ice Hockey Club got better at 22-1-7 for their second-straight championship.

In what might have been bigger news for the club, the Montreal Canadiens made a little history when they drafted Bunnies defenceman Hiroyuki Miura 260th-overall in the 11th round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, making him the first real Japanese player drafted into the NHL! Miura never played in the NHL and only played six games in North America with the Wheeling Thunderbirds of the ECHL in 1993-94, but he was a mainstay on Japanese teams at the IIHF World Hockey Championships and at the Olympics including in 1998 in Nagano where he played with his older brother, Takayuki Miura, in the tournament! While international success eluded Miura, domestic success did not as Muira won seven Japan Ice Hockey League championships, all with Kokudo, before he retired in 2009.

1994 saw Oji win before Kokudo captured the 1995 championship. Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo jumped back into the fray with back-to-back championships in 1996 and 1997 before the arms race began in the Japan Ice Hockey League. With teams getting better and needing to attract sponsorship dollars, foreign players were being brought in by teams, and Kokudo was no exception. In the summer of 1997, the team brought in 32 year-old, former NHLer John Tucker from Italy where he was playing with Milan. Tucker, who played with Buffalo, Washington, the Islanders, and Tampa Bay, was nearing the end of his career, but Kokudo believed he could take the Bunnies to new heights. They also attracted former Flyers and Penguins defenceman Corey Foster for the 1997 season, so the foundation of the new-look Bunnies began to take shape.

The move paid off immediately for Kokudo as they captured the 1997-98 Japan Ice Hockey League title with a 24-12-4 record. They followed that up with a second championship in 1999 with a 31-8-1 record, and it looked like it was going to be three-straight championships in 1999-2000 when the Bunnies went 22-5-3, but were upset in the final by Seibu Tetsudo 3-1 in the final. Tucker would retire from the game following this season, but his time in Japan certainly saw him have a ton of success as he played in 86 games while scoring 62 goals and adding 89 assists over that time!

The 2000-01 Bunnies replaced Tucker with long-time IHL standout Chris Marinucci, and he went on a tear as he notched 29 goals and 30 assists in 40 games with the Bunnies. They would finish the 2001 season with a 25-13-2 record, and would capture another Japan Ice Hockey League championship. Marinucci's outstanding season in Japan led him to signing with the Eisbären Berlin of the DEL, so the Bunnies needed to find another scorer who could match Tucker's and Marinucci's skills if they hoped to stay atop the Japan hockey standings.

Kokudo never found a replacement entering into the 2001-02 season, and they saw that affect their standing in the league. They dropped to 17-17-4-2 with the introduction of shootouts into the league, leaving them in fourth-place and a tough climb if they were to defend their title. However, this Bunnies team came to play in the playoffs as they swept the top-seeded Nippon Paper Cranes in the opening round before dispatching their old nemesis in Seibu Tetsudo in a five-game series to win their second-straight championship!

2002-03 saw the Bunnies dip into NHL free agency once again as they brought former Bruins and Avalanche forward Joel Prpic over to Japan. Prpic, who had played with the AHL's Cleveland Barons in 2001-02, made an immediate impact with his imposing 6'7" frame and his 225-pound frame, leading to a 14-goal, 18-assist season over 29 games. There were some growing pains, though, as he often was whistled for penalties due to his bruising style of play, and that certainly had an effect on the Bunnies. In 32 games, the team finished in fourth-place with a 12-13-2-5 record, but the playoff structure changed dramatically for this season. Honestly, this 2003 edition of the playoffs was as close as one can get when it comes to running the gauntlet, and it requires a little explaining.

To begin the playoffs, the third-place and fourth-place teams would play in the opening round with the winner advancing to play the second-place team based on aggregate goals of the two-game set. From there, the same setup would happen in the second round of the playoffs with the winner of of the 3-vs-4 series playing the second-place team in an aggregate, two-game series. The final would then see the first-place team play the winner of the second-round series in a best-of-five championship series. It's certainly not a normal playoff bracket that we're used to, but Japan let it play out for one season.

In the 3-vs-4 game, Kokudo defeated the Nippon Paper Cranes 3-1 in Game One before falling 3-2 in Game Two, but the aggregate shows that Kokudo won the series 5-4 in total goals scored! Kokudo would move on to face Oji Seishi where they would win 5-3 in Game One before the teams tied 3-3 in Game Two. Again, Kokudo advances to the final thanks to the aggregate total of 8-6, leading to a championship final that pitted Kokudo against Seibu Tetsudo once again. It would take all five games, but Kokudo would emerge victorious with a 4-0 win in Game Five to capture their third consecutive JIHL Championship!

With several of the Asian countries seeing teams fold or dissolve early in the new millenium due to the worldwide recession, there needed to be a solution to keep leagues and teams afloat. Kokudo Keikaku bought the struggling Seibu railway business, and renamed itself Seibu Holdings to reflect its larger business overview that included railway, real estate, resorts, and construction. The resulting "acquisition" made the Seibu Holdings business stronger, but it also allowed the hockey team to play under the Seibu name for the first time since 1973. The most notable thing about the Bunnies entering this season was that Kokudo had changed their name from "Bunnies" to "Lions", the same name of the Seibu baseball team they acquired in the merger! I prefer "Bunnies" if we're being honest, but while this was happening the JIHL made an agreement with the Korean Ice Hockey League and formed Asia League Ice Hockey to ensure the domestic leagues for both countries remained strong!

As Japan was experiencing the same recession during this time, the 2002-03 season saw just five teams participate in the JIHL season. The recession also affected Seibu in a big way as the railway company was suffering losses, and they had decided to shelf the Seibu Tetsudo team for the 2003-04 season which resulted in that weird playoff format above. With only four teams playing in the JIHL in '03-04, it was a race to the finish line as the top team in the standings in the first-half of the season would player the winner of the second-half of the season for the championship. The only problem? Kokudo went 9-1-0-2 in the first-half to win that half, and turned in an identical 9-1-0-2 record in the second-half to win again. Since Kokudo won both halves of the season, they were awarded the JIHL Championship for the fourth-straight season!

The 2004-05 season was the first official season for Asia League Ice Hockey, and seven teams participated: four from Japan, one from South Korea (Halla Winia), one from Russia (Khabarovsk Golden Amur), and two from China (Harbin and Qiqihar). Kokudo would finish tied atop the standings with the Nippon Paper Cranes at 98 points, but Nippon would win the tie-breaker. As a result, Kokudo played against the Golden Amur, and would sweep them out of the playoffs to meet up with Nippon in the final after they dispatched Oji. It took four games, but Kokudo would win the first Asia League Ice Hockey title after beating Nippon. Kokudo goaltender Kikuchi Naoya was named MVP of the league that season while Kokudo forward Chis Sale led the playoffs with ten points!

The changes in membership continued for the Asia League in 2005-06 as Golden Amur withdrew due to financial issues, and Hanna Wilia was renamed to Anyang Halla. South Korean team Kangwon Land joined after strengthening their roster, and a Swedish-Chinese venture that saw Sweden supplying players to a Chinese team was entered under the name "Nordic Vikings". The season saw Kokudo struggle a little as they finished in third-place. They swept the Nikkō Ice Bucks in the opening round, and beat second-ranked Halla Winia in four games to set up the final against Nippon again. Just as they did one year earlier, Kokudo defeated Nippon to win their fifth-straight championship!

The 2006 summer saw the Lions retired as the Seibu Holdings was still bleeding red ink from its business ventures, and they merged with Prince Hotels, Inc. The new owners wanted to put their stamp on the hockey club they acquired in the merger, and they renamed the Lions as the Seibu Prince Rabbits! With the Rabbits ready to go for the 2006-07 campaign, there were other changes in the league as the Nordic Vikings withdrew due to financial problems, Harbin moved to Beijing and became "Hosa", Qiqihar became "Changchun Fuao", and the eight-team circuit was set for the 2006-07 season. The season saw Seibu finish in second-place behind the Nippon Paper Cranes once again, and they earned a bye through the first round of the playoffs with six teams qualifying. They would meet Oji and sweep them to set up yet another meeting with Nippon. The story would change this time, though, as Nippon captured the Asia League championship in four games over Seibu to end their five-year reign atop the two leagues.

2007-08 saw the two Chinese teams - Hosa and Changchun Fuao - merge into one team called the "China Sharks" as the San Jose Sharks assumed control of the franchise, eventually assigning Claude Lemieux to the team. Kangwon Land was renamed to High1, and the seven teams began the season. The Seibu Prince Rabbits won the regular season, earning a bye into the second round. Nippon, who had been the class of the regular season for a while, advanced past Anyang Halla to meet Seibu in the second round - the first time in Asia League history that the final wouldn't feature these two teams. In a shocking upset, Nippon defeated Seibu in four games to advance to the final, ending the Prince Rabbits' season early. Oji Paper would eventually claim the championship by downing Nippon in the final.

2008-09 would be one that shocked everyone when, midway through the campaign, Prince Hotels announced that they would be folding the Seibu Prince Rabbits following the season due to overwhelming financial difficulties. Despite the hotel corporation seeking buyers for the team, no one stepped up to purchase the team, so the announcement was made. Would that have an effect on the Rabbits as they played this season? Third-place Seibu would meet second-place Oji in their semifinal matchup after just five teams qualified for the playoffs, and Seibu defeated the defending champions in four games to advance to the final! Who would they meet there? None other than the Nippon Paper Cranes who eliminated Anyang Halla on the other side of the bracket. The storybook ending wasn't to be, though, as Nippon downed Seibu to capture the Asia League championship!

Despite all the success the Bunnies/Lions/Prince Rabbits had in their existence, no one made an eleventh-hour save of the team as the team folded in the off-season. When all was said and done, the doors closed for good on the Rabbits on March 31, 2009 following 13 JIHL titles, 2 Asia League titles, and 11 All-Japan Championships in the team's history. It's hard to see such a storied franchise disappear, but the economic climate at the time combined with making such little money at the ticket booth really were the catalysts in the demise of these Bunnies.

We'll take a look at another bunny-ish team tomorrow, but, for today, keep Mike Bossy's family in your thoughts. Seeing one of the all-time greatest goal scorers pass away really sucks for the game as he was one of the good guys who loved working with kids and talking about the history of the game with fans. Rest in peace, Mike Bossy.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!