Taro Tsujimoto Was Selected In The 11th Round of 1974 NHL Draft

Published on October 3rd, 2024 10:08 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Punch Imlach, the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, was mad.

Three years earlier, in 1971, the World Hockey Association had started as a direct competitor to the NHL.

The WHA took to signing amateur players to professional contracts before the NHL Draft. In order to keep their selections secret, NHL teams were required to pick up the phone and call NHL President Clarence Campbell when they wanted to make a pick in the 1974 NHL Draft.

This made the process extremely tedious and slow as Campbell had to list all of the players who had just been taken when teams phoned in to make their picks.

The NHL Draft was already 25 rounds long and this resulted in a three day slog of a draft.

Punch Imlach, as mentioned, was sick of it, and decided to have some fun at the NHL's expense.

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Imlach, along with Buffalo Sabres director of communications Paul Wieland, decided to create a fictitious player that they would "draft" in order to poke fun at the NHL's ludicrously long draft.

Wieland knew of a grocery store owner by the name of Joshua Tsujimoto and suggested that the Sabres "draft" a Japanese player with the last name of Tsujimoto.

Imlach asked permission of Joshua Tsujimoto to use his last name in the joke. Imlach also asked Joshua Tsujimoto to suggest a popular Japanese first name that he would use and was given the name of "Taro".

Imlach came up with a backstory for the fictional Taro Tsujimoto and everything. Tsujimoto was a 20-year old forward who played for the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey league.

The Tokyo Katanas also didn't exist.

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When it came time for the Sabres to make the 183rd overall pick in the 1974 NHL Draft, the team selected Taro Tsujimoto of the Tokyo Katanas.

You see, Imlach felt that the draft was taking far too long to complete, as there were far too many rounds. By the time that teams got to the 8th or 9th rounds, some clubs were already starting to just pass on their picks.

The ruse went flawlessly as NHL President Clarence Campbell didn't flinch when the Sabres made their pick.

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Imlach kept up with the hoax when training camp started as he had a jersey made for Tsujimoto and a spot in the locker room set up for him.

Journalists were obviously curious about Tsujimoto as he would have been the first player of Japanese descent to play in the NHL.

Where was he?

Imlach claimed that Tsujimoto might not arrive in the United States in time to play in the 1974-75 but that the Sabres would retain his rights.

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Eventually Imlach confessed to Clarence Campbell that the entire thing had been a joke - a protest of the length of the draft.

The league did not find this funny at all and changed the pick to an "invalid claim".

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Years later, the legend of Taro Tsujimoto lives on in the hearts and minds of Buffalo Sabres fans.

"Just wait until Taro comes!"