Steve Tsujiura

[lakai17]

How did this guy not get a cup of coffee. I definitely assume it's because of his size. He would make today's nhl I really believe. He was a force in juniors and excelled in the ahl.

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[The Gr8 Dane]

going ppg in the 80's in the AHL isin't what it is today , then there's his size

 

[Toby91ca]

I think it's pretty simple, he just wasn't good enough. Size would have played a big factor of course. He was 5'6", at that size you aren't even going to get a look unless you are dominating on the scoresheet and he simply didn't. He put up respectable numbers, but so do a lot of other guys that never make it.

He played 4 years in junior and was never close to the top scorers....his 3rd year was the closest he got, but was still 20+ points back.

Then in the AHL, again, never got close to the top scorers, was never within 25pts of the the lead, was often 40, 50, 60+ pts back.

I know guys (well 1 guy personally who's my age, went to school with him), but if I dug I'm sure there are tons of examples....won the scoring title in the AHL one year, an MVP in the AHL another year....he did get a cup of coffee in the NHL, but not more than that and he was 6'2", 200lbs +, so it's not surprising at all that a guy much smaller and not reaching anywhere close to the same stats wouldn't get a sniff.

 

[NVious]

His cousin Taro Tsujimoto set a bad precedent and people were hesitant about Japanese players since he posted his 0 points, 0 assists, 0 goals, 0 sv percentage stats. Some people even insisted Steve didn't exist!

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

This belongs in the History of Hockey board.

 

[hypereconomist]

Aside from his size, I'd assume that his timing had something to do with not getting a cup of tea. By the time he entered pro hockey in the mid-80s (say 1983-84), the talent-level of the league had recovered and improved from the WHA times. Teams had less capacity to take a chance on good minor league scorers after all the good WHA players were absorbed into the NHL in the couple years leading up to Tsujiura.

Being Asian at a time when the NHL was exclusively Caucasian and society was more racist (generally speaking) than it is today also probably didn't help his cause.

 

[wetcoast]

Aside from his size, I'd assume that his timing had something to do with not getting a cup of tea. By the time he entered pro hockey in the mid-80s (say 1983-84), the talent-level of the league had recovered and improved from the WHA times. Teams had less capacity to take a chance on good minor league scorers after all the good WHA players were absorbed into the NHL in the couple years leading up to Tsujiura.

Probably more this than below

Being Asian at a time when the NHL was exclusively Caucasian and society was more racist (generally speaking) than it is today also probably didn't help his cause.

Sure society was more racist at some level but players like Tony McKegney, Mike Marson and Grant Fuhr were in the NHL.

 

[MS]

He obviously wasn't a full-time NHL player but in terms of not getting a cup of coffee (which was the original question) he's definitely a bit unlucky.

There were 24 players in the AHL in 85-86 - the year of Tsujuira's 86-point career year - who recorded 70+ points and he's the only guy out of 24 to never play an NHL game.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Why didn't the 5'5" guy who had one top 20 finish in AHL scoring (12th) get to play in the NHL?

I mean, it's not like he played with some intense pace. Like Tyler Ennis and Rocco Grimaldi and these guys that make it at this size, their foot churn and pace really standout. This guy didn't have that. Good skill, very good hockey sense...but the skating and pace combo were short of what I'd expect to move up.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I don't remember him all that well but whatever impression he made on me, I can't help but compare him to Glen Goodall.

 

[seventieslord]

His cousin Taro Tsujimoto set a bad precedent and people were hesitant about Japanese players since he posted his 0 points, 0 assists, 0 goals, 0 sv percentage stats. Some people even insisted Steve didn't exist!

Dude was absolutely invisible come playoff time.

And regular season time!

 

[NVious]

Dude was absolutely invisible come playoff time.

And regular season time!

He didn't even show up in the pre season, I heard he even skipped the rookie camp

 

[Albatros]

I think it's pretty simple, he just wasn't good enough. Size would have played a big factor of course. He was 5'6", at that size you aren't even going to get a look unless you are dominating on the scoresheet and he simply didn't. He put up respectable numbers, but so do a lot of other guys that never make it.

He played 4 years in junior and was never close to the top scorers....his 3rd year was the closest he got, but was still 20+ points back.

Before the 1981 draft he was the league MVP and the best U19 scorer in the WHL. Got ranked 15th in the league by the Hockey News despite concerns about his size. Typically that would have meant being drafted ca. in the 4th round or sixties overall, but he fell far further back to the 10th round and 205th overall.

If he was called Bobby Lalonde I'm certain he still would have got his chance, but as it was teams opted to give the opportunities to less talented plugs instead. Relative to his age his AHL numbers were easily good enough too, but to no avail.

He also made the WHL's official top 125 players in league history list in 2015. Brent Sutter, Brian Sutter, Darryl Sydor, Bryan Trottier, Steve Tsujiura, Darcy Tucker, Mike Vernon...