The were an Asia League Ice Hockey team based in Kushiro City in Hokkaidō, Japan.
History The club was founded as Jūjō Paper Kushiro Ice Hockey Club in 1949. They adopted the new name Nippon Paper Cranes in 1993 when Jūjō Paper and Sanyō Kokusaku Pulp merged to form Nippon Paper.
They won the inaugural Asia League Ice Hockey title in the 2003–04 season, and have won it four times overall. They have also won the All Japan Ice hockey Championship seven times. After the 2018–19 season, the team was dissolved due to financial difficulties, and was replaced by the East Hokkaido Cranes.
Honours Asia League: Winners (4): 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2013–14 All Japan Championship: Winners (7): 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
Season-by-season record
Asia League Season GP W W(OT) W(GWS)* T L(GWS)* L(OT) L GF GA PTS Finish Playoffs 2003–04 16 13 0 — 0 — 0 3 80 49 39 1st/5 Won League 2004–05 42 31 0 — 5 — 0 6 206 85 98 1st/8 Lost in finals 2005–06 38 30 2 — 1 — 0 5 240 66 95 1st/9 Lost in finals 2006–07 34 27 1 — 1 — 2 3 198 79 86 1st/8 Won championship 2007–08 30 15 1 — 2 — 1 11 97 85 50 4th/7 Lost in finals 2008–09 36 18 3 2 — 2 3 8 120 95 69 4th/7 Won championship 2009–10 36 18 3 3 — 2 0 10 128 101 68 3rd/7 Lost in finals 2010–11 36 21 2 1 — 3 2 7 141 95 74 2nd/7 Lost in semi-finals 2011–12 36 16 1 3 — 1 1 14 128 110 58 4th/7 Lost in semi-finals 2012–13 42 17 4 6 — 3 3 9 176 130 77 3rd/7 Lost in semi-finals Totals 346 205 17 15 9 12 11 76 1514 895 — — 3 Championships*prior to the 2008–2009 season, there were no shoot-outs and games ended in a tie Past import players
Georgy Yevtyukhin, 1996–97 C Joel Dyck 2003–2009, D Chris Lindberg 2004–05, LW Derek Plante 2005–07, D Jamie McLennan 2007–08, G Tyson Nash 2007–08, LW Kelly Fairchild 2008–09, C Brad Tiley 2008–09, D Pierre-Olivier Beaulieu 2009–10, D Ash Goldie 2010–11, FW Mike Madill 2010–11, D Ray DiLauro 2011, D Tyler Mosienko 2011–12, C John Hecimovic 2011–12, RW
References