Catching up with...

Rich REAY #47   |  Nickname: "Rico"

Quote: "For the record, Babcock has always been a dick to his fourth liners. I know, I know."

Rico used to play center but now excels on defense; "no further explanation required," he said. He joined the Tokyo Canadians to forge connections with like-minded individuals. His favorite events include team TCHC parties with 100s of guests and the Bangkok Tournaments, which have always been an adventurous experience.

Back in the day Rico played in the BCJHL (now BCHL) for the Summerland Buckaroos and the Kelowna Packers. He also played a season for the University of Lethbridge, coached by the infamous Mike Babcock, hence the quote above and the book written below.

Outside of hockey, Rico continues to live in Chiba, Japan and is the owner and operator of My Tokyo Guide where he runs tours for climbers on Mt. Fuji as well as river rafting and other outdoor adventures.

Rico is also an author with two published books:

Climbing Mt. Fuji: A Complete Guidebook

Babcock's Bench Boy: Beneath the Scowl: The Tale of the Speed Goats

#icehockey #hockeylife #hockeygram #instahockey #hockeyfamily #tokyo #japan #tchc  #celliant #poweredbycelliant

Upcoming Skate

Fuji Climb

TCHC Alum Chris Colucci likes to climb mountains. The Sept 2023 holiday weekend he climbed Mt. Fuji.

In recent years he's been to the foothills of the Rucu Pichincha Volcano (altitude 4,050m), Ushuaia, Argentina and to the equator in Ecuador with @jojihiratsuka

Canadians top Mitsubishi

September 9, 2023

by Joe McGrath, Sr. Correspondent

Final score TCHC 6, Mitsubishi 4.

Both teams started out cautious without many scoring chances in the first period, ending 0-0. 

Mitsubishi took a 1-0 lead early in 2nd with a goal by #12 Akai. 

The Canadians stormed back to take 3-1 lead midway thru the 2nd with goals by D. Shao, P. LeBlanc and I. Medcalf. Both teams tallied to finish 2nd at 4-2 TCHC, with B. Wong scoring for the Canadians and #10 Hiroki for Mitsubishi.

In the 3rd Canadians pulled away with two more goals by Shao, a call up centre from the Chiba affiliate, to take a 6-2 lead, before second goals by Akai and Hiroki for Mitsubishi made it close, but not close enough.

Goalkeeper Eisuke Shimizu flashed the leather on numerous occasions to keep the lead for the Canadians.

See you next time!

#icehockey #hockeylife #hockeygram #instahockey #hockeyfamily #tokyo #japan #tchc #mitsubishiicehockey #celliant #poweredbycelliant

White wins again

August 26, 2023

by Dickie Dunn, Staff Writer

Final score TCHC White 12, REDBLACKS 11.

Last ice of August at Jingu was generally well attended with two sets of forwards per team, three D-men for the REDBLACKS and four D for White. 

White jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on the strength of center man Colucci’s play, setting up Adams for the ice breaker and a solo effort for goal #2, while the REDBLACKS were trying to sort out lines. After a couple of shifts when they finally got the balance better, the REDBLACKS settled in and things evened out, catching up and eventually taking the lead up 6-5 in large part due to the duo of right wing #13 Ryan’s buzzing speed and center #12 Hide’s driving play, teaming up for four points on the first four goals. 

But White would not be denied, storming back to take a 9-6 lead, again on team MVP Colucci’s hard play, finding Killer for a goal and getting the 2nd helper on a tap in by Mikael to pot Chaw’s rebound. Mikael also had a double-doink from point blank hit the left post, then the right and out. Ian and Shu also picked up a couple goals and helpers for White.

But undaunted, the REDBLACKS found a way to get back in, chipping away at White’s lead. Gritty and Ryan teamed up for a breakaway with Ryan getting loose and firing a slot high glove side, but Eisuke’s quick glove robbed him for what ended up being the save of the night. Gritty also found himself in all alone after forcing a turnover and pushing it through the last D-man but the mitts failed him as he pushed the puck harmlessly into Tatsu’s pad. Koby was all over the ice for the REDBLACKS despite being one of only three D-guys adding two goals of his own.

Eventually, Hide and Ryan combined for all of the REDBLACKS last five goals, but the dagger was provided by Chaw with a tap in from the left post into a yawning cage after the initial save was made on a shot from, who else? Colucci. Gotta tighten up back there, D!

See you next time!

#icehockey #hockeylife #hockeygram #instahockey #hockeyfamily #tokyo #japan #tchc  #celliant #poweredbycelliant

TCHC White wins vs REDBLACKS

August 12, 2023

The Tokyo Canadians Team White skated to an 11-9 victory over the REDBLACKS on Saturday night at Jingu arena.

There was a great turnout with 15 skaters for the Whites and 13 for the REDBLACKS. We even got John and Josh from the depths of Kanagawa out to the game ("hard to find ice in the summer time") which means there's no excuses for the other Kanagawans...

-----

Leading the way for Team White was rookie Yoshin T., on loan from the Ottawa Jr Senators. He was one of four former Jingu Jr players in the game last night.

Helping out the scoring for the Whites were Colucci and Medcalf, as well as defender Riley "The Duke" with some slick moves, among others.

Hans "Solo" H. on D for the Whites enjoyed battling with the young players, laughing on the bench when they got frustrated with his veteran "tactics".

Hans' partner #7 had some challenges dealing with the speed of the opponents, specifically the smooth skating, ageless, #51 Naoto. Luckily for the Whites, Naoto spent most of the game trying to set up his line mates for scoring chances instead of shooting himself.

For the REDBLACKS their #12 HIDE (He-Day) led the way in scoring. Me thinks the guy did not see his D side of centre ice the whole game...

The 125 year old combination of Chaw-dog and Joji combined for a nice cross crease passing play which ol' #13 tapped in the empty net. Two-feet with an empty net and Joji is money!

REDBLACKS D-man S. Faulker, with his Brent Burns beard, skated off the jet plane at Narita straight to the rink. He and parter Koby played solid game both offensively and defensively. (Koby plays defense?!?! - in name only...)

Goalers Tatsumoto and Kamari made some fine saves, but, guys, need to close that 5-hole! With the stretch pass in play and the boys in early pre-season 'form' the goalies were hung out to dry on more than a few occasions. 

Shu will send out a message soon regarding the next skate. Expected in the line up are Gritty and Gritty Jr, back from their short-term demotion to the Iron League. Keep your heads up boys, they will be bringing the foil and playing angry.

Until then, stay cool out there.

#icehockey #hockeylife #hockeygram #instahockey #hockeyfamily #tokyo #japan #tchc  #celliant #poweredbycelliant

Red vs. White 

January 10th, 2021

On Monday, January 10th at Meiji Jingu Ice Rink the Tokyo Canadians kicked off the 2022 calendar year with a Red & White scrimmage. Team Red wore the team's official black third jersey.

The Year of the Tiger started off well. Transportation issues kept the keeper of the pucks from making it to the rink, which we only learned once all the skaters took to the ice and were fretfully looking around. Chaw and Eisuke saved the day by having a combined three pucks for us to use. Throwing pucks onto the ice to a bunch of anxious players looked like a shiver of sharks descending upon blood in open water.

The hockey gods must have honored our patience by bestowing on our skate miraculous luck—all night long not a single puck went out of play. Turns out we had two pucks too many.

There was some hockey played. Passes were received, shots were taken, saves were made, and goals were scored. At one point Black held a 6-1 lead over White. Black held a large territorial advantage throughout the night, but White did not go down without a fight. Final score: Black 10 White 7

Tokyo Canadians featured in The Canadian

Autumn 2020

Our team was featured for marking its 25th anniversary in The Canadian, the quarterly magazine of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Click here to read the article in full.