By Nick Clark
MnJHL Director of Media Relations

The relative nature of the idea seemed odd for Edina Lakers forward Tadayoshi Shibata. Ice, after all, was something you treasured and skated on. Not fish out of.

“I’ve never gone ice  fishing before, so today is a first,” admitted Shibata during an off-day earlier this week. “It’s a little strange, but it should be fun. I’m just going to try and keep warm.”

He’s been plenty of that on another form of ice, leading Edina in scoring throughout the year with 36 points in 39 games, which include 21 goals, the last of which he potted late in the third period this past Friday night to give the Lakers a 2-1 victory the Hudson Crusaders.

The victory, Shibata said, provided a blueprint as to what Edina needs to be doing in order to win games, mainly blocking shots and taking advantage of the power play.

Both Lakers goals that night came with the man-advantage, including the 5-on-3 game-winner Shibata buried late in the third.

“You have to score there,” Shibata said. “What we really did good though as a team was block shots. Everybody was selling out, getting in the way. I think that was the biggest thing.”

If so, Shibata’s presence in the rink was a close second. He’s taken about the most extreme roundabout trek in arriving with Edina as one could imagine. But it is turning out to be worth the travels for both player, and team.

“He’s been just great for us, both on the ice and in the room,” said Edina head coach Joe Long. “He plays the game right, and guys look up to him. They listen when he talks. He’s a hockey player, all the way through, which is kind of cool to think about considering where he came from.”

Shibata grew up in Karuizawa, Japan – where two outdoor ice sheets within a 15-minute drive of his front door sparked a passion for a game that would take him across the globe.

By the time he had reached what was the equivalent of his sophomore year in high school, Shibata was packing his bags for a trip to Canada to play hockey and attend school.

“I didn’t even know English,” he said. “It was a big change, but I had heard the hockey in North America was really fun to play, and I wanted to see if I could.”

He spent his high school years playing in Canada, then after accepting an invitation to a showcase in Boston, Shibata landed in the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League, where he would eventually earn an All-Star appearance as the team captain for the Cranston (R.I.) Reds.

“It was a really great experience, but I knew I wanted to try and go to college in Minnesota because they have a lot of good international programs in their schools,” Shibata said.

In return, Shibata may provide one of those schools with a good hockey player.

He’s drawing interest from a handful of Division III colleges, including his head coach’s alma mater.

Long was a D-III All-American for Hamline University, and has been urging the Pipers to take an extended look at his Japanese import.

“He’s got all the tools to play for somebody like Hamline,” Long said. “I think he’s going to make for a really good college hockey player.”

He’s even more convinced of the quality person the school where Shibata lands will be getting. Shibata has only spent this year with the Lakers, but he’s already the assistant captain, and voice of the team.

Long said he’s not afraid to ask anything of him on the ice, including sacrificing his body to get in the way of an oncoming shot.

With the way Shibata – and his teammates, for that matter – responded in their victory at Hudson last week, it looks as if the Lakers are following his lead.

“I just want to do whatever it takes to win,” Shibata said. “I’ve had a pretty good year, and that is nice, but we want to win some games and do well in the playoffs. Winning is the most important thing to me.”