Mel Wakabayashi

Hitoshi "Mel" Wakabayashi (April 23, 1943 – July 9, 2023) was a Canadian-Japanese ice hockey player, a right-handed center, who played for the 1964 NCAA champion Michigan Wolverines hockey team. He was also named Player of the Year in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 1966. He went on to play 11 seasons in the Japan Ice Hockey League and to coach the Japan men's national ice hockey team at international competitions, including the 1980 Winter Olympics. After his hockey career ended, Wakabayashi became the President of Seibu Canada. In 2001, Wakabayashi was selected by the WCHA as one of the Top 50 Players in 50-year history of the conference. He was also inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 2006.

Early life Mel Wakabayashi was the son of Japanese-born parents who lived in Vancouver, British Columbia. During World War II, his parents were placed in a Japanese-Canadian internment camp at Slocan City, British Columbia, where Mel was born in 1943. When Mel's brother Herb was born in December 1944, the family was living in the Neys, Ontario, internment camp on the northern shore of Lake Superior. In 1950, the family moved to Chatham, Ontario, where Mel grew up with his seven siblings. He excelled in both hockey and baseball, playing junior hockey with the Chatham Maroons and baseball for the Ontario Baseball Association championship team. As a junior in 1965, he was the leading scorer for Michigan and in the WCHA. He was awarded the Hall Downes Award as the team's Most Valuable Player and was named a first-team All-American. Because he enrolled in January 1963, he had eligibility for the first semester of 1966-67, where he scored 37 points in the 11 games before his eligibility expired.

Wakabayashi was known for his ability to avoid penalties. In three years of collegiate hockey, he received only one penalty, a tripping call in his sophomore season. He later recalled, "Since I started playing hockey in pee wees, my coaches really banged it into my head that I was supposed to score the goals, not try to knock the big guys around and end up getting hurt or getting a penalty. I remember very clearly the feeling of sitting in that penalty box-and how much I realized I didn't like sitting in that box!" Former teammate Dean Lucier said, "The college game was made for him. He's the best player I've ever stepped on the ice with, for or against, and that includes Tony Esposito and Keith Magnuson."

Professional and coaching In January 1967, Wakabayashi signed with the Detroit Red Wings and was assigned to play with the Red Wings' farm club in Memphis, Tennessee. He played in 1967 for the Memphis Wings and the Johnstown Jets. However, as one columnist later observed, "5–6, 150 pound Japanese forwards were not in great demand in the National Hockey League."

In 1968, Wakabayashi began to play in the Japan Ice Hockey League, mostly for the Kokudo Bunnies. He won the MVP award and helped the Seibu Tetsudo team remain unbeaten in the 1971–72 season. For 11 years, he was regularly among the league's leading scorers, including seven consecutive seasons without a penalty. While still playing, Wakabayashi also became the team's head coach in 1978. Wakabayashi also coached the Japan men's national ice hockey team at several international events, including the 1980 Winter Olympics. He continued to coach in the Japanese Hockey League until 1994. Wakabayashi later became a citizen of Japan, He died on July 9, 2023, aged 80, at a Tokyo hospital.

Awards and honors In 2001, Wakabayashi was one of three University of Michigan hockey players (along with Red Berenson and John Matchefts) selected by the WCHA as the Top 50 Players in 50-year history of the conference. He was inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 2006. On July 8, 2023, one day before his death, the Japan Ice Hockey League bestowed upon him a special achievement award on the league's 50th anniversary. AHCA West All-American 1964–65 All-WCHA First Team 1964–65 WCHA Scoring Champion 1964–65