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Asia League Ice Hockey Finals between Tohoku Free Blades and Anyang Halla cancelled due to Japanese earthquake and tsunami

2011 ALIH FINALS CANCELLED - PHOTO FREEBLADES.JP

Prohockeynews.com’s Robert Keith has the tragic story behind the cancellation of the 2011 Asia League Ice Hockey Finals. As the defending champion Anyang Halla squad out of Korea was traveling to face the hometown Tohoku Free Blades in a best-of-5 championship series, northern Japan was hit with the 5th largest earthquake in recorded history. Tohoku import player and former Stockton Thunder forward Brad Farynuk emailed the Vernon Morning Star about what happened to his team during the earthquake.

“My team was on the road in Koriyama about one hour south of Sendai,” Farynuk told the Morning Star on Friday. The epicenter of the earthquake, recently upgraded to a 9.0, was located off the coast 80 miles east of Sendai. “It was terrifying when pieces of concrete started falling and lights were breaking inside the arena.” In a message to a family member, Farynuk noted that there was significant damage to the Bandai Atami Ice Arena and surrounding neighborhoods. The situation was compounded with multiple reactor problems 30 miles north at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Both teams are reportedly safe. “Everyone on the team is okay,” Tohoku Free Blades head coach Chris Wakabayashi told IIHF.com. “We were very fortunate. There were players with their skates crawling out of the rink out into open space. There were some concrete blocks falling from the ceiling, but no one was hurt.” IIHF’s Martin Merek also reported that the Anyang Halla team landed at Sendai airport an hour before a violent tsunami wrecked the airport facility. Former player and current Anyang Halla coach Patrik Martinec described the horrifying tale to Novinky.cz. “We landed, boarded the bus and then we learned that the airport had disappeared. At first it seemed like a joke, but then we realized what had happened. Horror,” Martinec told Novinky (via google translation). Anyang Halla also features a former Stockton Thunder forward, veteran left wing Brock Radunske.

There may be tentative plans by the ALIH to continue the series in Korea, but the first three games in Japan have been cancelled. “When things like this happen, it’s time to think about people’s safety, not hockey,” Anyang Halla GM Seung-Jun Yang told the IIHF. The two remaining games in Korea have also been suspended. It could be an opportunity for the National Hockey League to host both Asian teams and use the series as a vehicle to raise money for the tragic disaster. The San Jose Sharks are the only NHL team to be affiliated with an ALIH squad, working with the China Sharks in 2007. The New York Islanders and owner Charles Wang have been heavily involved in developing hockey in China, and the Los Angeles Kings were the first team to start a Japanese-born goaltender in Yutaka Fukufuji. Other Bay Area teams are also planning to be involved in relief efforts. Japanese Heritage Day, taking place at during the Mariners-Athletics home opening series in Oakland, will feature popular Japanese baseball players Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and Kurt Suzuki and will include a relief component to help raise money.

[Update] Japan sports at standstill – Nagoya marathon, women’s golf join pro baseball, soccer on list of cancelations – Daily Yomiuri.