This is posted on the Vipers website:
Keigo Hachisuka – Offensive Defenceman
June 6, 2019
Vernon, BC: Keigo Hachisuka has committed to the Vipers for 2019-20. The 18-year-old defenceman, who was raised in San Diego but now makes his home in Texas, has spent the past two years at the Shawnigan Lake prep school on Vancouver Island.
Keigo’s Shawnigan Lake coach, Kevin Cooper, describes Keigo as “a fast player with a high skill level and a high hockey IQ. He’s also an extremely good student, so he can go to any college he chooses. ”
Keigo sees himself as an offensive defenceman who enjoys joining the rush. Although he played the point on the power play, and played it very well according to teammate JoJo Tanaka-Campbell, almost all of Keigo’s 10 goals this past year were scored on rushes, some of them when he popped in a rebound. He added 24 assists in 36 CSSHL games in 2018-19.
He’s 5’10” and 165 pounds, so Viper fans won’t see Keigo being overly physical, but he says that he likes “to cut off the angles and use [his] stick to dispossess opposing forwards of the puck.” In that regard, Viper fans can expect to see the style of play displayed by Trey Taylor this past season. Keigo might also evoke memories of Steve Weinstein, another Californian whose skating and puck handling endeared him to Viper fans.
Keigo will arrive in Vernon in advance of the late August training camp, in order to get acclimated and to train at Kal Tire Place North.
Keigo Hachisuka's Players Profile:
3 comments:
What a turn around. Finally the Viper Faithful get some preseason news to keep us informed & interested. I am loving the direction this team is going already. Although not overly big this crop of recruits seem to possess skill and speed. Excellent, Coach McKee, keep up the good work. Looking for ward to main camp already.
Not the biggest kid for a defenceman but sounds like he has some skill and can play the position well minus his size. I guess will have to wait and see what he shows and brings in training camp and into the up coming season. I remember a young forward at the Vipers Spring Camp that someone had told me was also from San Diego. He impressed me and caught my attention a lot.
The Vipers have been very busy this week, making a different press release/announcement every day this week regarding new players/new recruits. Thank you to the Vipers ownership and management for finally keeping us the fans updated through out the off season-summer and letting us know who some of the new players/new recruits will be. Unlike past seasons when the Vipers didn't say a word all summer regarding the team, it was us the fans who had to contact the Vipers office to find out when and where training camp was and when it started etc. Ask for dates, times and a schedule.
In all of my years watching and following Junior hockey in Vernon I don't think I can ever recall the Vipers signing players who attended their Spring Camp and especially this quick. Over the years it seemed like any player who attended the Vipers Spring Camp was basically here just to get looked at for the following season, or often you never ever saw a lot of those kids ever again, not even at training camp.
When the Vipers season ended Mark Ferner said on the post game radio show the Vipers were expecting a possible 14 players returning back for next season. Now that Mark Ferner is no longer with the Vipers, how many of those 14 players will be back this coming season? Will Jason McKee bring them all back to look at them during training camp, or could we see some trades over the summer? It will be very interesting to see how the Vipers roster shapes up heading into training camp and into the pre-season games.
The young forward from San Diego at the spring camp was Justin Nakagawa. From San Diego, but spent the past couple of years at Pursuit of Excellence Academy in Kelowna. He just turned 17, so the import age limit might stop him, but then he's played in BC the past two years. He's short and stocky but really skilled and a great playmaker.
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