In Mainly White Sport, Japanese-Canadian Sharks Star Devin Setoguchi Brings Diversity to Hockey

Devin Setoguchi, San Jose Sharks right wing

The puck is fiercely passed back and forth from player to player as the blades of skates skin the surface of the ice, with one goal in mind — to score. Yes, it’s finally hockey season, and San Jose is swarming with eager Sharks fans ready to cheer their team to victory. San Jose has many unique features, but one that many fail to recognize in a sports context is that it is has an interesting cultural variety. “The Bay Area is so diverse and it’s good they have that connection to culture,” says Ivan Markov, an active Sharks fan who writes a blog about the team. Markov moved to the United States from Russia and is overwhelmed by the variety of ethnic backgrounds in the Bay Area community. In comparison, throughout the NHL there is not much diversity throughout sports teams.

Devin Setoguchi, a 23-year-old Japanese-Canadian plays right wing for the San Jose Sharks and is one of only nine active Asian NHL players. Setoguchi is the only Japanese player for the Sharks this season. “I take pride in my background in the fact that there are not that many Japanese players,” he says confidently.

Setoguchi’s mother is Canadian and his father is Japanese. Both have always been supportive and encouraging of his dream to be an NHL player. Setoguchi also talks about his grandparents and how they were sent to internment camps in Taber, Alberta, during WWII. His grandparents’ determination has inspired Setoguchi to succeed. “I owe it to them for the reason I play,” he says. Similar to most players, he worked hard to achieve his ultimate dream of playing for the NHL, in which he was drafted in 2005.

The fact that the team has even one player of Japanese descent is surprising to some. Setoguchi was talented enough to get drafted at a young age. “He seems like one of the fastest players in the NHL,” says Chris Amaral, a hockey player and die-hard Sharks fan of 20 years. 

Many fans are unaware of the fact that there are so few hockey players of Asian descent currently playing for the NHL. “I didn’t know there were so little, but I think the diversity is pretty cool,” says Amaral.

Chris Beckford-Tseu, Yataka Fukufuji, Paul Kariya, Steve Kariya, Jonathan Matsumoto, Richard Park, Raymond Sawada, and Brandon Yip are the other eight players of Asian descent currently playing for the NHL. Most of these nine Asian players are half Caucasian.

“The Sharks are simply looking for the best possible team regardless of their background and their culture,” says Scott Emmert, director of media relation for the Sharks. This statement pertains to all teams in the NHL. Recruiting players isn’t really about the culture they bring to the team but rather their level of skill on the ice, he says.

Although the array of cultures may be irrelevant to the team’s success, members of the Asian community and Sharks fans in general are greatly appreciative of the fact there are players who represent their culture in the NHL. “I think its good overall to see more Asians playing in the NHL, particularly for a city like San Jose that has strong ties to Asian communities and cultures…” says Ian MacCauley, a Sharks fan and member of the Asian community.

Whether the team is culturally mixed or not, the team simply wants to become champions. Each player regardless of their cultural descent brings different talent to the team, which makes each of them valuable.