In the summer of 1974, the Buffalo Sabres drafted a highly touted 20-year-old forward from Japan, triggering widespread media interest in a groundbreaking international athlete who was practically a ghost. When training camp opened, the rookie had a locker and a jersey, but he never showed up to the ice. The reason for his absence was simple: he did not exist. Born from the sheer boredom of a professional sports executive, this phantom athlete successfully fooled the entire National Hockey League.
A Secret and Exhausting Telephone Draft
The 1974 NHL amateur draft was conducted in complete secrecy. Facing competition from the newly founded World Hockey Association, NHL president Clarence Campbell ran the entire selection process over the telephone. The method was agonizingly slow. Campbell called each team individually to update them on unavailable players. The grueling process dragged on for three days, spanning twenty-five rounds. By the eleventh round, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach had selected the last player he wanted. Frustrated by the absurd length of the event, Imlach decided to have a little fun.
Forging the Tokyo Katanas
Imlach enlisted Sabres communications director Paul Wieland to engineer a fake prospect. Wieland wanted a player of Japanese descent. During his college commutes, he regularly drove past a grocery store owned by Joshua Tsujimoto. Imlach’s secretary called the grocer, securing permission to use his family name and asking for popular Japanese first names. They settled on Taro. The duo then fabricated a compelling backstory. Taro Tsujimoto was a twenty-year-old forward from Osaka who scored fifteen goals for the Tokyo Katanas in the Japan Ice Hockey League. Imlach chose “katana” because the Japanese sword matched the word “sabre.”
Fooling the League President
When it was Buffalo’s turn for the 183rd overall pick, Imlach formally submitted Taro Tsujimoto. Campbell accepted the selection without a single question. Because of the telephone format, the NHL president then had to call the other seventeen general managers and painstakingly spell out “Tsujimoto” for them. Even the Sabres’ own ownership remained unaware of the prank. Sports outlets published the draft lists, and journalists immediately took an interest in what would have been the first Japanese player drafted into the NHL.
The Empty Locker Number 13
As training camp approached, the Sabres set up a locker and a number 13 jersey for their new forward. When reporters asked where he was, Imlach claimed he was unsure if the rookie would arrive in time for the season. Eventually, Imlach confessed to the hoax. An unamused Campbell officially changed the pick to an “invalid claim” in the record books. Nevertheless, the phantom player became a massive inside joke for Buffalo. For years, crowds chanted his name, hoisted banners featuring his fictional quotes, and bought custom merchandise.