Phantoms’ Hirano learning fast as he adjusts to the USHL

February 5, 2016 at 12:08a.m.

By BRIAN DZENIS

BOARDMAN

It may be a mystery how he does it, but Yushiro Hirano is a quick learner.

The first Japanese player for the Youngstown Phantoms — and in the USHL — may not yet be able to fully communicate with his teammates, but he’s become one of the team’s top scorers. He enjoys the role of being a hockey pioneer for his country.

“I’m so happy. I want to step up. The USHL is a good league, there’s good players, good fans,” Hirano said. “I’m so excited every game. I need to score more and get Japanese players more attention from scouts, coaches and other teams.”

The 20-year-old forward hails from Tomakomai, Japan, a country known more for baseball and soccer. There’s the Asian Ice Hockey League, which has nine teams across Japan, South Korea, China and Russia. Few from that region come play the sport in the United States.

If Hirano realizes his goal of playing in the NHL, he’d be the second Japanese player to do so. Only three have ever been drafted. Hirano picked up the game at 3 from his father, a former hockey pro in Japan. He found his way to Youngstown via a cold call from his agent to the team. Hirano was playing junior league hockey in Sweden when he got an invite to the Chicago Blackhawks’ prospect camp. He didn’t make the team and the Phantoms initially insisted the forward pay his own way if he wanted to try out for the team. He was reimbursed after making the team. Visa issues prevented him from trying out until the third day of training camp, but once he got on the ice, the team was sold.

“After 24 hours on a plane, he had a really impressive practice and went straight to the weight room with the guys,” Phantoms coach John Wroblewski said. “He really hasn’t missed a beat since.”

To describe his relationship with English, he has an understanding of it, but it can be hard to string together sentences. The team has no interpreter for Hirano, so he has to teach himself. He chose his words carefully and took his time answering questions from The Vindicator. He’ll try to come up with an answer himself and if he’s truly stumped, he’ll plug his thoughts into a Google translate app on his phone. He listened in as his teammate and roommate Kris Myllari was interviewed and reacted to the questions and answers. Both his coaches and teammates suspect Hirano knows more English than he lets on.

“I think we sometimes get the silent treatment when he doesn’t want to talk or he just pretends he doesn’t know what’s going on,” Myllari said.

The go-to learning tool for him was US television with Japanese subtitles. Hirano was a little embarrassed to reveal his favorite shows.

“I don’t want to say. It’s ‘Gossip Girl’ or something. I find it funny,” Hirano said. “It’s a lot of words. If I don’t understand, I go back to listen.”

On the ice, Wroblewski said the language barrier has never been an issue as the coach couldn’t recall a time Hirano messed up a drill in practice. He knows enough hockey language to communicate with his linemates, Chase Pearson and Cameron Morrison.

“They support me always, even if my English is bad,” Hirano said. “Hockey words are the same in Japanese and English: pass, shot, dump, chase —it’s the same thing.”

“There’s not a huge language barrier in sports. He’s been playing long enough that he knows what to do on the ice and I think the biggest thing with him is learning how to pronounce all the names so he can call for the puck,” Myllari said. “He struggles with [Matt Alvaro’s] name. He gets a lot of ‘Arvie’ instead of ‘Alvie.’ The L’s and R’s are his biggest struggle, but he does a good job otherwise.”

Hirano has 15 goals and 15 assists on the season. His coaches and teammates agree on what makes him a special player: his shot.

“I would argue it’s the hardest in the league,” Myllari said. “He does the little things right to get the puck out at the wall or if he’s blocking a shot from the point.”

Hirano silently grasps the complexities of Wroblewski’s instructions, but when he does speak, it can be an adventure.

“It’s hilarious — he embraces the fact that he’s not perfect with his other language,” Wroblewski said. “But when he says something in English, it’s a delightful surprise and it’s said with a smile on his face,,

“It catches you a little off guard when he connects a sentence together, but you can see he’s being careful about it when he chooses to speak.”

Starting on Feb. 11, Hirano will briefly leave the team to join the Japanese national team to compete in Olympic qualifiers in Sapporo, Japan. The team needs to make it through one more qualification tournament to capture its first Olympic bid since 1998. He’s the youngest player on the team and is the only one currently playing in North America. Hirano said his team is helped by having a few players who have played abroad. One teammate currently plays in Germany and the team’s goalie, Yukata Fukufugi, is the only Japanese player to have worn an NHL uniform. In 2007, Fukufugi appeared in two games — starting once — with the Los Angeles Kings.

Making the Olympics would mean a lot to Hirano, not just for himself, but for the opportunity to grow his sport of choice in Japan.

“Japanese hockey is not popular, so there’s not a lot of players,” Hirano said. “So if we can play [in the Olympics], maybe we get more kids that want to be hockey players.

“I want hockey to be a big sport in Japan like in the USA.”