Sapporo Hockey Club
The Sapporo Hockey Club is an ice hockey team based in Sapporo, Japan. They most recently played in the J-Ice North League as the Sapporo Phoenix in 2024-25.
History
Their origins go back to the Iwakura-gumi ice hockey club, which was based in Tomakomai City. They were known as a prestigious team, winning the first two Japan Ice Hockey League titles (1966-67 and 1967-68), and the All-Japan Championship on four occasions, but they folded in 1979.
After Iwakura-gumi disbanded, the Snow Brand Milk Industry took on the players and moved to Sapporo City. The club was known as Snow Brand Sapporo (or Yukijrushi), and even built their own rink, the Snow Brand Skating Center. They finished second for the first time at the All-Japan Championship in January 1984. However, the company refrained from sports activities by taking responsibility for the management of a mass food poisoning incident that occurred in 2000, and the ice hockey team disbanded after the 2000-01 season.
Snow Brand would be replaced by Sapporo Polaris for 2001-02, but the club would withdraw from the JIHL after only one season due to financial issues. Another new team, known as the Sapporo Eager Beavers, would compete in the 2004 All-Japan Championship, and the Polaris name would be resurrected a year later. They would join the J-Ice North League for its inaugural 2005-06 season.
Polaris was dissolved in 2008, and immediately succeeded by the Sapporo Ice Hockey Club. The SIHC would be renamed the Sapporo Hockey Club in April 2010. The club also competed in various Sapporo-based competitions over the years.
Achievements
- Japan Ice Hockey League champion: 1966-67, 1967-68
- All-Japan Championship winner: 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967
- Sapporo Ice Hockey Championship winner: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
- Sapporo Citizen Sports Festival winner: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010
- Sapporo Ice Hockey Club League champion: 2010-11, 2011-12