Nachi Fujimoto Reports to Montreal Canadiennes Camp

Japanese Defender Looks to Make an Impact With Les Canadiennes

SportsJordan Stoopler — Published September 12, 2016

“You are quite popular around here,” joked Canadiennes general manager Meg Hewings after briefly catching up with Fujimoto in between interviews. Fujimoto nodded and smiled.

As a household name in her native Japan, Fujimoto has represented her country internationally at different age groups of championships as well as the Universiade games—an Olympics-type event for university-level athletes. Her older sister, Nana, is a goaltender for the New York Riveters and played for Japan at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

The younger Fujimoto sister is eager to pursue her hockey career with the Montreal Canadiennes in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. She is equally excited to follow in the footsteps of fellow Japanese players Kanae Aoki and Aina

Takeuchi of the defending CWHL champion Calgary Inferno, as well as Sena Suzuki and Tomomi Kurata of the Toronto Furies. Fujimoto quickly noted that Les Canadiennes do not have any Japanese players on their roster and that she hopes “to be the first one.”

In her first exhibition game on Friday, Sept. 9 against McGill, she collected an assist on her team’s second goal in what would turn out to be a 4-2 Canadiennes victory. The pass from the end boards was sublime, onto the tape of the reigning league

MVP Marie-Philip Poulin stationed at the point. She pointed to Poulin, in recognition of her accurate shot, before congregating with the rest of her teammates on the ice in celebration. A clear team player, Fujimoto sought to recognize Poulin’s shot above her own pretty pass.

Fujimoto described herself as a “defensive defender who can make a good first pass and get off a good shot.” She’s confident that she’ll be able to showcase these assets of her game with Les Canadiennes, despite the noticeable differences between North American and Japanese hockey.

“The rink here is smaller than in Japan,” Fujimoto said. “It’s very fast-paced here. You have to move your feet, make hard passes, and take hard shots. This team is very fast.”

Another barrier Fujimoto must overcome is one common to Montreal—language. During the afternoon on-ice training session, Fujimoto always positioned herself towards the front of the group when coaches were presenting their drill instructions.
She wanted to grasp the task at hand to the best of her ability.

While she is able to make out English “a little,” Fujimoto does not understand a word of French. This has not been an issue, thanks to the help of her teammates.

“My teammates have been very kind and have been translating everything into English,” Fujimoto said. “They ask me ‘are you OK?’ I say ‘yes, I’m fine.’ Communication is working very well so far.”

Ten defenders are currently in camp, including all six starters from last year’s regular season champions. But since veteran Julie Chu will be absent for a number of games due to her coaching commitments with the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, the team may decide to carry additional bodies on the backend.

“We’re impressed by Nachi’s commitment and desire to push her own limits and showcase her talents here at the Canadiennes camp,” said Hewings. “She has mobility, speed and tenacity, and an incredibly positive energy. We’re going to continue evaluating her this week.”

Difficult decisions will have to be made over the coming weeks as the team continues their exhibition tour of university-level teams—including a date with the Stingers at the Ed Meagher Arena on Sept. 30.

Fujimoto has until Oct. 15 to prove herself, when the roster will be finalized for the first game against the Brampton Thunder. Hewings has said repeatedly that the best players will ultimately be selected.