Minnesota Wild Affiliate Names First Japanese-Born Captain in League History

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Graham Montgomery
October 17, 2024 (6:56)

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The Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL made history last night with Yuki Miura becoming the first Japanese-born player in league history to receive a special honor from his team.

The Heartlanders announced last night that Yuki Miura would be the team's 4th captain in their history. The move was particularly special as Miura was born and raised in Tokyo Japan. He became the first Japanese-born player in ECHL league history to captain a team.

Miura has been a regular for Japan in international tournaments since his junior hockey days, which he played in Czechia. This season will be his forth with the Heartlanders. He has 33 goals and 51 assists for 84 points in 184 career games with the team. Last season he set a new career highs with 12 goals and 32 points.

Miura was not the only one to make history around the hockey world though. Minnesota Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson scored a goalie goal joining a very small list of goalies who have accomplished the feat. Furthermore, he became just the second goalie in NHL history to score a powerplay goal, joining Evgeni Nabokov.

At the same time, two Pittsburgh Penguins stars carried their team to victory with major milestones. Evgeni Malkin recorded his 500th career goal and Sidney Crosby notched his 1600th point in a 6-5 overtime victory. Crosby had a three point night including the game winner, the first of the season, to hit the milestone.

This season should be full of more great moments like these. We have already seen new history made such as Macklin Celebrini's first career goal in his first game with the San Jose Sharks.

Be sure to stay tuned for more historic moments to come this season!