Hiroyuki Miura (ice hockey)
Hiroyuki Miura is a Japanese retired ice hockey defenceman.Playing career
In 1992, Miura became the first Japanese player ever drafted into the NHL when the Montreal Canadiens chose him in the 11th round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.. Miura never played in the NHL, and his North American professional ice hockey experience was limited to six games played with the Wheeling Thunderbirds of the East Coast Hockey League in 1993–94. It wasn't until 2006 that the NHL saw its first Japanese player to actually play a game, when Yutaka Fukufuji played for the Los Angeles Kings.
Miura represented Japan at the 1993 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Sweden and at several World Championships. He also was a member of the Japan men's national ice hockey team at the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan. Miura is a seven-time Japan Ice Hockey League champion, winning each championship as a member of the Kokudo Keikaku Ice Hockey Club. His older brother Takayuki Miura also represented Japan at the 1998 Olympics.
