Code of honor — and hitting
Inamoto honors Japanese heritage with a warrior’s mentality
One of general manager and president of hockey operations Dale Tallon’s primary objectives since taking over the Florida Panthers in the summer of 2010 was for them to establish a reputation as a team that was hard to play.
No more days at the beach. No more father-son golf and fishing trips by visiting teams. No more easy two points. That seemed to be the case for the 2015-16 Atlantic Division champion Panthers, but not for last season’s 81-point pushovers.
So Tallon, back in charge of all hockeyrelated matters, used his fifth-round pick last month to draft a defenseman with the mentality of a samurai warrior in 6-foot-4, 192-pound Tyler Inamoto.
Inamoto, 18, who’s proud of his Japanese heritage, tries to live his life by the Japanese code of Bushido, which instructs samurai warriors to display justice, courage, mercy, politeness, honor, loyalty, honesty and character.
“Before World War II my [late grandfather Fujio Inamoto] was interned and he took to baseball in the courtyard to get through it,” Inamoto said during the Panthers’ developmental camp. “He moved to British Columbia after the war and worked hard to provide for his family.
“I learned a lot about my heritage from my grandfather, but Iwatched a lot of Japanese samurai movies withmy father [Barry]
“If the other team is scared of you, it’s easier to play against them.” Panthers’ Tyler Inamoto
and I thought the code applies to hockey.
“Respect your opponents. Play with integrity, courage, honor, respect, loyalty, duty and a few others. The Panthers are really high on competing, teamwork and camaraderie, so it really applies to what they’re tying to do here.”
Last season on the USA Hockey national under-18 team, Inamoto had 2 assists, 13 points and108 penalty minutes in 51games.
“He’s big and mobile and plays a mean game,” Tallon said of Inamoto. “He’s very physical, and that is something we wanted to add. We talked about adding speed, skill and sandpaper, and he brings that element to our draft.”
Tallon used his thirdround pick on Max Gildon, a physical 6-3, 197-pound defenseman who was Inamoto’s partner the past two seasons with the USA development program. The pair helped Team USA win gold at the 2017 IIHF U-18World Championship in Slovakia.
Inamoto and Gildon doled out plenty of crunching hits in Panthers development camp a few weeks ago, but also showed off above-average slap shots.
“Ever since I’ve been able to start hitting people, I really took to that part of my game,” Inamoto, a New Jersey native with dual Canadian citizenship who lives in Barrington, a suburb of Chicago, said with a mischievous grin. “If the other team is scared of you, it’s easier to play against them. I think intimidating the other players is part of my game and I really like to do it.”
Inamoto attended high school at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s — the hockey factory in Minnesota that produced Chicago Blackhawks star center Jonathan Toews — and he will now continue his hockey education at the University of Wisconsin.
Gildon, who had 11 goals, 33 points and 56 penalty minutes in 63 games for Team USA under-18 last season, will work on his defensive skills at the University of New Hampshire.
“You share the same experiences, the same problems and the same rewards,” said Gildon, of Plano, Texas. “I want to be someone coaches can rely on, an all-around defenseman.”
The Panthers are hoping in a few years that opposing players will cross the blue line at their own risk with Gildon and Inamoto patrolling the back end, something that’s been missing since the trade of rugged defenseman Erik Gudbranson last summer.
“[Inamoto’s] a big, strong skating player who is going to make the first pass, but he also knows he is not likely going to score a lot at the NHL level,” said Panthers director of amateur scouting Jason Bukala. “Anytime a kid has a little bit of a smile on his face when he talks about being a tough player and enjoying that part of the game, it’s kind of nice.”
Inamoto is aware that there have been only two Japanese players in the NHL: Yutaka Fukufuji and Ryan O’Marra, according to hockeyreference.com.
“If I could be an influence to those guys growing up [in Asia] and inspire them to play hockey, I take that very seriously and will do my best to be a role model for them,” Inamoto said.
“I’m just excited for what the future holds. When [Gildon and I] do play for the Panthers, it’ll be a great reunion.”
Fortunately for the Panthers, Inamoto is far more adept at wielding a hockey stick than a samurai sword.
“I haven’t got that far yet,” Inamoto said with a smile.