The Hockey Draft Pick That Didn’t Exist

The Hockey Draft Pick That Didn’t Exist

The Hockey Draft Pick That Didn’t Exist

Did you know the Buffalo Sabres once drafted a player who didn’t exist?
Not injured.
Not overseas.
Not a long shot.
Did. Not. Exist.
This happened in the 1974 NHL Draft, back when the league ran the draft by one phone call at a time. No Zoom. No group call. Just NHL president Clarence Campbell slowly calling each team… reading every pick… over and over… in the driest voice imaginable.
By the 11th round, everyone was comatose.
That’s when Sabres GM Punch Imlach and communications director Paul Wieland decided to have some fun.
Their idea?
Draft someone nobody had ever heard of.
Then they escalated it.
What if the player didn’t exist at all?
They made him Japanese.
They named him Taro Tsujimoto.
They even gave him a team: the Tokyo Katanas — katana being the Japanese word for sword… aka, Sabres.
And when the league called Buffalo and asked who they selected?
They said it, straight-faced.
“Taro Tsujimoto.”
Here’s the best part:
The NHL accepted the pick.

#NHL #TaroTsujimoto #Tsujimoto #Hockey #Draft #1974

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