Osamu "Herb" Wakabayashi (December 23, 1944 – June 2, 2015) was a Canadian-Japanese professional ice hockey player.

Biography and career

He was born in Neys, Ontario, and moved to Chatham, Ontario, where he excelled at both hockey and baseball. In 1964, Wakabayashi entered Boston University where he played freshman hockey. In his sophomore year, he moved up to varsity where he set a

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

and ECAC record for assists in a season with 51. In the same year he was named the most valuable player of The Beanpot. The following year his accolades continued when he was named to the All America, All East and All New England first teams, as well as the Most Valuable Player on his team and Athlete of the Year of the University. As a senior, he again received All American and All

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

honors. He finished his illustrious career with the most assists in Terrier history with 90 and second all time scorer with 145 points. Also in his senior year he played baseball where he hit .367 leading the Terriers to the regional finals of the ECAC playoffs. In 1972, he and his brother Mel moved to Japan where they represented the Japanese national ice hockey team. He played in three Olympics, including the 1980 games at Lake Placid. He carried the Japanese flag at the opening ceremony of the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

. He died on June 2, 2015, in

Sapporo, Japan ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

.Wakabayashi passes away
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Awards and honors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakabayashi, Herb 1944 births 2015 deaths Canadian sportspeople of Japanese descent Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey players Naturalized citizens of Japan Japanese-Canadian internees Japanese ice hockey players Olympic ice hockey players for Japan People from Thunder Bay District Ice hockey people from Ontario Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1976 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Canadian expatriates in Japan AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Canadian emigrants to Japan