Following on the great success of the 2008 tournament, an even bigger and better 2009 Yamato Cup Ball Hockey Tournament was played in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, October 10, 2009. It was a fast paced tournament that was entertaining to watch, and play in, from start to finish. There were lots of very close games with the final, and other key games, settled by a single goal! The tournament also raised $1450 for the Second Harvest charity, topping the 2008 total! Congratulations to Chad Goble (TSHA) for his "most pledged" award and to Richard Fogerty (TSHA) for his "most raised" award. But you don't have to believe us, just see what some of the players in the tournament had to say!!

The 2009 tournament featured six teams in all with four teams from Japan, one team from Korea and one from Thailand (and other parts of South East Asia). The new Thai team, the Thai Red Bulls (in red jerseys), was made up from the Thai Stix, the Hong Kong Islanders, the Singapore Chili Crabs and other solid players from championship teams around Asia - with some local talent thrown in to boot. The Koreans had also brought a formidable team, the Korea Komrades (in green jerseys), to defend their 2008 Yamato Cup victory. The Tokyo Street Hockey Association (in white jerseys), coming back from a one goal loss in last year's Yamato Cup final, hoped that they could finally defend their home rink and claim the Golden Godzilla in 2009. The MHL Tigers (in black jerseys), forced to settle for third place in 2008, further fortified their team into an even faster and better passing and shooting team. The Boring Sponges (in yellow jerseys) would also be back looking to improve on their fourth place 2008 finish. In addition, a completely new team, the Stripes All Stars (in orange jerseys) would throw their hats into the ring to challenge for the Golden Godzilla.

In the round robin phase of the tournament a total of 15 games were played starting at 8:45AM! The tournament was opened with a fast paced 3-2 win for the MHL Tigers over the TSHA. The win showcased a fortified MHL Tigers demonstrating their determination to improve over last year's 3rd place Yamato Cup finish right off the start. In the second game the Korea Komrades poured it on and clobbered the Boring Sponges 11-0 showing that they were in Tokyo to do business. The next game was a close, hard fought game between two teams new to the Yamato Cup. The Stripes All Stars prevailed over the Thai Red Bulls 3-2. The next game followed on in similar fashion with two teams in top contention for the final, the TSHA and the Korea Komrades, drawing 3-3 in a contest that was close all the way. The MHL Tigers then defeated the Stripes All Stars 4-2 once again showcasing their typical fast stick handling and passing game.

The Thai Red Bulls then overcame the Korea Komrades 1-0 in a gritty, low scoring, grinding along the boards and in the corners game, that showed the determination and top-notch defensive play of both of these teams. The next contest pitted the sharp looking MHL Tigers against the struggling Boring Sponges. Knowing what he faced, the cornered Boring Sponges captain approached the opposing Tigers bench to request mercy in his politest Japanese. The request seemed to have its effect with the Sponges jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the Tigers revved it up to come back in a 5 to 3 win (...special thanks go out to Tomo, and the rest of the Tigers, for their largess).

In another hard fought, end to end game, between final contenders the Stripes All Stars tied the TSHA 3-3. This game was followed by yet another tie between another set of final contenders as the MHL Tigers and Korea Komrades went to the wire in a 2-2 result. The Stripes All Stars then took advantage of a fatigued Boring Sponges team 5-0 as they got ready for play-off contention. The TSHA then went down a surprise defeat to the Thai Red Bulls 4-2 to put doubts into their ability to defend their second place performance at the 2008 Yamato Cup again in 2009. The Korea Komrades in contrast, were just getting going, and they bombed the Stripes All Stars 10-1 to warn all other teams that they were warming up for their run for the Golden Godzilla. The Sponges were hoping to pull out their first victory in their final game, but it was not to be, as they were unable muster the offensive punch and went down 2-0 to the TSHA. In the final game of the round robin the superior offensive play for the MHL Tigers was finally able to overcome the staunch Red Bulls deffense for a 2-1 win. With the round robin completed the teams entered the playoff rounds.

The Boring Sponges were swiftly eliminated from playoff competition, going out 6-1 to the TSHA, and settling for sixth place amongst six teams. In the next game, the Korea Komrades went one step closer to their claim on the 'Zilla, posting a 2-1 quarter final victory over the Thai Red Bulls. The Red Bulls were thus forced to settle for third place and a claim to the lowly Bronze Mothra (larval stage). In the other quarter final, the disappointing TSHA managed a 5-2 win over the Stripes All Stars to claim fourth place (and the highly "non-illustrious" and "non-official", not to mention "non-existent", Tin Kazoo).

Now only the final remained between the gritty, determined and defense minded counter attacking Korea Komrades and the fast paced, passing and team play oriented MHL Tigers. As befits a Yamato Cup final, where the Golden 'Zilla is hanging in the balance, the game was a low scoring and tense affair with both teams looking to jam up the middle, limit chances and control the flow of the game. In such an affair a single goal was likely to be the difference and so it proved to be in the second period with a fast pass out of the corner to a waiting Komrades sniper in the crease to a shot fired quickly and accurately into the top corner beating the tournament MVP goalie high on the glove side. And, with a 1-0 victory over the MHL Tigers, the Golden Godzilla was claimed by the boyz from Korea for the second year in a row.

The final results of the tournament were as follows: 1st Place - Korea Komrades - Winners of the Golden Godzilla!!! 2nd Place - The MHL Tigers - Winners of the Silver Gamera!! 3rd Place - The Thai Red Bulls - Winners of the Bronze Mothra! 4th Place - The Tokyo Street Hockey Association - Winners of the (non-existent) Tin Kazoo... 5th Place - The Stripes All Stars - Winners of some degree of respect 6th Place - The Boring Sponges - Winners of nothing...as far as they can tell...

For all of the tournament game results check out: Yamato Cup 2009 Results. In addition to game results you can check out individual player stats for all of the games, including records, scores, goals, assists, points, GAA etc at: Yamato Cup 2009 on Point Streak.

After a quick shower for all the player the awards party kicked off a long night of partying from 9PM with individual awards being given out as follows:

MVP - Yudai Soyama (MHL Tigers) Leading Scorer - Taylor McCarey (Korea Komrades) Rookie of the Tournament - Brent & Andrew Panasiewicz (Stripes All Stars) Best Defensemen - Jamie Heather (Thai Red Bulls) Best Goalie - Jonathan Allen (MHL Tigers) Most Fun - Nathan Briffa (The Boring Sponges) Most $ Pledged - Chad Goble (TSHA) Most $ Raised - Richard Fogerty (TSHA) The Energizer Award - Chris Colucci (TSHA) The Yamato Cup Award - John La Cara (Thai Red Bulls)

After the individual trophies had been cheered by all, the players headed into the Tokyo night to find out why the Yamato Cup is definitely not about the hockey!!

Click here for more pictures of the 2009 Yamato Cup.

Finally, check out some of the great play-making in some videos from the 2009 Yamato Cup.

Next year's Yamato Cup will again be held in Kita Senju in Tokyo, Japan. Please see The Yamato Cup website for details on how to sign up as a team or individual.