Idaho Junior Steelheads player Rei Kikuchi from Japan saw his first hockey game at age 5 and got hooked on the game.

Kikuchi, of Tomakomai, Japan, has joined the Idaho Junior Steelheads by way of the Banff Hockey Academy in Banff, Alberta, Canada. That is the same program which helped develop winger Oleg Losev, now in his third season with Idaho.

Kikuchi (pronounced “Ray Kick-coochie)” wears No. 5 for the Junior Steelheads, which is the age at which he was first taken to a professional hockey game in his native country. He loved what he saw, and decided he wanted to play the sport.

“Tomakomai is famous for hockey in Japan,” Kikuchi said. “We have snow there.”

The 19-year-old winger scored his first goal for Idaho 24 minutes and 37 seconds into his first game on Oct. 28 against the Tahoe Icemen.

Kikuchi was productive in the Banff hockey program at two levels last year. He scored 26 goals and 28 assists in 37 games for the Banff Bears in the HJHL.

He then unloaded 24 goals and 14 assists in 35 games for the Banff Hockey Academy prep team in the CSSHL school league. An aggressive winger, he totaled 175 penalty minutes between the two teams.

Idaho Head coach John Olver has become “a kind of dad” to Kikuchi, helping him to learn English.

“This is a high-level team,” the 5-foot-9, 175 pound Kikuchi said. “I love my teammates. They are brothers. They are family.”

When he arrived in Canada, the only English words Kikuchi spoke were “Hi,” “Yes,” and “No,” but he forced himself to speak only English.

He got a late start due to an injury and did not appear in the two pre-season games in McCall against Butte.

Despite the injury, he was active during the training camp, helping his team and teammates by making sure water bottles were filled and available to players, and other chores.

As far as his personal goals, Kikuchi is clear. “I want to play pro hockey,” he said. “I am interested in the money, not college.”