After he left his job as coach of the Calgary Flames in 1995, officials here asked him to come live in Japan and advise the country's six professional hockey teams. They also wanted his advice on preparing a team for the 1998 Olympics. King lived in Japan for two years before returning to Canada and brought in Kinding, a native of Sweden. Some of the customs here surprised them, such as the players' routine of lining up on the bluelines before games and bowing to the fans. The home team then welcomes the visiting team's fans with a chant, and the visiting team' s fans respond with another chant.
Players also bow to referees after games.
It's not the NHL, although the North American professional league does have a decent following here. There is a monthly magazine dedicated solely to the league, and two NHL regular season games played here in October were quite successful. The NHL's style of play is also catching on, although not without wonderment from some older fans. He is 6 feet 1 and weighs 216 pounds. They like him to do it.