Mason City, IA- The North Iowa Bulls are thrilled to announce that forward Fuji Suzuki has been selected to represent the Japanese National U20 Hockey team at the World Junior Championships. This is Fuji’s third tournament representing the Japanese National Team at the U20 World Juniors and fourth IIHF event overall. In 2023, at the Division 1, Group B World Juniors, Suzuki played all five games for Japan and recorded the second most goals on the team and tied for the third most goals in the whole tournament with four. He scored a goal in the Tournament Final against Ukraine to help secure the gold medal and earn Japan a promotion up to the next level of IIHF Junior Hockey competition.
That year, Suzuki also suited up for Japan’s U18 World Junior Team, and in five games, he scored three goals and one assist for four points, the second most on his team. His efforts helped Japan win the Bronze Medal at that tournament.
The next season, Suzuki suited up for five games at the 2024 Division 1, Group A World Juniors. He recorded a goal and an assist for two points at the tournament. All in all, Suzuki has played in 15 IIHF World Junior games for Team Japan and has scored a total of eight goals and two assists for ten points and two medals.
Suzuki is in his third season playing on North American ice after spending the last two seasons with the NCDC’s Utica Jr. Comets. This year with the Bulls, Suzuki has suited up for 24 games and scored 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points. Most dramatically, Suzuki scored the game winning goal against the Minot Minotauros in North Iowa’s first game back from Christmas break with less than a second to play.
The 2025 IIHF Division 1 Group B World Junior Championships begin on January 11th in Tallinn, Estonia, and runs through January 17th.