An Interview With ECHL EBUG Mariah Fujimagari

It’s been a fun year for Mariah Fujimagari, who started the season with Kalamazoo Wings in the pre-season when the team gave her a PTO, “When I was at the Global Goaltending retreat in 2021, I met Joe Martin, and at the time we really connected in terms of our core values, he saw my worth ethic on the ice as well as my skill and my desire to promote inclusion throughout the game of hockey and really advance the culture so he reached out to me last Summer and invited me to K-Wings camp on a PTO and I gladly jumped on the opportunity and was proud to represent that organization for that time” said Fujimagari when asked about how she got the opportunity with Kalamazoo and mentioned they herself and the team bonded like a family from the beginning. On top of getting the win, she got to do it in front of a girls organization in Kalamazoo that she skated with when she was there, “It was so special to have them in the stands and cheering and hopefully being able to dream big about going pro or continue their hockey career

Fujimagari would make history on October 14th when she entered the K-Wings pre-season game vs Toledo Walleye in the third period in a game where the K-Wings would win in OT as Fujamagari made 14 saves and would become the first woman to pick up a win in the ECHL, “It means the world because it allows others to view my journey as an inspiration to always pursue your dream and be relentless in that pursuit. Apart of everyone’s journey, there are ups and downs, and it’s our teammates, it’s our coaches, it’s our family that are able to pull us through those tough days. I’m very grateful for all of those people who have contributed throughout my journey through those highs and lows, and I’m just really grateful for that opportunity for Joel Martin to bring me into the league. On top of getting the win, she got to do it in front of a girl’s organization in Kalamazoo that she skated with when she was there, “It was so special to have them in the stands and cheering and hopefully being able to dream big about going pro or continue their hockey career,” said Fujimagari.

Fujimagari had spent the 2022-23 season playing in the SDHL, “Stokolm was incredible to live there and to be able to play in the SDHL. It’s arguably been one of the most competitive leagues for females building over the last five years, especially with having body-checking involved in the first professional hockey league ever last season was definitely a jump. I’ve always wanted to go back to Europe to play in the SDHL, so that was a dream of mine, and I was very proud to represent AIK and have a phenomenal year with the organization as we rebuilt,” said Fujimagari.

Over the course of the season, Fujimagari has spent time as the EBUG in Worcester, and this wouldn’t have been the first time Fujimagari found herself in a game in Worcester, Mass., as she spent a season with the Worcester Blades in the CWHL, where she played ten games but had failed to win a game, “I love Massachusettes, I love New England, I went to the University of Maine and trained here in Massachusetts as well in the Summer Months for a few seasons and It’s become home for me since I played for the Blades as well as Toronto, for me I travel where everywhere I’m on the ice” said Fujamagari. “It’s a dream come true; I’ve been training with the guys from the NHL, AHL, and ECHL all Summer long, so I spent about five or six months with them in the offseason, so it’s just great to translate that in-season and be able to compete and also contribute towards the culture of every organization I’ve been with this season,” said Fujimagari when talking about her season.

Prior to playing the EBUG role in the ECHL, the Ontario native spent time playing in the CWHL, NWHL, and PHF. “Incredible to have one professional women’s league now developed in the PWHL and have set the foundation for that league to exist and be a contributing factor in its infancy in terms of women’s hockey, it’s been incredible, and I’m just so happy, and I love the game, I love the sport, I love the componentry, it’s incredible to play pro for the last seven years now, and I’m just grateful for every time I’m able to continue to grind. I asked Fujimagari about the team’s being able to sell out building and if she ever thought that would happen when she first began playing pro, “I think the sport is continuing to develop; the skill and the resources allow for women to make hocket their focus without having to focus on having a full-time job or other things to balance on your plate, it allows for the skill and the product to be able to increase so, I think that the PWHL is continuing to showcase the best product on the ice and allow for people and allow people to rally around women’s hockey and be able to continue the sport from ground roots all the way up.”

For Fujamagari, it’s her friends and family who have played the most significant parts in her career, “My family’s been instrumental in my hockey career. I first started on the ice as soon as I could walk, and I was always out there from the crack of dawn until the end of the night when my parents would have to drag me back inside so I was out there with my brother and my dad and like I said my family plays a massive role and I’m grateful for them and all my support system to give me a strong foundation and strong support through my hockey journey” said Fujimagari.