From Kamloops to Japan and back again, Keller clan reflects on unique hockey bond

Sapporo, Japan — Jordan Keller retraced the steps he had taken countless times as a kid.

It had been nearly a decade since he left his native Sapporo, Japan, to put down roots in Canada, but the city that raised him seemed almost exactly the same.

Sure, the name of the rink had changed, but other things seemed frozen in time — from the street where he grew up playing ball hockey to his school and the other haunts along the way.

To Keller, it wasn’t just a homecoming.

It was a full-circle moment as he prepared to represent Japan on the international hockey stage and follow in his father’s footsteps for a second time.

Decades earlier and a continent away, his dad started his sporting journey in one of Canada’s hockey hotbeds, and for Aaron Keller, there was no better place to be a hockey player than in Kamloops in the early 1990s.

The hometown kid had spent the last decade watching the Blazers lay the foundation of their dynasty era and finally cracked the roster for the reigning WHL and Memorial Cup Champions in 1992.

Keller would leave his own stamp on the team by clinching back-to-back WHL titles and a pair of Memorial Cups in 1994 and 1995.

“We were almost built for the following season, where the majority of our team would have been 18,19, 20 instead of 17 and 18 type of thing,” Keller said of his first championship. “It was a little surprising, just in that respect. But the coaches had us prepared… We found a way to improve to the point that we ultimately won everything, which was kind of crazy.”

The 1994-95 Blazers, in particular, are considered one of the greatest teams in junior hockey history, with hockey greats like Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Darcy Tucker, and Brad Lukowich among their ranks.

Keller, a 6-foot-tall defenceman, finished fourth on the team in regular-season scoring with 80 points (18G-62A) in 71 games.

Post-junior, he put together a season split between the ECHL, IHL and AHL before opting for a different path.

Keller is of Japanese descent, and had several teams from the Japanese Ice Hockey League making their pitches to come East.

He saw it as a way to continue his hockey journey while honouring his roots.

Aaron’s mom, Nancy, was born in an internment camp in British Columbia during the Second World War.

Their family was among the estimated 21,000 Japanese-Canadians living in British Columbia detained under the War Measures Act beginning in 1942.

“When I was growing up, I probably led a sheltered life, so I wasn’t fully aware of all of this stuff,” Keller explained. “But over the years, you hear more and more about your parents’ background.

“She (Nancy) had a big family. I don’t know how many of her brothers and sisters were born in the internment camp as well, but yeah, that was her generation and what she was born into locally here in B.C. So for me to get the opportunity to, I guess, explore a little bit of my heritage over on that side of the world, it was a pretty cool opportunity.”

He ended up getting Japanese citizenship and lived there for nearly two decades, marking a tremendous stretch that saw him collect two Asia League titles, become a mainstay on Japan’s national team, and regularly lead all defencemen in scoring in international tournaments.

This is the environment Jordan, born in 2005, grew up in.

The younger Keller admits hockey may not have been a cultural juggernaut in Japan, but he lived for attending his dad’s games and watching NHL highlights on YouTube, though Japanese was his first language and English didn’t necessarily come easily to him (he still speaks Japanese with his mom, Yoko, and sisters, Alyssa and Kiran).

Jordan didn’t even know much about the Blazers until the family moved back to Kamloops when he was 12 years old, when Aaron accepted an assistant coaching position with Kamloops.

“When I came over, English wasn’t really my favorite language,” Jordan said. “I would say… I wasn’t great at it. Took some time to get better with the speaking and reading and all that, but you know, the people around me in Kamloops and the support I got was amazing.

“I started hearing more and more about how they (the Blazers) won a few more cups and all that. Coach Don Hay, you would see him around the rink, and he’d tell me some funny stories and whatnot. That was definitely cool, and that’s when I kind of started learning more and more about what hockey was like back then and what the Blazers were like.”

Jordan, a 5-foot-11 forward, had proven he could hang in the league after being selected by the Saskatoon Blades in the third round of the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft.

He played parts of three seasons for the Blades before fate brought him home.

Keller was included in a massive package in a blockbuster deal that sent Blazers star and current Boston Bruins forward Fraser Minten to Saskatoon — though his dad had no clue that General Manager Shaun Clouston had eyed Jordan as part of the return package.

Pulling on the same jersey that his father did so many years ago, Keller took off like a shot with 43 points (17G-26A) in 46 games for the rebuilding Blazers.

He’d play two more seasons in his hometown, earning the alternate captaincy for a year and logging another 120 points (58G-62A). He even earned one of the few overage spots available to close out his major junior career in blue and orange.

“Sean (Clouston) and Tim (O’Donovan), to bring me home… I could have gone anywhere in the league, and for them to bring me home to my hometown with my family, I just can’t thank them enough,” Jordan added. “Honestly, couldn’t have worked out better. Loved my time in Saskatoon, but happy to finish off my WHL career in Kamloops.”

“Extremely proud that he’s here, and then the next thought that goes through my head is, ‘Holy crap! There’s going to be some pressure on him,'” Aaron recalled. “The fans were awesome. Really thankful for how they treated him. Proud to be part of this community, put it that way… At that time, 22 teams in the league, one chance out of 22. The odds aren’t very good that he would ever end up being here.  It worked out unbelievably for our family.”

That alone was a special father-son connection.

But then, Aaron received an email from a former teammate who was now upper management for Japan’s national hockey team.

Would Jordan be interested in trying out?

That’s how the teenager found himself back in the city he called home for the first 12 years of his life.

And so, Keller found himself back in Sapporo for a development camp with a handful of his childhood friends, and one year later, finally donned Japan’s white, red and black jersey at the 2026 IIHF World Championship Division 1- Group A tournament in Poland.

The 21-year-old put up an assist in five games, but came away grateful for the experience — and hopes to return to the national team in the future.

A continent away, his family was watching closely — and this unique connection with his father isn’t lost on him.

“Growing up, watching my dad do this same thing and going through the same process, it was surreal just kind of being in the same shoes as him,” Jordan added. “It’s always awesome to represent a country and play your favourite sport with it.”

Now, as Aaron locks in on another WHL season as Kamloops’ Director of Player Personnel and Jordan prepares to debut for Western Michigan University, the pair find themselves as part of the same group once again as Blazers alumni.

“I can’t believe it’s over now,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “Looking back at it, I had a blast. It was a pretty cool experience. Just experiencing the whole lifestyle and the league in general, it’s a special league. You learn so much as a player and as a person, and you meet so many new people and coaches.

“It was a special time, and (I’m) definitely going to miss it.”