 In 1974 , Sabres general manager Punch Imlach decided to play a joke on the league during the draft . He selected Taro Tsujimoto of the " Tokyo <unk> " with his 11th round pick . Other teams were shocked that the Sabres had scouted for players in Japan , and the league made the pick official . Weeks later , Imlach admitted that he made the player up , choosing the name out of a phone book . 
