der meister

Damn. Kept off the score sheet. Good wins though

I'll take it. Two wins would have been better though.

Me either. Take it up with the Unnamed Journalist who wrote the piece.

Ryuji doing Ryuji things

1 - SAKA + anyone is already a top 5 defense pair. 2 - Sounds like typical Jason tbh 3 - In the comedy world, there's an expression that Local Jokes make Local Pay. 4 - I think it's about right, but I'd be happier to see us in the top 3. 5 - idontknowwhothatis.gif sorry 6 - As long as he can back it up on the ice, absolutely

Sample size is always an important piece of information when investigating statistical models. We’ve all heard things in commercials like, “Four out of five dentists agree,” but did the company actually only ask five dentists, or did they ask five hundred, and four hundred agreed? Political polls are also notorious for using incredibly small sample sizes to make it look like the general public is leaning one way or another on an issue. I set this expectation on sample size today because I’d like to briefly examine the individual statistics of one Ryuji Sakamoto, a true journeyman defenseman in the VHL, currently with the D.C. Dragons. In four games with the Dragons (again, small sample size), Sakamoto leads the team in scoring with 2 goals and 5 assists, with both of those goals coming on the powerplay. These 7 points are good enough to place him in a many-way tie for fourth in the league. Amongst those he is tied with is The Board Game Clue on Skates, a defenseman for the London United. Sakamoto and Clue are tied for the league lead in defensive scoring, though Clue has only played 3 games for the United so far. Sakamoto is also tied for fifth in hits in the league, with 16. Teammate and fellow newcomer to the Dragons, Jason, is third with 18 hits. Perhaps most surprisingly, Sakamoto has only 2 minutes in penalties so far. To put it another way, he’s averaging 30 seconds of time in the box this season, versus his over 2 minutes a game in the box last season in Warsaw. A sign of maturity? Perhaps, though I wouldn’t put money on it. As a team, the Dragons are in the bottom half of the North American standings, though it’s far too early to make any projections. The Seattle Bears, for instance, are the conference cellar dwellers with just one win and five goals in three games, while the Los Angeles Stars have three wins in three games with an average of four goals a game. Would it really surprise anyone to see Seattle at or near the top of the North American standings come season’s end? Probably not. Again, sample size is key. Finally, what does Sakamoto think of his sudden offensive success? “I dunno man,” he replied when I asked him, punctuating the confusion with a boyish raking of his hair with his hand. “I’m not playing any different than I have before. Maybe it’s just some good luck for me for once. But hey, you gotta check out this vid I found on YouTube the other day!” A 10 minute compilation of fainting goats later, I find myself wondering if Sakamoto really understands just how noteworthy his start to the season has been. While I don’t expect him to continue such a torrid pace, it is at least mildly amusing to realize that Sakamoto is on pace for 126 points – and 36 goals. Both would, quite obviously, be career highs by a long shot. Ultimately I expect him to finish in the 50 to 60 point range, a familiar place for him. Even so, it’s fun to note that he has the same amount of points this season in four games as he did in 30 games with the Helsinki Titans just two short years ago. The boy might be a man, but in many ways, he's still a boy.

SAKA @Banackock

That special teams battle against Toronto was ugly. Hasslich af

Couple things: - going to spend some time this weekend getting queries ready. A few agents I'm interested in have open submission windows at the start of September. - finally got into BlueSky, which is going to be my social media home for both writing and YouTube. @alexemerson.bsky.social is the handle. - looking like I'm getting a promotion to Director soon, which I have very mixed feelings about. Hopefully doesn't impact my writing/gaming/VHLing at all

F - Randy Bobandy @Greg_Di

G - Bubbles Utonium @scoop

Traded again. That was the first thought that went through my mind when I heard defenseman Ryuji Sakamoto's phone ring a few weeks ago. The Warsaw Predators failed to qualify for the playoffs despite what was, by some accounts, a career year for the veteran blueliner. With personal bests in assists (49) and hits (204), he also just barely missed setting personal bests in points (57 versus a career high of 58), penalty minutes (151 versus a career high of 158), and blocked shots (178 versus a career high of 182). Ultimately, his one year in Poland has been his best all around season, statistically speaking. He was also on a one year deal with the Predators, and set to become an unrestricted free agent for the second time in as many seasons. "Well, man," Sakamoto said after finishing his phone call, "my negotiating rights just got traded to the D.C. Dragons." "D.C." I thought. We had a brief stint in D.C., resulting in exactly zero games played for Sakamoto, before I had my rather off-the-record meeting with Dragons' General Manager Marshall Frostbeard, suggesting he'd be better served moving on from Sakamoto sooner rather than later, given the potential of legal complications stemming from his extracurricular activities in and around Seattle. I grabbed my laptop and began doing a few searches. In terms of public arrest records, a few names related to The Jump House, the dive bar in the Redmond Barrens where all of the trouble started, popped up. Those records were dated well over a year ago, and court filings suggest that authorities consider those arrested to be the main, and perhaps only, culprits. The cases, it appeared, were considered closed and resolved. Perhaps Sakamoto would be safe in a return to D.C., should he choose to sign there. A big if, as everything I had heard from Sakamoto was that he intends to chase a championship before retiring and moving back to Japan. While it is the offseason, and Sakamoto has only one or two seasons left in the tank, by my estimation, he continues to keep himself in excellent physical condition. A track star growing up, Sakamoto's speed is perhaps only slightly diminished from his younger days, but he remains one of the premier skaters in the VHL. Similarly, his puck handling skills remain amongst the most elite of the elite, and his defensive awareness is also still a major strength in his game. Not one to shy away from physicality, Sakamoto's body positioning and ability to clear out opposing players also remains a highlight. Of course, there are negatives, and many of them are the same as they've always been. He has never seemed to grasp the concept that perhaps his stat totals would be higher if he spent the least bit of time actually working on shooting or passing, but to hear him speak on it, he believes keeping the puck out of his own net is just as important, or more so, than putting the puck in the opponent's. Imagine my surprise when Sakamoto told me a few hours later that he spoke with Frostbeard and agreed to a one year deal with the Dragons, this time with a No Trade Clause. An interesting and, dare I say it, mature inclusion in the contract. Safe in D.C.? We shall see.

F - Jason @Greg_Di

D - Phil Strasmore @scoop

D - Pierre Emile Bouchard @Greg_Di

F - Leandro Goncalves @scoop

Did I really forget to do this again? Yeesh

I befuddle all metrics, tyvm

1 - massive. This league is one that requires offense to win championships. 2 - I assure you, this is simply hearsay. 3 - We damn well better be 4 - it's a word for word cover of the Oppai Dragon song from High School DxD 5 - It's going to take every player working together to be successful, and Bubbles is a big part of that. 6 - Slap the C on Ryuji and let him lead the team to the promised land.

*grumble*

1 - test unrestricted free agency lol 2 - I don't have an opinion since I just got here 3 - ask me in a month 4 - not defense (looks nervously over shoulder) 5 - get scoring depth 6 - hopefully a lot, and extra motivation to win it all before retiring

1 - My own player? Christoph Klose. Not my own? Bismark Koenig. 2 - A nastier Brett Pesce. 3 - In the modern NHL, 5. Q1 - Do you have a favorite video game? Q2 - Do you care who wins the VHL championship this year? Q3 - Does your team have an on-site locker room?

Time, it must be said, appears to finally be running out on defenseman Ryuji Sakamoto. Having travelled the world with the spiky-haired Japanese blueliner off and on for over 8 years now, I can see the passion and fire that once burned in his eyes is nearly extinguished. There’s a flatness there where there used to be hope and optimism. In his heart, I believe he knows his chances to capture the elusive Continental Cup are running out. His season in Warsaw was overall one of his statistical best. Sakamoto finished the season with 8 goals, tying his mark for the second highest in his career, and 49 assists, which set a new personal best. His combined 57 points were just one shy of the mark he reached with the Seattle Bears two seasons prior. His blocked shots were the second best of his career with 178, just 4 shy of the 182 he tallied in his sophomore year with the Toronto Legion, and his hit total of 204 was the first time he eclipsed the 200 milestone. And yet, despite such a strong statistical season, Sakamoto’s pending unrestricted free agency is not feeling as hotly anticipated as it was one short year ago. Undoubtedly he will receive a few offers, teams looking to shore up their blue line by bringing in a veteran gunslinger, or perhaps more aptly, a veteran gunslinger’s hired muscle. Sakamoto has made it plain to me in the past few weeks that he truly wants to win a championship before all is said and done, before he rides off into the proverbial sunset. I’ve also asked him if he has any plans for his life after hockey, and received the expected response: a blank stare, followed closely by a look of surprise and then a boyish grin. One thing I’ve noticed about professional sports are how quickly the years get away from you. Many of his friends, some of whom visited him in Istanbul, Toronto, and Seattle, have faded from his life. At least as far as I’m aware. Sakamoto is never one to be particularly coy, a characteristic shared by those who wear their hearts on their sleeves. Ms. Ann Takamaki’s star in the modeling world shone quite brightly for a few years, but now she’s fading into the background, beginning to focus her attention to a clothing line she has designed herself, or so the papers say. On the other hand, the quirky Yusuke Kitagawa’s talent for painting is only just hitting the mainstream, and he appears to be setting the art world on fire, though I must confess to little knowledge of that particular realm. And then there’s Ren Amamiya, a practically silent boy with a floof of frizzy black hair and a pair of glasses I am told he wears simply out of fondness for the look. I do know that he and Sakamoto have remained in contact, though I have been unable to pry any information from Sakamoto, a rarity indeed. This is all to say that unrestricted free agency will mark the beginning of the end for Sakamoto, but he’s not going to go down without a fight.