Claimed:Why Not Zoidberg?

[Jala 922]

The journey to the VHLM has been a long one for Sachimo Zoidberg. We're going to cover how it all began and how he finally reached his dream.

 

Wee baby Sachimo.

Childhood

Born of Fijian descent, both of Sachimo's parent were born in Fiji and moved to Canada later in life. Sachimo's mother was actually pregnant with him when she finally moved to Canada, and he remembers when she was allowed to apply for Canadian citizenship. Despite being the child of two immigrants, he was introduced to hockey at a very young age as both of his parents tried their best to acclimate themselves to Canadian life. "I remember my time watching Hockey Night in Canada. It was a late Saturday game and I had no idea what was happening, but I also remember that being the spark that led me to love hockey." Despite his love for hockey, his parents enrolled him in soccer and baseball as hockey was a very expensive sport to break in to. Most of his hockey playing career as a child was limited to back alley shinny with friends, until he was 13.

 

High School

His family had moved to Surrey from Burnaby when Sachimo was 10, and he started high school at Fleetwood Park Secondary, home of the Dragons. Being a school that was very well off in a rich part of town, they had great sports teams in basketball, volleyball and hockey.

"I had always skated, in the winters there was free skates at the local arenas and I learnt at a young age, but playing hockey was a new experience to me. I had played with friends on roller blades, but controlling yourself at the speed that ice hockey requires is a different world completely. I was matching up against players who had started when they were 3-4 in Timbits hockey, and it was showing." The high school bracket had two divisions because of players of Sachimo's skill level, A and AA. A was the premier level and the guaranteed future CHLers were designated to play there, while AA was for improvement.

"I started in AA for a season, I improved my skating quickly and I already had quick hands and good hockey smarts. I could find the seams on the ice to my teammates with my eyes closed and my shot was deadly accurate. I spent lots of hours slamming tennis balls against my garage door, but not just to hit it, but to hit the mark I had just left. I could knock a tin can off the crossbar, and I think that helped me move quickly into the A division."

Playing in the A division for only two seasons, Sachimo was drafted into the WHL, one of the three leagues in the CHL, the premier junior hockey league in Canada. Arguably the best development league in the world for major hockey, it was a real milestone for Sachimo to hit. "Most kids who join the CHL have been playing since they were toddlers; they've been groomed their whole life to hit that calibre of hockey. I was just a brown kid who most people didn't think could hack it. I faced a lot of racism when I broke into the WHL, but I think that's just made me a better person."

Season 1 (AA) GP: 30 G: 22 A: 30 P: 52 +/-: 42 PIM: 6 S: 52 H: 21 SB: 23 FO: 39/59 Avg. Min: 22:31
Season 2 (A) GP: 30 G: 31 A: 35 P: 66 +/-: 59 PIM: 4 S: 82 H: 18 SB: 21 FO: 42/60 Avg. Min: 23:31
Season 3 (A) GP: 30 G: 49 A: 38 P: 87 +/-: 80 PIM: 8 S: 93 H: 19 SB: 25 FO: 41/59 Avg. Min: 24:01

WHL Career

"I was drafted by the Vancouver Giants, and I played with them for only two years. I was lucky that I got drafted so close to home since a lot of guys get drafted to another province and have to completely change their lives because of it." Sachimo started out on the third line, but was quickly bumped up to second where he remained for the rest of his first season. He put up adequate point totals for a second-liner in the WHL, but having a growth spurt in the off-season along with his great work ethic really pushed him into a top line role. He was also very mature both on and off the ice, and as the Giants previous captain had moved on, he was awarded the 'C' the following fall. "It was a great honour to wear the 'C' for a team in the WHL. I like to think I earned it by showing that I was always a team first guy and providing leadership in the locker room." Sachimo exploded that season leading the Giants in scoring and helping them reach the Memorial Cup. "We fell just short that season, losing to the London Knights in the finals, but it was still a wild ride to be on, and one I'm glad I could not only be a part of, but help lead us to." Unfortunately the Giants weren't looking to keep him on as an overager, so he's stumbled into the VHLM hoping to make an impact here.

Giants: GP: 71 G: 35 A: 39 P: 74 +/-: 39 PIM: 16 S: 88 H: 12 SB: 29 FO: 9/17 Avg. Min: 18:33
Giants: GP: 72 G: 80 A: 93 P: 173 +/-: 84 PIM: 12 S: 135 H: 14 SB: 42 FO: 8/13 Avg. Min: 23:34

 

Sachimo celebrating a goal.

 

Pros

Shot: Sachimo's shot is very accurate and he can seemingly score on will when given enough time. In practice he makes sure to skate around to different points on the ice to train himself the best angles to shoot at from various positions. Even while so accurate, he still devotes a lot of time to perfecting and improving on it. A threat to score anytime he has the puck and teams adjust to his ability by getting man-on-man and even double-coverage on him.

Skating Ability: Sachimo is very nimble on his feet and has great agility and acceleration. His lanky frame gives him long strides which power him quickly to top speed while his lightness on his feet allow him to change directions quickly or confuse a defender. A weakness in his past, his skating is something he improves on as much as possible, and looks to become one of the fastest skaters in any league he plays in.

Hockey Sense: He has an innate ability to find teammates on the ice or find an opening to take a shot. He has good vision and is able to read when a hit is coming his way, or when to take an opportunistic hit to an opponent. Great around the net he can zero in on loose pucks near the crease to bang home a garbage goal.

 

Cons

Physicality: Given his size, Sachimo is very susceptible to taking hits and not good at dishing them out. His board play and net battles are also hindered greatly by his size. He'll be looking to bulk up over the next few seasons in the VHLM, but he still has a lot of work to do in terms of taking and giving hits.

Shot Power: While his shot is very accurate it lacks the certain oomph to be able to slam one past the goalie. His slap shot is only good for creating rebounds and his wrist shot is based solely on his accuracy to be effective. A weakness that he is working on and the wide-spread use of composite sticks helps lessen the degree his shot suffers by.

Defense: Always one to dive in front of a shot, his shot blocking is the only part of his defensive repertoire that is passable. Despite his decent wing span, his stick-checking abilities are very limited and he doesn't have the size to win battles along the boards or tie-up a bigger opponent for very long. Watch for his +/- stat to suffer due to his inability to play a 200-foot game.

Thanks for taking the time to follow the journey of Sachimo Zoidberg, a young talent in the VHLM that looks to be a rising star.

Edited August 16, 2014 by jaladolar

[eaglesfan036 4,603]

So you player can skate really well and score, but doesn't check or play defense

 

Sounds like he's actually Russian to me

 

Keep up the good work

[Jala 922]

Hey man, in mother russia player hockeys you

[Jala 922]

Please don't deduct marks because of that comment.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Overview- 3/3

1,390 words. Great job here. Your story was excellent and was very engaging to read. The effort here was apparent by the length and the quality of the work produced.

Grammar- 2/2

Awesome!

 

parent = parents

puck and teams = puck, teams

Presentation- 1/1

You had all the necessary components.

Pros- 2/2

227 words. Great work with the three pros.

Cons- 2/2

225 words. Perfect.

Overall- 10/10

[Ball 453]

Claimed