Excitement After First Goal

[der meister 3,259]

Well, it certainly took some time but defenseman Ryuji Sakamoto finally scored his first VHL goal for the Toronto Legion. He followed it up by scoring his second goal in the Legion's next contest, giving him his first career VHL goal scoring streak. The Legion won both games, which certainly gave Sakamoto a burst of energy off the ice, as well; I can testify to that. Now 32 games into the season, Sakamoto has 4 goals and 13 assists for 17 points with a +7 plus/minus rating – a far cry from his gaudy VHLM and VHLE totals, but fairly impressive numbers considering his playstyle and inexperience in the league. He's also continuing his trend of physicality and shot blocking, though again and a considerably reduced pace. So far, Sakamoto has 57 hits and 35 blocked shots on the season, along with 70 penalty minutes.

 

"You almost done, dude?" Sakamoto calls from the living room of the apartment we're sharing just outside downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. "I don't want to be late, man."

 

"Ten minutes," I call back. I feel a small smile cross my face as I imagine the impatient Sakamoto huffing and puffing as he waits for me, repeatedly running his hand through his spiky blonde hair. The season is almost half over already, and Sakamoto has settled into a regular routine that seems conducive to life on and off the ice, so anything out of the ordinary is enough to get him excited.

 

The Legion's offense is middle of the road this season, with 85 goals scored, but their defense is one of the best in the VHL, allowing only 78. That total is 7 behind the league leaders, and interestingly, the top teams in each conference, the D.C. Dragons and the Moscow Menace, are the teams tied for the best goals surrendered totals. Toronto currently sits fourth in the North American Conference, only 6 points behind the Dragons for the top spot.

 

It's still early enough into Season 84 that it's tough to project, but for comparison's sake, last season the Legion finished the season with the fourth fewest goals allowed and a middle of the pack offense. Their 84 points were good enough to be second in the conference, behind the 113-point Seattle Bears, who clearly padded their stats against the conference cellar dwellers in Los Angeles and Vancouver. The parity this season is considerably better, largely evidence by the 6-point separation between the top team and the fourth-place team in the standings I mentioned earlier.

 

"We're gonna have a hard time finding the place, man!" Sakamoto whines in a voice that combines childlike disappointment and pure desperation. It's the voice of a new millionaire, struggling to comprehend that not everything goes their way despite their financial windfalls. "Can you finish up already?" I glance at the corner of my screen, checking the time. The plane isn't set to arrive for another two hours, but with Toronto traffic, time sometimes disappears very quickly with little motion. Maybe we should take the subway. "Ann's gonna be pissed if we're not there on time!"

 

 

[BOOM 8,844]

Nice. See how easy it is? I expect plenty more now.