Ready to Go

[der meister 3,246]

The VHL regular season starts in two days. Toronto Legion defenseman Ryuji Sakamoto was up with the sun, preparing his preferred pre-game breakfast of oatmeal and a hard-boiled egg. He moves with a purpose, a stalking tiger in a jungle of modern appliances and polished granite. I sip on my tea – earl grey, hot – and skim the latest news sites, reading projections for the upcoming season.

 

Many pundits have Toronto toward the bottom of the league, largely based on their performance last year. I cannot speak to the development of the rest of the team during the prolonged offseason, but I've made my thoughts on Sakamoto clear in the past few weeks, and if the rest of the team has done anything close to his level of work, the Legion will definitely be a team on the rise, one that surprises people.

 

I hear the barstool squeak slightly as Sakamoto pulls it away from the countertop, followed a moment later by the sound of eggshell cracking. He greeted me with a quick, "Hey, man," as he came out of his bedroom, but has otherwise been silent. Unlike the silence a month ago, however, this is not a brooding period, nor one of rage, a proverbial calm before the storm. This is the silence of a man focused on a task, on what must be done. A preseason power ranking poll shows the Legion finishing 13^th in the VHL. Dishes are put into the sink. Another power ranking poll says Toronto ends 12^th. I briefly consider sharing this information with Sakamoto, purely to see his response, but I allow my better judgement to guide me and leave it unspoken.

 

So what can be expected of Sakamoto? Last season saw a bump in his point totals, from 31 to 44, and a big increase in his blocked shots, from 102 to 182. Much like last year, the Legion are not a particularly deep team up front, with only winger Kyle Peace being a household name at this point. Many of their losses could safely be attributed to simply not being able to score enough goals to compete.

On the blueline, Sakamoto is far and away the team's leader despite being 2 or 3 years younger than his counterparts. It will be interesting to see if he gets paired with Sting Chameleon, the most veteran member of the defense, but also the Legion's number 2 defenseman, or if General Manager Doomsday decides to split the two in an attempt to create more balance on the back end. In net, Oskar Lindbergh is returning and hoping to have a fourth consecutive season with a 0.920 or better save percentage.

 

Looming beyond all of this, however, is the possibility that Sakamoto leaves Toronto when his contract expires. I haven't had the conversation with him, allowing him to focus on the here and now, but I'm picking up some subtle hints that his tolerance for losing may be short-lived. He has never been one to take losses lightly, and another season in the proverbial dumpster might be enough to throw his future status in the air, possibly making him one of the most desired free agents in two years' time.

 

For now, though, we wait.

 

Breakfast of Champions