Moving On

[der meister 3,241]

NOTE: I know I've been intermittently telling a VHL meets Shadowrun story lately, but I want to spend this article focusing on the "on-ice" aspect, probably to return to allusions of crime and mayhem next week.

 

Something special is happening with Ryuji Sakamoto, something that hasn't happened in his entire VHL career to this point: he's advancing beyond the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Not only that, but through 10 games so far this VHL postseason, Sakamoto has 10 points, on the strength of 8 assists. He's also currently a +3, a marked improvement from the -15 mark with which he finished the regular season. Sakamoto's average hits per game has increased from 2.6 in the regular season to 3.9 in the playoffs, and his blocked shots have increased from 2.05 per game in the regular season to 3.6 in the playoffs. Sakamoto, it is fair to say, has come to play.

 

Following up on a tooth and nail battle with the Chicago Phoenix that saw the Seattle Bears eek out a game five victory 1-0, the Bears quickly stormed out to a 3 games to none lead against the Vancouver Wolves, their first round opponent, eventually defeating the Wolves in game five. Chicago was a single point above Seattle in the final regular season standings but had a +3 goal differential versus Seattle's staggering -28. Vancouver was the odds on favorite to win it all this year after finishing atop the league with 106 points, along with a +69 goal differential.

 

The Bears next opponent will be the team who finished behind Vancouver, the Calgary Wranglers, who just dominated the Los Angeles Stars in spectacular fashion, sweeping the Californian team. Calgary's duo of Daniel Janser and Landon Wolanin have combined for 21 points in those 4 games and are clearly the biggest threat to further success for the Bears. If I were a betting man, I'd venture a wager that Sakamoto's Cinderella run comes to an end, probably in a similar way to Los Angeles's Championship dreams, but the trouncing of the Wolves might be the jolt of confidence the Bears need to keep playing spoiler.

 

All of this recent success comes with the looming specter of unrestricted free agency on the horizon. Win or lose, Sakamoto's current contract is set to expire this offseason, and he has not yet made a decision on what he plans to do, or if he has, he has not shared it with me as of yet. It also remains to be seen if the Bears elect to try to keep Sakamoto in the fold, as there have been no talks about a contract extension, to the best of my knowledge. If I were to speculate, I'd say that the Bears were on the fence about whether or not to commit long-term to a player like Sakamoto, an ugly duckling in an ocean of swans, who comes from a non-traditional hockey country and plays a non-traditional style, but so far, his playoff performance may be turning Seattle management's opinion on its head.

 

The Bears celebrating their Game Five victory