Halifax 21st SuperSailor #27 (S96 Playoffs Round 1): Kazuma Satou

[LucyXpher 1,572]

 

For the second season in a row, the Halifax 21st were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs-- but unlike last season's 5 game loss to the eventual Founder's Cup champions, this one feels different.  Of course, it's never fun to lose, and watching this team find its form over the last few weeks of the season has been a real joy.  Heading into a 1st round matchup against the Ottawa Lynx, while the 21st were underdogs, it felt like there was a chance that they could somehow upset one of the top teams in the VHLM-- or at least give them a good series.  As it turns out, it was a great series-- a real back and forth matchup that saw the teams trade wins.  Halifax started the series with commanding 5-2 win in Ottawa, but the Lynx roared back with a 5-1 win of their own in game 2.  Then the Lynx stole a 4-1 victory in Halifax in game 3 before the 21st came back again to tie the series at 2 games apiece.  Halifax then took a 3-2 series lead by beating the Lynx in Ottawa, 3-1, and had two chances to close out the series.  In the end, it was the pedigree of the the Lynx that prevailed as they scratched their way to 2-1 victories in both games 6 and 7 to move on to the 2nd round of the VHLM playoffs.  For an upstart team that was expected by many to be a bottom feeder in S96, the 21st proved that the future is for real and that the kids can play!  Featuring no less than 11 first gen players, all but 3 of the team's 16 players were drafted in S96 or were waiver acquisitions during the regular season.  It has been exciting to see how far the team has come this season and this loss to Ottawa in the first round is nothing to be ashamed of!  Ottawa, by the way, went on to put away San Diego in the 2nd round and is now awaiting game 1 against Mississauga in the Finals.

 

Throughout the season, this week's SuperSailor was one of the most important players for the team.  Kazuma Satou joined the 21st just before the beginning of the regular season and quickly became the team's top defenseman.  With 54 points in 72 games, he led all Halifax defenders in points and ranked 2nd on the team overall.  League-wide, Satou ranked 6th among all defensemen in scoring and 3rd in shots blocked, showing his value at both ends of the rink.  In the first round against Ottawa, Satou tied with Ty Duke @TheDuke for the team lead with 8 points.  Satou also came in clutch with 2 game winning goals in the first round to secure victories over Ottawa and help push the series to 7 games.  His 16 shots blocked and 17 hits were also the most among all Halifax players in the postseason, and he collected 4 of his points on the powerplay.  In the locker room, @Spartan  has been a model teammate-- despite having a player still finishing his VHL career with Vancouver AND managing the Moscow Menace.  During the first round, he joined the All Aboard Podcast with @SMYLS4 and @flyersfan345 for a great episode-- Penguins-Flyers rivalry notwithstanding-- and has provided mentorship, positivity, and advice to players around the team all season long, even with his other league commitments taking up time and energy.  As the 21st enter the offseason, it's unfortunate that Satou will not be able to continue with the team as he is eligible for the VHLM draft and projects to be a top pick.  For the season and playoffs that he was with the team, however, he certainly played an important role in both the sims and around the team.  Congratulations, Kazuma Satou, on being our SuperSailor in round 1 of the playoffs.

 

While we wait for the offseason to begin in earnest, players will certainly be continuing to develop and prepare for S97 when the 21st are expected to be better prepared to contend.  The sky is the limit for this team as they've already shown that they can hang with the best and there's still so much room to grow.  With a decent collection of picks for S96 and S97, the team could be well postioned to reload and go for it by the drop of the puck for next season.  In the meantime, let's keep the fire burning!

 

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Edited December 2 by LucyXpher

[Spartan 4,530]

Was a really fun time in Halifax this season and I've gotten to experience Lucy as a GM first-hand. Truly a great place to play and every player who comes through this locker room will have a blast! It's sad I won't be able to play with y'all next season, but I'm just glad to have spent time here and met some great folks.

[Big_Dyl 151]

3 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Was a really fun time in Halifax this season and I've gotten to experience Lucy as a GM first-hand. Truly a great place to play and every player who comes through this locker room will have a blast! It's sad I won't be able to play with y'all next season, but I'm just glad to have spent time here and met some great folks.

hate to see you go but it was a pleasure playing with ya