Blast From The Past - Ryuu Crimson

[SlapshotWrangler 833]

While he might not be Hall of Fame potential and despite the fact that he wasn’t too big of a star back in the day, we decided to interview Ryuu Crimson, former VHLer. The left-winger lives in Riga, where he formerly played for the Victory Hockey League’s Riga Reign. (He also played in Switzerland, suiting up for the HC Davos Dynamo.) We decided to go over to the capital of Latvia to go catch up with the freshly-retired Ryuu. So after a long flight from Saskatoon to Riga, we got some information on where Ryuu lives and got a taxi to bring us there. (Of course, we didn’t tell the driver that we were going to Ryuu Crimson’s house, as he would have positively freaked out. The guy literally had a Riga Reign jersey on.) When we arrived, we waited for the driver to leave. As soon as he left, we rang Ryuu’s doorbell. After a few minutes of waiting, the door opened, revealing Ryuu Crimson wearing some orange and black pajamas with Riga Reign logos all over them. He explained that he woke up a while ago and let us in his house. It was a modest house, having 2 floors and a basement, though it wasn’t like a mansion or anything. Ryuu toured us around his house and showed us some of his stuff. We saw that he had a bobblehead of himself as well as a mix of Reign and Davos memorabilia. He had a lot of sticks in his garage and his basement was turned into a mini hockey rink, using ice tiles to make the little rink. After showing us his home, we decided to get started on following him through his life. He went to a coffee shop at 7’oclock. We got some coffee and he bought us some breakfast, making a comment about how he missed Tim Horton’s coffee. Then we followed him as he went to a gym to work out at 8:30. We spent an hour there before he went to an ice rink. It turns out the love of the game never left him as he became a hockey instructor at that rink. Sort of like a coach but only in the sense of helping players practice. He worked there for a couple of hours, going from 9:45-11:45. When he was done, he went to a rec hockey game at 12:00, where he scored 3 goals. He told us that he disguised himself as a player named Yuu Rimson. While it may have not been the most imaginative disguise, it worked, even though it won’t as soon as the people of Riga read this (sorry Ryuu). Even though he wasn’t a superstar, a lot of people know him from when he and Riga won the cup. In that same season, he became the first rookie to win Playoff MVP. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself so that media people would leave him alone. Though, every so often, he signs a young fan’s stick, cap, or jersey. After the game, he was doing just that as he walked around the city, saying that he takes walks to just relax. Some people recognized him and he was happy to make some fans’ days. He came back and took a quick nap. Then, since he doesn’t really have any full-time jobs or responsibilities, we just relaxed the whole day, playing some video games and doing other things. We then decided to interview him.

 

We asked him what part of his career he was most proud of.

 

“Well, there are a lot of parts that I’m proud of, but without a doubt, winning the Continental Cup in S63. Winning the championship is a true testament to you and your team’s hard work. Being the playoff MVP was also cool, but I’m prouder of the championship.”

 

We then, as usual, asked the opposite. “Any part you regret?”

 

“Probably not being able to be consistent. That sucked. I was depended on a lot but I couldn’t seem to score consistently.”

 

When we asked him if he had tips for young players, he said, “Make sure you NEVER sign for a full eight seasons. I mean, no offense to the two teams I played with, but always make sure you have a way out if you don’t like your team.”

 

Eventually, we fell asleep. The next morning, like we usually do, we left. Ryuu wished us the best of luck on our travels.

[zepheter 586]

I like the day in the life style you did here. Thought it was cool that you chose to do this on a retired player instead of a current.

[SlapshotWrangler 833]

Just now, zepheter said:

I like the day in the life style you did here. Thought it was cool that you chose to do this on a retired player instead of a current.

I actually used to be on the VSN team and this was basically a series I came up with. Thanks for your kind words!