Man of the Week: Yu Sato
KHL.ru continues its ‘Man of the Week’ column with Yu Sato. The Torpedo forward made history last week, scoring the first goal in the KHL history by a Japanese player.
On Oct 9, 2022, Yu Sato wrote history – after Torpedo won a puck in the defensive third, rookie Vasily Atanasov sent it to the Japanese forward, who made full advantage of his trademark speed to rush through the offensive zone and defeat Dinamo Minsk’s Alexei Kolosov blocker-side with a festy backhander. With his goal, Sato sent Torpedo forward 2:1 in a game that saw the Nizhny Novgorod side prevail with a final 5:2 score.
“I confess, I couldn’t sleep for a long time yesterday,” Sato told Torpedo’s site the next day. “I was re-watching the goal. I rewatch every game, but I watched my first goal much longer. It was a great night, and I’ll remember that moment for the rest of my life.”
Torpedo is currently one of the top teams in the league, and is the fourth seed in the Western Conference – that wasn’t easy to predict before the season started, with Igor Larionov debuting behind the bench of a full-season tournament, and the team’s main star Damir Zhafyarov leaving the team for SKA.
Early years
Yu Sato was born on Apr 17, 2002, in Saitama, Japan. Saitama is a city in Japan sitting in the Greater Tokyo Area, home to a population of about a million and a half, known for being a key transportation hub and hosting a famed Railway Museum. However, for developing his career further, Sato knew that he had to move out of the country, and spent five years in Russia, between 2013-2018, representing Krylya Sovetov Moscow. He played with and against several highly-touted Russian junior players; he was a teammate for former Spartak’s Vasily Ponomaryov, and he met him later in North America.
“We played in the same league [in 2019-2020] and we kind of remembered the old good times,” Sato told KHL’s YouTube channel. “Of course, I wanted to play better than him. I tried hard, but he was always getting to 50 points.” He also faced SKA’s forward Marat Khusnutdinov. “I have always followed him, and I still closely watch his play,” he says. “He’s doing very well. He was a great player by then already, and he still is. Playing against him was always hard.“
After playing in the Russian junior system, Sato moved first to Finland, then to North America.
Move overseas
After playing in Moscow, Sato moved to Finland, where he spent a season in Vantaa. After a productive season with the U18 squad, he had another move – this time to North America, where he joined the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In the QMJHL, before meeting Larionov, Sato was coached by another legend – Patrick Roy.
“He taught me so many things – how to play on defense, how to use my body better. He was really teaching me a lot all the times.”
However, Sato’s tenure in Quebec was short – he only played one season with the Remparts. In the next two seasons, he played with the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League, reaching the playoffs in his second year. In the meantime, he also represented Japan twice at the U20 level on the international scene. Sato, who admitted not talking much English by then, was represented at the time by Igor Larionov, who was impressed with his game with Krylya Sovetov. It’s not a case if the two rejoined in Nizhny Novgorod. After three seasons in North America, Sato then returned to Russia.
Return to Russia and move up to the KHL
Returning to Russia wasn’t a hard thought for the Japanese forward.
“Since I lived here for five years, I have so many friends,” he said. “I was born in Japan, but Russia is my second home, I like it here very much. The political situation is difficult now, but I don’t think about that. When I left Japan, everyone said to me, ‘Why go to Russia?’ But I answered, ‘I need my career to develop further.’ I always dreamed of playing in the KHL and was happy to come to Russia. Before, I could only watch Anton Burdasov and Sergei Kalinin play, but now I go on the ice against them.”
After signing with the Nizhny Novgorod franchise a try-out contract, Sato was then inked to a full-time deal. And after his goal, things are only going to get better.
“It was a very important goal for me. I haven’t scored for a long time, but I’ve been practicing a lot and working hard on my shots. And when you score, it’s the best moment. I think any player will understand me. Psychologically, you could say that a mountain has been lifted off your shoulders.”
And if things keep on going like that, soon Sato’s goals won’t have that novelty flavor anymore.
