WE got to Burton early, planning a mini-supersession, hoping to get 10 maybe 11 games in. With snow on the sides of the road and sub-zero temperatures, we've probably rode the Burton Hockey horse as far as it�s gonna go. With all the usual suspects, the session broke down like this:

Series One: Lee-Seamus-Graeme-Laird-Chris vs Justin-KJ-Ollie-Nathan. Plain and simple, we got worked. Nathan shut the door, and with Justin and Ollie playing defense, we struggled to get any quality chances. Both goalies played great, and even though we lost 5-3, 5-2, it took forever.
Series Two: Seamus-Laird-Ollie-Nathan vs Justin-Lee-KJ-Graeme-Chris. Game 1 went to team Justin, winning a decisive 5-2. Game 2 was all Seamus, rallying the troops and winning 5-3. Game 3 the momentum swung again with KJ leading the way, winning the series 5-3. Chris Jackins stopped 2 penalty shots to keep the game out of reach.
Series 3: Justin-Ollie-Laird-KJ-Chris vs Lee-Seamus-Graeme-Nathan. Everybody was so tired at this point, it felt like we'd played 10 games instead of 5. First game 5-3 team Justin. Second game was a war, going 5-4 to team Seamus. At this point Graeme was barely alive, and retired to keep stats. Laird switched sides, but the result was the same, Team Justin and KJ winning again, 5-3.

There's no question, the last game was over the line. I can barely bend my knee today, and the rest of the crew probably doesn�t feel too good either. The guts award goes to Graeme, who consumed a tab at Wylie�s and a case of beer, and played all day on an empty stomach. A bit of an unfortunate end for hockey. We were SO tired, and it was freezing, we all just left as fast as we could. We might have to play one more just so it doesn�t go out like that. But somehow it'll have to be perfect conditions. I want to thank the crew for doing a great job on the stats, this was the best stats sheet yet! And, as the stats will show, this session belonged to the goalies. An epic duel between Chris and Nathan. Well done boys, we�re making the nets bigger next year.

Thanks, Leeroy! You fuckers better get another session before Christmas! Anyhow, those shot totals are insane, but that�s what happens with a small group (eight or nine are the perfect hockey numbers). Despite K.J.�s massive shot total and 17 goals, Justin takes the first-star thanks to his big assist count, nicely getting back into late-season form to retain his scoring lead. Looks like Oliver made a return to defensive form as well. And Graeme! Jesus! The goalies were in top form as well, with 2004�s best, Nathan and Chris, dueling yet again to massive totals (Nathan 149/181, .823; Chris 133/164, .811).

Useless Stats: Justin�s return to early-season form helps him widen his lead over Seamus to 241-224. K.J. passes Rob for fourth in scoring and is just five points behind Lorne for third, 185-180. Ollie also passes Rob to move into at 169. Graeme hits the 100-point mark for the first time ever and Lee is three away from doing the same. Laird knocks Bernie out of the top ten in scoring. K.J. passes Lorne to move into second in goals, 14 behind Justin with Seamus just one goal behind Lorne for third. Graeme and Lee each hit 50 goals. Oliver�s monster assist total today moves him to within three of Seamus for the assist lead, 111-108. Justin sits on 99 assists. K.J. leapfrogs past Seamus and Lorne into second in shots. The hot goalies lowered accuracy and send Lee down to third in shooting percentage. Nathan becomes the first goalie ever to reach 1000 saves in a season (Chris� 843 is second). Justin and Oliver pass Bernie for the season games-played lead with Nathan and Graeme right behind. Nathan moves into fourth in saves-per-game. K.J. ties Dallas for most shots in a session this year. Justin pulls back ahead of Seamus in three-star points. On the all-time front, the all-time scoring race is as tight as can be with Oliver now just three points behind Lorne, 792-789. Justin passes the 500 mark and is just 18 points behind Bernie for third. Lee needs 24 points for 500. Seamus passes Laird for sixth all-time and sits on 399 points (Laird needs nine for 400). K.J. passes Simon for twelfth all-time and Graeme passes Pat and Ryan for 14th. Seamus reaches 200 goals and is five behind Bernie for sixth. K.J. passes Joern for 11th in goals and is closing in on Laird. Lee reaches 200 assists and Seamus is four away from the same. Lee is now within nine shots of Justin for third all-time. Seamus passes Laird for seventh in shots and K.J. hits 600. Chris needs just 16 saves to pass Joern for third all-time. Oliver is just five games away from taking away Bernie�s precious most games played record while Justin ties Joern for fifth. Chris and Nathan both pass the 100 games goaltended mark; Chris passes Joern for second all-time with Nathan one game away from moving into third. Nathan now owns four of the top five all-time session save totals (today was fifth). Justin�s 241 points in a season ranks fifth all-time, his 142 goals is second (K.J.�s 128 is fifth). Justin�s 566 shots in a season is fourth all-time. Justin ties Lee for second in all-time three-star points. Seamus becomes the sixth player to have ten 10-goal sessions (K.J. is at nine). The O�Connors both have four ten-goal sessions in a row. Oliver records his twentieth 10-assist session; no one else has more than nine! Oliver also has 20 15-pointers with Lee at 19 and Justin at 17. Nathan now holds the top three save performances this year. Seamus and Lee now have four straight 15-pointers. Seamus has back-to-back 20-pointers. Surprisingly, this was Justin�s first 25-pointer. Oliver�s consecutive session streak is ten with Justin and K.J. at six and Lee and Seamus at five (which is where Pat�s streak ends). Chris has four straight 80-savers. Nathan is the first goalie to have ten 90-savers, ten 100-savers, six 120-savers and four 130-savers. Dallas regains the top ranking on the SDF) but that will be short-lived as he only has fourteen games left on the ranking. Robert falls to third behind Justin while Seamus moves past Lee in fourth. K.J. shoots up to sixth. Seamus passes Lee to move into fourth. No big changes on the GDF as Chris holds firm for his fourth straight session, going back over .800. Nathan closes in a bit while Kevin falls off the ranking.

Burton Cup: No huge changes on top with Ireland still hanging on. Easton Aluminum and Ukrainian Team Bourque enter the Christmas break tied for fourth. Ollie moves past Robert into third in the individual classification. See you in December!