Session two picked up where the first left off on Monday. Hitting the rink 19 hours later, BUSH found a way to open the season in style. After cleaning out the one end with snow in it we found it easier to play behind the nets, but the banks on the sides were still too large to do anything with. Today Burton introduced a new rookie (Josh Wilson), an unfortunate injury and a fairly chippy and physical day. During the day I hit Josh in the face with my stick, mercilessly slashed Lee's thumb, forced K.J.'s stick into Justin's face and sent my brother to the ground, twice. I also received a slash to the forearm and chin, took a hard hockey ball in the face and ran into people more times than was my own fault. If you talked to anyone else they would tell you the same, physical from the first drop of the ball.

Series 1
K.J./Oli/Lee/Brodie vs. Seamus/Graeme/Josh/Justin/Chris: Overall shots 34-30 Justin.
Game 1 5-4, Game 2 5-2. 2-0 Team K.J.
Both games won by K.J.'s team and he would lead the way with 8 points, 4-4 using his usual deep left wing access to drive the net and wreak havoc on our sometimes out of place defense. We played them tight but with Oli covering the back, Lee controlling the middle and burying everything in sight (5 goals) and K.J. keeping the puck down low and cycling, we were out-finished, despite getting more shots on the ever solid Brodie.

Series 2
Seamus/Justin/Oli/Chris vs. Lee/K.J./Josh/Graeme/Brodie: Overall shots 19-11 Justin.
Game 1 5-2 Team Justin.
After a stick toss it was basically Lee and K.J. for Justin and Seamus and a goalie change. Although we were able to handle Josh being out of place and slow footed, by the time this game came around he was basically non existent. General domination by team Justin, 5 points by Seamus 3-2 and Mitch showing up merited a change of teams.

Series 3
Seamus/Lee/Graeme/Mitch/Chris vs. Justin/Oli/K.J./Josh/Brodie: Overall shots 74-35 Seamus.
Game 1 5-4, Brodie. Game 2 5-2, Chris. Game 3 5-4, Brodie. 2-1 Team Brodie.
Without a doubt the best series thus far. Seamus and Lee managed to get things going early and held 3-1 advantages in all three games. Game 1 saw Brodie stand on his head until his scorers could get him back in it. Game 2 was our turn to dominate as we easily cruised to a 5-2 victory. In game 3 things got a little crazy; after going up 3-1 Team Brodie looked tired and we had many chances to put the game on ice, but Brodie just kept stopping them. Shortly after K.J. scored to bring it to 4-3 for us, Lee got hurt on the far boards and would not return. We played tight till the end but couldn't stop the Oli, K.J., Justin onslaught at the end. 5-4 for Brodie.

Thanks, Seamus! Two sessions in three days in March means BUSH is on an early roll to start the season. Playing when there’s still snow on the ground is a testament to these players’ dedication to Burton. Brodie almost doubling Chris’ save total has to be the story here, as he easily takes the day in net .811-.684. Brodie becomes the first goalie this year to break the century mark for saves in a session. On the scoring side, Seamus is rounding into form nicely with 10G, 10A. K.J. takes second star for the second session in a row with 9G, 8A. Oliver and Lee ties for third star with 15 points each. Lee’s ‘retirement’ from BUSH must be something that’s happening later this year when university season begins, I guess. Let’s hope the thumb injury doesn’t keep him away because BUSH will want all the Leeroy it can get before he transfers to VRH.

Season Stats: With BUSH playing its second session of the year, BUSH players move to the top of the docket. The O’Connor brothers are leading the way with 33 points each, one ahead of Justin, four ahead of Stefan and seven ahead of Lorne. We always talk about Seamus’ chances at winning the scoring race every year, but it is also time to start talking about one Kerry Joshua O’Connor as well. If he plays a full schedule, there is no reason for him not to contend. K.J. takes the goalscoring lead from Lorne, 18-16. Justin is just one behind them. BUSH has almost wiped VRH completely from the assist leaderboard, with Seamus scoring ten assists in both sessions this year. He is three assists ahead of Justin. Justin takes over the shot count at 62, with Seamus, Stefan, K.J. and Graeme following. Oliver has been showing some uncanny snaping ability early in this season and moves into first shooting percentage with Lorne and K.J. close behind; they are all quite a bit ahead of fourth-place Pedro. Brodie had such a busy session that he is already just eight saves behind Chris for first on the season. It goes without saying that BUSH players now dominate the games played list. Both O’Connors have 20 three-star points. The per-game offensive stats are a different story, though; VRH players dominate right now, but they now face the prospect of being dropped from those lists if they don’t play more. Brodie fits sungly into second place in saves-per-game behind Joern. Seamus registers the third 20-pointer seen this year. K.J.’s 17 points rank fifth in session scoring this year. Seamus’ session goal totals rank third and fourth, respectively. Seamus’ 10 assists rank third for sessions this year as well. Lee’s 37 shots are third-highest for a session this year. Brodie’s excellent session easily tops the season session highs for save percentage and saves.

On the all-time front: Lee is 43 points away from 1,000. Justin is 24 points behind Bernie for fifth all-time. K.J. passes Laird for ninth in scoring. Graeme needs 16 points for 400. Seamus is six goals ahead of Oliver for third all-time. K.J. is two goals behind Bernie for seventh. Mitch moves into 17th. Oliver needs 14 assists to reach 700. Seamus is one assist behind Lorne for fourth, and needs six for 400. Lee becomes the second player to pass 2,500 shots and is 39 behind Lorne for first. Seamus needs 64 shots for 2,000. Justin is 17 shots behind Stefan for fifth. K.J. passes 1,200 shots. Graeme is four shots behind Laird for tenth in shots and needs 29 for 1,000. Chris is 78 saves behind Laird for most all-time saves. Brodie moves into tenth on the all-time save list. Justin needs three more games for 400 and is seven games behind Lorne for fourth. Lee completes the list of those who have played in all eight Burton seasons. Seamus ties Lorne for third in all-time 10-assist sessions with ten. Brodie records his fifth consecutive 80-save session, his fifth consecutive 90-save session (tying Nathan’s two record streaks there), and back-to-back 100-save sessions. It should be noted Brodie’s only played five full sessions, so to have at least 80 saves in each of them is insane. On the SDF, Seamus takes a huge chunk out of Lee’s lead, and the gap is only seven points. K.J. and Justin both see their ratings go up as well. Lee has now tied Lorne for second in most rankings led with 21, eleven behind Robert. Big changes on the GDF, as Seamus’ concentration on skating has dropped him down to sixth. Brodie now assumes the lead as he reaches the full complement of games, just ahead of Justin.

VRH once again has plans to play this weekend, and once again the weather could easily put a thorn in things. BUSH, on the other hand, even with the imminent departure of Lee, has tons of momentum and look to be getting a lot of sessions in.