The BUSH-VRH fusion experiment continued Sunday as players on loan from the coast (Bernie, Stefan) took part in their second session in Burton this year. Only 3 games would be played as the heat, an overdone session on Friday and one ridiculous goaltender forced us into the shortest session since the rain bowl.

With 9 skaters we looked poised to make another lengthy session so the teams were set, Mitch-Oli-Graeme-Justin-Bernie with K.J. in net would face Stefan-Kyle-Karl-Seamus with Chris as the backstop. Definitely an offense versus defense series. Defense and goaltending would prevail in game one as this overtime thriller would end after 45 minutes of merciless grinding and despite being outshot 58-20 K.J. would take this one nearly single-handedly. In game 2 Stefan, Kyle and Seamus would start to click and the shot barrage was too much for the defense as we came out with a 5-2 victory. Mitch and Karl would leave for game 3, Searching for more Easter bliss would not be for us however as we were shut down and outplayed in the consensus final game as Justin and Oli buried us in game 3 to cruise to a 5-2 mark and take the series. Well, that's about it. I guess we'll see when BUSH gets together next, I would imagine with the playoffs starting there will be some games as the stoke for hockey increases.

A short session, in terms of games, but not in terms of length or effort. K.J. is just killing everyone in net right now with the best back-to-back sessions in history, stealing the show with .896 and 95 saves in just three games. Chris had a decent but quiet session at .781. Offensively, we had the rarest of occurrences as three skaters tied for the session scoring lead as Seamus, Kyle and Oliver each had eight points with Stefan and Justin not too far behind in an evenly-matched session.

Season Stats: The scoring race tightens back up again with K.J. in the pipes. Justin moves into a one-point lead over K.J., 97-96. Seamus is right behind at 92 and maintains the best PPG of the three leaders. Justin becomes the first player to hit the 50-goal mark this season; his third career 50-goal season. Seamus takes the lead in assists away from K.J.; both reach the 50-assist mark on the year. Kyle rockets up to fifth in shots ahead of Graeme. Justin moves up to fifth in shooting percentage. Two sessions in, and K.J.’s save percentage still remains above .900. K.J. also shoots into second in saves on the year. Seamus moves into the lead in three-star points over K.J.; Kyle and Oliver move into a tie for fourth. Oliver moves into fourth in APG. Stefan moves back up to second in shots-per-game; Kyle goes to fourth. K.J. is averaging more than eleven saves-per-game more than second-place Brodie. K.J.’s session today means that he ranks first and second in both session save percentage and total session saves this season.

On the all-time front: Seamus needs four points to become the fourth player to reach 900. Justin needs eleven points for 800. Stefan passes 300 assists. K.J.’s career save percentage rises to an amazing .849! Seamus passes Lorne for fifth in games played. Seamus plays in his 22nd consecutive session; Justin his 18th; Bernie his 11th; Chris his eighth; K.J. his seventh, and Stefan his sixth.

SDF/GDF: No big changes on the SDF or GDF on this short day as Seamus remains on top of both of the rankings.

Stefan and Bernie now head back to VRH. Let’s hope for some more hockey from both sides soon!