Kicked off the first BUSH session of the year on a perfect sunny day in Burton. After fitting the nets with some new duct tape and wire mesh, the court was looking more BUSH league than ever and ready for action.

Series 1:
Lee - Mitch - Watsy - Ebony vs. Stefan - Bernie - Ollie - Chris
Game 1: 5-1 Team Stefan
Game 2: 5-2 Team Stefan
Ebony and Lee both showed a little rust in their returns to BUSH as Team Stefan pounced all over Team Lee dominating both ends of the pavement, and quickly winning 5-1 5-2.

Series 2:
Lee - Watsy - Ollie - Ebony vs. Stefan - Mitch - Bernie - Chris
Game 1: 5-3 Team Lee
Game 2: 5-4 Team Lee
Ollie locked down the defense as Team Lee outshot Team Stefan 46 - 31 and Lee shook off the rust and provided the offense with 10 points in 2 games, as Team Lee took a close final series. Ebony played a real solid second series, and Chris showed great early season form.

Thanks, Lee! Lots of old friends returning for this inaugural BUSH session of 2008 during the earliest Easter weekend in decades to make up for the absent regulars like the O’Connor brothers, Justin, and Graeme. Stefan and Bernie may be hot coming off of two VRH sessions, but the McCormack Park rink is a different animal, as Lee’s stellar second series gave him the top scorer honours today with 8G-5A-13P. Oliver claimed second star in a rare feat for him, notching more goals than assists to come up two points behind Lee. VRH imports Stefan and Bernie tied for third. In goal, Chris returned to 2006 form with an excellent .809. Ebony took a while to shake off nearly eight seasons of rust but ultimately bested her debut session by a mile at .690. Good to see Watsy back in the Burton fold as well after taking off 2007; we know he’s in Revelstoke now, but hopefully he’ll be back in the not-too-distant future.

Season Stats: Crossing leagues to fit in an extra session gives Stefan a four-point lead over Lorne in scoring, 43-39, with Bernie passing Ryan for third. Lee, Oliver, and Mitch break into the bottom of the top ten. Lorne still leads Stefan in goals 28-27. Bernie passes Stefan for second in assists and is one behind Ryan for the lead. Stefan moves into first in shots ahead of Lorne. Lee debuts third in shooting percentage, and Oliver is fifth. Chris debuts second in save percentage. Stefan and Bernie have played all twelve VRH and all four BUSH games. Three sessions in, and still no shutouts. Stefan ties Lorne for first in three-star points, while Lee debuts third and Ollie fourth. Lee is tied with Lorne for the PPG lead, and with Albert for second in GPG. Bernie moves to third in APG, ahead of Lee, Albert and Oliver. Chris debuts second in saves-per-game. Lee’s eight goals rank fifth in sessions so far this season. Chris’ .809 is the second-best session in net of 2008, and his 55 saves rank fifth.

On the all-time front: Oliver needs nineteen points to become the first player to reach 1,200. Bernie becomes the fifth player to pass 800 points. Mitch passes Ryan Adshead for eighteenth in all-time scoring. Oliver is ten goals behind Seamus for third all-time. Stefan passes 400 goals and is twelve behind Justin for fifth. Lee passes Lorne for fourth in assists. Stefan is 32 shots behind Seamus for fourth. Mitch passes Dallas for 15th in shots all-time and needs four more for 500. Mitch is also ten games away from 100. Lee is 20 three-star points behind Lorne for first all-time, and Oliver passes Justin for fourth. Stefan falls to sixth in shots-per-game behind Joe. Seamus’ consecutive session streak ends at 23; the fourth-longest streak in Burton history is no more. Bernie and Stefan take theirs to 17 and 12, respectively. K.J.’s streak ends at eight. Oliver has a five-session streak going when one VRH session is included from 2007. Lee and Oliver join the list of people who have played in every single season of Burton Hockey (only Justin can add to that list); Stefan and Bernie become the only two to play all nine BUSH seasons as well as all four VRH seasons (Oliver is the only others still eligible for that). Ebony becomes the first female player to participate in multiple sessions and also records the longest break between appearances in Burton history (seven years, seven months).

SDF/GDF: On the SDF, Seamus barely holds onto his lead over K.J. and Lorne as Lee climbs back into the top ten. K.J. will begin falling off next session unless he plays, and Lorne will take back the lead. Meanwhile, on the GDF, K.J. spends his seventh session in a row on top.

Short but sweet. Lee is hoping to dig up some new blood, as he is anxious to resume this 2008 season in BUSH in an attempt to return to his 2006 level of play. Stefan and Bernie will head back to VRH after this to resume the season there, and Stefan and Lorne shall continue to battle for the scoring title. Let’s hope that both leagues of Burton Hockey have their momentum going!