Lee Orr’s main mission for 2009 was to reorganise Burton United Socialist Hockey and make its tenth season the best one yet. A year’s worth of rust was shaken off today, and if today’s action was any indication, BUSH will be firing on all cylinders in 2009. A tightly-played, shot-filled two-on-two session featuring two rookie goaltenders took place which was highly entertaining and introduced a potential new goaltending star to Burton in the form of Shem Hanna.

The first two-game series pitted Lee, Watsy and Steve (making the switch to goalie) against the young insurgent team of K.J., Mitch, and Shem. Mitch’s speed was dominant, as his multiple breakaways led him to score eight of his team’s ten goals. Steve got off to a rocky start in goal as he, Lee, and Watsy lost 5-4, 5-2. Game three saw new teams with K.J., Lee, and Shem taking on Mitch, Watsy, and Steve. Shem began feeling his oats here, and made half-a-dozen brilliant saves to record his first career shutout; K.J. and Lee’s disciplined passing play being too much for the freewheeling Mitch and defence-minded Andrew. Steve began a turnaround in the last third of this game, including a Tim Thomas-like toe save that stopped Lee dead in his tracks. The teams traded goaltenders for the final series, and Shem stood on his head in game four against K.J. and Lee, as he, Mitch, and Watson won 5-3. The good feeling was short-lived, as K.J. and Lee put five goals in eight minutes past Shem to bring him back to Earth, 5-1 (Andrew squeaking one in from the corner past Steve). With the Burton sun baking the pavement and players, an exhausted group of men played a rubber match yet managed to keep the quick tempo. Both goalies were in a groove, with multiple impressive rebound saves. Ultimately, it came down to a golden goal, scored by K.J. from Lee to give themselves the win, 5-4.

Three of Burton’s speediest skaters showed up today to dominate the score sheet. Leading the way was K.J. with 14G-10A-24P-51 shots. Lee and Mitch were close behind in second and third with an even-handed 10-10-20-54 and an insane 16-2-18-57, respectively. In goal, Shem was into the .830s before the final two games brought him down to .800 even. Steve went the opposite direction, languishing in the low .600s before two scintillating games brought him up over 100 points to .722.

Season Stats: BUSH’s first session was far more wide open than the stop-start VRH session with players floating in and out. As a result, the four BUSH skaters shoot right to the top of the scoring charts, with K.J. leading and BUSH’s lowest scoring skater (Andrew) equalling VRH’s top scorers (Scott and Oliver). Mitch owns the goal scoring and shot total leads. K.J., Lee, and Watsy are tied for the assist lead proportionally well ahead of Stefan. Mitch, Lee and K.J. are far ahead in shots of the VRH crew. BUSH comes up short in shooting percentage, with Mitch and K.J slotting in fourth and fifth behind Scott, Sam, and Oliver. Shem and Steve show up third and fourth in save percentage and saves. Shem joins Joern at one shutout apiece. Scott, K.J. and Oliver are tied for first in three-star points. K.J. takes the lead in PPG; all BUSH skaters are in the top five. Mitch has a big lead in GPG; K.J., Lee and Andrew share a massive lead in APG. Mitch, Lee, and K.J. are far ahead in shots-per-game. Lorne and Joern hold onto their saves-per-game lead. All of the leading offensive session marks for this young season are owned by players in this session; all of the goaltending marks are held by the two goalies from the VRH session.

On the all-time front: Lee needs nine points to become the third player to reach 1,000 points. K.J. is eight points behind Joern for eight all-time. Mitch passes Kyle for 16th all-time. K.J. is eight goals behind Bernie for seventh. Mitch needs four goals for 100. Lee is four assists behind Seamus for fourth. K.J. is eight assists behind Graeme for tenth. K.J. passes Joern for eighth in shots. Mitch passes 500 shots. Lee needs ten three-star points for 600. Lee becomes the sixth player to play all ten Burton seasons. K.J. marks his sixth-straight 15-pointer and third-straight 20-pointer. Mitch records his first ten-goal and 15-goal session. Andrew records his first ten-assist session.

SDF/GDF: The ranking alters slightly with the resumption of BUSH play. Lee makes the biggest move, going from sixth to second, meaning Oliver winds up staying third and Stefan falls behind to fourth. Mitch and K.J. move into the top ten. Lee should continue to close in on Lorne as BUSH plays more sessions and quality points increase. Shem debuts third on the GDF behind Bron and Laird.

Check out those Records and Honours on the links page before you leave. VRH players are planning on their annual BUSH invasion for Easter. See you then!