While the forecast for the day was nothing short of great, the morning sunshine put an end to any doubt that hockey would be played on this Good Friday. The rink was bare, and we had a solid 8 people out for the second session of the year, which was a hard fought day with some pretty close hockey games. The roster for the day featured Bron and Joern as goalies, and Bernie, Jordan, Oliver, Ryan, Scott and Stefan as forwards. We started with a best of 5 series with Jordan, Oliver, Stefan and Joern up against Scott, Ryan, Bernie and Bron. The series was won 3-0 by Team Joern; however, all 3 games were relatively close matches (5-4, 5-3, 5-3).

The next series pitted Stefan, Jordan, Bernie and Bron against Scott, Oliver, Ryan and Joern. The first game was won in a massive comeback by Team Bron (5-4). However in that game Jordan and Bernie had used up most of their energy and by the time the second game started, they were left gasping for air at every break. Team Bron ended up losing the game 5-2.

One final game was played with new teams.Ryan, Stefan, Bernie and Bron defeating Scott, Oliver, Jordan and Joern as everyone was feeling like their legs were made of Jello. The game ended 5-2 for Team Bron.

Great second session of the year. Nice to see Jordan, Ryan and Scott showing dedication to Burton hockey, and becoming regulars in what will hopefully be a wonder year for Burton Hockey in the Lower Mainland.

PS - I think the record for number of spills in a session has been broken. Jordan ended up falling down more times than any of us could count.

Thanks, Stef! If it was more than seventeen times, than Jordan would indeed break Colby’s longstanding spill record. In any event, it was a shooting gallery in West Vancouver, and Stefan was the main benefactor, scoring ten times on 67 shots and adding 13 apples to lead scoring at 23 points. Oliver’s excellent first half and Ryan’s excellent second half tie them at 17 points apiece (8G-9A and 9G-8A, respectively-combining their two halves would have produced 23 points, the same as Stefan.) In goal, Bron led the way as usual in his 2009 debut with .803; Game 5 ruined his otherwise stellar performance (without that game, he was at .829). Joern was steady at .782.

Season Stats: The pendulum swings back to VRH players on top of the leader board. Stefan and Oliver jump to the top of the scoring heap at 31, three ahead of Scott. K.J. holds onto fourth for BUSH followed by Ryan in fifth. If BUSH plays again this Monday, expect similar leapfrogging from their players. Scott and Oliver are now ahead of Mitch in goals, 18-18-16. Stefan has a relatively huge lead in assists with 19. Oliver is next at 13, and Ryan at 12. Stefan, as usual, is quickly moving into his own stratosphere in shots-on-goal. Sam now shows as leader in shooting percentage (everyone from this session dropped except Bernie and Jordan, who now shows fifth). Joern falls behind Lorne to second in save percentage but is still ahead of Bron by a sliver. Joern and Bron are 1-2 in total saves. Ryan, Jordan, Joern, Stefan, Bernie, and Oliver have played all 12 VRH games so far. Oliver moves into first in three-star points; he’s the only player to get three-star points in both sessions. Scott falls from second to fourth in PPG, but Stefan and Oliver move up to fifth. Stefan and Oliver move up to fourth and fifth in APG. Bron easily leads in saves-per-game. Stefan’s 23 points rank second for sessions this year; Oliver and Ryan’s 17 tie for fifth. Stefan’s ten goals tie for third. Stefan’s 13 assists are tops this season; Oliver’s nine rank fifth. Stefan’s 67 shots on goal rank first; Scott’s 49 rank fifth. Bron’s .803 ranks third in goaltending session; Joern’s .782 is fifth. Bron ‘s 106 saves rank first; Joern’s 79 rank fourth.

On the all-time front: Oliver needs 12 points to become the first player to reach 1,300. Stefan is just three points behind Bernie for fifth all-time. Ryan becomes the 25th player in history to reach 100 career points (he is seventh all-time in VRH points). Stefan passes Seamus for fourth in goals; he needs 28 for 500. Bernie needs 19 assists for 500. Stefan ties Justin for sixth in assists. Oliver is seventeen shots behind Lee for second. Ryan leaps up to 19th in shots. Oliver needs one game to become the first player to play in 700. Joern is two games behind Laird for fourth. Bron passes Lyle for sixth in games goaltended and needs nine for 100. Seamus, Oliver, and Stefan are packed together for third, fourth and fifth in three-star points. Stefan ties Justin for tenth in ten-goal sessions (21), ties Seamus for third in ten-assist session (11), and ties Lee for third in 20-point sessions (16). Bron ties Joern for fourth in 80-save sessions (10); this is Bron’s fourth straight. He ties Justin for fourth in 90-save sessions (7) and passes him for fourth in 100-save sessions (5). Stefan has the seventh-longest consecutive session streak ever at 19. Joern is at 14, Oliver is at 12. Lorne’s streak ends at eight.

SDF/GDF: We are back to the regular ten sessions counting on the rankings. Keeping in mind that these rankings are provisional based on the expectation that BUSH will play on Monday, Lorne stays on top of the SDF for the sixth consecutive ranking, the fifth longest streaks ever. One more ranking on top will tie him with Robert for the most rankings led ever at 32 (of course, Robert’s were all in a row). The big move sees Scott move up from eighth to fourth as he plays another session (rankings are based on a minimum of two sessions). Status quo on the GDF as Bron maintains first

Check out those Records and Honours on the links page before you leave. The VRH invasion of BUSH is still in the works but it’s been delayed for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, BUSH is trying to get a session going for Easter Monday. Will it happen? What new players will show up? Stay tuned!