Seamus O’Connor was only in the Arrow Lakes for three days before he had to return to work. He knew he only had one shot to play Burton Hockey this spring. In an epic move, Seamus organised a sort of BUSH reunion session; only one player (Andrew) had even played a session on skates this year. Colby hadn’t played in five years, and Justin and Graeme missed all of 2008. With Shem debuting on skates, and the goaltending of Justin and Nathan present, few goals were expected, and sure enough, few were granted.

Game 1 saw Seamus, Andrew, and Graeme with Nathan against Steve, Shem, and Coolby with Justin. It was most definitely one of the, uh, definitely one of the games ever played in Burton. Seamus was skating circles around all of this opponents but had difficulties scoring on Justin (21 shots by Seamus alone in the first game); the other players had trouble even skating with the ball, let alone making passes. Rust was very evident, and the goalies had a field day. The first game dragged on for 50 minutes, with Seamus-Andrew-Graeme winning 5-1 and outshooting their opponents 33-12.

Game 2 saw Shem traded for Seamus, and this game was headed in the same direction until, at 2-1, Shem took a horrendous fall and split his knee open pretty good. The resulting break calmed the players down and got their heads back in the game. When play resumed, Graeme and Watty sunk their next three shots past Justin to win 5-1. The speed had picked up notably, especially with Graeme and Andrew, who became a two-way rock for the rest of the game. Seamus continued his volley of shots but Nathan had his number. It was evident at this point in the session that even though the normal standard of played had resumed, Nathan was having na very special session.

Game 3 ended the session on a good note. Everyone worked, passes were connecting, and the goalie were pulling maddening saves. Colby finally scored here. He may have just had one goal, but what a goal: a pass from Steve was converted into a blazing-fast one-time that had Justin sprawling. Graeme thought he had the game won for he, Steve, Colby and Nathan at 4-4 when he knocked a rebound in from behind the net; in fact, gear was already coming off when Shem and Justin filed a protest. On his way to the office behind the net, Graeme had caught Justin and sent him into the net, rocking the net off of the ground; the ball had gone just after the net had been pushed forward two inches as a result. All agreed to resume the game at 4-4, and five minutes later, Steve’s shot hit Graeme in the leg and flew past Justin to win the game.

It cannot be overstated just how schizophrenic this session was. The first hour was quite frankly, the worst hockey played in Burton in years. No flow, endless turnovers, and a complete lack of shooting accuracy. The second hour was full of hard work, amazing saves, great passing combinations, hard-fought corner battles, and multiple breakaways. It’s hard to believe it was all the same session. Both halves did have large amounts of shots; it's how those shots were earned that made the difference. It was a very happy session, as it was good to see so many old friends. Everyone had fun, and it eventually showed itself in an entertaining session. And I still can't believe Shem doesn't need stitches. Needless to say, he went back to kneepads after that game!

Nathan was outstanding in a way that was even above his usual brilliance. At one point in Game 3, he laid down on his side, rested his head on his chin, and dared anyone to shoot at him. He got up in time to completely stone Seamus. With 67 saves in just three games, Nathan posted a stunning .918, the third-best goaltending session ever recorded in Burton. Justin was no slouch either, also notching 67 saves in the three games to finish at .817. Seamus appeared to be the dominant skater, but his shooting percentage was very poor, scoring four goals in 44 shots. With eight points total, he only finished third. Graeme was the day’s offensive star, scoring five goals and seven assists for 12 points in the three games. This marks the second time he has led a session in scoring. Despite two seasons away, he has not lost a step and remains a stellar two-way player. He and Seamus both showed how treeplanting has kept them in excellent shape; they were omnipresent. BUSH’s best defenceman this season is Andrew Watson. Oddly enough, he led in goals today, scoring seven en route to nine point and a well-deserved second star. The leap in his quality of play this season is very evident now. Few players work anywhere near as hard as Wattage.
Here are the game results:
Seamus Andrew Graeme Nathan def. Steve Shem Colby Justin 5-1
Shem Andrew Graeme Nathan def. Seamus Steve Colby Justin 5-1
Steve Colby Graeme Nathan def. Seamus Shem Andrew Justin 5-4

We’ll save the in-depth statistical analysis for when today’s VRH session is posted so as to provide an all-encompassing view (besides, we need it to do this week’s SDF/GDF). So stop puttering around and check it out when it does!