For the sixth weekend in a row we have been able to organize a session of Burton Hockey. It is truly telling of the level of interest in Vancouver right now by the fact we were able to organize this session without having 2 original members playing (Joern and Lorne). A year or two ago having just 1 player out would have meant no hockey.

As far as the session goes it was another fantastic outing. We got to see the 2009 debut of Jason, a stint of Andrew playing net, and the continuation of Bron's dominance in net. The players for the day were: Andrew, Bernie, Bron, Jason, Jordan, Oliver, Pat, Rob, Scott, and Stefan.

We started our first game without Jason or Andrew. We also decided to manufacture teams to try and balance the Pat factor out. We came up with Jordan, Bernie, Pat, Jason (showed up near the end of the game), and Scott in net, vs. Oliver, Rob, Stefan with Bron in goal. It appeared we overbalanced the teams unfortunately as strong defense, solid goaltending, and a good cycle in the offensive zone lead team Bron on to a quick 5-2 victory.

With the additions of Andrew and Jason we moved a few players around, and came up with two solid teams which would provide for an awesome 3 game series. We had Andrew, Jordan, Rob, Stefan and Bron set up against Bernie, Jason, Oliver, Pat with Scott in net. Team Scott came out charging with Pat and Jason having some fantastic chemistry. Bron was able to hold Team Scott at bay enough so that his team could tie the game up at 4 and send it into overtime. For a good 5 minutes the game went end to end with some mad scrambles. During one of these rushes Pat was able to break free of all of Team Bron's defense and finally netted the game winner.

Game 2 of the series saw team Bron come out with a really quick 5-2 victory. Team Bron was able to also solve Scott in net who, up until this game, was playing fantastic in net. However, a few lucky bounces, quick rebounds, and a couple nice corners picked by Andrew meant a very quick end to Game 2.

The final game of the series was another good one, and the win can be chalked up to what we are starting to call the Bron Factor. Being severely outshot in the game 32-18, Bron had to stand on his head. His fantastic play in net inspired his team in front of him to push hard for the win. Eventually them Bron sealed the game and series winning 5-3.

After this series Andrew and Scott switched places with Andrew making his 2009 debut in net, while Scott got a chance to put up some points playing out. Again we attempted to balance out the teams as best we could. This time we put Bernie, Jordan, Pat, Stefan and Andrew up against Jason, Oliver, Rob, Scott with Bron in net.

This best of series went the distance as well going a full 3 games. The first game of the series was the closest of the 3 going to overtime. Andrew, while playing a very unorthodox style in net, made some big saves to keep his team in the game. Eventually however team Bron prevailed and was able to net the winner.

Game 2 was a solid team effort from Team Andrew which had scoring coming from all the forwards. Pat was found in the middle of it all making some amazing passes to setup Team Andrew for the 5-3 victory.

The final game of the day and series saw the fatigue factor set in. Team Andrew was feeling the burn on forward as well as in goal. Team Bron capitalized on this and was able to come out with the 5-3 victory. To note the first 4 goals of the game were scored by Oliver. However his bid to score all 5 was denied after he sent a pass up to Scott who netted the game winner.

After this series everyone was pretty tired so we decided to call it a day. We finished up with a individuals shootout against Bron which Pat came out victorious against Scott. There is some pretty sweet video of a couple beautiful goals by Pat and Scott to show up in the next few days, so stay posted.

So that is it, another fantastic session, with some well balanced teams, a high competition level, and, overall, a ton of fun!

Thanks again, Stefan! VRH is blessed with talent at the moment, and it showed today; when even Jason is held to nine points, it’s a sign of quality play. Stefan led the way in scoring for the third time this season, notching 14G-10A to take the day. Rob continued to impress with 8G-12A on just 33 shots. Pat finished third at 9G-10A. In goal, there is only Bron. He stopped 112 pucks en route to a solid .824. Andrew and Scott split goaltending duties against him, finishing at .745 and .708 respectively.
Here are the game results:
Oliver Stefan Rob Bron def. Jordan Bernie Pat Jason Scott 5-2
Stefan Andrew Rob Jordan Bron def. Jason Scott Oliver Bernie Pat 4-5 5-2 5-3
Oliver Rob Jason Scott Bron def. Stefan Pat Bernie Jordan Andrew 5-4 3-5 5-3

Season Stats: Stefan is now pulling away from the injured Lee, crossing the 100-point mark for the fourth time; in fact, Oliver has just slipped ahead of Lee for second. Rob is now tied for sixth with Ryan, and Scott ties K.J. for eighth. Stefan passes 50 goals and is now at 59. Oliver passes Kyle for third in goals, and Rob leaps to fifth. Stefan needs two assists for 50, and Oliver passes Lee for second. Oliver passes Kyle for fifth in shots. Scott and Rob pass Lorne for the lead in shooting percentage while Pat plummets from the top five. Bron passes Shem for first in saves. Stefan and Olive are now the only player to play every VRH game this season. Pat drops to fifth in PPG; he is the only VRH player at 3.00. Pat also drops to fifth in shots-per-game (having six players this season over 9.00 is absolutely crazy). Rob’s 12 assists tie for fifth-best in a session this year. With the large amount of 2009-debuting skaters playing, the BUSH session didn’t affect offensive season stats too much other than cement Shem in the top ten for assists. Goaltending-wise, however, it changed everything. Nathan has now passed Lorne for the lead in season goaltending, .852-.844, and moves to fifth in saves. Justin debuts fifth in goaltending. With Lee injured, Shem is now the only player to have played in every BUSH game this season. Andrew Watson drops from second to fourth in APG. No one comes close to touching Seamus in shots-per-game. Justin and Nathan move to first and second in saves-per-game. Nathan’s .918 is first for goaltending sessions this season by a mile.

On the all-time front: Stefan becomes the fourth player and Seamus becomes the fifth player to reach 900 points. Stefan now has a 14-point over Seamus for fourth all-time. Stefan is now 22 goals behind Oliver for third all-time. Graeme ties Robert for twelfth in goals and needs one more for 200. Oliver becomes the first player to reach 800 assists. To put that in perspective, Bernie needs nine assists to become the second player just to make it to 500. Stefan becomes the sixth player to reach 400 assists. Graeme passes K.J. for tenth in assists. Bernie becomes the second person to play 700 Burton games. Stefan is three games behind Lee for eighth all-time. Nathan becomes the third goalie to goaltend 200 games. Bron is six games behind Justin for fifth in games goaltended. Seamus passes Oliver for fourth in three-star points. Jason falls from second to fourth in PPG and is now below 3.00 PPG for the first time ever. He barely holds onto the lead in APG over Robert Rogers. Nathan passes Pat Strachan for third in saves-per-game. As you saw in today’s BUSH session, Nathan’s .918 ranks as the third-best session by save percentage of all time, giving him first, third and sixth in that category. Bron ties Nathan for the second-longest streak of 80-save sessions at six (of course, Chris’ record is 16). Bron ties Nathan and Brodie for the longest 90-save streak all-time at five, and ties Nathan for consecutive 100-save sessions (also five). Most notably, he becomes the first goalie to record three straight 110-save sessions. Stefan is one 20-pointer behind Seamus (19) for second all-time; Rob records his first 20-pointer. Stefan is now tied for the fourth-longest consecutive session streak ever at 23, while Oliver is at 16. Shem played his fifth consecutive session in BUSH today. Ryan’s streak ends at seven.

SDF/GDF: Lorne’s tops on the SDF again for the tenth straight ranking, but it is getting really interesting behind him as the new VRH talent asserts itself. There are seven players with ratings of 96 or higher. Scott has moved into second with Pat right behind him and poised to pass next time he plays (thus reaching his full complement of sessions). Despite Rob rising, Stefan has passed him this week and goes over 100 for the first time in ages. For the first time, 30 players are ranked on the SDF, a testament to the growth of the game. On the GDF, Nathan reclaims his traditional spot on top from Terryn and needs three more sessions on top to pass Justin for most rankings led all-time.

Check out those Records and Honours on the links page before you leave. What a wonderful day of Burton Hockey! Let’s hope the trend continues!