Your humble statistician made it down for his third visit to VRH at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver. A partly cloudy day helped mitigate the warm temperature as ten VRH warriors fielded the rink. The elder Hajdu, Rob, would be a little late getting to the rink, so nine players began. Lorne would back Jordan, Andrew and Ryan (plus Rob once he made it in near the end of the first game) against Stefan, Joern, Bernie and Tony with VRH goaltending legend Bron in goal. Game 1 was a back-and-forth affair; it almost went so long that when Rob showed up 15 minutes in, it was 4-3 and he still nearly made it in. Ultimately, he just missed his opportunity. Team Lorne, led by the four points and 15 shots of Andrew, put away a hard charge from Stefan, Joern and Tony to win 5-4. Once Rob came in to even the teams, this best-of-five got wacky. Joern and Tony again dominated, and Bron shut Andrew down en route to a 5-0 shutout to even the series. Game 3 went in the other direction with Andrew scoring big, leading his team to a 5-1 win. Game 4 flipped again, going 5-1 to Team Bron. Bron was now in a groove that he would not break out of all session, throwing down another donut to win Game 5 and the series for his team.

Ryan had to leave, so the next series pitted Bernie, Andrew, Bron, Jordan and Tony against Stefan, Joern, Rob, and Lorne. Rob’s grit got him quite a few shots on goal, but Bron was nearly impenetrable. Andrew fed Bernie some nice goals, and Tony’s two-way play was outstanding as their team won the series quickly 5-2, 5-2. From here, the rest of the session was mix-and-match, but no balance could be found. Bron and Lorne got better as the skaters wore down, culminating in a long, grinding and perhaps ill-advised final game that dragged over thirty minutes. Bernie, Stefan and Rob (who finally picked up decent points in the last three games after being shafted playing on losing teams all day) picked up three tic-tac-toe goals to go up 4-1, but it took over ten minutes for the final goal to go past Lorne, who finally found his groove perhaps a little too late. A tiring end to an absoutely grueling session that may be the last one for a while in West Van.

As is usual in VRH, Bron was the dominant figure of the session, saving a massive (and season leading) 152 of 177 shots on goal en route to an impressive .859 with two shutouts, one of the best sessions of the year considering the volume involved. Lorne had a horrific first two-thirds before finding his game and single-handedly keeping his team alive in the final game, finishing with 116 saves and .739. Four skaters emerged on top today. Despite missing the final game, Tony led all skaters with 12G-13A for 25P. Andrew put up an unholy 78 shots on goal to score 18G and 24P overall, tying him for second star with Stefan, who score 14G and 10A on 68 shots. Joern was very impressive all day, only missing a star when his feet gave out on him in the final game. He finished with 7G and a big 15A.

Here are the game scores:
Jordan Andrew Ryan Lorne def. Stefan Joern Bernie Tony Bron 5-4
Stefan Joern Bernie Tony Bron def. Jordan Andrew Ryan Lorne Rob 5-0 1-5 5-1 5-0
Bernie Andrew Bron Jordan Tony def. Stefan Joern Rob Lorne 5-2 5-2
Tony Rob Bernie Jordan Lorne def. Joern Andrew Stefan Bron 5-1
Joern Andrew Stefan Bron def. Tony Rob Bernie Jordan Lorne 5-3
Bernie Stefan Rob Bron def. Andrew Joern Jordan Lorne 5-2

Season Stats: Stefan passes Kyle for second in points but is still 33 behind Lee for the lead, 269-236. Rob passes Ryan and Lorne for ninth. Rob and Ryan make it eleven players with 100 points this year, tying a Burton record for a single season. Stefan closes to within eight goals of Mitch Detta for third. Rob is one goal behind Lorne for ninth. Stefan is one assist behind Oliver for second while Rob and Ryan enter the top ten in assists. Tony debuts second on the shooting percentage list. Lorne falls behind Nathan to third in save percentage. Bron passes Shem for fourth in save percentage. Bron reaches 1,000 saves; he joins Nathan and Chris Jackins as the only players to do that in a single year. Lorne passes Lyle for fourth in saves at 572, eighteen saves behind Shem for third. Stefan jumps up to second in games played at 96, ten behind Oliver. Bernie moves into the top five. Lorne passes Lyle for fourth in games goaltended while Bron assumes sole control of the shutout lead, two ahead of Lyle. Stefan has sole possession of second in three-star points, ten behind Lee, while Tony enters the top ten. Tony falls behind Lorne to fifth in GPG. Andrew officially assumes the lead in shots-per-game. Andrew’s 18 goals tie for the fourth-highest in a session this year. Joern’s 15 assists tie for third-highest this year. Andrew’s 78 shots are the second-most this season. Bron’s 152 saves are easily the most in a session this year.

On the all-time front: Joern becomes the ninth player to score 600 points. Ryan is twelve points behind Dallas for 17th all-time in points, and needs 15 for 200. Rob becomes the 30th player in history to score 100 points. Stefan is two goals behind Oliver for third all-time. Bernie needs two for 400. Andrew records his first ten-goal, 15-goal, 15-point and 20-point sessions. Stefan is eight assists behind Lorne for fourth all-time. Stefan is two shots behind Oliver for third all-time. Bron passes Pat Strachan for fifth in all-time save percentage. Joern needs eight games for 500. Lorne is seven games goaltended behind Lyle for seventh all-time. Bron jumps into second in all-time shutouts, two behind Nathan. Stefan has four consecutive ten-assisters, the second-longest streak ever; Tony has back-to-back ten-assisters (remember, sessions under four games don’t count for scoring streaks). Amazingly, that is only the third time Joern has had 20 points. Tony records his first 25-pointer. Lorne records his tenth career 80-save session and his fifth in a row. He ties the record for consecutive 90-save sessions with five. Lorne has four straight 100-save sessions. Bron ties Chris Jackins for third in 90-savers (12) and Laird for second in 100-savers (10). He passes Chris for third in 110-savers (7). Bernie plays his eighth consecutive sessions, Stefan his seventh. Stefan’s 660 shots on goal this season rank fourth-best in a single year. Bron records the fourth 1,000-save season in history, and his 69 games goaltended this year is the third-highest mark in a single season. Stefan’s 110 three-star points are the fifth-highest total in a single year ever.

SDF/GDF: These are still pending on the Sunday BUSH session. Expect Tony and Andrew to make big leaps.

Let’s hope for some BUSH tomorrow. Stay tuned. Until then, check out those Records and Honours on the Links page before you leave. This may be the last time we see our friend Stefan for a few weeks…