After last Thursday’s three-game session, the BUSH gang intended to get a larger number of games in today. They were somewhat successful, but killer goaltending from two of Burton’s best dashed those hopes for the most part. After a sluggish start in net this season, K.J. was out for blood.

Sticks in the middle produced an initially-quite-even series between the no-sub team of Lee, Ben, Terryn, and K.J., and the sub squadron of Kyle, Nathan, Justin, Mitch, and Oliver. It took 25 shots before the first goal went in, and the game dragged on for 40 minutes. Despite a potentially frightening Lee-Ben tandem, it was Oliver, Mitch and Kyle who lit it up at first, taking the lead to 4-2 before the opposing trio came back to score three goal in five minutes to take the game. K.J. potted 41 saves alone. Game 2 could not have been more different, as Lee, Ben and Terryn ended the game quickly and forcefully 5-0. K.J. posted a 14-save shutout and was .937 in the first series.

For the second series, Oliver and Justin were switched for Lee and K.J., and more evenness ensued, with Oliver et al. taking the series 5-3, 5-4. The highlight goal came in game when a Lee Orr shot hit Justin in the mask, bounced off his skates, and went in the goal. Nathan ended his finally scoring drought in the final frame. Also of note today was Kyle’s swollen-purple left elbow which affected his ability to shoot. When two wheels blew in game 4, he was done, unfortunately. Overall, this session was all about K.J. and Justin, two warriors standing on their heads in the friendly confines of John McCormack Park.

Despite the high PPGs from the leaders, this was, without question, a goaltender’s session. K.J. notched 102 saves and a shutout in just four games for an impressive .879, a return to form for the man who came into the season as the all-time goaltending leader before being usurped by Troy and Terryn. Justin was no slouch either, netting 76 saves and finishing at .817. And who led the scoring? Yup, Ben again. 16 points in four games, including ten assists, on 46 shots to lead the day, and the dominant player at both ends as usual. Lee and Terryn tied for second. Lee potted ten goals on just 22 shots while Terryn skated like a madman and found his sniping touch at the end for six-and-eight on 38 shots.

Here are the game scores:
Lee Ben Terryn K.J. def. Nathan Justin Kyle Mitch Oliver 5-4 5-0
Oliver Ben Terryn Justin def. Lee Kyle Nathan Mitch K.J. 5-3 5-4

Season Stats: Lee passes 300 points today and sits at 313. Kyle has sole possession of second at 242, with Oliver closing in on second-place Stefan 236-232. Ben becomes the sixth player to reach 200 points this year (a new record for 200-point players in a year) and is eleven points behind Mitch for fifth. Mitch passes Kyle for second in goals, and Ben goes past 100. Oliver closes to within eleven assists of Lee’s lead, 153-142. Ben passes 100 assists and is one behind Kyle for fourth. Mitch is nine shots behind Stefan for second. Kyle needs nine shots for 600; Oliver needs twenty for 500 with Ben nine behind him for fifth. Kyle falls behind K.J. for fifth in shooting percentage. K.J. climbs all the way back to fifth in save percentage from eleventh. Lee goes over 100 games on the year while Mitch passes Stefan for third. K.J. records his first shutout of the year. Ben closes to within ten three-star points of Kyle for third. Lee’s 3.50 PPG combined with Kyle’s sore arm put them that much closer in PPG for the year, with Ben right behind in fourth and catching. Ben passes Lee and Troy to take the lead in APG for the year. Lee falls behind K.J. in fifth in shots-per-game. K.J. and Justin comes from nowhere to move into third and fourth in saves-per-game. K.J.’s .879 is the fourth-highest mark in goal this season in a session.

On the all-time front: Oliver needs eleven points to become the first player to score 1,500. Lee needs 16 for 1,300. Kyle needs four points to become the 12th player to score 400. Ben passes Dallas for 17th all-time and passes 200 points. Oliver needs 16 goals for 600. Ben passes 100 goals. Ben reaches 100 assists and passes Joe for 16th all-time. He is three assists behind Simon for 15th. Oliver needs seven shots of goal for 3,000 and is now 100 shots behind Lorne for second all-time. Kyle becomes the twelfth player with 1,000 shots on goal. K.J. passes Terryn for second in all-time save percentage. Justin passes Laird for ninth. Justin needs 754 saves for 2,000. Justin is ten games played behind Laird for sixth all-time. Ben ties Laird for 15th in three-star points; Terryn scores the first star points of his career. Ben goes over 3.00 PPG for the first time and passes Dustin Marchischuk for fourth in PPG. Lee is four ten-goal sessions behind Lorne for first all-time, 42-38. He has four in a row; Ben’s streak ends at three. Oliver’s streak of ten-assisters ends at four; Ben’s goes up to three. Lee falls one point shy of tying Lorne for most 15-pointers at 49. Ben’s streak of 15-pointers goes to eight (remember, sessions less than four games don’t count against scoring streaks). Lee and Oliver have their streaks ends at four. Ben’s streak of 20-pointers ends at four; Lee’s at two. Ben’s 25-pointer streak ends at two. Astonishingly, this is only K.J.’s second 100-save session ever. Oliver plays his 28th consecutive session, Lee his twelfth, Ben his eighth. Shem’s streak ends at eight. Lee’s 313 points this year rank third-highest all-time for a single season; he is the only player to have multiple 300-point years. His 160 goals and 150 three-star points are also the third-best mark in a season ever. His 153 assists rank second; Oliver’s 142 assists rank fifth.

SDF/GDF: Pat spends his tenth straight session on top of the SDF, but Ben takes another huge chunk out of his lead this week, and has a strong chance of moving into first next session. Terryn enters the top ten for the first time, and Kyle drops to ninth. Justin falls from the top ten due to focusing on play in net. Dom stays on top of the GDF, but is only barely ahead of K.J. now. Justin also rises up to fifth.

Don’t forget check out those Records and Honours on the Links page before you leave. Bernie Koth-Kappus returns to BUSH on Sunday. Be there!