After all of the good-natured trash talk and four years of waiting, Lee Orr returned to Vancouver Roller Hockey today after a harrowing truck ride into Vancouver the previous night. It took 35 minutes of intensive stretching just to get him into the vehicle this morning to get to Ambleside. From the VRH ranks, Andrew Smart made his return after nearly two months away, looking to unleash another massive volley of goalie-spooking slapshots. Both would return to face two hot goalies in Bron and Dom, and the somewhat-unexpected appearance of the ever-dominant Pat Elischer. Darrel and Ondrej would also see the Ambleside rink for the second time on a pleasant 14-degree afternoon perfect for hockey.

It would be safe to say Lee was happy to see the sticks-in-the-middle would make him linemates with Pat and Oliver as they teamed with Bernie backed Dom against Bron, Tony, Darrel, Andrew, Ondrej and Eric. Pat, Bernie, Lee and Oliver dominated on the asphalt, and Dom was nearly flawless in net as they destroyed Game 1 5-1, Pat pointing out and bron letting in five of eleven shots. Game 2 was closer as Smart and Eric teamed up to challenge Dom, but the elder Voser kept the door closed when it mattered as his crew won 5-4. Dom was .909 aftwer the first series and Pat had nine points.

Switching up the teams produced a rather lopsided second series won by Bron, Eric, Darrel, Pat, Bernie and Oliver. Surprisingly, Pat only had four points in the two games as Eric and Oliver carried the workload. At the other end, Lee was stopped 12 times by Bron in Game 3, and the same fate befell Tony in Game 4 as Bron stopped him nine times. It was this series where Bron got back in the game, and set on a course of stellar netminding that would ultimately prove to be historic. This series lasted twice as long as the first.

After a slow start with three points in four games, Tony revved it up big time in the third series. Teamed with Eric and accompanied by Lee’s rediscovered sniping touch, they joined Ondrej, Oliver and Bron to win a hardfought series 5-1, 3-5, 5-2. Bron was now on fire and held Pat at bay as he clipped along at 20 saves-per-game; Andrew did the bulk of the scoring. Pat had to leave after this series; at this point, he had 20 points, Lee 17 and Eric 15.

Once Pat left, it was a search for balance which saw everything from sticks-in-the-middle to trading to ‘you-pick-I-pick’ to select teams; every arrangement seeming to leave Dom at a disadvantage. All of the games were whitewashes and went quickly, allowing the crew to get the session game count up to eleven with four games in 55 minutes. Andrew turned it on here; his hard shots getting through. As well, Oliver, who only had one goal to this point, notched six in the last four games. The combo of Andrew, Lee and Oliver was particularly effective; Lee recovering after scoring just one point in Game 8 and 9. Tony and Eric were again an excellent pairing, often controlling play, but just could not get past Bron.

Even after eleven games, some of the gang could have probably played another three or four. This was the most equitable VRH session in a while as scoring was quite evenly distributed through the session among all players. The volume of shots was extraordinary by VRH standards; the most ever seen in a VRH session. A fantastic day for hockey (and DQ Moolattes) overall.

Starting in Game 3, Bron ran away from the rest of the crew and entered some other universe. It would be impossible to list all of his amazing saves on this page. He finished at a stellar .870 with two shutouts, and his 188 saves are easily a VRH record. Dom had a tough middle stretch today bookended by two fantastic series and plenty of great saves of his own. His .774 was a bit below normal but his 147 saves are far-and-away a new career high. On the scoresheet, Pat leaving for the last hour meant that he would finish at 11G-9A on 46 shots in seven games; tying for third star. It would be Lee who took the ball and ran with it, scoring a huge 17G and adding 9A to take the day. Eric and Andrew were fantastic and consistent all day. Eric finished second star at 12G-9A-55 shots, while Andrew finished tied for third at 8G-12A on a huge 74 shots. Joining Andrew and Pat at 20 points was the ever-dangerous Oliver at 7G-13A. Do not be fooled by Tony’s 11 points; he was one of the best players all day and just got the shaft when it came to facing hot goalies at the wrong time.

Here are the game scores:
Pat Lee Oliver Bernie Dominik def. Bron Tony Darrel Andrew Ondrej Eric 5-1 5-4
Bron Eric Darrel Pat Bernie Oliver def. Lee Tony Andrew Ondrej Dominik 5-2 5-1
Ondrej Lee Oliver Tony Eric Bron def. Dominik Pat Bernie Andrew Darrel 5-1 3-5 5-2
Bron Oliver Andrew Eric Tony def. Lee Ondrej Darrel Bernie Dominik 5-1
Andrew Tony Eric Bernie Bron def. Lee Dominik Oliver Ondrej Darrel 5-0
Bron Andrew Lee Oliver Ondrej vs. Dominik Darrel Eric Tony Bernie 5-1
Bron Andrew Lee Oliver Bernie vs. Dominik Darrel Eric Tony Ondrej 5-0

Season Stats: Pat passes K.J. and ties Mitch for sixth in season scoring and is four points behind Stefan. Bernie and Tony pass Terryn and Rob for 12th and 13th in season scoring. Andrew is the 17th player to score 100 points. Pat is four goals behind Mitch for fourth; Oliver is four behind Stefan for seventh. Lee needs 21 assist for 300; Pat passes Mitch and Troy for seventh. Bernie passes Shem for 11th in assists and needs 12 for 100. Tony falls behind Lorne to second in shooting percentage. Dom passes Justin for sixth in saves and is 22 behind Lorne for fifth. Oliver passes 200 games played; Lee needs eleven for 200. Bron jumps to seventh in games played. Dom ties Lorne for fourth in games goaltended. Bron takes back the goalie star point lead from Shem; Dom moves into sixth. Bron is five total star points behind Lorne for fourth. Andrew falls behind K.J. to fifth in shots-per-game. Bron’s 188 saves and 1058 PPS rate third-best for sessions this year.

On the All-Time Front: Oliver becomes the first player to score 1,600 points. Bernie has passed Seamus for fifth all-time and is 14 points away from 1,000. Andrew becomes the 25th player to score 100 points. Lee is just eleven goals behind Lorne for the all-time lead, 843-832. Bernie is twelve goals behind Justin for seventh. Oliver needs 17 assists for 1,000; Lee in second place needs six assists for 700. Pat moves from 19th to 17th in assists. Lee becomes the first player to record 4,000 shots on goal. Andrew jumps from 27th to 23rd in shots. Pat loses the all-time shooting percentage lead to Robert, and tony falls out of the top ten. Oliver needs six games for 900. Bron passes Mitch for 14th in games played. Bron is four games goaltended behind Nathan for fourth. He also takes the all-time shutout lead over Nathan, 15-13. Bron passes Laird for second in all-time goalie star points. Pat falls behind Robert for the all-time PPG lead, 3.65-3.61. Lee passes Andrew for fifth in shots-per-game all-time. Pat has ten 15-pointers in a row, the third-longest streak ever. Eric hits 15 and 20 points for the first time. Andrew has five 15-pointers in a row. Lee passes Lorne for first all-time in 20-pointers with 27. Pat’s streak of eight 20-pointers is first all-time; Andrew’s streak of five is tied for second. Lee is one 25-pointer behind Lorne for first, 13-12. Pat’s streak of 25-pointers ends at five. Pat has eight ten-goal sessions in a row, the second-longest streak ever (four behind Robert). He also has the second-most 15-goal sessions ever. Pat’s ten-assister streak ends at three while Andrew’s goes to three. Bron ties Nathan for second in 80-savers all-time with 22, two behind Laird. Dom has six in a row. Bron ties Nathan for most 90-savers with 18, and is one behind him in 100-savers with 15. He ties Nathan with 11 110-savers. He moves into third in 120-savers with five. Bron has back-to-back 120-plus save sessions; the second ever to do so besides Nathan. He also is one away from tying Chris and Nathan in 130-savers; he has four all-time and Dom has three. Oliver has played 39 consecutive sessions, Lee 26 (fourth-longest streak ever), Bernie 19, and Eric and Dominik six. Jordan Barlow’s streak ends at six, Ryan’s at five. Bron’s 188 saves today is the fourth-largest session total ever, as is his PPS of 1058. Oliver becomes the first player to play in 200 games in a single season.

SDF/GDF: Pat stays on top but Lee takes a sizeable jump to third as injured K.J. begins to fall. Lyle falls under the minimum session level, handing the GDF lead back to Golden Joe. Bron jumps from eighth to fifth.

More VRH goodness is coming your way next weekend. Until then, check out the Records and Honours page in the Links section.