Shem Hanna came back to Burton Tuesday coming off of one of his worst career performances and looking to get back in the swing of things. The task would be made more interesting by the fact that it would be the first 4-on-4 session of the season for BUSH. Contrary to the mood Saturday, there was no trash talk or anything of the sort; just ten guys ready to play hockey. Tyler would make his 2010 debut in goal after an impressive sophomore session to end 2009. Nathan and Lee rigged a camera on top of the cage to peer down into the rink in hopes of capturing some video footage.

There was little dallying today; the crew plunged right into the first series with Lee, Andrew, Nathan, Kyle and Shem against Troy, Noel, Seamus, Justin and Tyler. It didn’t last long. Kyle, Lee and Watty were quite the trio and quickly ended the game 5-0, giving Shem a nine-shot shutout. Game 2 lasted about five minutes longer (that is to say, 15 minutes). Shem was standing on his head and the Kyle-Andrew tandem was in full flight, winning 5-2. Kyle had eight points, Andrew seven, and Shem was .952 for the series compared to Tyler’s .714.

A quick reworking of the teams saw Noel and Tyler switched for Andrew and Shem. Now having to face the hard-shooting, high-volume Grenier, Shem rose to the occasion and welded the cage shut. Meanwhile, Watson dominated the game from both positions and led his speedy crew of Troy, Justin and Seamus to a 5-0. Shem now had two shutouts in three games and was hovering in the .960s. Early on in Game 4, Troy had wheel problems that would plague him for the rest of the session, including a wheel that blew back onto the skate at a grotesque, mangled angle. Then Nathan had issues. Then Kyle kept losing screws. Half of this game wound up being 3-on-3 with a sub as a result, which Seamus refusing to let Andrew take a shift off as Watson was emerging as the top player of the session. It was Noel that finally solved Shem, and his crew kept it close, but could only manage a 5-3 loss.

Andrew’s back was done again, and he left after Game 4 leading the session in scoring with eleven points including six goals on ten shots. Shem, still above the all-time record, would be teamed with Lee, Seamus and Noel against Kyle, Troy, Nathan and Justin with Tyler. It would be the only game Shem lost all day (5-3), but not for lack of effort; he stopped 42 of 47 shots. His save sequences were some of the most spectacular we’ve seen, including a save on Justin that Mr. Gordon promptly declared to be the most picturesque he’s seen. Tyler began to come around and pulled himself up into the .760s after a rough start. Game 6 quickly brought the pack back down to earth as Shem, who had ‘fallen’ into the .910s, stopped another 25 shots, only letting one Grenier goal in, and pulled himself back above .930 en route to a 5-1 whitewash. Lee and Seamus were now clicking as a tandem, and it would come down to them in the day’s scoring race. In the rubber match, the sub team clawed back and kept it close as Troy and Kyle peppered Shem, doing just enough damage to ensure that there would be no record goaltending today, but Shem was too much. His excellent netminding ruled the day, and the Lee-Seamus-Noel trio iced it 5-3 to finish the series. There was probably room for another frame, but in the interesting of wheel conservation and a Canucks pay-per-view, it was called at 4:10. The last series was a savage, grinding affair that forced everyone to work. Shem killed everyone’s PPG today and made everyone look like fools. After two subpar sessions, Shem Hanna is back with a vengeance.

At .914 with 149 saves and two shutouts, Shem laid down one of the best performances of all time today, killing everyone in his path. Between him, Dom, Alex, and Seamus, we’ve seen some huge performances this year in goal (and don’t forget Bron lurking in the shadows). The normally high-scoring crew was denied repeatedly today. Lee led the way with 11G-8A, beating Seamus (6G-12A) by a point. After starting out hot with eight points in the first two games, being matched against Shem took its toll on Kyle; he just eked out 15 points for third. Had he been able to play the final series, Andrew almost certainly would have won today. Today certainly served as a notice of how far along Andrew has come in his Burton development. Tyler had a rough day at the other end of the rink at .718.

Here are the game scores:
Lee Andrew Nathan Kyle Shem def. Troy Seamus Justin Noel Tyler 5-0 5-2
Shem Seamus Troy Justin Andrew def. Lee Kyle Nathan Noel Tyler 5-0 5-3
Lee Seamus Noel Shem def. Kyle Troy Nathan Justin Tyler 3-5 5-1 5-3

Faceoff stats:
Kyle Grenier 10/13 (76.92%)
Lee Orr 9/14 (64.29%)
Seamus O’Connor 5/12 (41.67%)
Justin Gordon 3/8 (37.50%)
Troy Waldron 2/6 (33.33%)
Nathan Robson 1/5 (20.00%)
Noel Ballard 0/2 (0.00%)
Andrew Watson 0/2 (0.00%)

Season Stats: Lee takes a little bit out of Kyle’s lead, but Kyle retains 173-146. Seamus needs two points for 100 and is five behind Pat for third. Troy enters the top ten. Lee passes Pat for second in goals but is 40 behind Kyle. Seamus enters the top five at 35, four behind Stefan. Seamus passes Kyle for second in assists and now trails Lee 75-63. Nathan passes Pat for sixth and is one the verge of the top five. Seamus is just one shot on goal behind Pat for third as Troy enters the top ten. Andrew is now just short of being eligible for the shooting percentage lead, which Nathan gives up to Pat. Whoever would have predicted Lee would be fourth in shooting percentage 49 games into the season does better drugs than I do. Troy slips from the top five, giving way to Stefan. Shem takes a commanding .847-.830 lead in save percentage over Seamus. Shem is 75 saves behind Dom for the season lead. Kyle and Seamus have played all 49 BUSH games this season; Nathan has missed just one and has been at every session as well. Lee moves to fourth; he’s missed just one session. Shem moves to sixth. Shem moves to second in games goaltended but is still a couple of sessions behind war machine Dom. Shem joins Alex and Dom with multiple shutouts this year. Lee passes Pat for second in three-star points. Seamus passes Oliver for fourth. Shem is second in goalie star points at 35, ten behind Dom. Seamus and Lee are tied at 70 total star points, 25 behind leader Kyle. Kyle hands back the PPG and GPG leads to Pat; Troy falls from the top five in both. Seamus slips behind Pat to third in shots-per-game. Shem takes the lead from Bron in saves-per-game. Seamus’ 12 assists rank fifth-highest in a session this year, a terrific accomplishment in a session where scoring was hard to come by. It goes without saying that Shem’s .914 is the leading session this year. His 149 saves rank fifth-best. His 1063 is also the highest mark this year; he has the two highest tallies in both categories so far.

On the All-Time Front: Seamus becomes the fourth player with 1,200 points. Justin needs 16 points for 900; he, K.J. and Kyle are racing to become the seventh player with 1,000 points. Kyle needs 15 for 800. Troy passes Joe and Robert for 16th all-time. Lee becomes the first player in history with 1,000 goals. Justin passes Bernie for eighth in goals. Seamus becomes the fourth player with 600 assists and sits seven behind Bernie for third. Kyle is six assists behind Graeme for tenth. Nathan passes Mitchell for 14th. Troy is four assists behind Pat for 16th. Lee is 26 shots on goal from 5,000. Kyle passes Bernie for sixth in shots. Justin is 22 shots behind K.J. for eighth. Troy passes Ryno for 16th. In the always-tight race for the all-time goaltending lead, Shem moves back into first at .833 ahead of Seamus and Troy. Justin becomes the eighth player with 500 games played; he sits behind Stefan in seventh. Nathan passes Graeme for eleventh and is one behind K.J. for tenth. Shem is two games goaltended behind Lore for eighth, and ties him for seventh in shutouts with six. Kyle extends his record 15-pointer streak to 18 sessions. Troy’s streak ends at eight. Lee becomes the first player to score 50 ten-goal sessions. Kyle’s ten-goal streak ends at eight. Seamus ties Lorne and Stefan for fifth in ten-assisters with 16. Lee’s streak ends at four, one off Kyle’s record from last year. Shem ties Seamus for fifth in .800 sessions with 16. He ties Laird and Bron for third in .840 sessions with nine. He ties Bron for second in.850 sessions with nine, one behind Justin for the lead. He ties Bron for third in .860 sessions with six. This is his second .880-plus session. Shem ties Kyle for fifth in 80-savers with 17; he and Tyler both have then back-to-back. Shem has back-to-back 120-savers, only the fourth time in Burton history this has happened (twice for Shem, Nathan and Bron once). This is his fourth 130-saver; four goalies are tied for first at five. Nathan plays his 21st consecutive session, the tenth-longest streak ever. Seamus goes to 17, Kyle to eight, Lee to seven. Shem’s .914 is the seventh-greatest goaltending session of all-time by percentage. His 1063 PPS ranks fourth all-time; Shem holds three of the top six sessions in that category.

SDF/GDF: On top for an eighth-straight ranking and 31st overall (Lorne 38, Robert 32), Pat’s lead gets bigger as Troy falls to fifth, bringing Kyle, Lorne and Lee up one each. Seamus passes Stefan for sixth, and Andrew leaps into the top ten despite still not being at the minimum session count thanks to his fractions of sessions this year. There’s just one session from 2009 remaining, which will drop off this weekend (or earlier if BUSH can get another weekday session in). Justin’s return to skating, a great Seamus session falling off, and Shem’s heroics in net today all combine to put Shem back on top (his eighth time ever).

A hard-fought but rewarding day today. I wonder what kind of video we snagged? Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.