During the planning stages it appeared that we'd have possibly our largest VRH session ever. However, due to the Master Bladers rolling through their playoff competition and having a game immediately scheduled the next day (Sunday) our numbers were suddenly in jeopardy. However, to start the session we still actually ended up with a full complement (3-on-3).

The day started out with an all-brothers match-up (Ollie, Bernie, Pat & Alex) vs. the other brothers (Dom & Darrel) and the rest (Rob & Sam). These teams were kept for four games, with the dual brother team winning every contest. It should be noted that Darrel's friend Stu and Marcus were added on to each team as they arrived. One more game was played with randomised teams after this.

With the arrival of Tom we had exactly 9 skaters so it was democratically decided to do a tournament. Sticks created the following teams: Team Demi-God (Pat, Tom, Stu), Team Mere Mortal (Ollie, Bernie, Sam) and Team Underdog (Darrel, Marcus, Rob). The two goalies were switched as evenly as possible throughout the tourney. The tone for the tourney was set in the first game; Team Mere Mortal came from behind to defeat Team Demi-God 5-4 in an astounding upset. Team Mere Mortal was henceforth known as Team Miracle. Looking for redemption Demi-God destroyed the Underdogs 5-0 in the next game. Team Miracle won their last game taking the top seed in the round robin and earning a bye to the championship round.

Team Underdog proved to be an underdog no longer as they claimed a 5-3 victory against Demi-God in the semi-final, lead by Marcus's scoring (hat trick), Darrel's playmaking (4 assists) and Rob's stellar defensive play. Most significant though was Al's performance in net allowing only 3 goals on a massive 38 shots, many of them breaks and other excellent scoring chances (and many of them emanating from the snake bitten blade of Ricky's stick). Ollie, Bernie & Sam had been clicking all tourney and the final was no different; some nice passing plays and a keen ability to capitalise on their chances saw them pull off the final miracle of the day winning the championship game by a 5-2 margin. Ollie led the way with 4 points in this one.

A write-up wouldn't be quite complete without mentioning the weather, which was superb on this day (a mix of sun and cloud, with temperatures around 12 degrees). The weather in the Lower Mainland seems to be slowly shifting from the dreary winter rain to the wonderful spring weather that Vancouver can exhibit, and we're looking forward to paying many more sessions with weather the likes of this one.

Thanks, Bern. Another session, another win, another 30-pointer for Pat, with 18G-12A on 59 shots today. A distant second is Oliver with 10G-10A, and Marcus picks up his first star points in his second session with 8G-9A for 17 points. Also notable was Tom picking up eight points in just three games. Alex had another fantastic session in goal, with .833 (a career high) and a shutout on 125 saves. After a great weekend at the DecaSession last week, Dom came back to earth with just .682 today.

Here are the game scores:
Pat Oliver Alex Bernie Marcus def. Sam Darrel Rob Stu Dom 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-2 5-1 (Marcus missed Game 1)
Marcus Sam Oliver Darrel Alex def. Pat Rob Stu Bernie 5-3

Tournament
Miracle (Oliver Bernie Sam) & Dom def Demi-God (Pat Tom Stu) & Alex 5-4
Demi-God & Alex def. Underdog (Darrel Marcus Rob) & Dom 5-0
Miracle & Alex def. Underdog & Dom 5-2
Underdog & Alex def. Demi-God & Dom 5-3
Miracle & Alex def Underdog & Dom 5-2

Season Stats: Pat moves back around Seamus for third in the season scoring race; Oliver passes Nathan for seventh; Sam and Rob post back-to-back 100-point campaigns. Oliver is the fifth player to reach 100 assists this year; Pat is just two away. Pat passes Seamus for third, and Oliver and Sam pass Graeme for eighth and ninth, in shots on goal. Oliver passes Troy for fifth in shooting percentage. Dominik retakes the save lead from Seamus. The Koth-Kappii and Dom all play their 100th games of the season. Alex has twice as many shutouts this year as anyone else in the league. Oliver passes Stefan for fifth in three-star points. Alex ties Shem for third in goalie star points.

On the All-Time Front: Oliver becomes the second player with 1,800 points. Rob passes Simon and Shem for 22nd in scoring; Sam enters the top 25. Oliver passes Stefan for third in all-time goals; Bernie needs 19 for 500; Rob scores his 100th. Oliver needs three assists for 1,100. Bernie is nine shots on goal behind Justin for seventh. Dom is seven saves behind Lyle for ninth. Dom enters the top 20 in games played. Dom passes Lyle and Seamus for seventh in games goaltended; Alex moves to twelfth in games goaltended and notches career shutout #6. Pat is rapidly catching Stefan for second in all-time VRH-only scoring; Oliver passes Bernie for fourth. Marcus records his first career 15-pointer. Pat has 18 in a row, the second-longest streak ever (Kyle Grenier has 30 straight). Oliver records his 20th 20-pointer (Pat has 16, all consecutively). Pat ties Lorne for third in 25-pointers with 15 (one behind Kyle) and has four in a row (one short of his own record). Pat also records three straight 30-pointers for the second time. No one else has consecutive 30-pointers. Can you believe that’s just Rob’s second ten-goal session? Pat has sixteen in a row, as well as four 15-goal sessions consecutively (one short of his own record). Pat ties Justin for seventh in ten-assisters with 12 (Oliver has 45!). Pat has five in a row. Alex has back-to-back .810s for the first time; Dom’s streak ends at two. Alex has seven consecutive 90-savers and Dom has five. Alex’s streak ties Shem and Seamus for the longest ever (Seamus’ is still active). Dom has back-to-back 100-savers. Bernie plays his twelfth consecutive session; Oliver his sixth; Rob and Dom, their fifth. Stefan’s streak ends at ten. Dom’s 1,360 saves this year is the third-highest season total ever.

SDF/GDF: Pat leads again, of course, but his lead over Kyle actually shrinks! When you set such a high standard, it’s hard to defend such high numbers of points each session. A minor change sees Lee slip behind Ryan into fifth and Stefan behind Seamus into ninth. Taylor stays on top of the GDF as Alex moves up two spots to fourth and over .800. Joe’s recent concentration on skating means he falls due to inactivity.

BUSH still seems a little hungover from the DecaSession. Might they be prodded to respond to this VRH output sometime this week? Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.