With numbers increasingly hard to come by we managed to scratch together another 2 on 2 session with the last minute appearance of Shem, over for the weekend from Kelowna. The combination of the warmest day for hockey yet and six old vets resulted in a grueling 5 hour marathon session where we played more hockey than we probably should have. As everyone was dragging their bodies around in the 8th game, too tired to generate offense, and I proclaimed ‘one series too many!!’ Kyle reminded me we do that pretty much every time. And once again we took it beyond the limit and left everyone content not to play hockey until next weekend. Today was certainly Kyle's day; Kyle at his uncontainable best; there was no answer for him. Lord knows I tried, with the blisters to prove it. Noel is quickly becoming a reliable go-to goaltender, improving every session, and the scope of the Burton netminding situation is rapidly changing, especially with the departure of Seamus O’Çonnor.

Series 1: Lee - Graeme - Shem vs. Kyle - Nathan - Noel
Game 1: 5-1 Kyle
Game 2: 5-4 Kyle
Game 1 was a slaughter. All parties equally to blame. Game 2 Team Orr got things on track, but a long screen shot saw their effort go for naught.

Series 2: Lee - Graeme - Noel vs. Kyle - Nathan - Shem
Game 1: 5-2 Kyle
Game 2: 5-4 Kyle
Almost the identical result of Series 1, with the series ending the same way.

Series 3: Lee - Nathan - Noel vs. Kyle - Graeme - Shem
Game 1: 5-2 Kyle
Game 2: 5-4 Lee
Game 3: 5-4 Lee
The most even series of the day with the final game coming down to overtime. The highest paced game of the day; the winning goal on a wraparound backhanding from Lee.

Series 4: Lee - Nathan - Shem vs. Kyle - Graeme - Noel
Game 1: 5-2 Kyle
Game 2: 5-3 Kyle
Shem played well in this series, but with Lee and Nathan completely gassed it was just a matter of time. With Graeme racking up assists and Kyle making few mistakes, they took the final series.

Thanks, Lee. Naturally, the day I’m out of town is the day that Kyle Grenier lays down one of the most statistically devastating sessions in Burton history; an astounding 4.44 PPG with 32G, 40P and 108 shots on goal. It make himself and Pat Elischer the only players in Burton history with two 40-pointers to their credit. This is the sixth 40-pointer in Burton Hockey history. The otherwise solid sessions of Lee and Nathan (28P each, tying Nathan’s career high) got lost in the shuffle today. Not a goalie-friendly session at all (Noel besting Shem .771-.729), but it does represent a new career high in goal for Noel.

With both a VRH and BUSH session today, prepare yourself for an onslaught of statistical notes. Take a deep breath...

Season Stats: Kyle passes a historic plateau, recording his 500th point today to sit at 533 on the season, 48 ahead of Lee at 475. Nathan passes Seamus and Stefan to sit in fourth at 248 (Seamus 245, Stefan 240). Graeme passes Jordan Barlow for ninth. Tony becomes the 17th player in triple-digit points this year (Lorne needs 16, Marcus 18). Kyle passes the incredible 300-goal mark. Nathan passes OIiver and Seamus for sixth in goals and needs eight for 100; Graeme is just one behind Nathan is seventh. Lorne, Tony and Rob are almost in the 50-goal club. Lee passes 250 assists. Nathan is eight assists behind Seamus for third. Stefan passes Pat for sixth in assists; Barlow needs six for 100; Tony passes 50 while Marcus and Shem each need four for 50. Graeme passes Justin for sixth in shots; Nathan passes Oliver for eighth. Barlow jumps from sixth to third in shooting percentage and Kyle enters the top ten. Shem falls from third to fifth in save percentage behind Seamus and Laird. Lee and Kyle take the lead in games played from Seamus at 160 and 159 to 151. Alex has nine shutouts; the next closest is Seamus at four. Stefan passes Seamus for fourth in three-star points. Dom is ten goalie star points behind Shem for the lead, 145-135. Kyle falls behind Pat and Troy to sixth in APG. Graeme falls behind Mitch Detta and Seamus to seventh in shots-per-game. Shem falls all the way from first to fifth in saves-per-game, bringing the unlikely Kyle Grenier into first. Kyle’s 40 points rank third-highest overall in a session this year (both totals ahead of his were recorded in 14 games) and tops in BUSH. His 32 goals are also tops in BUSH for the year and second-best overall. Nathan’s 16 assists tie for fifth-most this year. Kyle’s 108 shots on goal are just eight short of Pat’s 116 recorded in 14 games back in February.

On the All-Time Front: Lorne needs 30 points for 1,500. Stefan is 15 points behind Seamus for fifth. Kyle jumps to within just three points of Bernie for sixth all-time, which is an amazing achievement. He is also ahead of Justin for fourth in BUSH-only scoring. Graeme needs 19 points for 800. Rob passes Tony for 21st and Barlow passes Shem for 23rd. Marcus needs 18 points for 100. Noel enters the top 35 for the first time. Lorne needs eight goals to become the second player to score 900. Stefan extends his lead on Oliver for third in goals to ten. Kyle is 24 goals behind Seamus for fifth. Bernie needs seven goals for 500; Graeme needs nine for 400. Kyle needs 25 assists for 500. Lorne needs 22 assists for 600. Graeme passes K.J. for tenth in assists and needs 15 for 400. He also needs another five to catch Joern for ninth. Nathan passes Laird for twelfth in assists and needs six for 300. Barlow enters the top 20 with 150 assists. Stefan is 25 shots on goal behind Oliver for second; Lorne passes 3,500; Graeme is 33 shots behind K.J. for ninth; Nathan enters the top 20. Barlow passes Jason Leung for fourth in shooting percentage. Shem falls from third to fifth in the all-time save percentage chart and is only ahead of K.J. at the fifth decimal place (one one-hundred-thousandth). Dom is 138 saves behind Seamus for seventh. Shem becomes the ninth goalie with 2,500 saves. Lorne is eight games played behind Seamus for fourth. Stefan and Joern both sit on 599 games played in sixth place! Graeme passes 450 games; Dom needs two for 200; Barlow passes 150; Tony needs five for 150; Alex needs four for 100. Dom is one game goaltended behind Justin for sixth and needs five for 200; Alex needs four for 100. Alex ties Seamus for sixth in shutouts with nine. Shem is five points from goal behind Lorne for fifth. Kyle and Stefan both pass Seamus for third in three-star points; 605-605-600. Dom passes Chris and becomes the seventh goalie with 200 goalie star points. Nathan passes K.J. for eighth in total star points. Kyle passes Joe Chwachka for fifth in GPG. Lee records his 85th career 15-pointer. Kyle ties Seamus for fourth in 15-pointers with 46. Stefan has 40 career 15-pointers, and Graeme is tied for tenth with 16. Kyle’s record 15-pointer streak extends to 32 consecutive sessions. Lee has six in a row, and Graeme and Nathan both have three in a row for the first time in their careers. In fact, Graeme and Nathan have three 20-pointers in a row, which is even crazier when you consider that they only have three 20-pointers in their careers each! Kyle records his 30th 20-pointer; Stefan is one behind Lorne for third at 26. Kyle not only has back-to-back 20-pointers but back-to-back 30-pointers. Lee has 20 career 25-pointers; Kyle is second with 16. Kyle and Nathan each have two straight 25-pointers; Graeme’s streak ends at two. Kyle becomes just the second player (joining Pat) to post back-to-back 30-pointers. Pat has eleven; Kyle has seven. Lee posts his 59th ten-goal session; he has three in a row (as do Nathan and Graeme). Lorne becomes the first player with 25 15-goal sessions; Kyle is second with 16 (and has two in a row). Kyle also has two 20-goal sessions in row (he trails Pat all-time eight to six). Stefan ties Kyle for fourth in ten assisters with 19. Graeme has three in a row; Barlow, Marcus, Nathan and Lee all have two in a row. Alex’s .800, .810 and .820 streaks end at five; Shem’s at two. Alex’s .850 streak ends at two. Shem and Dom are tied for sixth in 80-savers with 19; Alex has ten, all in a row. Dom has eight in a row and Noel has two in a row. Dom is now fifth in 90-savers with 17 (two in a row); Shem is sixth with 16; Alex has ten (all in a row, which is a record) and Noel has two in a row. Alex has three straight 100-savers and Dom has two. Noel records his first 100- and 110-savers. Dom is tied for third in 110-savers with nine. Alex has three in a row (just the third goalie to ever do so). Dom is just one 120-saver behind Nathan for first all-time with eight (tied with Laird and Justin). Bernie plays his 16th consecutive session. Lee is at 13, Oliver is at ten, Dom is at nine, Graeme is at seven, Marcus and Alex are at five along with Nathan. Kyle’s 40 points today ties for the fourth-highest scoring session ever (he and Pat both have two sessions in the top five). His 32 goals today is the second-highest mark ever (only he, Pat, and Dustin Blair have scored 30 in one session). Kyle’s 108 shots on goal rank as the fourth-highest mark ever recorded (and the three ahead were recorded in 12, 14, and 12 games, respectively). Kyle becomes the second player to score 500 points in one season. Lee now has the third-highest scoring season ever at 475. Kyle becomes the second player to score 300 goals in one season. Lee’s 224 goals this year rank fifth all-time; Lee and Kyle holds all spots in the top five. Lee’s 1,087 shots on goal rank fifth-highest. Dom should come close to or set the record for most saves in one season next time out. Alex’s 1,297 this season rank fifth-highest ever. Kyle’s 305 three star points and 320 total star points this year are the second-highest totals ever seen. Lee’s 225 total star points this year are the fifth-highest mark ever. Dom’s 135 goalie star points are the fourth-highest mark ever.

SDF/GDF: Kyle’s huge session allows him to open his lead on Pat a little, but below them is complete upheaval. With Joe Leonard and Ryan falling below the session minimum, they plummet and send Justin into third. Tony passes Lee and moves to fourth. Lorne rockets from 18th to seventh, Stefan rises four to twelfth, Marcus passes Graeme to enter the top ten for the first time, and Nathan and tom enter the top twelve. This will most likely be Taylor’s last week atop the GDF unless he can play next time out. An off-session dropping off brings Seamus over Laird to second; this also brings Lyle over Dom to fifth. Noel and Shem move into seventh and eighth.

I’d be lying if I said BUSH’s immediate outlook isn’t pretty bleak. Thankfully, VRH is cruising high and fast. Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.