With the beautiful weather in the Lower Mainland recently we knew we'd have large numbers for the session today, so a larger rink was a must. Rob had suggested a new rink, Kirkstone Park in North Vancouver, which looked to be the perfect size (i.e. small QE rink-size), so we decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, though, despite arriving there at 9:45am there were already a slew of foot hockey players there getting ready to play. After we saw them bring a trophy onto the rink, we knew with 100% certainty that we'd have to shift locations. The trophy did, however, provide us with some hope for the future, given the possibility that it could have been a one-time annual tournament or something of the like.

William Griffin, being close-by and also often not too busy, was the logical choice. The session got underway around 10:30am (likely the earliest start time of any Burton Hockey session ever). But as seems to be the case at almost any rink these days, even at Will-Griff we were soon presented with other players who wanted to use the rink; these were young punks around the same age as Sam was when he first started playing with us. They challenged us to “play for the court” and after a couple more games we took them up on the offer. By the time they were ready to play us, we had completed one full series (with Alex's team winning all three games) and one additional game.

Due to the large number of young punks, and a game format of up to 10 goals, stats were not kept for the challenge game. Although playing against players on foot has some advantages, there are also some very marked disadvantages (quick pivoting ability for one) and the young punks initially gave us a bit of a run for our money. For quite some time the score sat at 2-1. Eventually though, led by Pat and Marcus, we began to open the floodgates and the score was soon up to 6-1. At this point the second line chipped in with a number of pretty nice goals, with the game eventually ending at 10-2. Also of note in this game: Pat and a young punk had a massive spill in which they tripped over each other at high speed and both went tumbling; and, after receiving a slash from a young punk (he couldn't have been more than 12 years old), Tom had quite the heated war of words with the other side.

With a few players leaving at this time (most notably “Stuffin Numbers” who was off to do the scoreboard at a roller derby) resulting in few subs to be found, and the long games and exhausting heat, we managed to get only one more game in. Alex's team won this game, but it should be noted that with Tony out part way through the game with foot issues, and Bernie barely able to skate also due to foot issues, Team Bron was virtually shorthanded for good portions of the game.

Suffice it to say, by the end of the session it was 4pm and a solid 5 & ½ hours of hockey had been played. To finish things off, some beers were drank and some burgers were grilled up on Rob's BBQ.

Also, of note: we had initially planned to play hockey both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, but after such a lengthy and gruelling session today the enthusiasm to play again the next day had definitely waned. However, look for a possible mid-week session coming up.

And one final note: Dom would play his first full VRH session as a skater and a new player (Pat's friend Aaron) made his debut.

Thanks, Bern. All that effort and hockey resulted in just five games; a small session by VRH standards. The only 15-pointer today came from Pat, with 9G-7A. Tom posts his best session yet in second with 7G-4A, and Sam, despite not playing Game 4, takes third as the only other player in double digits. Alexhad a fantastic .835 to Bron’s less-than-fantastic .699 in his first session back since day one of the DecaSession. The shot volume was low today, with only three players with 20 shots on goal and 139 total saves between the two goalies.

Here are the game scores:
Sam Pat Oliver Bernie Stefan Tom Alex def. Aaron Jordan Rob Dom Marcus Tom Bron 5-3 5-4 5-2
Rob Pat Aaron Tom Bernie Alex def. Jordan Oliver Marcus Tony Dom Bron 5-3
Alex Marcus Jordan Rob Tom Sam def. Tony Pat Oliver Bernie Dom Bron 5-4

Season Stats: Pat becomes the third player this year to hit 300 points. Stefan ties Seamus for fifth at 245 and is three points behind Nathan for fourth. Tony passes Noel and K.J. for 14th. Pat needs four goals for 200. Tony becomes the 15th 50-goal scorer this season; Rob needs three. Marcus enters the top 20 in goals. Jordan becomes the eighth player this season with 100 assists. Marcus needs one assist for 50. Stefan passes 600 shots on goal. Bernie falls behind K.J. and Stefan to seventh in shooting percentage. Alex his just eight saves behind Seamus for second. Bron passes 500 saves for the third time in his illustrious career. Bernie passes Nathan for fourth in games played with Dom and Oliver right behind. Alex becomes the ninth player with 100 games played this year. Bron passes Golden Joe for fifth in games goaltended. Bron falls from second to fourth in saves-per-game.

On the All-Time Front: Stefan is ten points behind Seamus for fourth in all-time scoring; Bernie is nine ahead of Kyle for seventh. In the Hajdu-Barlow battle for 21st, Rob lies at 270, Jordan is two behind at 268, and Tony is now one point behind at 267. Marcus needs nine points for 100. Pat is 18 goals behind Graeme for tenth. Jordan is seven assists behind Ryan for 19th. Sam needs four assists for 100. Oliver is 26 shots on goal ahead of Stefan for second; Rob enters the top 20. Pat falls behind Joe Chwachka to third in shooting percentage. Bernie needs 12 games to become the second player to play 1,000. Stefan becomes the sixth player to play 600; Dom becomes the 19th to play 200; Pat and Rob enter the top 20; Alex plays his 100th. Bron passes Nathan for third games goaltended and needs four more to catch Chris Jackins for second. Pat becomes the ninth and 12th player with 300 three-star and 300 total star points, respectively. Alex becomes the fourth goalie to goaltend 100 games in a single year. Pat becomes the ninth player with 20 15-pointers. Alex’s 80-save streak goes to eleven but his 90-save streak end at ten (his 90-save streak is a Burton record). Bron’s 80-save streak ends at three. Alex’s 100-save and 110- save streaks end at three. Jordan and Marcus have ten-assister streaks end at two. Bernie plays consecutive session #17. Oliver is at eleven, Dom at ten, Alex and Marcus at six, Stefan at five.

SDF/GDF: This is still provisional with a tentatively scheduled BUSH session tomorrow, but Kyle will become the eighth player in history to lead ten SDF rankings (five in a row). The big change today is the fall of Tony from fourth to seventh and the continued rise of Tom and Marcus, who move up to fifth and sixth. Sam jumps six spots to eighth. Seamus drops below the session minimum and falls eight spots to 16th. Taylor falls below the session minimum on the GDF, thus bringing Seamus into the top spot (his 19th career ranking topped, tying him with K.J. for fifth-most). Laird and Alex are second and third, and Bron moves up five spots to fourth.

BUSH is going to try again tomorrow. If they can’t come through, we actually have potential for a VRH weekday session this week, so never fear! Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.