”Third time’s a charm” would apply to today's session as Chris Jackins would finally suit back up and take the net he long owned in Burton. He does have a major complaint, however, as the Shelbyville moniker of New Denver has graced his honoured court. He would strap on the pads and take the long walk to the opposite side of the rink, obviously disgusted with the prospect of playing with such a symbol at his back.

Hand picked squads by Seamus would produce Ollie, Kyle and Bernie with Seamus vs. Mitch (Peterson), Watty and Lee. Bad goaltending on both ends would highlight the start of the game as Chris let in his first two shots (both by Grenier) and Orr would rip his first shot past Seamus to leave us at 2-1 on three shots. Kyle, Ollie and Bern got the cycle working to perfection here and cruised to a 5-2 victory as Jackins tried to find his legs with his wife demanding him to "represent" at the end of the game.

Captain Orr would rally his troops by fixing Mitch's botched wheels and giving Watty a new stick. These moves would pay off in spades as Lee's opening goal was followed by a beauty no-look backhand by Watson and the upstart crew was up 2-0. Grenier is not easily beaten in Burton, however, and our leading point scorer on the year took over here and fought back from the 2-0 and 4-3 leads to take the game 5-4 in OT. A point out for Kyle in games 1 and 2; Bernie would be effective as his BUSH visit continues to be strong with 1 goal and 4 helpers; and the other half of the Kappus Kombo would hit 1 and 7, continuing his torrid pace as well. In a losing effort, Lee's 4 goals on 11 shots were impressive but not enough to balance the Aussie's rust.

The series was already won but it was decided the teams were too good to break up so we went toe-to-toe again. The goalies would live up to their legendary status here as one of the top shot volume games of the year would take place. Another epic overtime classic would feature a massive 84 shots with both Chris and Seamus standing on their heads to force wave after wave of shooters aside. When the dust had settled Chris had stopped 29 of 33 for the victory and Seamus had to accept defeat despite blocking 46 of 51. Lee's grit led to this victory as he told his team to force the issue, and his 2-and-3 pointout stymied Kyle's perfect day and sent Chris back to the house with a victory in his new jersey.

Thanks, Seam! Painfully, I just couldn’t get back into town in time to see this long-awaited return of a Burton legend, but it was a modern-day legend who dominated the day yet again. Kyle took 14 of a possible 15 points today (11-3) on 31 shots to take the session ahead of Lee (6-5-31) and Oliver (2-8-12). Another outstanding performance from Seamus in goal today, stopping 68 shots in just 3 games for .861. The ex-pat Chris shook off two years’ worth of rust to finish at .770.

Here are the game scores:
Oliver Kyle Bernie Seamus def. Mitch Andrew Lee Chris 5-2 5-4 4-5

Season Stats: Kyle’s season points lead is now 667-619 over Lee. Oliver becomes the sixth player to score 300 points this year and is just four points behind Stefan for fifth, 306-302. Bernie needs nine points for 200. Kyle has posted the first-ever 400-goal season in Burton Hockey. Bernie is three goals behind Seamus for eleventh. Lee records a 300-assist season for the second time. Seamus is 21 assists behind Nathan for third; Oliver is four behind Seamus. Noel ties Justin for eleventh in assists and needs four for 100. Kyle passes K.J. and Troy for third in shooting percentage. Seamus is four games played behind Nathan for third. Oliver passes Stefan for fourth in three-star points. Seamus moves past both Alex and Dom to retake top spot in goalie star points with 170. Seamus also takes over the lead in saves-per-game from Taylor, moving to over 18.00.

On the All-Time Front: Oliver is 71 points away from becoming the second player to hit 2,000 points. Seamus needs twelve points for 1,400 and is 26 behind Stefan for fourth all-time. Kyle is really beginning to mow over some legends; he has now passed Oliver for fourth in all-time goals and is just eleven behind Stefan for third. Oliver needs 19 assists for 1,200; Bernie needs eleven for 700. Kyle is three assists behind Justin for seventh. Oliver is just within one shot of Stefan for second all-time. Kyle is 37 shots on goal behind Lorne for fourth. Seamus becomes the eighth goalie to make 3,000 saves; he also passes Joern for seventh all-time and is 71 saves behind Dom for sixth all-time. Chris becomes the fourth goalie to make 3,500 saves. Lee becomes the third player to play in 800 games. Justin needs one game for 600 and is six games behind Joern for seventh. Oliver passes Seamus for fifth in three-star points and is just ten behind Stefan for fourth. Seamus passes Shem for fourth in saves-per-game. Despite this session being exempt from scoring streak records due to the short length, Kyle still manage to score ten goals and extend his streak to six sessions of doing so. Seamus passes Justin for second in .800s with 26. Seamus also takes the lead in .810s from Nathan with 26. Seamus has back-to-back .820s. Lee records his first session over .810 with his .844 on Friday. Seamus takes the lead in .820s from Nathan with 22; he ties Nathan for second in .830s with 15; he moves into third in .840s with 11; he’s one behind Nathan in .860s with eight. Seamus’ 80-save streak has ended at 14, two short of Chris’ Burton record. Goalie save volume streak are not affected since this was session less than four games long. This means Seamus’ 80-saver streak remains intact at 14, two behind Chris for the all-time record. Bernie plays his 23rd consecutive session (the eighth-longest streak ever). Lee’s streak goes to 20; Seamus’ goes to five. Nathan’s streak ended at ten on Friday, as did Kyle’s streak of seven. Kyle becomes the first player to score 400 goals in one year. IT”S JULY. Lee becomes the only player with two 300-assist seasons; he’s the only player to do it even once. Seamus becomes the fifth goalie with a 1,500-save season. Lee’s 202 games played is the third-highest single-season mark ever; Kyle’s 197 rank fifth. Kyle is one first star away from tying the record for most three-star points in a season, and a second star away from most total star points in a year. Lee’s 295 three star points are the third-most ever in a year. Seamus’ 170 goalie star points are the second-highest total ever; he’s 20 behind Shem’s record of 190. Mitch’s absence of 6 years, 6 months, 11 days was the sixth-longest in history.

SDF/GDF: The top six remain unchanged on the Pat-led SDF, with Stefan moving up two spots to seventh and Graeme dropping out of the top dozen. On the ever-volatile GDF, however, Seamus rockets back into the lead ahead of Alex; with Lee’s other goaltending session this year dropping off, he falls to the bottom. One should expect that Seamus and Alex will keep trading number-one back and forth over the course of the season (unless Taylor decides to play more!).

BUSH is right back at it on Thursday. Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.