It was another humid, suffocating day today in the Arrow Lakes. Fortunately, with thundershowers on the way, there would only be about a game’s worth of killer heat (which even had your humble statistician dripping with sweat). It was Chris’ final session before heading back to his current home of Australia and we wanted to make sure that our last session of 2010 with one of Burton’s all-time legends (and frankly, its most reliable goaltender over the eleven-season history of the game) was a good one (as well, it was Graeme’s last session for about a month as he heads backs off to Vernon Wednesday to film Cam Shaft 3: Fixin’ the Tranny). Pared down to two-on-two with the brothers Orr, Kyle and Nathan as well as Seamus in goal, it looked that any set-up would work. As it turned out, the skating line-ups first chosen (Orrs versus Kyle/Nathan) were so even that there was just a simple goalie swap after the first series and no need to alter the chemistry of either team.

Before the session kicked off, Chris and Seamus decided to distribute the communal goaltending equipment via an equipment draft. Seamus bested Chris in a game of rock-paper-scissors (scissors beat paper), and so grabbed the first two picks. After Chris took two picks, they then went one pick each for the rest of the good gear.
1. Seamus: One good goalie pad
2. Seamus: The other good goalie pad
3. Chris: The good glove
4. Chris: The good stick
5. Seamus: The good shoulder pads
6. Chris: The BUSH mask
7. Seamus: The good pants
8. Chris: The good blocker
9. Seamus: The Lady Protex jillstrap
For the record, the goalie getting the lower-rated pants actually gets a little extra genital protection (supposedly), so that is why Chris avoided grabbing the jillstrap (it may be a ladies garment, but it covers a lot of area, which is why some goalies prefer it). He may have regretted that come Game 4. And since Seamus was left with the crappy goalie stick, it should come as no surprise that the thin blade busted early on in the session on one of Seamus’ myriad attempts to score from goal. An attempt to reinforce the skinny blade by taping a previously broken blade to it failed quite spectacularly as the entire apparatus broke off, leaving Seamus to switch to what was essentially a regular hockey stick with a fat blade (one, in fact, that Noel Ballard’s wife had purchased for Noel’s use but was quickly absorbed into the Burton Hockey gear collection).

Lee and Graeme partnered with Seamus to take on Kyle and Nate with the Aussie in tow. It was a quick start as two of the first four shots on each goalie went in (including two scored directly off the faceoff). A bit of ignominy to start the day, but the goalies gradually settled in (Chris first, followed by Seamus a couple of games later). A close-fought Game 1 went down to the wire before Graeme scored the winner in overtime. Chris was ahead by .806-.715 compared to a disappointed Seamus. Kyle posted four points in defeat. During the five-minute between-game break, the clouds and wind moved in. There was thunder in the distance, but it was never a threat to Burton itself. Instead, the clouds and wind just served to quickly cool everyone down and fuel their energy tanks. Kyle and Nathan stormed back in a quick Game 2 under some pretty heavy winds, and won easily 5-1 as Seamus had yet to find his footing. Seamus would slowly begin climbing back toward .800 as the day went on, and Game 3 was another tight battle won by a goal from Graeme in a game they had wrapped up at 3-1, then lost it to fall down 3-4 before staging a comeback of their own to win. Kyle still managed 13 points in the three games. It was in this game where Seamus’ stick exploded, and the replacement stick of Noel's allowed him to take a more active part in the play of the next series.

The teams switched goalies for the second set. Seamus was regularly attempting shots on goal, developing a pretty frightening slapshot that hit the net about a third of the time. Chris would be forced to make eight saves this day (overall, Seamus attempted at least two dozen). Many times, however, Seam would be caught too far out of the net afterwards or was forced to retreat back to the crease missing the blocker he would regularly shuck to take shots, and he paid for it a few times with immediate goals from the Orrs. On the flip side, Seamus coming out to play the puck so often worked to his team’s advantage many times. Sometimes Nathan would just quickly bank in the rebound from a Seamus slapshot; other times, Seamus would run up to centre and set up Kyle or Nathan in the opposing corner or in front of the net for a cash-in or a breakaway. It was never boring when Seamus touched the puck. There was one unfortunate moment; for the second straight session, Seamus got someone right in the junk. This time, it was one of his slapshots that nailed Chris square. Chris somehow managed to make the next save, but hunched over in pain, Kyle made sure that a third shot was put top shelf to take Game 4 5-1. After a rest break to allow Chris to recover, Graeme and Lee dominated Game 5 as Kyle and Nathan momentarily lost the ability to click together; the only time that the blond demon of BUSH was stopped all session. Seamus was now standing on his head and back in form. He was .860 in the final four games today. Seamus and Chris took it down to the wire in Game 6 as the dusk slowly began creeping over John McCormack Park. The pace never let up all day, and it was only fitting that Game 6 went to overtime. Naturally, Seamus set up Kyle for the winner. A great day for hockey and a fine way to send our compadre Christopher Eric ‘Dudeman’ Jackins back to the land down under.

All four skaters were within five points of one another after six games. Kyle led in scoring all day via a huge volume of goals, finishing at 18G-5A on 65 shots. Lee came on in Series 2 and climbed to second on an even-handed 10G-9A. Tying for third were Graeme and Nathan, just a point behind Lee (Graeme led the day in shots on goal with 70). Seamus was also a prodigious scorer today, garnering 11A from goal and tying for the session lead in that category. He climbed back in goal to nip Chris at the end, .810-783.

Here are the game scores:
Graeme Lee Seamus def. Kyle Nathan Chris 5-4 1-5 5-4
Kyle Nathan Seamus def. Graeme Lee Chris 5-1 2-5 5-4

Here are the faceoff stats:
Lee Orr 15/26 (57.70%)
Graeme Orr 10/19 (52.63%)
Kyle Grenier 13/26 (50.00%)
Nathan Robson 1/7 (36.84%)

Season Stats: Kyle crosses over the hallowed 700-point barrier and, at 707, is just a regular session away from history as he creeps up on Lee’s single-season scoring record. 1,000 points remains Kyle’s goal for 2010. Seamus needs 13 points for 300. Graeme passes Sam for eleventh in points and joins the 200-point club. Graeme jumps to seventh in goals and is nine behind Oliver for sixth. Seamus becomes the fifth player with 200 assists and is just three behind Oliver for fourth. Kyle needs 49 shots on goal for 2,000. Nathan passes Oliver for fifth in shots on goal; Graeme passes Sam for seventh. With 1,800 saves even on the year, Seamus is just 15 behind Alex for second. Seamus and Nathan jump up to third and fourth in games played this year. Seamus becomes the third goalie to play 100 games this year. Kyle reaches 400 three-star points on the year; Seamus reaches 200 goalie star points. Nathan passes Kyle for fourth in APG. Graeme passes Mitch Detta and Troy for fourth in shots-per-game. Seamus narrowly hands the saves-per-game lead back to Taylor.

On the All-Time Front: Seamus becomes the fifth player to score 1,400 points and is just nine behind Stefan for fourth. Kyle is catching him, though, as Kyle becomes the sixth player to score 1,300 points. Graeme makes it ten players over the 800-point mark. Kyle passes Stefan for third on the all-time goal scoring list and needs 15 goals for 800. Graeme is 24 goals behind Pat for tenth; Nathan is four behind Sam for 20th. Lee needs five assists for 1,100. Graeme becomes the eleventh player with 400 assists. Kyle passes Lorne for fourth in shots on goal. Seamus leapfrogs over Dom and Justin to enter the top five in all-time saves for the first time in his career. Nathan needs one more game to become the ninth player with 500. Chris returns to Australia ten games goaltended behind Laird for the all-time lead. Seamus needs eight games in net to become the seventh player with 200. Lee needs ten three star points for 1,300 and reaches 1,300 total star points; Kyle becomes the third player with 700. Seamus ties Nathan for the lead in goalie star points with 375, which is a testament to his ability as he is only eighth in games goaltended. Lee needs one 15-pointer for 90. Kyle is two 15-pointers behind Oliver for third all-time at 51. Kyle’s record 15-pointer streak goes to an incredible 37 straight sessions; Graeme’s goes to five. Kyle is three ten-goal sessions behind Lorne for second all time with 43. Graeme has five ten-goal sessions in a row. Kyle joins Lorne as the only players with 20 15-goal sessions. Seamus gets a free addition to his ten-assister streak and brings it to four. Seamus is now just two .800 sessions behind Nathan for the all-time lead, 31-29. Seamus has five .800s and .810s in a row; however, his .820 streak ends at four. Lee plays his 23rd consecutive session (the ninth-longest streak in history); Seamus plays his eighth. Seamus’ eleven points from goal is the fourth-highest total ever seen in a session. Kyle becomes the second player to score 700 points in a season and is just 21 points away from smashing Lee’s all-time season record of 728 set last year. Lee is 30 assists away from besting his 2009 Burton record of 355. Nathan has the fourth-highest season assist total ever with 228. Kyle is 49 shots on goal away from becoming the second person to take 2,000 shots in a year. Seamus is just 15 saves behind Alex for the fourth-highest save total in a year; Shem’s 2009 total is three beyond that. Lee’s 216 games played this season is six behind Oliver’s 2009 total for the second-most games played in a year ever. Seamus becomes the fifth goalie to play 100 games in net in a single year. Kyle becomes the first player to reach 400 three star points in a season; Seamus sets a new record for goalie star points in a year with 200. Seamus’ 265 total star points this year ranks fifth all-time.

SDF/GDF: Pat’s on top for the ninth straight ranking. Minimal changes this week, with the biggest moving coming from Graeme (up four spots to fifth) and from Stefan (down three to tenth). Seamus ties Nathan for the second-most GDFs led with 26, three behind Justin’s record of 29. No one moves among the leaders, although Chris has pulled quite close to third-place Dom.

With Graeme and Chris gone, expect a wee bit of a BUSH lull until after the long weekend, although any can happen. Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.