Despite the ground being a little wet, today's session would see the return of the intensity/defensive play that VRH has grown used to. The first game in fact, would last almost an hour and see both goalies face close to 50 shots each. Both goalies were exceptional today, but Alex rose to new heights stopping high quality chance after chance, leading to his team winning every game except for the last one.

When they played together, Tony and Sam had great chemistry today and were a tough combo to crack. And Tony, regardless of who he played with, lit the lamp like a Norwegian candlemaker all day long.

Also of note: after one particularly stretched out deke that did actually manage to beat Alex, it was joked that Barlow has the wingspan of an albatross and the moniker “Albo” was created.

Thanks, Bernie. A career-best performance in goal for Alex today; each goalie faced 144 shots (including 46 each in Game 1), but it was Alex who took the day with .896 (beating his career best by 29 points) on 129 saves to Dom’s .806 on 116 saves. Alex didn’t pull out the only dominant performance of the day; Tony raced away to first star among the skater with 25 points in the six games, including 17 goals on 63 shots. Tying for second were Stefan (11-7) and Sam (7-11).

Here are the game scores:
Tony Sam Oliver Alex def. Jordan Stefan Bernie Rob Dom 5-2 5-4 5-1
Tony Rob Stefan Alex def. Jordan Oliver Sam Bernie Dom 5-1 5-2
Sam Tony Rob Dom def. Stefan Bernie Oliver Alex 5-3

Season Stats: Jordan jumps ahead of Seamus and Jordan to sixth in season points with 377. Rob closes the gap between himself and Bernie for tenth to 314-307, but Sam has now tied Rob for tenth. Tony passes Marcus to re-enter the top 15. Oliver becomes the fifth player with 200 goals. Sam needs 17 for 200; Tony passes Rob for 14th. Oliver closes Lee’s assist lead to 360-335. Jordan is five assists behind Nathan for fifth, 228-223. Rob needs five assist for 200; Bernie 16. Tony enters the top 15 in assists. Oliver needs 14 shots on goal for 1,000. Alex needs 144 saves for 3,000. Dom ties Lee for third games played at 254. Dom leads Alex in goalie star points 265-255. Dom and Alex move to fourth and fifth in total star points ahead of Pat. Alex’s .896 is the fourth-best goaltending session this season.

On the All-Time Front: Bernie is 23 points behind Kyle for sixth all-time in points. Jordan ties Laird for 15th with 486 points, one behind Mitch Detta and 14 from 500. Sam passes Ben for 18th; Tony is five behind Troy for 21st. Stefan moves back around Oliver for third in goals, 846-841 with Lorne just ahead at 900. Jordan ties Laird for 17th in goals; Tony becomes the 21st player with 200. At 250 games without having gone in net, Rob passes Mitch to take over the all-time record with Jordan right behind at 246. Jordan ties Laird for 14th in assists. Stefan passes OIiver for second in shots on goal. Alex is 77 saves behind Shem for ninth and 154 saves from 3,000. Stefan needs seven games for 700. Stefan passes Oliver for fourth in three-star points with 695. Dom passes Justin for fourth in goalie star points and is just five behind Bron for third. Stefan ties Seamus for fifth in 15-pointers with 49 and has five in a row; Sam gets his tenth. Tony pots his second-career 15-goal and fourth-career 25-point session. Stefan’s 20-pointer streak ends at three; Jordan’s at two. Rob notches his fifth ten-assister. Dom ties Bron for fifth in .800 sessions with 20; Alex reaches 15. Alex ties Dom in .820 sessions with twelve and now has ten .830s. Alex ties Dom with eight .840s; Alex has four in a row, tying a Burton record shared with Laird, Shem and Justin twice. Alex has ten-straight 80-savers, the fourth-longest streak ever; Dom has three in a row. Dom (25) and Alex (22) now sit one-and-two in 90-savers; Alex has ten in a row, just two away from tying his own Burton record. Dom becomes the first goalie with 20 100-savers; Alex has 17 including three in a row. Alex ties Bron for second in 110-savers with 14, two behind Dom; Alex trails Dom in 120-savers 12-10. Bernie plays his 39th consecutive session; Oliver his 19th; Dom his eleventh. Eric’s streak ends at ten. Dom ties Lee for third in most games played in one year with 254.

SDF/GDF: In his 21st consecutive session at #1 on the SDF, pat sets another new record rating of 163.6364 (a 129-pointer dropped off this week, which would normally bring someone down but actually brings Pat up because his average is so high). Seamus and Stefan move up to second and third ahead of Marcus, and Lee jumps up five spots to fifth. Jordan drops three spots to eighth. Over on the GDF, Alex increases over Dom and is ahead quite handily in his fifth-ever ranking topped.

We are now in the middle of the longest absence of BUSH in nearly two years with no end in sight. Thankfully, we have awesome action from VRH every weekend to fulfil your roller hockey needs. Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.