Today Burton Hockey welcomed back a grand old tradition of the early years of the game: the vaunted Christmas session. There would be no Burton Hall today; we would take to the asphalt of the Nakusp Secondary School parking lot. It was a nice mesh of old and new. For just the second time ever, Burton Hockey would actually be played in Nakusp. Seamus O’Connor would finally get to break out the regulation size Hockey Canada net he received as a wedding present three years ago (the box was so battered that we literally could crumble it with our hands; the net inside, though was brand-spanking new). And the BUSH crew finally got to use the almost-new goaltending gear Colby Olsen purchased in Revelstoke for forty bucks. Already a ridiculous steal for basically brand-new gear, it became even more of a steal when Seamus discovered that the stick had been autographed by none other than Grant Fuhr! (‘Don’t worry, it’s on the inside; it’s still good to play with!’) Best of all, today marked the return after over six years away of 2004 Defenceman of the Year Pat Strachan, who we were all excited to have back in the fold.

Before we could play, however, there was the task of clearing some the snow and ice off of the west end of the lot so we could play on it. The parking lot had been ploughed bare just last week, but a light coating of snow had fallen down, melted, and refrozen since. Bernie and I grabbed the giant scoop shovel from my house, only to realize it didn’t fit in his car. Naturally, we just threw it in the trunk with the door open, hoping it wouldn’t fall out. After narrowly avoiding the view of some police vehicle, sure enough it fell out right in the middle of the highway. I quickly decided to just carry it the rest of the way.

An 8x6 metre rectangular court was scraped off with small ten-inch-high snow walls demarcating the boundary of the impromptu rink. Colby, Pat and Oliver would team up against Bernie and the Orrs in a half-court battle against not just each other but Seamus in goal. While Team OrrBernie would take the series 5-4, 5-3, Seamus was really the winner today. Game 1 was played with the one proper roller hockey ball we had in our possession (that Lee had to drive back to Glenbank and get when no one actually showed up with a ball). Patrick and Lee quickly emerged as the dominant scorers, scoring four points each in what turned into an 50-minute long defensive grind. With every part of the court covered, sound positioning and passes were key. It also helped to be creative with shots; the ones that weren’t flat out rejected by Seamus found their way into the net by tips, deflections, or shots that caught him off-guard from wacky angles. Team Pat was up 4-2 at one point, but OrrBernie came back as the three found their groove.

Early in Game 2, the ball broke in half, leaving little recourse but to embed it in hockey tape and continue playing. The newly-black ball actually wound up working better since it was less prone to bouncing. Alas, a Seamus blocker save on one of Pat’s point blasts sent the ball 20 feet in the air and onto the roof. A tennis ball was then procured and covered in duct tape to finish the day out. Seamus was .865 for the first 44 shots. Pretty damn good. In the last hour, he turned on the afterburners, and would stop 108 of 118 shots for .915. A few times in the last game, his session average rose above .900, going up to .907 at one point. Scoring distribution was a bit more even in Game 2 as both teams really began to emphasise quick, accurate passes, leading to some really nice scoring plays. Using the big regulation nets rewarded teams that could get a player to the side of the net and cash in one-timers and tuck-ins; Oliver’s goals in Game 2 were quite a good example of this. OrrBernie went up 4-1 before their opponents clawed back to 4-3. A Bernie goal to win the game and the series would cost Seamus his .900 by a single shot. Everyone really pulled their weight out there today; there was little room for slacking, and as a result there were no weak links in this evenly-played session. It may have been below freezing, but most players were in t-shirts by the end. A cozy but fun session in which everyone had their moments and came with their game faces on, but all ultimately bowed to Seamus. The Christmas session is back! Hopefully we can get another going before the end of the holiday, but if we don’t, this is a perfect cap to the greatest season ever.

An absolutely huge day in goal as Seamus O’Connor was utterly dominant, stopping 145 of 162 shots in just two games and perhaps 90 minutes of playing time (even if you chopped his saves-per-game in half to account for facing two teams each, game, it still works out to 36.25 saves-per-game!). His .895 today combined with his 1040 PPS probably ranks as one of, if not the, greatest performance he’s ever had in net in terms of quality and volume, especially when you consider that 1) he was playing in a regulation-size net, and 2) every part of the rink was in play for close-up shooting. The players themselves all pulled their weight today, with not a lagger in the bunch. Lee figured in on all but one of his team’s goals to lead the day with nine points, including a ridiculous 48 shots in two games. Brother Graeme was close behind with seven, while their partner Bernie and the return pat tied for third at six.

Here are the game scores:
Lee Bernie Graeme def. Colby Pat Oliver 5-4 503

Season Stats: Bernie edges Rob by a point to finish 2010 in the top ten in scoring. Seamus ties Kyle for fifth in games played at 215. Aided by the half-court conditions, Seamus vaults into the saves-per-game lead ahead of Bron with 18.71. Seamus’ .895 in goal is the fifth-best session of the year; his 1040 PPS ranks fourth.

On the All-Time Front: Oliver needs five points for 2,200. Seamus is six points behind Lorne for fourth all-time; Bernie is eight points behind Kyle for sixth. Graeme passes Joern for tenth in assists and is six behind K.J. for ninth. Lee becomes the first player with 6,500 shots on goal. Seamus passes 3,500 saves, and is seven games goaltended behind Justin for seventh. Seamus becomes the first goalie with 400 goalie star points. Seamus ties Nathan for the all-time lead in .800 sessions with 31; his streak of seven in a row is the second-longest ever. Seamus becomes the first goaltender with 30 .810 sessions and 25 .820 sessions, and ties Justin for the lead in .830s with 17; he is one behind Justin in .840s with 13. Seamus takes the all-time lead in .850s from Justin and Shem with eleven, and becomes the first goalie with ten .860s. Finally, he passes Justin for the lead in .870s with 7, and takes the lead in .890s with four. Seamus ties Alex for fifth in 80-savers with 24; he has three-straight 90-savers and back-to-back 130-savers (which only four other goalies have done). Lee plays in his 30th consecutive session; Oliver his 22nd; Seamus and Graeme their fifth. K.J.’s streak ends at five. At 6 years, 1 month, 11 days, Pat’s absence between Burton sessions is the seventh-longest of all time. Lee ties the mark for second-most three-star points in a season with 385, and becomes the second player to score 400 total star points in one year.

SDF/GDF: Pat leads for the 24th straight ranking and 70th overall. Behind him, Lee moves up one spot to fifth ahead of Barlow, while the absent K.J. drops five spots to 14th. Over on the GDF, Seamus’ amazing session puts him back to the top ahead of Alex and Dom; Seamus’ 34th career ranking topped.

It felt quite good to be back out there one last time to end the BUSH season properly. There may be time to squeeze in a Boxing Day session, but if not, it’s been an absolutely fantastic 2010 season. Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section. And don’t forget to vote for the 2010 all-stars and award honourees!

All-Time Christmas Session Scoring Chart (GS, G, A, P)
Stefan Klopp 22 31 15 46
Justin Gordon 16 29 16 45
Lee Orr 10 24 13 37
Bernie Koth-Kappus 24 16 21 37
Oliver Koth-Kappus 24 19 15 34
Laird Bilinski 3 6 15 21
Robert Rogers 5 15 5 20
Graeme Orr 7 8 11 19
Patrick Strachan 6 7 6 13
Lorne Bilinski 4 9 3 12
Joern Hornhardt 0 0 11 11
Stewart Watson 4 1 9 10
Mitch Peterson 5 7 2 9
Isaac Saban 4 6 3 9
Chris Jackins 7 3 6 9
Joe Chwachka 4 4 4 8
Colby Olsen 2 1 3 4
James Inglis 3 2 1 3
Jackson Hewer 4 1 1 2
Seamus O'Connor 0 0 1 1

All-Time Christmas Session Goaltending Chart (GG, SA, SGA, SPCT)
Seamus O'Connor 2 162 145 17 .895
Justin Gordon 2 39 33 6 .846
Laird Bilinski 12 245 206 39 .841
Joern Hornhardt 18 357 285 72 .798
Lorne Bilinski 4 67 50 17 .746