(Ed. note: Only a week overdue!)

As had been the case over the entire previous week, this day would be filled with sunshine so glorious that it seemed to shine down from the heavens themselves. The clear crisp weather, however, was also the pitfall of this session. With temperatures dipping to a rare minus 6 overnight, the rink was half covered in a thin layer of frost which looked harmless enough but was almost impossible to skate on. Almost everyone had multiple spills today with numerous injuries, though luckily none of them overly severe. Play was largely contained to the good side of the rink when possible; it was rather comical when after a goal everyone would line up on the one side of the rink. Players like Marcus and Rob that were best able to adapt to the icy conditions were the ones that faired best today.

The session began with an epic 5 game series. Team Stefan-Ollie-Rhino-Sam-Alex came out flying (well on the good half of the rink at least) and would take the first two games rather handely over Rob-Marcus-J-Bo-Bernie-Dom. However, Team R-M-J-B-D would eventually find their legs and came storming back to win the next three games and the series, with Marcus leading the charge with 14 points. Team S-O-R-S-A wanted redemption so one more game was played, and once again Marcus (5 points) would elevate his play to lead Team R-M-J-B-D to a 5-1 victory.

One more game was played before a number of people had to leave and the session was called. The difficult skating conditions today would lead to a less intense and more open session than usual resulting in many odd man rushes and breaks. This may result in the goaltending stats being a little skewed, despite the fact that goaltending on both ends being rock solid as usual. Also, of note, one comical moment when J-Bo attempted to take off on the icy surface but couldn't get any grip making him look like a “waddling duck”.

We can only hope that with the generally warm Vancouver weather that today will be one of the last sessions with overnight freezing temperatures, as I believe almost everyone agreed that, in terms of skating at least, a wet drizzly session would be preferable to the conditions today.

Thanks, Bern, and welcome to the twelfth season of Burton Hockey, everyone. 2011 really seems as though it’s going to be very-VRH centric, with a wide-open field that may indeed produce a first-time scoring champion. Today, three players ran away from the rest of the pack in scoring, each netting 20-plus points while the rest of the field struggled to get into double digits. Leading the charge was Marcus with 24 points including a career-best 16 goals in the seven games. His partners in crime today were right with him; Rob and Jordan each potted 15 assists, but the elder Hajdu had one more goal to take second star with 21 points to Barlow’s 20. In goal, it was a solid start to the season in net for newly-crowned 2010 league MVP Dom, who posted an .835 to rival Alex’s .779. Both goalie had 106 saves.

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

Season Stats: Well, the season stats so far are just the session stats, obviously, so Marcus begins 2011 as the scoring leader with Rob and Jordan in close pursuit. Marcus’ goal lead is proportionately massive, 16-6 over Rob and Ryan. Rob and Jordan are tied for the assist lead at 15. Dom has a healthy goaltending lead over Alex, .835-.779; both are tied in saves.

On the All-Time Front: Stefan, Bernie, and Oliver inaugurate the 12-Season Club, having played in every year of Burton Hockey. Lee Orr, Lorne Bilinski, Laird Bilinski and Joern Hornhardt can also join the club this year. If Oliver plays in BUSH this year, he will be the only play to have played every season in both leagues. Oliver becomes the second player to score 2,200 points. Bernie is four behind Kyle for sixth in points. Jordan becomes the 14th player with 500 points; Rob needs 14 and Sam needs 29. Ryan passes Ben for 19th; Marcus passes Terryn and Simon for 27th. Stefan and Oliver continue their battle for third in goals, 854-850. Sam needs 15 goals for 300. Rob jumps from 22nd to 18th in goals. Bernie is 15 assists behind Seamus for third. Jordan passes Pat for 13th in assists and joins the 300 club; Rob needs 20. Stefan is 24 shots on goal behind Oliver for second. Alex is ten saves behind Joern for eighth all-time. Oliver needs eleven games for 1,200; Stefan needs two for 700; Sam becomes the 20th player with 250. Alex passes Seamus for eighth in games goaltended and needs six to catch Justin for seventh. Stefan’s 15-pointer streak ends at five. Marcus posts his first-ever 15-goal session. Dom passes Laird for fourth in all-time .800s with 22; Alex’s .800s streak ends at six. Dom ties Laird and Bron for fourth in .810s with 18. Dom has back-to-back .830s and ten all-time. Alex ties Nathan for fourth in 80-savers with 25 and has 13 in a row. Dom leads Alex in 90-savers 26-24 and in 100-savers 21-19. Oliver plays his 23nd consecutive session; Dom his 14th; Rob and Sam their sixth.

SDF/GDF: Behind Pat in his 25th consecutive ranking topped, the wide gap between the three session leaders today and the rest of the pack creates major upheaval on the SDF. Seamus falls below the session minimum and plummets; combined with Stefan’s scoring struggles today, this Marcus to second place from fourth, Lee to third from fifth, and Jordan Barlow to fourth from sixth. Graeme jumps up five spots to fifth, and Ben sits in sixth with just a single session to his credit! Rob also breaks into the top twelve. The GDF, on the other hand, is more notable for its lack of activity; with a dearth of BUSH sessions, and the Voser-Elischer monopoly on the VRH nets, there are just six goaltenders left on the ranking, the fewest since the second recorded week of Burton Hockey history back in 2000! Seamus’ lead increases as Alex took a step back today.

Season 12 is here! Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.