With the session initially in jeopardy due to lack of players, it was a bit of surprise that we'd end up with more than enough players for 3 teams on this day. After the first game was played with 2 subs on each team, it was suggested to do a three team tourney. Bernie-Rhino-Eric-Marcus would win the tourney on the back of Marcus who had 4 points in the first victory and then all 5 goals in the second game. The problematic nature of the tourney was soon evident though, with the second game taking an exceedingly long time to complete and the third game taking even longer. As most players agreed it was not fun to sit off for such a long period of time, so at this point we moved back to a 2 team setup. Also of note, in these long games were the magnanimous shot totals, demonstrating the superior goaltending on this day.

With a couple of players leaving we were left with somewhat more manageable numbers once again. The next series would see Andrew-Marcus-Melvin-Lars win over Eric-Oliver-Vince-Bernie-Stefan by a 2-1 margin.

Two more games were played, leaving everyone thoroughly exhausted and bringing the total of the day up to 9 and the session length to about 4.5 hours, one of the longest sessions in quite some time.

Thanks, Bernie. (Yeah, the longest session since the last session, by the way). Regardless of length, this day’s session goes down in history as the highest-volume session in VRH history; only behind the 2009 BUSH supersession in terms of shots on goal. An amazingly even day for the two great goalies. Alex barely edged out Dom .851-.843; 189 saves to 188. Alex sets a new VRH session record (fourth overall) for saves, edging Bron (10/10/2009) by a single save (Dom is now tied for second). Crazy. Despite the great netminding, there are still no shutouts so far in 2011. Over on the scoresheet, 2011 scoring leader Andrew led again with 9G-14A on 65 shots. Right behind him, however, was the man who could have beat him had it not been for missing the first game; Marcus had 14G-7A on 56 shots to tie Stefan (9-12-74) for second. Honourable mention to Oliver and his 10 assists en route to 18 points.

Here are the game scores:
Oliver Bernie Jordan Andrew Lars Alex def. Stefan Vincent Melvin Ryan Eric Dom 5-3
Bernie Ryan Eric Marcus Dom def. Vincent Lars Oliver Andrew Alex 5-1
Bernie Ryan Eric Marcus Alex def. Melvin Jordan Stefan Dom 5-4
Vincent Lars Oliver Andrew Alex def. Melvin Jordan Stefan Dom 5-4
Eric Oliver Bernie Stefan Alex (w/ Vincent, Game 5) def. Andrew Marcus Melvin Lars Dom 2-5 5-2 5-2
Andrew Stefan Melvin Lars Alex def. Eric Marcus Oliver Bernie Dom 5-2
Stefan Oliver Lars Alex def. Andrew Marcus Bernie Melvin Dom 5-3

Season Stats: Andrew opens up a slight lead on Marcus, 67-57, with Oliver right behind at 54. Stefan jumps ahead of Jordan into fourth. Marcus does take back the goalscoring lead from Andrew, 36-33, with Oliver, Bernie and Stefan moving into the top five. Andrew moves into the assist lead at 34, followed closely by Oliver (32), Stefan (31), and Jordan (28). The shots-on-goal race remains tight between Andrew (160), Marcus (147), and Stefan (142). Bernie passes Oliver for third in shooting percentage. Alex leads Dom in save percentage .822-.812; Dom leads Al in saves 506-435. With Jordan leaving only, only Dom and the Koth-Kappi have played every game this year; in fact, Dom has a game up because of the tournament series today. Andrew leads Marcus in three-star points 40-25, but Dom leads Andrew in total star points 45-40. Andrew takes back the APG lead from Rob. Andrew’s 23 points today rank third-highest in a session this year; Marcus and Stefan’s 21 each tie for fourth. Marcus’ 14 goals rank second; Andrew and Stefan’s nine tie for fifth. Andrew’s 14 assists rank third; Stefan’s twelve tie for fifth. Stefan’s 74 shots on goal rank tops so far this year; Andrew’s 65 are second and Marcus’ 56 are fourth. Alex and Dom’s sessions rank one-two in every goalie session category this year, including PPS marks of 1040 and 1031, respectively.

On the All-Time Front: Stefan becomes the third player with 1,600 points. Jordan is 24 points behind Nathan for 13th. Andrew passes Simon for 28th. Stefan is ten goals behind Oliver for third. Bernie needs twelve goals for 600. Jordan ties Tony Hajdu for 16th in goals. Eric becomes the 25th player with 150 goals. Bernie passes Seamus for third in assists and needs twelve for 800. Andrew passes Eric for 25th in assists. Stefan is 16 shots on goal behind Oliver for second. Dom becomes the first goalie in history to make 5,000 saves. Alex passes Nathan for sixth in save percentage at .817, and passes Justin for seventh in saves. Stefan is two games played behind Seamus for fourth; Jordan passes Rob for 17th. Stefan passes Oliver for fourth in three-star points and is five behind Kyle for third, 715-710. Dom passes Nathan for second in goalie star points and is 20 behind Seamus, 405-385. Alex ties Justin for fifth at 315. Stefan is one 15-pointer behind Kyle for fourth with 51. Andrew has ten in a row now to start his career; the fifth-longest 15-pointer streak ever. All but one of those (the eighth) has been a 20-pointer. Stefan passes Seamus for third in ten-assisters with 25. Dom is one .800 session behind Justin for third, 24-23 (Alex has 19). Dom is alone in fourth in .810s with 19 (Alex ties Shem for seventh with 15). Dom leads Alex for sixth in .820s, 15-14. Alex ties Laird for fifth in .830s with 12; Dom has 11. Alex and Dom each pot their tenth .840s (tied with Laird and Shem for fourth). Dom and Alex sit one-two in 80-savers, 33-28. Alex is just one off the record for consecutive .800s held since 2006 by Chris Jackins of 16; Dom has two in a row. Alex has three 90- and 100-savers in a row; both Dom and Alex have back-to-back 140-savers. Should either one pull off a 120-saver next time, that person would be the first with three in a row. Oliver plays his 26th straight session, Dom his 17th, Bernie his fifth. Alex’s 189 saves rank fourth all-time for a single session; Dom’s 188 tie for fifth.

SDF/GDF: With 23 players left on the ranking, this is the smallest SDF since the end of 2009. Andrew Smart stays on top for second week followed by Marcus and Sam, every other position changes, led by Stefan’s jump up to seven. There is a healthy gap between the top ten and everyone else; these are the ten players who usually dominate VRH scoring. There are only four BUSH players left; all four of them have just half-a-session on the ranking. Even crazier, there are only five goalies left on the GDF; you have to go back to the third session EVER back in May 2000 to find it that small. Alex maintains his lead on Dom handily.

What a day for VRH and Burton Hockey! Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.