As predicted, the rain from the previous evening disappeared and we were greeted by a nice mix of sun and cloud. The rink was still a little wet, but some broom work from Ryno and some afternoon sun would soon render it good condition.

An already large contingent today was bolstered even further by the addition of a couple of Sam's friends. This would result in us starting with two subs on each team and then having to move to full lines for the second game.

The first series would see Stefan-Ryno-Andy-Bernie-Griff-Alex take on Tony-Tony-Ollie-Jordo-Rob-Sam-Dom, with Ray joining Team Dom and Lars joining Team Alex after the first game. Team Dom would win the first game in overtime, only to have Team Alex come back for some redemption taking the next game 5-2. In the 3rd game both goalies really stepped it up, facing massive shot totals. This was a classic goaltenders’ battle with Dom just barely squeaking out the win in sudden death overtime and also winning his team the series. This naturally slowed the game down immensely resulting in a duration of close to an hour.

Two more games with random teams were played until a balance was found for another series. This series would see two classic battles, both going right down to the wire, but both ultimately being won by Tony-Ollie-Bernie-Ryno-Sam-Alex.

One final game was played, after which everyone (aside from Andrew Smart who wanted to keep playing until the sun goes down) was pretty much at the point of exhaustion. It would be about quarter after five by the time the session was ultimately called. If not for the competiveness of the games, creating some long drawn-out grindfests, and superb goaltending, we could have easily gotten in 12 plus games today, but ultimately we had to settle for 8.

The scoring was pretty spread out today and no single player really dominated, but everyone played hard and contributed in one way or another. Immense joy was had by all on this wonderful.

Thanks, Bern; I assume you meant to finish that last sentence. Four weeks to the day after Dom and Alex threw down the highest-volume combined save performance in VRH history, they came back today with the second-highest. This time, it was Dominik who emerged on top with one of his greatest-ever performances; .870 with 187 saves (both his second-highest ever), and the sixth-highest PPS ever recorded (1057). Alex was certainly no slouch either with .830/171/1001, tying one of Burton’s oldest records with his 16th consecutive 80-saver to match Chris Jackins’ 2004-06 streak. Naturally, the size of the session combined with the scintillating goaltending meant scoring took a hit; only three players were able to break the 15-point mark, led by Stefan with 7G-13A. He bested co-second stars Andrew (9G-9A) and Rob (8G-10A) by two points to take the day.

Here are the game scores:
Tony Oliver Jordan Rob Sam Dom Ray* def. Stefan Ryan Andrew Bernie Griff Alex Lars* 5-4 2-5 5-4 (*Games 2 and 3 only)
Stefan Rob Jordan Andrew Lars Dom def. Sam Griff Tony Ryan Oliver Bernie Alex 5-1
Tony Rob Ray Oliver Jordan Sam Dom def. Andrew Ryan Bernie Stefan Griff Lars Alex 5-3
Tony Oliver Bernie Ryan Sam Alex def. Rob Andrew Stefan Lars Jordan Dom 5-4 5-4
Stefan Rob Bernie Tony Dom def. Oliver Andrew Lars Sam Alex 5-1

Season Stats: Andrew becomes the first player to reach the 100-point mark this season at 104. Leaping into second place ahead of the absent Marcus and now-fourth-place Oliver is Stefan at 81, with Rob just a point behind Oliver at 73. Tony ties Barlow for sixth at 54. Andrew takes over the goalscoring lead from Marcus, 49-44, while Tony passes Oliver for third. Stefan narrows Andrew’s assist lead to just one, 53-52. Rob leapfrogs Barlow and Marcus to move into fourth behind Oliver. Stefan passes Marcus for second in shots on goal; Rob moves into the top five. Bernie passes Rob for third in shooting percentage. Dom narrows Alex’s lead in goaltending to .824-.813. Dom, Oliver and Bernie have played every game of every session so far (Dom has an extra game to his credit because of a three-team tournament earlier this year). Stefan and Andrew now sit in fourth and fifth, having only missed a session each. Still no shutouts this year. Andrew takes the outright three-star lead from Marcus, 55-45. Rob and Stefan are tied for third with 30. Dom leads Alex in goalie star points 60-50. The total star point race is quite tight: Dom 60, Andrew 55, Alex 50, Marcus 45. Low-PPG sessions over the past month are really helping Marcus pull away in PPG over Andrew. The no-BUSH effect is also in play here; last year, the idea of three guys below 2.30 PPG being in the top five (or anyone ever below 1.00 GPG) would have been absurd – a true testament to the massive numbers of people you can expect at almost every VRH session. Stefan jumps from fourth to second in APG and passes Sam for fifth in shots-per-game. Stefan’s 13 assists tie for fifth-best in a session this year. Dom’s .870 is easily the best session of the season; Alex’s .830 ranks fifth. Dom’s 187 saves are third-highest this season; Alex’s 171 are fourth. Dom’s 1057 PPS is the highest this year; Alex’s 1011 is fourth.

On the All-Time Front: Bernie needs ten points for 1,400. Rob is 14 points behind Barlow for 14th. Sam needs one point to become the 16th player to score 500. Bernie is two points behind Pat Elischer for third in all-time VRH scoring. Oliver leads Stefan for third in goals 882-875. Bernie needs eight goals for 600. Sam becomes the 13th player with 300 goals, and Tony enters the top 15, displacing Ryan. Oliver needs 13 assists for 1,400. Bernie needs two assists for 800. Alex passes Seamus for sixth in saves and is just 19 behind Chris for fifth. Rob needs eight more games for 300. Stefan passes Kyle for third in three-star points, 725-715. Dom is just five goalie star points behind Seamus for the all-time lead, 405-400. Alexis five behind Bron for fourth at 330. Stefan ties Kyle for fourth in 15-pointers with 52. Andrew’s 15-pointer streak, the fourth-longest of all-time, goes to twelve. Dom ties Justin for third in .800 sessions with 24; Alex has 20. Alex has three .800s and .810s in a row. Dom becomes the fourth goalie with 20 .810s. Dom ties Bron for fifth in .820s with 16, one ahead of Alex. Alex has back-to-back .830s and sits fifth all-time with 13, one more than Dom. Dom is fourth in .840s with eleven, three behind Justin for the lead. This was Dom’s first .870 since his stellar debut session in June 2009. Alex ties one of Burton’s oldest records with his 16th consecutive 80-saver, tying Chris Jackins’ 2004-06 streak; Dom has four in a row. Dom lead Alex in 90-savers 29-27 and in 100-savers 24-22; Alex has four in a row of each. Alex has three 110-savers in a row, and becomes the first goalie ever to have three straight 120-plus-savers. Oliver plays in his 27th consecutive session (the seventh-longest streak ever); Dom plays his 19th; Bernie his seventh; Andrew his fifth. Jordan Barlow’s streak ends at five.

SDF/GDF: Andrew continues to lead Marcus on the SDF, but the battles behind them is tightening thanks to Stefan’s win today, which helped moved up three spots to third, barely ahead of the Hajdu brothers. On the GDF, Alex’s holds the fort for a fourth-straight session, but Dom does take a decent chunk out of the lead. There’s still a fair bit of ground to be made up, though. After one ranking in third, Sam falls back below the session minimum, returning us to just two goalies making the cut.

It’s been some fabulous hockey lately, and we hope it continues next weekend. Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.