It's a good thing we didn't trust the weather morons, because despite a forecast of rain, not a single drop would fall on us all day. With a few regulars out of action, we finally were back down to perfect Ambleside numbers (3 on 3 with one sub on each team).

Due to both Alex and Sam dropping out at the last minute (“last minute” meaning day or two before) we needed a second goalie aside from the ever-present Dominik. J-Bo not only offered to bring the Road Hockey Rumble gear but graciously volunteered to play net as well.

The first series would pit Andy-Eric-Rob-Bernie-Dom(G) against Stefan-Ollie-Tony-Downey-Barlow(G). Team Dom would lose the first game, but find ultimate redemption winning the next two games and the series, due in part to Eric stepping up his game with 11 points in the series' 3 games.

Having not played goal in a few months it was understandable that Barlow was a little rusty in the first few games; however by the 5th game he had finally caught the goaltending fever, capturing not only the series win for his team but also recording his first career shutout.

The last series would feature similar teams as the second series (Eric and Rob trading places); it however, would be one that would go 3 games. Team “Fingerbangers” would take the first game but Team “Clitlickers” (named thus by JBD) would storm back to take the next game. Jordo would go from scoring mostly on his own net (2 goals off his skate in the first few games) to becoming a proverbial scoring machine, potting patented backhand after backhand. In the final game of the series Tony tried his best to make a game of it with 3 brilliant single handed efforts (and getting every single shot for his team in the game), but the rest of Team “Fingerbangers” was just too exhausted to put up much of a fight, and the “Clitlickers” would take it by a 5-3 margin.

Thanks, Bern. It was a close race for first star in scoring all day, ultimately come down to Andrew and Eric. Each of them potted 1G-3A in Game 8, leaving Andrew ahead on the day by one goal to take it with 10G-13A to Eric’s 9G-13A (a career-best session for Eric). Coming in third was Stefan (11G-8A), who narrowly beat out the brothers Hajdu, each at 18. In goal, it was a bit of a step from the past couple of sessions. Dom dealt with most of the volume, finishing with .775 on 110 saves. Barlow’s sophomore outing in net was .101 below his first, as he notched .725 with 74 saves, including (finally) the first shutout by anyone in the entire 2011 season (it took a whopping 107 games goaltended to reach it). He did, however, post his first-ever shutout.

Here are the game scores:
Andrew Eric Rob Bernie Dom def. Stefan Oliver Tony Downey* Barlow 4-5 5-3 5-0 (*Games 2 and 3 only)
Rob Stef Downey Andrew Barlow def. Tony Oliver Eric Bernie Dom 5-4 5-0
Eric Stefan Andy Downey Barlow def. Bernie Tony Oliver Rob Dom 4-5 5-2 5-3

Season Stats: With Marcus away, Andrew’s season scoring lead doubles to 29 over new second-place sitter Stefan, 138-109. Rob (103) and Oliver (91) also pass Marcus (89) today, with Tony rounding out the top six at 82. Bernie passes Barlow for seventh; Eric passes Sam for tenth. Andrew’s goal lead over Marcus increases to 67-50, with Tony right behind at 49. Stefan jumps to fourth at 44. Andrew leads Stefan in assists 71-65, with Rob moving up to 62. Andrew is the first to hit 300 shots on goal this year; Tony and Rob pass Marcus for third and fourth. Bernie passes Oliver for third in shooting percentage. Barlow can now be ranked in goaltending categories; he sits third in save percentage at .773. Dom needs 108 saves for 1,000. Dom and Barlow are the only goalies with shutouts this year. Eric ties Oliver for fifth in three-star points with 15. Dom ties Alex for the lead in goalie star points with 65. Andrew takes sole possession of the total star points lead at 80 ahead of Alex and Dom at 65. Andrew passes Tony for second in GPG; Stefan passes Ryan for fifth. Andrew narrowly leads Rob for the APG lead, 1.39-1.38; Eric moves from sixth to fourth. Andrew’s 23 points today tie for the third-best session of the season; Eric’s 22 points tie for fifth. Tony’s 13 goals today rank third. Andrew and Eric’s 13 assists tie for fifth. Tony’s 57 shots are the third-highest total in sessions this year.

On the All-Time Front: Bernie becomes the sixth player to score 1,400 points (and retakes third-place in VRH scoring from Pat Elischer). Rob passes Barlow for 14th on the all-time scoring list; Tony passes Ryan for 19th; Andrew enters the top 25. Stefan passes Oliver for third in goals and is ten behind Lorne for second at 890. Bernie needs one goal for 600. Tony becomes the 15th player with 250 goals; Eric enters the top 25. Oliver needs two assists for 1,400. Stefan is eight assists behind Seamus for fourth; Eric enters the top 25. Dom needs seven games for 400. Rob reaches 300 games and passes Shem for 15th all-time; Barlow needs two for 300. Dom ties Joern for sixth in shutouts with eleven; Barlow notches his first. Dom ties Seamus for first in all-time goalie star points with 405 and thus takes the last major goaltending volume record he didn’t already own. Stefan passes Kyle for fourth in 15-pointers with 53. Andrew has his tenth 20-pointer. Rob enters the top ten in ten-assisters with 13. Dom has five straight 80-savers and becomes the first goalie to notch 30 90-savers, 25 100-savers, and 20 110-savers; he has back-to-back 110-savers. Oliver plays in his 30th consecutive session, tying Lee Orr’s BUSH streak as the longest-active streak (sixth all-time). Dominik plays his 21st straight; Bernie his ninth; Andrew his seventh; Stefan his sixth

SDF/GDF: Andrew reinforces his lead on the SDF with another win; he’s led six overall. Last week’s #2, Rob, falls behind Marcus to third. Tony passes Eric to move back into the top five. Alex’s GDF reign looks pretty entrenched at this point; he sits eight all-time in rankings led with 13. Barlow moves up to third as we once again have three goalies over the minimum number of sessions.

What’s this? BUSH is planning a return for 2011 this Sunday afternoon? It’s on! Until next time, check out the Records and Honours pages in the Links section.