Lee tried and tried and tried all Easter weekend to get a session going. Even en route to the rink, the lineup was uncertain. Thankfully, a healthy lineup of ten skaters would present themselves today. Excitement was once again in the air at McCormack for what would be another great day featuring a mix of battle-scarred veterans, rising young guns, and mildew-ridden goalkeeping equipment.

Returning to the rink for their 2011 debuts were defending BUSH Defenceman of the Year Graeme Orr and first-season mainstay Mitch Peterson, making his first appearance since last July and who would be heading back home to Kelowna right after the session. The goaltending situation was murky as always. Jesse Cann and Lee Orr valiantly bit the bullet for the first series. Rain started coming down midway through Game 1 and would be on-and-off throughout the evening, but never more than a decent drizzle. Jesse teamed up with James, Mitch Detta, Terryn and Ryan while Lee got Brad, Mitch Peterson, Andrew and Graeme. BUSH’s first 4-on-4 action of the year would last all of four minutes before Mitch got called over to his parents’ house for a family dinner, making his session one of the shortest in memory (he did manage two shots on goal before leaving, however). Lee was a bit apprehensive, and it showed as he stopped just two shots in the first game. Fortunately for him, it was his squad getting most of the shots on goal, particularly Brad and Andrew. But Jesse wound up being a barracuda in goal again, and Terryn would be the death of Lee in a 5-4 Team Jesse win. Game 2 saw Lee pick up his game (12/17), but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Terryn-Mitch D-Ryan combo was too much. 5-2 Team Jesse. Lee couldn’t get out of the net fast enough.

But first, a shootout! In what is quickly turning into a BUSH custom, the rest of the gang except Jesse and Andrew (since Andrew was using Jesse’s blades, Jesse leaving goal meant Andrew had to go in) battled to score on Lee and stay out of the net. It came down to Ryan and Terryn, and Ryan scored when it counted, sending the mohawked-one into goal. He teamed with James, Lee and Mitch; the sub team backed by Andrew would have Ryan, Jesse, Graeme and Brad. Coming off a career-worst .796, Terryn stormed through Game 3 with a vengeance, stopping 22 of 24 shots. Lee, Mitch and James found their chemistry and won 5-2. That would be the end of the happy times for Team Terryn. While he stood on his head (47 saves in the next two games), the sub team was just too fresh. Ryan and Graeme did the bulk of the scoring, and Andrew slowly kept improving in his maiden stint in goal, going from .760 after Game 3 to .830 by the time Game 5 ended. The series ended 5-1, 5-2 for his squad.

Another series, another goalie shootout. This time, Brad (last) and Mitch (second-to-last) were left in the lurch, and it looked as though history would be made and Mitch would finally suit up in goal. Andrew, however, decided to stick in net, and so just Brad would enter netminding duty (maskless, at that). Brad would get the sub team (Terryn, James, Graeme, Mitch) against Andrew’s squad of Lee, Ryan and Jesse. To say Brad was unsure of himself in goal would be an understatement. Three times in the first game, he was standing straight up in net unaware while the ball was trickling on the line behind him, only to have it pulled away at the last moment by a defenceman. The teams were too one-sided (5-1 Team Andrew, as Andrew climbed into the .850s), and so James was traded for a suddenly-surging Jesse. Not only did this even things up in Game 7, but Brad started pulling out some of the wackiest saves imaginable; his natural athleticism compensating for his lake of technique. The pace of the series heightened as everyone on the rink stepped up their game. Andrew remained solid and even climbed up to .880 for a brief moment. Terryn-Graeme-Mitch were an effective scoring line, and would take Game 7 5-3. The sub team had some punch of their own. Lee and Ryan, repeatedly thwarted by the wacky effectiveness of Brad, put home three quick goals in a row to start the final game before Terryn-Graeme-Mitch answered with four of their own en route to a 5-4 win to take the series. Brad clawed his way from .700 all the way up to .810 by the end of the day. Lee would figure in all seven of his team’s goals in the final two games. Another great session to end the Easter long weekend.

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With skaters and goalies switching on and off all day, it was going to be a very complicated scoring race. As well, scoring was spread out rather evenly today. With Ryan and Mitch Detta not having to goaltend, it was a given that they’d figure into the final star points. Lee and Jesse’s hot run in the final series put them back in the hunt as well. The day would ultimately go to Ryan, who led a session in scoring for the first time ever with 11G-12A. He has yet to fall below 16 in his short career. Lee’s two assists from goal were enough to help him steal second star from Mitchell (9G-13A versus 13G-8A). Jesse’s 13 assists helped him to fourth. Terryn and Brad also scored at healthy paces despite their stints in goal. And speaking of goal, another big day for a set of goalies who never wanted to goaltend in the first place. Leading the charge were Jesse and Terryn. For Jesse in his third career goalie stint, he went from .852 last time out to an even more stellar .864 today. Terryn stopped 69 shots in three games and showed why he sits third all-time in save percentage as he returned to all-star form at .852. Andrew was up into the .880s at one point early in Game 7. He led the day with 82 saves and finished at .812. Brad even stunned himself by clawing his way up to .810 (compare with his rookie session of .783). As for Lee, well...

Here are the game scores:
Jesse James Mitch D Terryn Ryan def. Brad Lee Mitch P* Andrew Graeme 5-4 5-2 (*Game 1 only)
Andrew Ryan Jesse Graeme Brad def. James Lee Mitch D Terryn 2-5 5-1 5-2
Andrew Lee Ryan Jesse def. Terryn Brad James Graeme Mitch D 5-1
Terryn Brad Graeme Mitch D def. Andrew Lee Ryan James Jesse 5-3 5-4

Faceoff Stats (unofficial)
Terryn Stenseth 11/16 (68.75%)
Mitchell Detta 7/12 (58.33%)
Andrew Likness 3/3 (50.00%)
Ryan Bateman 8/17 (47.06%)
Jesse Cann 4/9 (44.44%)
Graeme Orr 4/9 (44.44%)
Lee Orr 5/12 (41.67%)
Brad Gibson 1/5 (20.00%)

Next up should be weekend session from both leagues to close out April. Check back this weekend for more action.

Season Stats: Lee remains the higher scorer in BUSH with 108 points as he passes Eric, Jordan Barlow and Bernie to move to seventh... Mitchell also passes Eric and Barlow as well as Ryan Disterheft to move into the top ten in ninth... Brad and Ryan enter the top 15 in points... Lee passes Oliver to enter the top five in goals at 62 while Mitchell site seventh at 55... The top BUSH assist scorer is Lee in tenth at 46... Lee moves to seventh in shots at 248, with Mitchell in ninth at 234... Lee falls behind Marcus and Mitchell to fifth in shooting percentage... None of the goalies who played today are over the 150-shots-against needed to qualify for season save percentage and saves-per-game totals, but Jesse and Terryn are rather close and would both be in the top five in each category if they were... Only Lee and Mitchell have played all 38 BUSH games this season... Lee passes Stefan for fourth in three-star points with 40, while Ryan picks up his first career three-star points... Jesse ties Ryan for fourth in goalie star points with 20... Lee passes Andrew Smart for second in PPG at 2.94 with Ryan moving into fourth at 2.80... Mitchell moves into second in GPG ahead of Kyle and Marcus... Mitchell passes Marcus for fourth in shots-per-game...Jesse’s .862 in goal today is the fourth-best session of the year.

SDF/GDF: Remember what I said in the VRH write-up about this week’s rankings being provisional? Well, today’s BUSH massively affected the final rankings... The BUSH gang is beginning to climbs over their minimum sessions needed for full value, and it shows in the closest race for the top of the ranking in history. Ryan jumps up from 15th to second and sits just .014 behind Andrew Smart for the top spot.... Lee stays third but sees his rating climb twelve points. Terryn still has 0.6 sessions to skate before reaching his minimum and is already in sixth; were he at full value, he’d be miles ahead at over a 140 rating. Barring a disaster, expect Terryn to take over top spot in his next session... Also moving way up is Jesse into 14th; he still has 0.7 sessions to skate for full value... On the GDF, two sessions in a row has shockingly moved Jesse into top spot ahead of Alex. Ryan sits third, with Terryn flying up the ranking from eleventh to fourth as he crosses the session minimum. Andrew debuts eighth. Not bad for a group of guys who didn’t even want to go in net.

All-Time Records, Awards and Honours
All-Time Session Scoring Milestones & Streaks
All-Time Session Goaltending Milestones & Streaks

On the All-Time Front: Mitchell passes Nathan for 15th in all-time points, and sits eleven points behind Jordan Barlow for 14th... Lee Needs 13 goals for 1,400... Graeme passes 450 goals... Mitchell passes Andrew Smart for 19th in assists... Mitchell passes Joern for eleventh in shots on goal... Lee needs four games for 900... Mitchell enters the top 20 in games played... Lee needs ten three-star points for 1,400... Terryn closes the gap for the all-time lead in saves-per-game to 19.04-18.89 behind Taylor... Mitchell and Graeme have their 20th career 15-pointer, tenth on the all-time list... Brad’s 15-pointer streak ends at five, but Lee’s goes to four and Ryan’s goes up to three... Lee has four straight 20-pointers; Ryan has two... Brad’s 20-pointer streak ends at three... Mitchell passes Sam for ninth in ten-goal sessions with 14... Ryan has his first ten-goal session... Lee and Brad have their ten-goal streaks end at three... Jesse has his first ten-assister... Brad’s ten-assister streak ends at five, while Ryan’s improves to three... Brad and Andrew both have their first .800 and .810 sessions... Jesse has back-to-back .850s; both he and Terryn notch the second .850 of their careers... Jesse has his first .860... Andrew grabs his first 80-saver... Lee plays his 34th consecutive session, which is tied for the third-longest streak ever.