As is typical for BUSH, the huge success of last May’s supersession was followed by over a month of inaction as life conspired to get in the way. But with the busy schedules of May and June now clear, it was time to return to action. The youth movement in BUSH was as present as ever today, with six players under the age of 20, augmented by two veteran warhorse (one of whom was under the impression he was to pick up Kyle Grenier. After driving almost all the way to Burton, he realized perhaps it was supposed to be Kyle Kusch instead. So, he turned around, drove all the way back to Nakusp, and grabbed me. Thanks, Jamie! We didn’t even wind up being late!).

The Stenseth brothers, Terryn and Carter, would play each other for the first time ever in Burton Hockey. All-world dual threat Ryan was back, and Mitch Zorn would be making his long-awaited 2011 debut. Rounding out the field was new rookie Zac Friedenberger, who, having no skates, was going to have to share them with Mitch Zorn. Zac would be on the bench for the first series as Mitch and Terryn were backed by Carter against the oldtimer team of James, Lee and Ryan. Considering how the previous session played on this rink went (Day 2 of the May SuperSession), this day couldn’t have started and more differently, as the two team traded goals back-and-forth and ended the thing in under 15 minutes. The goalies were shellacked; Ryan was 6-for-9 and Carter was 6-for-11 while Lee and James had four points each en route to a win. Things settled down in Game 2 for Ryan as he settled back into his usual form. Despite Terryn and Mitch’s speed, Lee and James know each other’s game pretty well at this point, and 20 minutes later it was 5-3 again. The rain sprinkled in on-and-off, the sky was grey as mud, and there were some fearsome blasts of lightning all around us, but the rink was spared and the session went on almost completely dry. As Graeme Orr says, ‘It’s always sunny in Burton’.

With Mitch Detta having arrived, and Ryan’s knees bothering him, it was time to swap goalies and move to 3-on-3 as Zac made his Burton Hockey debut and Mitch Zorn put on the pads. It was just as well for Zorn; when he arrived at the rink, he found a brand-new set of wheels sitting on top of the trash. BRAND new. Evidently it was left behind by one of the VRH crew. Naturally, he stuck him them on his skates and went to town – for about a game. We found out why they had been in the trash when they began delaminating in solid pieces halfway through Game 2.

Once again, the crew went with an age theme as the oldest skaters (Lee, James, and Mitch Detta – yes, at 19 he was the third-oldest skater) teamed with Mitch Zorn against Ryan, Zac, and the Stenseths. At first, it seemed like more of the same, just now with Detta involved. Lee and Detta each had four points in Game 3 as the score was 5-2 for their side. Zorn had the best goaltending session of his career today, and it started off rather well with his 10-for-12 performance in Game 3. Carter came out of his funk in Game 4, and turned it up a notch, stoning the oldtimers repeatedly. Meanwhile, his team was more than holding up their end of the bargain. Terryn drove the net, Ryan was the two-way wing, and Zac played rover, firing off big blasts from the point. Overall, the strategy worked very well in Game 4, and they took home a convincing 5-1 win. It would come down to the final game, a closely-fought match that saw Team Mitch win it 5-3.

Two hours, five games. A fun, short session to help shake the rust off after five weeks off and get ready for Sunday, where we are expected the return of lost goaltending legend Chris Jackins. And it turns out the session was stopped at just the right time, because within five minutes of leaving the rinks, James and I found ourselves nearly aquaplaning in the middle of a sudden-onset downpour. Timing, as they say, is everything.

Lee led his teams to victory in four of the five games and was rewarded accordingly with 17 points in the five games. Close behind off of strong performances in games 1, 4 and 5 was Terryn at 14. Also winning four of his five games, James grabbed his first career star points by tying for third at 11 with Ryan, who once again grabs star points despite only skating three-fifths of the session. In goal, it was a breakout performance for Mitch Zorn. His previous stint in net way back in 2009 was a mere .682. This time around, two years older and two years better, he was a rock-solid .813. Carter recovered from being .600 after the first series to climb all the way back to .744. Ryan didn’t get a full session in but was .786 overall (.667 in Game 1, .842 in Game 2).

Here are the game scores:
Lee James Ryan def. Zorn Terryn Carter 5-3 5-3
Lee Detta James Zorn def. Ryan Zac Terryn Carter 5-2 1-5 5-3

Faceoff Stats (unofficial):
Mitchell Detta 2/2 (100.00%)
Ryan Bateman 4/5 (80.00%)
Lee Orr 10/20 (50.00%)
Mitch Zorn 3/6 (50.00%)
James Hewlitt 6/13 (46.15%)
Terryn Stenseth 10/24 (41.67%)

Season Stats: Lee passes Eric for seventh in scoring and trails Bernie by three, 154-151, for sixth... Mitch Detta is two behind Eric, 138-136, while Terryn enters the top 20... Lee sits one goals outside of the top five, trailing Rob 86-85 with Mitch at 80... It’s taken until the end of June, but a BUSH players finally breaks into the top ten in assists, with Lee in ninth at 66... Ryan passes Kyle for second in shooting percentage while Terryn passes Marcus for fourth... Ryan’s goaltending lead over Alex shrinks to .861-.852... Ryan is 34 saves behind Lyle for fourth, 275-241... With Mitch Detta missing the first two games today, no player has played every BUSH game this season, but Mitch has still played in every session... Ryan ties Barlow for fifth in games goaltended at 13... Lee ties Tony and Oliver for fourth in three-star points with 65; Ryan is right behind at 60... Terryn takes the PPG lead from Andrew Smart with 3.06 PPG while Lee passes Marcus for fourth in PPG with 2.81... Terryn moves into second in GPG at 1.65 while Lee passes Marcus for third with 1.60... Ryan passes Jesse for fourth in APG with 1.35

SDF/GDF: Kyle continues to hold a massive lead on the SDF, but Ryan has now passed Andrew Smart for second... Despite not being at the session minimum, Terryn rockets all the way to twelfth this week... Ryan’s short stint in goal takes some of the heat off of Alex at the top of the GDF. With 23 ratings led, Alex sits alone in fourth all-time... Carter jumps up to a career-high sixth on the GDF.

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

On the All-Time Front: Lee reaches 2,600 career points, 1,400 goals and 1,200 assists all in the same session... Mitch Detta is one point behind Jordan Barlow for 14th and needs five assists for 250... Terryn needs 26 points for 300 and six assists for 150... Lee needs three 15-pointers for 100... Lee becomes the first player with 70 ten goal sessions; Terryn has five... Mitch Zorn beats .800 and .810 for the first time... Mitch ties Ryan Disterheft for 18th in games played... Ryan jumps up to second all-time in APG... Ryan drops to third in saves-per-game behind Taylor and Terryn... Ryan didn’t get a full session in goal today, so his goaltending streaks are safe... Mitch Detta plays his eighth straight session; James his sixth.