Whenever Burton Hockey is in trouble, perhaps all we need to do is organise an Orr/Faint family reunion, because it was the return of 2010 BUSH Rookie of the Year Andy Kieran and his treeplanting cousin Graeme Orr that helped solidify this session. For the first time since July, BUSH would be back in action with six players; four of whom were cousins (Andy, Graeme, James Hewlitt, and Lee Orr). Joining them would be another returning treeplanter who’s been rather absent this year, Seamus O’Connor, and another man making a long-awaited 2011 debut, Noel Ballard. Together, they would assemble under extremely overcast conditions and reignite the Burton flame.

Andy joined us last spring for two weeks en route to moving to Tofino from the GTA (where James was also originally from). In Tofino, he’s found a group of players who played a very similar style of hockey to Burton, including playing games to five. Seamus is suggesting perhaps a spring exploratory road trip. Today in his return, Andy would be entering the Burton nets for the first time, and the Orr cousins forewarned us of his goaltending prowess. How right they would be.

While waiting for Lee, Seamus, and Andy to arrive, it was time for a trip to the Country Rose Coffee Shop down the street, the only business selling food these days in Burton. Not only was there time to kill and a potentially long session ahead of us, the sandwich board on the street read ‘Poutine’. And what poutine it was! The owner baked a turkey that morning specifically to make turkey gravy for the curded french fry delicacy. A fantastic treat to start the afternoon, and proof that Burton not only gets it done on the rink but in kitchen as well.

For the first series, Andy teamed with Lee and James to face Noel in goal with Graeme and Seamus. It didn’t take long for it to become clear that Andy was something else in goal. Graeme and Seamus doubled the shot count of Lee and James all game, but never once held the lead. The first game went so long it required a seven-minute break after 2-2. Once the break ended, that was when Lee and James took over. The cousins would point out (Lee with five goals; Jamie with five assists), and win 5-3 despite being outshot 44-25. Andy’s presence was hereby announced. Team Noel stepped it up in Game 2 both in goal and skates. Once again, it was another fast-paced 45-minutes; perhaps a surprise after such long layoffs for everyone. This time, Graeme would point out and Seamus would have four points of his own. Andy’s 34 saves this time weren’t enough as Team Noel eked out a 5-4 win to send this series to a rubber match; Andy sitting at .931 at this point. Team Andy came out guns-a-blazin’ for Game 3, and ended the series in 15 minutes, 5-3. James pointed out again, leading a very high-PPG rostrum with 13 points followed by Lee (12 points), Graeme (11 points), and Seamus (10 points). As for Andy, all of the major rookie goaltending records were now in serious jeopardy.

The apex of Andy’s session was Game 4. Seamus switched out of skates in favour of Noel, who would partner with Graeme and Andy against the previously successful Lee-Jamie pairing, only now with Seamus in goal. Game 4 did not last long at all. Seamus was quite off, letting in five of 14 shots including three of Noel’s six shots. Not having skated the first gruelling series, Noel was spring chicken in comparison to the rest of the tired crew. Andy got himself a relatively easy 14-save shutout, and Graeme began pulling away on the scoresheet (something he’d continue to do for the rest of the day). Reeling from the loss, Lee and Jamie came back with a vengeance, trading goals back-and-forth with Noel and Graeme as Andy let in consecutive goals for the first time all day. It still wasn’t enough as Seamus was still shaky and Team Andy won 5-4. The even match-up prompted an extension of the series to a best-of-five, but it would be for naught as Andy came storming back, backing his crew to a 5-1 win. The Ontarian finished the series .899 for the session and now owned the all-time rookie save record.

With the noise of massive thunder in the background, it was decided to play one more game. The Orr brothers teamed with Seamus against the Faint cousins and Noel. Sure enough, at 1-1 the sky opened up and flooded the court in under a minute. This last game would be Andy’s worst game of the day as he battled the natural chemistry of Lee and Graeme in the rain. James and Noel, however, were no slouched, as they connected on numerous plays and kept it close right until the end, when two quick Orr goals ended Andy’s day 5-3. Overall, an outstanding effort from everyone today, especially Andy and Graeme. James and Noel quite possibly had career-best efforts as well. A fun day of high quality 2-on-2 brings BUSH back from doldrums, at least for one weekend. And as for Andy’s record-setting rookie goaltending session?...

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Yes, the big story here today was the return of Andy, as he demolished Brandon Blair’s rookie save record with 161 (the old record was 138), posted the fourth-highest rookie save percentage ever at .885, and also destroyed Jesse Martin’s rookie PPS record of 983 with a massive 1046, and posted a shutout; a true goaltending masterpiece. It’s really too bad he’s not around full-time, although I’m sure the shooters are glad! Noel also threw down a career-best session today with .825 in his three games in goal. Seamus will be more than happy to forget his .705. The skaters were pretty even all day, but the second series blew Graeme away from the rest of the field and finished with a dominating 18G-9A to take the day on an insane 96 shots on goal. James picked up his first ever second-star with an even-handed 10G-10A, his second-highest career total in each, plus a career-high 62 shots. Lee was stuck against Andy for most of the session and it showed with 17 points in seven games, including 14 goals on 79 shots; despite skating every game he only beat Seamus for third by a single point even though the Irishman played most of the session in net. Seamus and Noel had great, though abbreviated, stints on skates; Seamus picked up 12 points in his three games out to go with the five assists from goal, and Noel scored 13 points in his four games out plus another point in goal.

Game Scores:
James Lee Andy def. Graeme Seamus Noel 5-3 4-5 5-3
Graeme Noel Andy def. Lee James Seamus 5-0 5-4 5-1
Graeme Lee Seamus def. Noel James Andy 5-3

Faceoff Stats (unofficial):
James Hewlitt 3/4 (75.00%)
Noel Ballard 1/2 (50.00%)
Lee Orr 1/2 (50.00%)
Graeme Orr 1/4 (25.00%)

Elo Ratings:
Lee Orr 2103 (-19)
Graeme Orr 1972 (+25)
Seamus O’Connor 1950 (-22)
James Hewlitt 1747 (+30)
Noel Ballard 1681 (-14)

We’re waiting on the results of tomorrow’s (hopeful) VRH session before we upload our usual weekend statistical smorgasbord. When it happens, we’ll have all of your season and all-time stats summaries, plus the SDF, GDF, and the new Elo chart. And if it gets rained out, they’ll be up tomorrow night right here in this write-up, and this paragraph you’re reading will magically disappear! But, regardless, Burton Hockey is back!