This session will go down in history as the one that never happened… almost. Murphy had it in for us right from the start, with only 3 confirmed skaters. But with Ryno getting his buddy Ron Richards on board, Dom getting Ian and 5 maybes amongst the regulars, things were looking up indeed. However, by Sunday morning, with a few of the maybes already cancelled, a frantic effort to contact the remaining maybes ended in vain. This was compounded by the fact that Ollie had turned all his phones off and slept-in blissfully while the organizer was trying frantically to confirm enough people. Eventually though, after the start time had been pushed back, Ollie was finally reached and the green light was given.

Murphy was at it again though, creating transit problems, rendering Ollie & Bernie about a half hour late. On arrival Ryno & friend were nowhere to be seen. It turns out Murphy had made another attempt at jeopardizing the session by disabling Ryno’s internet connection (ie he never received the confirmation e-mails). Luckily Ryno could still be contacted via cellular telephone. In one final last ditch effort, Murphy created a thin layer of invisible ice over about ¾ of the rink (defying physics as it did not freeze overnight), which was almost impossible to skate on. Discussion of canceling the session or playing on foot was had, but after coming this far we could not let Murphy win. With the aid of Sam’s de-icing salt and about an hour of skate wear the surface did indeed become better, though there were still a few very nasty spots.

The surprise showing of Lars allowed us to get started with a 2-on-2 game of Ollie-Bernie-Dom vs. Ian-Lars-Sam. Near the end of this game, Ryno would finally arrive, but arrive he would, with not only one friend but an entire entourage of 3 new players in tow. At this point it became evidently clear that the tide was turning; there was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning,. And that, I think, was the handle, that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Murphy. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.*

The remainder of the day would see 6 more games of fun filled 3-on-3 action, with the intensity ramping up as the day went on, proportional to the quality of the rink surface. Only the setting of the sun would put a stop to this glorious day of hockey. The will to play was indeed strong on this day.

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Thanks, Bernie; HST would be proud. It was a low-scoring day, with only the final game going past 5-2. Despite missing the first game, Ryan ended the day as the most prodigious scorer with 12G-5A. Lars had a breakout session, recording his first 15-pointer (10G-5A) and his first career star points, as well as fifty shots on goal. Oliver led the day in assists with eight en route to 14 points. In goal, it was a back-and-forth affair that resulted in a rather rare occurrence: identical stats for both Dom and Sam: .828 on 111 saves. Dom, however, posted a shutout, while Sam not only notched an assist but three shots from goal. In the battle of the rookies, Jessy outscored Marcus eight points to six.

Game Scores:
Lars Ian Sam def. Bernie Oliver Dom 5-2
Bernie Oliver Ryan Rob Dom def. Lars Ian Marcus Jessy Sam 5-1 5-2
Lars Oliver Ian Ryan Dom def. Jessy Ron Marcus Bernie Sam 5-0
Lars Oliver Ryan Sam def. Jessy Ron Marcus Bernie Dom 5-2
Lars Marcus Ron Sam def. Bernie Oliver Ryan Jessy Dom 5-1 5-4

Elo Ratings

Ryan Disterheft 1844 (+44)
OIiver Koth-Kappus 1833 (+10)
Ian Bock 1702 (-18)
Lars Raynard 1691 (+56)
Bernie Koth-Kappus 1600 (0)
Provisional Elo Ratings
Jessy Easton 1799 (n/a)
Ron Richards 1749 (-28)
Marcus Lohuaru 1739 (n/a)

Season Stats: Bernie passes Jordan Barlow and ties Lee for seventh in scoring at 222 points... Ryan closes in on Eric for ninth, 168-161... Oliver becomes the fourth player to score 150 goals this year; Ryan passes Eric for ninth... Bernie passes Tony for fourth in assists, 130-129, while Ryan passes Kyle to enter the top ten... Sam passes Alex for second in saves, 1,942-1,934... Dom becomes the first player this year to play 200 games; the Koth-Kappi need six each... Sam passes Andrew for fourth in games played, 176-173... Dom has twice as many shutout as anyone else with eight this year... Oliver ties Tony for fourth in three-star points with 90...

SDF/GDF: On the SDF, Andrew’s lead remains firm. The biggest mover is indeed Ryan, who jumps up nine spots to seventh... Lee falls under the session minimum and drops two spots to ninth, while the absent Seamus plummets to 24th from ninth... Again, almost nothing change at the top of the GDF as Alex leads for a 17th straight ranking and 34th overall, two short of Seamus’ record of 36... BUSH goalies are being to falls off the chart entirely.

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

On the All-Time Front: Ryan is five points behind Nathan for 18th on the all-time scoring list. He also becomes the 19th player with 300 goals, and passes Sam for tenth in VRH goals... Bernie needs one assist for 900... Ryan becomes the eleventh player to play 300 VRH games... Dom ties Alex for the all-time lead in shutouts with 18... Sam becomes the 12th goalie with 2,000 saves and passes Lorne for 12th in games goaltended... Oliver trails Kyle for second in three-star points, 785-780... Lars pots his first 15-pointer and first ten-goal session... Dom has four straight .820s while Sam has three in a row for the first time; they do lose their .830 streaks, however... Sam passes Joern for 11th in 80-savers with 17; he’s got ten in a row... Dom has three straight 80-savers... Sam has five straight 90-savers; Dom has two... Sam ties Lyle for ninth in 100-saver with ten; he has three in a row... Dom has back-to-back 110-savers... Andrew Smart’s consecutive session streak ends at 16, leaving Dom with the longest active streak at 14; he’s only missed the joint sessions in Burton back in May... Sam’s 1,942 saves this year is the fifth-highest single season total ever.