After 2 months of almost solid rain (and a little snow to boot) on weekends, finally the sun would grace us with its presence once again and VRH would see its inaugural session of 2012. With temps expected to get up to 10 degrees centigrade, this was indeed an ideal day for hockey.

Today would see the arrival of a new player, Lars' friend Stewart, as well as the long anticipated return of Stefan Klopp. Both players proved to hold their own; Stewart proved to be a solid addition, playing well defensively and showing great hockey sense. Though he petered out a bit towards the end (and had to skip the last game), Klopp showed that his bionic leg could indeed withstand the rigours of hockey at Ambleside and his offensive ability was still evident even after such a long layoff. Tony was a force today but Ryno was probably the day's MVP having seemingly unlimited energy especially towards the end when everyone else was tiring. Goaltending today was very solid on both ends as usual.

Finding balance proved to be a little difficult today as the first two series were both won rather handily in 2 games. The last game though, would finally produce a nail biter. Bernie-Ryno-Lars-Stew-Dom would take a quick early lead on a couple goals by Lars. Before long the score was 4-1 for Team Dom and the game seemed all but done. Team Ollie-Tony-Shay-Sam, however, would not give up and slowly clawed their way back. It should be noted that despite a couple soft goals early on in this game, at this point Sam was absolutely sensational making highlight-reel save after save, to keep his team in it. After nearly 45 minutes of action, Ollie would finally pot the winner on a picture perfect pass from Tony H., producing an unlikely miracle comeback for Team Sam.

As the weather begins to turn in the Lower Mainland, look for more VRH action in the weeks to come!

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Thanks, Bernie. Another Burton Hockey season has indeed begun, and two men share first star in the first session, with Ryan (10G-9A) and Tony (8G-11A) each garnering 19 points on the day. Stefan broke out early with four points in the first game but faded as the day went on (still impressive given he hasn't skated in nearly a year after his horrific leg break), allowing Shay, Oliver, Lars, and Stewart Nolastnamegiven to battle for third star. Ultimately, Shaylin emerged third with 12 points to pick up his first-ever star points. In goal, it was another razor-thin goaltending battle. The final session of 2011 saw Dom and Sam end up with the exact same save percentage, and it nearly happened again today: Dom narrowly bested Sam .8182 to .8174. Dom did have a larger edge in saves, 108-94.

Game Scores:
Stefan Tony Lars Stewart Sam def. Bernie Oliver Ryan Shaylin Dom 5-4 5-1
Ryan Bernie Shaylin Tony Dom def. Stefan Lars Stewart Oliver Sam 5-2 5-2
Shaylin Oliver Ryan Stewart Sam def. Stefan Lars Bernie Tony Dom 5-2
Oliver Tony Shaylin Sam def. Bernie Ryan Lars Stewart Dom 5-4

Elo Ratings

Tony Hajdu 2004 (+21)
Stefan Klopp 1991 (-46)
Ryan Disterheft 1884 (+40)
OIiver Koth-Kappus 1837 (+4)
Shaylin Trotman 1744 (+38)
Lars Raynard 1671 (-20)
Bernie Koth-Kappus 1577 (-23) Provisional Elo Ratings
Stewart 1787 (n/a)

Season Stats: Considering that this is the first session of the year, the session stats ARE the season stats, rendering this part of the column unnecessary.

SDF/GDF: Andrew Smart marks his 20th session on top of the SDF, including seven in a row this time around... Behind him is upheaval, as BUSH players plummet (no BUSH players are even at the session minimum at this point) and a pack of VRHers arrive to take their place... Only the three Orr/Hewlitt cousins remain in the top ten from BUSH, and they will disappear next session... Marcus moves up one spot to third; Ryan jumps into fourth, and Lars skyrockets up into a career-best ninth...The long reign of Alex Elischer on the GDF is about to end. He holds the top spot on the chart one last time before his will in all likelihood begin dropping off next time out barring a shocking return. He has been atop the chart for 19 consecutive sessions (a record) and for 35 sessions total, meaning he will be one short of Seamus O’Connor’s record of 36... Dom and Sam are solid locks to be ranked one-two next time out, with seemingly no one poised to take their place; it is very likely that sometime in March there could be as few as four goalies 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: The inactivity of BUSH in recent months is beginning to hit home big time: Oliver is now just 100 points away from reclaiming the all-time scoring lead from Lee Orr, which at one point seemed impossible. Stefan is exactly 900 points behind Ollie in third... Tony becomes the 16th player to score 700 points... Ryan passes Nathan for 18th in points and needs six for 600... Stefan needs five goals for 900 and is five goals behind Lorne for third all-time... Tony passes Mitchell Detta for 12th in goals... Ryan passes Barlow for 18th in goals... Bernie becomes the third player to score 900 assists... Ryan is seven assists behind Laird for 18th... Tony needs 71 shots on goal for 2,000... Stefan passes Seamus for fourth in games played... Stefan needs three more VRH games for 500; Oliver one more for 600... Dom becomes the first goalie with 600 star points... Sam posts his tenth .800 and .810 sessions. Dom has five .810s in a row; Sam four... Dom and Sam’s .820 streak end at four and three, respectively... Sam has 11 consecutive 80-savers, the fifth-longest streak ever; Dom has four... Sam has five straight 90-savers; Dom three... Dom’s 100-save streak ends at three; Sam’s goes up to three... Dom plays his 15th consecutive session; Bernie, Sam, and Oliver have each played five in a row.