After successfully establishing itself in the Nakusp Arena, it was time for Burton Hockey to return to its ancestral home. Burton United Socialist Hockey would kick off its thirteenth season this afternoon, a number we’re sure no one thought was possible back in April 2000. There were numerous questions heading into the long-awaited first BUSH session of the year, the latest to the outdoor season at McCormack since 2002. What condition would we find the rink and nets in after a half-year of neglect? Even just a week of neglect sees boards regularly pulled away from the wall and used by kids for impromptu skateboard ramps; what hot mess would we find today? How many people from the Arena League would make the crossover to BUSH? The confirmed line-up heading down to the rink was seven; all were BUSH veterans. How would Lee Orr, the all-time leading scorer in Burton history who has struggled to some degree in the Arena League, perform back at his home base? Or for that matter, Kyle Grenier, who came out flying in the first Arena session but has had a rough go of it the last two sessions? And what of Seamus O’Connor, the BUSH legend who would be making his first appearance anywhere in 2012?

The first question to be answered was, of course, the condition of the rink. Thanks to the annual Burton community spring clean-up and five hours of powerwashing from mythical Burton figure Karl Detta, the rink was absolutely pristine. (The park bathrooms, not so much. There were literally spiderwebs covering the urinals, and the toilets, well, let’s just say no one will be using them for a while). The rink was outfitted in brand-new ‘Use At Your Own Risk’ signs, as were the concession stand (whatever) and the bathrooms (yeah, no doubt). The water was turned on behind the concession, and that was all that mattered on this blazing hot first Sunday in May.

As it turned out, seven souls would make the journey down to Burton: Seamus, Lee, Kyle, Mitch Detta, K.J. O’Connor, Terryn Stenseth (making his 2012 debut after coming off the best season of his young career last season, but also showing up feeling the effects of Saturday night and with equipment in ill repair) and Brodie Yano, fresh off of a dominant .852 at the Arena on Thursday and making his first BUSH start in five long years. It looked as though the gang would have to go 3-on-2 today, but a surprise visit from the long-lost Laird Bilinski gave us the eighth player of the day. First, though, Laird would have to drive back to his house and find all of his gear before he could join the select group of people (Stefan, Bernie, Oliver, Lee) who have played in every single Burton Hockey season, so we would indeed play the first series 2-on-2 with one team having a sub.

Sticks in the middle produced Terryn, Mitch and Seamus on the sub team with Brodie in goal against K.J.’s tandem of Lee and Kyle. The shots came fast and furious like they usually do in 2-on-2, but not the goals: it would take 31 shots for the first goal to go in. It was a Lee-Kyle play that scored the first goal on Brodie, and that would be a hallmark of the series, as the duo would come together on the first 13 goals their team scored in this series. That said, the sub team put up a great fight in Game 1. Every combination of player would score for the sub team during Game 1. Brodie would make 32 saves to K.J.’s 27, but would take the loss 5-4. Game 2 was not nearly as close. As long as Game 1 went, Game 2 went as short. In just five minutes, Lee and Kyle ambushed Brodie, going up 4-0 and winning 5-1. The longest break of this game was to stop for one of Terryn’s wheels flying off of his skate. With still no sign of Laird, the teams were kept the same for Game 3. Lee, Kyle, and K.J. got up 3-2, before Laird was finally ready to go for his first time on skates since 2006, and naturally he scored on the first shot after the faceoff on a pass from Lee. Thirty seconds later, he’d give it to Kyle for the series-winning goal.

The second series saw Seamus, Terryn, Lee, and K.J. face Kyle, Laird, Mitch, and Brodie. Thankfully, the softball team practicing in the field below was not successful in luring Terryn into its non-contact, underhand-throwing clutches. Brodie took another loss in Game 4 despite his best efforts here as the Seamus-Lee combo proved potent and K.J. stood on his head most of the game. Quickly seeking out revenge, Team Brodie stormed back in Game 5 to a 5-1 romp which evened the series thanks to another point-out by Grenier. The deciding Game 6 saw Brodie peppered for 48 shots compared to 28 against K.J., and while he would succumb to the barrage by a score of 5-1, there was certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

One last game was played today with Lee, Seamus, Laird, and K.J. against Kyle, Terryn, Brodie, and Mitch. Seamus was the difference here, pointing out the game to lead his team to a 5-3 victory. As Lee put it, Laird made an excellent shithawk in front of the net today. Overall, K.J. and Lee won six of seven games while Mitch and Brodie were on the other end of the stick. A fun afternoon to kick off the 2012 season in Burton with plenty of points to be had, even with two great performances in goal.

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Now that BUSH is back in action, the era of big stats in the Arrow Lakes is back. With 14G-13A, Lee edged out Kyle (11G-14A) for the session scoring lead, 27-25; these are the two highest-scoring session in Burton Hockey this year. Kyle led the shot count with 74 to Lee’s 68 and Seamus’ 59. Seamus would overcome a heavily-taped stick that was cracked in half down the middle of the shaft and fraying at the neck to finish third at 12G-9A. In goal, the two goalies were amazing, and while Brodie had the flashier saves and more volume to deal with, K.J. took the day at .865 compared to Brodie’s .823. Brodie did make a massive 144 saves in what was easily the highest-volume shot count in any Burton Hockey session this year.

Game Scores:
Lee Kyle K.J. Laird* def. Terryn Mitch Seamus Brodie 5-4 5-1 5-2 (*Game 3 only)
Seamus Terryn Lee K.J. def. Kyle Laird Mitch Brodie 5-3 1-5 5-1
Lee Seamus Laird K.J. def. Kyle Terryn Mitch Brodie 5-3

Faceoff Stats (unofficial):
Lee Orr 7/8 (87.50%)
Laird Bilinski 8/16 (50.00%)
Kyle Grenier 5/10 (50.00%)
Mitchell Detta 1/2 (50.00%)
Terryn Stenseth 11/28 (39.28%)
Seamus O’Connor 0/1 (0.00%)

Elo Ratings

Kyle Grenier 2153 (-1)
Terryn Stenseth 1970 (-31)
Seamus O’Connor 1955 (+5)
Lee Orr 1906 (+45)
Mitchell Detta 1864 (-34)
Laird Bilinski 1719 (+16)

This session is being played at the same time as the VRH session in Ambleside, so we’re not totally certain of where the season and all-time stats and the SDF/GDF stand as we wait for the VRH boxscore to come in. What we do know is that Kyle Grenier will shoot up to somewhere in the middle of the top ten in season scoring with 46 points and K.J. O’Connor will take over the season goaltending lead at .865... WITHOUT today’s VRH session, Lee and Kyle’s 27 and 25 points today are the first and second-best total of the year, with Seamus’ 21 points tying for fifth... Lee’s 14 goals rank third on the year, and Kyle’s 12 tie for fourth... Kyle’s 14 assists tie for the season lead, while Lee’s 13 tie for third... Kyle, Lee, and Seamus registered the top three shot totals of the year at 74, 68, and 59, respectively... K.J.’s .865 in goal is the second-best mark of the year... Brodie’s 144 saves rank first while K.J.’s 122 rank second... K.J.’s PPS of 987 is tops on the year while Brodie’s 967 ranks second.

On the All-Time Front: Lee becomes the first player to score 2,700 points... Lee records his 101st 15-pointer... Kyle ties Lorne for third in 15-pointers with 58... Seamus has three-straight 15-pointers... Terryn’s 15 –pointer streak ends at three... Seamus passes Pat Elischer for sixth in 25-pointers with 25... Kyle becomes the fifth player with 25 ten-assisters... K.J. moves to ninth in .810s with 11 and become the ninth goalie with 10 .820s... Brodie has back-to-back .820s... K.J. moves to seventh in .860s with six... Amazingly, this was only K.J.’s third 110-saver and Brodie’s second... This is also the first time Brodie’s been over 120 saves in a session... Lee’s consecutive session streak goes to ten.