VRH would again hit the rink at Ambleside on perhaps the warmest day of the year so far. The heat of the blazing sun was kept at bay by the more moderate ocean-side temperatures and cool breeze off the water.

What at first seemed like a smaller session wound up being one with solid numbers once again, with a total of 9 skaters. Play was hard-fought, but the game style was a little more offensive, with more odd-man rushes than last session. This fact makes the goaltending performances today all the more impressive. Dom was rock solid as always, and Stu had stretches where he seemed almost unbeatable; whether a shot would hit his blocker, helmet or the post, somehow a seemingly open net could not be found for the shooters, on multiple consecutive attempts.

A number of different series were played today, some more even than others. For complete team configurations and game scores see the Game Analysis section.

It’s great to see VRH with consecutive weekend sessions, despite the absence of regular goalies such as Sam & Bron. The addition of the Voser crew in recent weeks has been a huge boost for VRH, not only bolstering numbers but also providing two willing goalkeepers. Also, props to J-Bo for providing the secondary goalie gear, without which it would have been tough to get these sessions off the ground. With the weather turning downright summery these days, look for VRH to keep a pace of weekly sessions to come.

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In a session where scoring was evenly distributed and the top six scorers were separated by just four points, Nick Jornitz becomes the first player this season to lead multiple sessions in scoring with 8G-9A, edging out Andy Smart by two assists. Tying for third star at 14 points each were Stefan (7G-7A) and Oliver (5G-9A). Ryno posted 13 points, as did Rob, who was leading the session in scoring when he left with two games to go. In net, it was a career-best session for Stu, stopping 111 saves en route to a fantastic .841 with a shutout. Dom fell back a bit at .785 but still made 106 saves on the day. Game 1 might be most notable for having five different scorers on the winning team; a rarity for Burton Hockey.

Game Scores:
Rob Nick Andrew Bernie Stuart def. Jordan Ryan Darrel Stefan Oliver Dom 2-5 5-0 5-1
Oliver Ryan Jordan Rob Stuart vs. Stefan Andrew Nick Bernie Darrel Dom 3-5 5-2
Darrel Jordan* Andrew Ryan Dom vs. Oliver Bernie Stefan Nick Stuart 5-4 3-5 (*Game 6 only)

Elo Ratings

Andrew Smart 2252 (-1)
Rob Hajdu 2027 (-30)
Stefan Klopp 2002 (+10)
Darrel Voser 1890 (-31)
Ryan Disterheft 1869 (0)
Oliver Koth-Kappus 1860 (+37)
Jordan Barlow 1833 (-47)
Bernie Koth-Kappus 1561 (-6)

Provisional Elo Ratings
Nick Jornitz 1948 (+66)

Season Stats: The two sessions today (VRH and BUSH) really shook things up in the season scoring race. Stefan holds the lead with 99 points, eight ahead of Oliver and 18 ahead of Ryan. Andrew moves ahead of Darrel into fourth, 61-55, with Barlow at 55, Bernie at 51, and Kyle Grenier appearing in the top ten for the first time this season at 46. Nick also debuts in the top ten with 41 points in his first two sessions… Stefan leads Ryan in goals, 48-43, with Nick jumping all the way up to fourth at 24… Oliver takes the assist lead from Stefan, 52-51; Andrew remains one ahead of Ryan for third, 39-38… Ryan takes the shots-on-goal lead from Stefan, 229-223 while Andrew and Darrel enter the top five and Kyle sits sixth after his 74-shots barrages in the BUSH session… Nick takes a huge lead in shooting percentage at 26.60% while Stefan moves in to second behind Oliver and Seamus debuts fourth… K.J. takes over the lead in save percentage at .865 with both Brodie and Stuart closing in on Dom for third… Dom leads Stu in saves, 465-422, while Brodie closes to within 30 saves of Bron for third, 269-239… Brodie ties Bron for fourth in games goaltended at 14… Stuart’s shutout is his third of the season, putting him two behind Dom for the lead… The jumbled star points picture isn’t any clearer today. Andrew sits on 45 three-star points with Stefan at 40, Ryan and Nick at 30, and Oliver, Kyle, and Darrel at 25… the goalie star point race is even more of a mess – well, behind Dom, anyway, who has a bit of a cushion at 55, as Bron, Stuart, and Brodie all sit at 30… Add those together, and Dom leads Andrew 55-45 in total star points with Stefan right behind at 40 and a cluster of players (Bron, Brodie, Stuart, K.J., Nick, Ryno) at 30… Nick takes the PPG lead at 2.93 with Andrew dropping to fourth and Rob moving up to fifth… Seamus debuts third in GPG, close behind Nick… With Darrel falling out of the top five in APG, two Arena League players (Dylan and Zac) feature in the top five… Seamus takes Sam out of the top spot in shots per game with Nick, Ryan, and Kyle battling for third… K.J. debuts second in saves-per-game while Brodie passes Dom for third… Nick’s 48 shots on goal today ranks fifth-most in a session this year… Stuart’s .841 in goal is the fourth-best session this year; his 11 saves rank fifth and his 952 PPS ranks fourth.

SDF/GDF: There is a new force to be reckoned with on the SDF, and his name is Nick Jornitz, who crosses the session minimum and jumps into a gigantic lead, such are the advantage of winning you first two career sessions. Sam drops to second, while Darrel drops six spots to tenth… Rob jumps up 12 spots to 11th; Ryno slips two to 12th… Lee’s session win brings him from 34th to 23rd… In the tightening GDF race, Dom’s slip today drops him down to third behind new leader Bron (his eighth career session led) and the surging Brodie.

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

On the All-Time Front: Lee becomes the first player to score 2,700 points and opens up his all-time lead on Oliver to 53… Seamus is back to within 36 points of Bernie for fourth… K.J. needs one point to become the eight player with 1,200… Rob becomes the 12th player with 800 points; Andrew is seven away and Jordan is 28 away… Kyle is just three goals behind Lorne for fourth all-time, 900-897… Seamus opens up a little bit of a lead on K.J. in the race for sixth in goals, 733-710… Bernie needs 20 goals for 700… Andrew ties Ryan for 15th in goals… The race for fourth in assists between Seamus and Stefan remains tight, 841-829… Andrew needs 80- shots on goal for 2,000… K.J. moves back into sixth in goaltending, trailing Terryn for fifth .829-.828; Brodie enters the top 12… Dom becomes the first goalie to make 7,500 saves; no other goalie has made 5,000… K.J. passes Nathan Robson to enter the top ten in games played with 515… Laird trails Nathan by just three games for 11th… Kyle needs six games to become the 13th player with 500… Jordan becomes the 16th player with 400 games played; Rob needs four… Stuart enters the top 15 in shutouts with three… Kyle passes Oliver for second in three-tar points, 810-805… Andrew passes Alex for 11th in total star points, 465-460… Kyle passes Joe Chwachka for fifth in GPG with 1.91… Andrew has three straight 15-pointers… Stuart gets his third .800 and his first session above .820… Both Dom and Stu have three straight 80-save sessions…Dom has three straight 90-savers… Both Dom and Stu have back-to-back 100 savers, and Stu has back-to-back 110-savers…Dom plays his 22nd straight session; Bernie and Oliver their 12th; Stefan his eighth; Stuart his sixth; Ryan his fifth.