Anyone hoping for improved rink conditions tonight had to be disappointed upon arriving at the Nakusp Arena. The visible oil might have been gone from the rink surface, but two weeks out from Canada Day and the rink is still slippery and treacherous thanks to dirt and oil. It was too much for James Hewlitt, who walked out on the session after the warm-up, not wanting to risking something happening to himself out there. Evidently the word had gotten out after last week, for just twelve players came, leaving the Arena League without subs in a session for the first time. Tonight would also see the debut of another MacDonald, Austin.

Blue Team:
1. Dugan McInnes (goal)
1. Lance Beingessner
2. Colton Dachwitz
3. Kellan Nishida
8. Nathyn McInnes
10. Brett Zeleznik

White Team:
1. Kalum Stevens (goal)
3. Austin MacDonald
6. Ryan MacDonald
10. Ryan Bateman
11. Lee Orr
15. Tyson Cann

Kalum ‘K-Mart’ Stevens would make his debut in net tonight against Dugan McInnes in his second appearance in goal. The teams seemed pretty even on paper, but the first game was a near-whitewash in favour of Blue. Backed by the steady defence of Lance and Brett, the Kellan-Colton-Nathyn line made its presence known from the start. Kellan posted four assists in the game and Colton had two goals as Game 1 ended rather quickly. Were it not for a last-minute goal by Tyson on Dugan, it would have been a six-save shutout for Blue. Kalum would also have just six saves in the other net.

Game 2 was far more competitive with White coming alive and Kalum finding his groove in net. Over in the Blue net, Dugan was stonewalling Lee, but Tyson and Bates would eventually solve him, and suddenly White had a 3-1 lead (Tyson and the MacDonalds made a good combo in Game 2). One of the funnier sequences occurred over at the White net, when Kalum stoned Kellan but was caught out of position for the rebound; Nate would come in for the easy goal on the wide-open net – and bang it off the right post. Colton then grabbed it with Kalum still sprawled out – and do the exact same thing. A few minutes later, with the score now 3-2, Lee hauled Nate down on a breakaway, leading to the first-ever penalty shot in the Arena League, which would be saved by Kalum. Right after that, it would all come together again for Blue, with three quick goals to end the game. After a couple of minutes of confusion, it was decided to just end the night right there, for the rink was just not fun to play on. A big thanks go to Dugan and Kalum for stepping in goal tonight. What will next week bring? We’ll find out next Tuesday!

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In this abbreviated session, the Kellan-Colton-Nathyn line was preeminent and predominant. Powered by 7A, Kellan takes first star for the first time with 8P, besting Colton, the recipient of most of those assists with 5G, by a single point. Kellan had twice as many points as shots. After being very close on numerous occasions, Nate grabs his first ever star points in third with 3G-2A. For White, the lone offensive star was Tyson, who picked up 4P in the two games in his best session to date. Dugan continues to improve in net, narrowly missing a shutout en route to .750, while Kalum had .643 in his debut. Altogether, there were just 48 shots on goal tonight, a record low for a multi-game session.

Game Scores:
Blue def. White 5-1 5-4

Faceoff Stats (unofficial):
Ryan MacDonald 1/1 (100.00%)
Colton Dachwitz 3/5 (60.00%)
Kellan Nishida 3/5 (60.00%)
Ryan Bateman 2/4 (50.00%)
Nathyn McInnes 2/4 (50.00%)
Tyson Cann 3/9 (33.33%)

Elo Ratings
Ryan Bateman 1986 (-66)
Lee Orr 1964 (-104)
Colton Dachwitz 1962 (+36)
Kellan Nishida 1954 (+56)
Nathyn McInnes 1927 (+23)
Ryan MacDonald 1804 (-30)
Brett Zeleznik 1679 (-5)
Lance Beingessner 1620 (+48)
Tyson Cann 1611 (+67)

Provisional Elo Ratings
Austin MacDonald 1775 (n/a)

Season Stats: Lee’s single point moves him ahead of Andrew Smart for seventh at 74... Bates ties Nick Jornitz for 12th at 58... Kellan passes Jordan Barlow to enter the top 15... Kellan also passes Lee to enter the top five in Arena points, 49-47... Colton enters the top 10 in Arena goals... Kellan leapfrogs Bates and Grenier to sit third in Arena assists with 33, one behind Zac for second... Lee passes Ryan Disterheft to enter the top five in games played with 49... Only Lee and Kellan have played 40 games in the Arena this year... Kellan enters the top ten in three star points and sits fourth in the Arena League with 30... Nathyn finally grabs his first career star points...

SDF/GDF: The first Arena session falls off the ranking and is replaced by tonight session, causing a lot of upheaval behind first-place K.J. as the ever-absent Oliver jumps up six spots to fourth; he’ll begin falling in a couple session if he continues to hold out... Zac drops four spots to ninth with Ryan Disterheft moves up four to eighth... Even a day with 48 shots on goal combined makes a big difference atop the GDF when things are this tight, as Brodie loses an off-session from his total and sees himself rise back up to number one for a sixth career time. Stuart Hall has the same thing happen to him, and he also passes Dom to trail Brodie by the slimmest of margins.

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

On the All-Time Front: Bates ties Pat Strachan for 38th in all-time points... Lee needs nine games for 1,000 Lee plays his 18th consecutive session, but there’s a good chance it will end here as he heads off for a two-week Toronto vacation... Dugan and Kellan play their ninth consecutive sessions, while K.J. and Terryn have their streaks end at eight... Brett plays his eighth straight session, while James’ walk-off means his streak ends at seven... Colton plays his sixth straight; Ryan MacDonald plays his fifth.