After more than a month of VRH Commissioner (and rain-maker) Kyle Garry Kuschman's lockout, negotiations finally appeared to be headed in the right direction. VRHPA President Bernald Fehr-Kappus, along with Special Counsel Olstever Ferh-Kappus and Player Representative Sydphan Klopsby, presented Kuschman's latest verbal proposals to the VRHPA membership. Wanting desperately to get back to the rink, the players voted overwhelmingly to proceed with finalization of a new CBA. The proposal would see VRH back in action on the day of remembrance, Sunday Nov 11. However, this was contingent on Kuschman holding up his promise, namely to provide us with decent weather.

As Sunday neared, it became more and more evident, that Kuschman was not really serious about the proposal he had put forth and would not sign a deal to see VRH back in action on Sunday. However, the PA was determined to see hockey happen and attempted to negotiate right down to the final hours. Naturally Kuschman reneged at the last minute, and the rain began to fall precisely at the moment of puck drop. Now the PA was faced with a choice: they could let the league push them around once again and get the upper hand, or they could play anyways despite the deplorable conditions. Well, the choice was easy one for the dedicated and weather hardened VRHPA veterans.

Despite much slipperiness and many spills, the game ensued. It was a hard fought competitive session, with some spectacular goaltending at both ends. As the light rain continued to fall, conditions got progressively worse creating a slightly slower more wide-open game. However, the players (aside for Andy who quit after 2 games) would tough it out and play a full 4 games, lasting well over 2 hours.

This session will go down in history as a great victory for union brethren of the VRHPA, over the evil and greedy Kylegarry Kuschman. However, with no deal in place (i.e., much more rain anticipated for the lower mainland), the chance of more VRH sessions in the near future is indeed not a good one.

* Note: this write-up is meant entirely as a comical satire of the NHL situation; the real VRH Commissioner/Statsman Kyle Kusch is as excited as anyone to see VRH back in action.

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Thanks, Bern! Sam Lam has only skated twice since April, but in those two sessions he has a second star and now a first star. His 9A tonight led him to a 12P session, placing him two points clear of the logjam at second star. Four players (Darrel, Rob, Stefan, and Oliver) finished with 10P tonight, ranging from Darrel’s 9G-1A (appropriate as this is the day before Pavel Bure gets inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame) to Oliver’s 2G-8A (appropriate as this is the day before Adam Oates gets inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame). The battle in goal came down to a single save. Both Stu and Dom finished with 16GA, but Stu made one more save (75 versus 74), giving him the day at .824 to Dom’s .822.

Game Scores:
Andrew Oliver Rob Jordan Stu def. Sam Stefan Bernie Darrel Dom 5-3
Rob Stefan Jordan Sam Dom def. Bernie Darrel Andrew Oliver Stu 5-2
Stefan Bernie Darrel Sam Stu def. Oliver Jordan Rob Ryan Dom 4-5 5-3

Elo Ratings
Andrew Smart 2122 (-70)
Sam Lam 2049 (+46)
Rob Hajdu 2039 (+4)
Stefan Klopp 1967 (+18)
Darrel Voser 1914 (+28)
Oliver Koth-Kappus 1881 (+35)
Jordan Barlow 1863 (-25)
Ryan Disterheft 1859 (-24)
Bernie Koth-Kappus 1541 (-12)

Season Stats: While Stefan holds a solid 50 points lead over Oliver on top, 204-154, the battle for third tightens up. Ryno sits at 143, Rob at 138, Andrew 130, and Darrel 128... Jordan jumps from 15th to a tie for 11th with Ryan Bateman... The top five in goals changes wildly as Oliver falls from third to fifth. Ryno is second at 72, Darrel is at 71, Rob is at 70, and Oliver is at 68... Ollie does climb back into the battle for the assist lead, passing Andy to get back to second; he trails the Kloppster 96-86... Stefan needs eight shots on goal for 500... Rob passes Darrel for third in shots, 367-362... Rob trails Andy for second in three-star points, 90-80; Stefan is at 70 followed by Darrel and Kyle at 65... Stu moves ahead of Brodie and Bron into sole possession of second in goalie star points with 75... Sam ties Stu for fifth in total star points at 75... Sam finally plays enough games skating this year to be eligible for the PPG rankings; as such he ranks way ahead of the competition at 3.20 PPG... Andrew passes Rob to stay fourth in PPG, 2.77-2.76... Darrel jumps ahead of K.J. and Ryno into fourth in GPG at 1.27... Andy narrowly hands the APG lead back to Tony, 1.772-1.766 but takes fourth in shots-per-game away from Darrel...

SDF/GDF: Sam Lam crosses the threshold on the SDF in a big way, snapping K.J. O’Connor’s streak of 11 straight rankings led to take the top spot for the third time in his career. His lead over K.J. is massive, too... Rob goes around Darrel into fifth while Stefan passes Ryno for seventh... Big drops from absentees Zac, Damin, and Ian as the scores from the summer continue to drop off... The long climb to the top is over for Stuart Hall. This week, he has deposed Bron Mach and Dominik Voser to claim the top spot on the GDF for the first time in his career. When you look at Stu’s run over the past six months, it’s well-deserved.

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

On the All-Time Front: Oliver is just 31 points behind Lee for the all-time scoring lead, and there’s a chance that there could be a Christmas session showdown for the title... Rob is 28 points behind Graeme for tenth all-time... Jordan needs 17 points for 800... Sam becomes the 19th player with 600 points and is 25 points behind Mitch Detta for 18th... Stefan is two goals from becoming the third player with 1,000 goals; Bernie still needs six goals for 700... Ryan is six goals behind Mitch for 14th... Rob becomes the 10th player and first VRH original to score 500 assists; Andrew is 12 assists away... Rob needs 17 shots on goal for 2,500... Andrew needs eight game for 300... Stu becomes the 18th player to play 50 games in goal... Both Stu and Dom record their seventh straight .800s, tied for the third-longest streak ever... Stu records his sixth straight .810 and .820, the third-longest and second-longest streaks ever, respectively... Dom has three straight .810s... Stu’s .840 streak ends at two... Dom’s 80-saver streak ends at eight; Stu’s at five... Stu’s 90-saver streak ends at four; Dom’s at two... Rob plays in his eighth consecutive session; Stefan and Bernie their sixth.