Down to one goalie and not quite enough skaters, prospects for another session were looking dire going into the weekend. But once again some Ryno magic (maybe he should be re-nicknamed the Rhymagacian!) would net us a couple more skaters and a goalie. A goalie who had advertised on Craigslist as wanting to play somewhere, something that pretty much never happens (strange times indeed). Victor would prove to a good guy and a solid netminder, and hopefully an addition to the VRH crew going forward. In the end, Markus would also bring three more new players, so numbers were plentiful. Though the increased player count (2 subs on each team) would provide a little less playing time for everyone, decreased soreness the next day may have been the hidden boon. The weather would be glorious on this day, with a bright blue sunny sky but relatively cool temps (~20C°C) and a swift ocean breeze; weather in July really can't get any better than that!
Sticks produced teams of Bernie-Markus-John Chou-Ollie-Jesse-Dom(G) versus Ryno- Gary-Linus-Holden-Victor(G) with Chris being a later addition to this team. Once again the teams proved to be very even. While Ryno lead the way in points for his team with 4, it would be John who eventually pot the game winner in OT.
The second game in the series would again be a close lengthy affair, and with everyone having shaken the rust off the intensity was ramped up. While Dom may have been his usual spectacular self in the first game, Victor really found his footing in this one, showing that he more than belonged, back-stopping his team to an OT win. Holden and Ryno both lead their team with 4 points, while Rhino put in the winner.
This of course would lead to a much anticipated “rubber match”. This game would end up being slightly more lopsided with team Victor handily out shooting team Dom and winning 5-3 with a solid team effort.
Ironically, using sticks to change up the teams ended up with only one player traded (John for Linus) and the goalies switched. But again the teams would prove very even with each team winning one. With tiredness setting in the games would open up a bit and really highlight the phenomenal efforts of both goalies, especially in the second game. Holden and Jesse stood out in this series with each having 5 points. Unfortunately a number of players had to leave at this point, so no deciding game would be played. Ironically John Chieng would arrive about 10 minutes too late, just as everyone was leaving (he would have given us enough players to continue the series).
All in all, it was a great day of about 2 hours and 45 minutes of fabulous hockey! With a couple regulars leaving town, the near future looks murky. And in these uncertain times who knows what the long-term future holds, but either way it was great to get a couple sessions in and usher the legacy of Burton Hockey into the next decade!

Thanks, Bern! Wow, six, count ‘em, six rookies. You’ve got to go back to the shortlived Arena League of 2012 to find that much new blood in one session. The architect of the VRH renaissance, Ryan, continues his hot streak as he posts the first 15-pointer of Burton Hockey’s third decade (7G-8A). Coming in second in his rookie session was Holden, who posted two four-point games en route to 7G-6A. Third star was another rookie, Jesse, on 3G-7A. The titanic struggle of Game 5 helped buoy the goaltending statistics, with Dom just creeping over the .800 mark at .802 on 93 saves, and Victor finishing at .759 on 63 saves.

Game Scores:
Ryan Gary Linus Holden Victor def. Bernie Markus John Ollie Jesse Dom 4-5 5-4 5-3
Markus Ollie Bernie Linus Jesse Victor vs. Ryan Holden Gary Chris John Dom 5-3 4-5

Length of session: 2h 45min

Season Stats: Ryan opens up a 27-20 lead on John in the season scoring race, with Markus slotting in third... John and Ryan share the goalscoring lead with 13 apiece... Ryan is on his own planet right now in assists at 14, with John and Jesse tied for second at 7... John leads Ryan in shots on goal, 57-55, with Markus right behind at 49 and Holden right behind him after just one session at 42... Bernie has taken the season lead in shooting percentage at 26.92%, with a tight race for second right behind him... Dom’s lead over Stu Hall in save percentage shrinks down to .829-.827... Being the only goalie to play both sessions this year, Dom has more saves than Stu and Victor combined... John, Ryan, Bernie, Markus, and Dom have played in all 9 games this year... Ryan is the only player to pick up three-star points in both sessions this year; he leads Dom (who picked up five goalie star points today) in total star points, 30-20. Holden (10) and Jesse (5) pick up star points in their rookie session... Ryan continues to be the only player averaging 3.00 PPG, with Holden in second at 2.60... John and Ryan fall to joint second behind Scott Edison in GPG, 1.50-1.44... Ryan maintains his lead in APG, now over second-place Jesse, 1.56-1.40... Holden (8.40) is nearly two shots-per-game ahead of second-place Scott... The attrition of the first four games today brought Dom’s saves-per-game down a bit, leaving Stu the only of the season’s three goalies averaging over 20.00... Ryan (15P) and Holden (13P) had the two highest-scoring sessions of the young season today, with Ryan’s 8A also setting a season-high for assists in a session; Jesse’s 7A rank second highest... Holden’s 42 shots on goal today are tops for year so far... Dom’s 93 saves rank first so far this year.

SDF/GDF: Ryan leads the SDF for a second consecutive week. As the ranking system rebuilds itself after 2 1/2 years of inactivity, right now new debutantes have the opportunity to climb the ladder more quickly than typical. As such, Holden and Jesse debut second and third on the rankings, while John drops two spots to fourth. On the GDF, a subpar (by Dom’s lofty standards) session drops his lead over Stuart to just 0.022, but it’s still enough to keep him on top of the charts for a 31st time, tying him with Justin Gordon for third. in most GDF rankings led.

All-Time Session Milestones & Streaks

On the All-Time Front: Oliver is just three points shy of becoming the first player to reach the magical 3,000 point mark... Oliver needs eight more goals to become the second player with 1,200... Ryan needs 12 assists for 500... Oliver becomes the second player to land 6,000 shots on goal, while Ryan is 44 shots behind Andrew Smart for tenth and needs 55 for 3,000... Dom becomes the first goaltender with 11,000 saves... Ryan is seven games behind Kyle Grenier for 14th all-time... Ryan records his 23rd career 15-pointer... Dom records his 69th (niiiiice) career .800 session and fourth in a row; he also now has 74 80-save sessions and 65 90-save sessions... Bernie extends his consecutive session streak to 33; Dom extends his to eight.