In the beginning of Burton Hockey, and even before the league back in the schoolyard days, Laird Bilinski was the archetypal little brother; a petulant whipping boy for the older kids. In a small town such as Burton, however, they needed him for the numbers. Little did we realise back in 2000 just how integral Laird would be to the success of Burton Hockey. He was a core original right from the beginning, and in time, he would become one of the better goaltenders in Burton Hockey, the all-time most dedicated goalie and one of the most dedicated players in history. A gawky 16-year-old wearing a Vancouver Canucks sweater with 'McLean' (or rather, 'McClean') stenciled in a homemeade fashion on the back, the younger brother of Lorne was put into goaltending duty that very first session in April of 2000 in a 99-save performance that remained one of the top five rookie totals for over nine years. From that point forward, Laird became the most dependable goalie in BUSH, playing 70 games in net that first season. It was often hilarious just how far out of the net Laird would come to challenge opponents (which cost him at times), but it was also a reflection of his desire to be involved in every facet of the game. In fact, Laird has nearly 100 career points from goal. No one comes close to that mark. Laird also spent just as much times playing out on skates, where he could score quite a few goals. In and out of the net, the teenage Laird had a bit of a hard time controlling his emotions against players four and five years older than he was; expletives and stick-smashing were a regular feature of his appearances. Over the years, Laird slowly moved away from skating and began to play goal on a more frequent basis. In his early years, he was dependable but erratic. As he grew into his body and developed his goaltending skills, however, Laird began climbing into the elite ranks of Burton netminders, breaking out in 2002 with a then-record .853 season average and an incredible 20 saves-per-game average, single-season marks that only the O'Connor brothers have been able to beat. Donning his trademark white Vancouver orca, Laird's deceptively large frame covered the Burton nets like a glove. His development was so great that for a time he was not only the most reliable goalie in Burton, but the best goalie period, twice winning Most Outstanding Goaltender. Since 2004, work has kept Laird on the road most of the year and his appearances are less frequent. Still, he always manages to get in a few appearances each season. He's also managed to be a frequent guest star in VRH, where he only ranks behind Alex Elischer in all-time goaltending. The little kid is gone; Laird is a rather easy-going guy these days, amiable and with a great cheesy sense of humour. The only challenge these days is tracking him down to play! Laird remains second all-time in games goaltended and in saves. On his best days in net, he is absolutely unbeatable, as he proved on Day 1 of the 2010 DecaSession. His final season before moving to Lake Country was spent in the Arena League, where he became the first goalie to play in all three leagues of Burton Hockey and brought the flashes of brilliance we're all used to seeing from him. Awards: Goaltending Champion - 2006; Most Outstanding Goaltender - 2002, 2005; Dual Threat of the Year - 2002; 1st All-Star - 2002g, 2005g; 2nd All-Star - 2001, 2008g; Most Dedicated Team - 2001, 2002, 2005.

Year	GP	GS	G	A	PTS	GPG	APG	PPG	SPG	SOG	SPCT
2000	135	70	85	74	159	1.21	0.79	2.00	5.20	364	23.35
2001	35	8	12	23	35	1.50	1.50	3.00	5.25	42	28.57
2002	27	4	3	23	26	0.75	1.75	2.50	8.50	34	8.82
2003	62	30	43	49	92	1.43	1.10	2.53	6.00	180	23.89
2004	90	56	32	47	79	0.57	0.68	1.25	3.55	199	16.08
2005	53	29	17	25	42	0.59	0.62	1.21	2.86	83	20.48
2006	21	13	15	19	34	1.15	1.15	2.31	5.62	73	20.55
2007	7	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.00
2008	12	0	0	1	1	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.00
2009	26	0	0	12	12	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.00
2010	24	0	0	6	6	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.00
2011	11	0	0	6	6	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.00
2012	12	5	4	9	13	0.80	1.80	2.60	5.00	25	16.00
Totals	515	215	211	294	505	0.98	0.87	1.85	4.65	1000	21.10

Year	GG	SA	SV	GA	SVPG	SPCT	SO	G	A	S
2000	65	970	746	224	11.48	0.769	3	0	19	0
2001	27	438	337	101	12.48	0.769	3	0	11	0
2002	23	538	459	79	19.96	0.853	0	0	16	3
2003	32	625	499	126	15.59	0.798	1	0	16	1
2004	34	663	538	125	15.82	0.811	2	0	9	0
2005	24	490	396	94	16.50	0.808	1	0	7	0
2006	8	158	132	26	16.50	0.835	1	0	4	0
2007	7	96	75	21	10.71	0.781	0	0	0	0
2008	12	211	163	48	13.58	0.773	0	0	1	0
2009	26	467	371	96	14.27	0.794	0	0	12	0
2010	24	476	396	80	16.50	0.832	2	0	6	0
2011	11	135	94	41	8.55	0.696	1	0	6	0
2012	7	166	132	34	18.86	0.795	0	0	0	0
Totals	300	5433	4338	1095	14.46	0.798	14	0	107	4

Year	Total	1st (15)	2nd (10)	3rd (5)
2000	70	30	30	10
2001	5	0	0	5
2003	15	15	0	0
Totals	90	45	30	15