The Big Time Hockey League

Hammers Players Named All Stars

(Vancouver, Beirut) The Media All-Star Team as selected after the gold medal game was announced and 2 of the 6 players are Hammers.

All-Star Team

Goaltender: Ryan MILLER (USA, STORM)

Defenceman: Brian RAFALSKI (USA, COMETS)

Defenceman: Shea WEBER (CAN, HAMMERS)

Forward: Pavol DEMITRA (SVK, SYNTHESIS)

Forward: Jonathan TOEWS (CAN, BLIZZARD)

Forward: Zach PARISE (USA, HAMMERS)

Most valuable player: Ryan MILLER (USA, STORM)

Tournament Directorate Best Player Awards

Goaltender: Ryan MILLER (USA, STORM)

Defenceman: Brian RAFALSKI (USA, COMETS)

Forward: Jonathan TOEWS (CAN, BLIZZARD)

Weber and Rafalski shared the honours as the top defencemen in the tournament whereas Miller takes the overall MVP award. The management of the Hammers are proud to have 2 of their players named all-stars in such an elite competition. I am Jake Bullet on the red eye to Beirut.

Hammers Olympic Players Impress!

(Beirut) With the final puck drop of the Olympic games upon us the Beirut Hammers players that made the Olympic trip contributed a lot to their respective countries.

Canada

Ryan Getzlaf 7GP 3G 4A 7P +2
Shea Weber 7GP 2G 4A 6P +4

USA

Zach Parise 6GP 4G 4A 8P +4
David Backes 6GP 1G 2A 3P +4

Finland

Antti Miettinen 6GP 1G 0A -1
Toni Lydman 6GP 0G 0A +1
Niklas Backstrom 2GP .952% 1.04GAA

Russia

*Alexander Radulov 4GP 1G 1A 2P +1

Alex is currently on contract with a KHL team but the hope is he will join the team in 2 seasons.

The team is proud of all of the contributions that the players have made for their countries and look forward to see that translated on the squad.

After a very enjoyable Olympic break we get back to the rigours of the season. I am Jake Bullet from Beirut.

Vacating the crease

(Beirut) The management and staff of the Beirut Hammers announced today that as a result of the latest loss to Decepticons where the underachieving Tim Thomas managed to only stop 12 of 17 shots on net a player shake up was needed. In an unprecedented move the club announced that they had traded Thomas to the Las Vegas Aces for the other underachieving goalie Niklas Backstrom. When reached for comment GM Fouad said well the guy couldn\'t stop a beach ball right now. His save percentage is in the pits and maybe he just gave up. Nik was having the same problems in Las Vegas and I and the Aces GM thought that the change of scenery for both players might get them back on track. If nothing else it might scare the other players who think that they are untouchable. Backstrom (32) is currently in the last year of his contract with an option to sign him for 5 more seasons. Rumour out of the Las Vegas news was that the distraction was caused by a slight gambling problem and the Las Vegas night life. One of his former team mates who spoke in anonymity said this Nik and I partied the night away on a few occasions but all I have to say is he had an affinity for blondes, gambling and booze. The change might do him good. Screw his head on straight. I for one hope that this move will wake up the team from its slumber. This is Jake Bullet from Beirut.

Meteors Report

Season 2 of the Daoust/Borek era has not begun as expected. The team has seen a lot of hot/cold play and currently sits 7th in the conference standings. But that has not discouraged management, who have their sights set on turning the Meteors into a powerhouse for the long haul. While the results have not been there on the ice, there is no doubt that there have been many encouraging signs at the organizational level.

One big positive has been the emergence of the Canucks. The Sedin twins (Henrik and Daniel), Mason Raymond and recently acquired Alex Burrows have seen their stock soar in the last little while, and there are now high hopes that the four will be fixtures in future Meteor success.

Niklas Hjalmarsson dealt to Mustangs

This week the team made a minor transaction, sending prospect defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Mustangs in exchange for prospects Riley Nash and Yannick Weber.

Hjalmarsson is a fine defenceman in development and is actually BTHL-ready. The abundance of depth in the Meteors system is the reason that he has not yet been signed. His two-way talent will assure him a spot in the BTHL for a long time.

Weber is a highly-skilled defenceman who is farther away from making it to the show but has offensive skill that projects well at the highest level. His peak development would likely put him on the Meteors� second pairing.

Nash, a former 1st round pick (Oilers), is a consistent point-per-game player at the college level. With more seasoning, he could turn into a solid 2nd line centerman with the skill set of a complete hockey player.

The bottom line is that the Meteors have a lot of depth in their lineup so it made sense to sacrifice a bit of development time to acquire two solid young talents that are both capable of making an impact in the future.

Prospect Shuffling

Yesterday the Meteors put claims on a pair of unassigned prospects, namely Jared Aulin and Andy Rogers. Both are considered long shots at best but with some prospect space left it made sense to pick up some players that are available and evaluate them over the next couple months.

Aulin is a former top prospect who is attempting a comeback and has seen a lot of success at the minor league level, while Rogers is a monster defenceman who has had trouble finding his game as a pro. If they don�t pan out, they will be replaced by future Meteors draft choices.

In order to avoid the prospect surplus tax, the team released its rights to Ladislav Nagy, a former successful BTHLer who has found a home in Russia. Most people expect him to remain there for the rest of his career.

New line combinations

Meteors� assistant general manager Aaron Borek recently observed the team�s on-ice troubles and suggested some changes that could spark a turn-around. GM Eric Daoust, always open to fresh ideas to improve the situation, decided to use these line combinations and hopes to break some of the bad habits, which include sitting dead last in goals against.

Mustangs Wheel and Deal

The Mustangs and Rage have completed a deal that will send Ryane Clowe and Johnny Oduya to the Mustangs in exchange for Eric Fehr, Max Pacioretty and Kyle *****iskey. \"Clowe is the all-around 2nd line player we want on our team, we expect Clowe to make an immediate impact playing alongside Captain Saku Koivu and Phil Kessel.\" GM Duggan stated during an online interview. Ryane Clowe produced 10 goals and 14 assists for the Rage, good enough to tie Andrew Ladd for the team lead. Oduya on the other hand has 2 goals and 7 assists for the Rage and is expected to pair with ace defender Kris Letang. In the other big trade today the Mustangs sent prospects Riley Nash and Yannick Weber to the Meteors in exchange for big, hard hitting defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson. At 6\'3 205 lbs this big d man is only getting better and has a great chance to nab a roster spot next year at training camp. Abbotsford currently sits 10th in the West and looks like it could have a shot at a top 5 pick in the draft lottery.

Heroes of Championship Team Displaced in Bandit Retooling

The BTHL Cup hangover continues, and with Monday night\'s transaction, the Bandits have all but eliminated the possibility of a second hangover next season.

The trade, initiated by GM Roberts over the past few weeks, sees star net-minder, and perhaps one of the league\'s best, Miikka Kiprusoff, and shifty forward Alex Kovalev sent to the Celtics in a package involving mostly futures.

Going back to Bonavista are BTHL-ready roster players Thomas Holmstrom, Marc Methot, and Martin Gerber. Prospects Vladimir Sobotka and Yuri Alexandrov are also going back to the Bandits. Both clearly have the potential to become valuable to the team in the future, but for Sobotka, consistency is an issue, while it is still unsure whether or not Alexandrov plans on coming over to North America. The key to the deal however was the addition of the Celtics\' first round pick this season, along with their third round pick for the 2011 draft. The first rounder gives the Bandits their first multi-pick first round since Roberts took over. The cap space the Bandits save over the next three seasons with the loss of Kovalev off their roster does not go un-noticed. However, he is a welcomed addition to the Celtics, and along with Kiprusoff, they have certainly become a legitimate threat.

Roberts was unavailable for comment on the trade, one that has already garned him considerably scrutiny with the team\'s fan base.

New Face in Beirut

(Beirut) The Beirut Hammers announced today the addition of Rob Scuderi to the club\'s defensive core. The club currently sitting 4th in the West at 16-11-2-2 are 3rd in the league in scoring at 3.69GF/G but are 2nd worse in the league at 3.31GA/G.

When reached for comment GM Fouad said This is very unacceptable. I do not get what is going on with these guys. I mean our keeper cannot stop a beach ball right now and our defenders are just letting these guys shoot to their hearts content. It is shades of Lou and the Jackals last season. We had to do something to stop these chances so a 2.5 week discussion going back and forth with GM Dan of the Decepticons and we finally decided to acquire Rob for our ACE 2nd in 2010 draft pick.

Only time will tell if this move will help the team in the long run or is merely a band aide solution. I am Jake Bullet from Beirut.

Mercs Add Hossa, Turf Heatley

The Mercs Marian Hossa notched 2 goals in his first game with his new team after coming over for Dany Heatley. The Mercs also added Tyler Cunna and a 1st round pick in the 2010 draft. After the game Hossa felt right at home on a line with Brad Richards and Ilya Kovalchuk. Its nice to play with such talented team mates said Marian post game.

The second line now consists of Jason Arnott, Jeff Carter and Mike Cammileri, giving opponents a solid 1-2 punch on their top 2 lines.

As for the rumor mill, there has been a ton of interest in Alexander Edler and why not, 23yrs old, cheap talented and well rated, so far no team has been able to pony up what it takes to add such a talented dman. Stay tuned for more new as it happens.

Welcome to This is hockey, I\'m Shameless O\'Toole

The Sting have been struggling all year. Scorers arent scoring, goalies arent stopping pucks, defenders arent defending, and overall its been one big disappointment. So what does a gm do? He sends a message. Sitting lundqvist for three straight games didn�t work, putting Thornton on the second line had limited success so you could see a trade the next logical step.

Today the BTHL has announced a trade between the Sting and Mercenaries. Heading out of town is Hossa, *****a, and the Sting� first round pick. Coming to down is sniper Danny Heatley.

Instant analysis is that this is both a even trade, and way too much to pay all at once. Advantages for the Sting. finally a bonified sniper to play with thornton Adding more size to the top 6 forwards More Canadian influence Slightly more cap space

Disadvantages

-Loosing a lot of youth -sending a top line player as well

So why did this happen? This is what GM Turner had to say. �Well hossa never fit with this club. We tried him in many roles last year, and the only one he somewhat succeeded was second line. His cap did not justify that.

Moving along we thought that he might turn it around in the playoffs. Well 4 points and 2 goals in 11 games wont exactly win you any brownie points. Many of the fans tagged him as the sole reason we were eliminated. I don�t believe its fair to peg it on one player�but when a sniper cannot score on aback up you know you have some problems.

In the off season we had discussions about moving him but decided to give him one last chance to prove his worth. We put him with thornton and malkin thinking that this skill had to amount to some goals�. And yet again failure. So we decided to bite the bullet, pay the price, and bring in Danny Heatley.

Heatley may be exactly what this team is missing. Heatley thinks offense first, shoot second, and everything else a distant third. With his size and speed if he wants go somewhere� its usually pretty difficult to stop him from doing so.

As for line projections we aren�t 100% sure right now. We know for sure Thornton will be his pivot, but the third winger is up in the air. We are considering having Malkin be the third forward, but also considering morrow, frolov, and even pavelski to take that spot.

As for future plans I think we are pretty set for right now. Again this leaves us without a first round pick, but we have slowly built up our future elsewhere. Voracek is continuing to develop, Muller is not having the year expected but still has a bright future, Kassian (if ever added) is a nice power forward prospect, and other young roster players are continuing their development.

BTHL Around the Horn

With team\'s nearing the quarter-way mark of the season, writers and members of the media in every BTHL city recently voted on a number of categories such as biggest dissapointments and surprises.

Biggest Surprise of the Season - Calgary Colts Led by franchise player Patrick Kane and current league best goaltender Steve Mason, the Colts have finally emerged as a legitimate threat to make the BTHL\'s second season. The team is 7-5-2 through the first 14 games and are currently riding a four game winning streak. The Colts boast a franchise player at every position with Kane at forward, Drew Doughty on defense, and Mason in net. Their years of rebuilding a young core look to be paying off, yet they may need another veteran leader or two if they want to continue their charge into the playoffs. Yet, with their play thus far, and the amount of top tier young players, the Calgary Colts are one of the BTHL\'s most promising franchises.

Biggest Dissapointment of the Season - Bonavista Bandits

While they don\'t boast a plethora of all-star talent, the Bonavista Bandits have definitely been a dissapointment this season, simply because of the expectations after they won the BTHL championship last season. They returned this season with their core intact of Miikka Kiprusoff, Chris Drury, John Michael-Liles, Alexei Kovalev, and emerging youngsters Bryan Little and Derick Brassard. They even went as far as to pick up veteran leadership in Bill Guerin and Erik Cole, and bolster their blue-line with the addition of Cory Sarich. There is no doubt that on paper, the Bandits have improved, yet they have struggled in all aspects of their game this season, going 3-9-3 giving up a league worst 51 goals.

Biggest Surprise (Player) - Jamie Langenbrunner (PHT)

Langenbrunner is more so known for his defensive contributions, but is certainly a player that can put up a few points, however thus far this season he has boosted the Arizona Phantoms to top spot in the East with 12 goals in just 15 games. His shooting percentage, hovering near 40%, is far and above ahead of everyone in the league. The second line of the Phantoms, which includes Zubrus and Modano, has been extremely productive for the Phantoms.

Biggest Dissapointment (Player) - Evgeny Malkin (STI)

Though there are many options for this, Evgeny Malkin, based on the importance to his team\'s success, has been the biggest dissapointment in the early going. He is second worst on his team at -3, and has only eight points in 13 games, including only two goals. The Sting are no doubt a cup contender once again this year, but they\'ll need Malkin\'s production to increase quite significantly.

X-Factor - Henrik Zetterberg (CLT) If the Celtics are to contend in the deep Western Conference, they need their two centres, Zeterberg and Datsyuk to be their best players. They need production out of both, of course, but it is the penalty killing of Henrik Zetterberg that had him chosen as the BTHL\'s X-Factor. Zetterberg has four, yes four, shorthanded goals in the early season. He leads the league. Second place has just one shorthanded marker. Team\'s need to be weary when Hank is on the ice killing a penalty.