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Franchise Four: The Happy Little Elves

We know what you are thinking…how can you do a Franchise Four for a defunct team.  And for the rest of you who aren’t keeping up with all of the off-season hot stove activity (spoiler alert!), the Elves have migrated to the BTSH team alumni section, taking their rightful place alongside the Mighty Squirrels, Mexican Standoff, Pork Fried Rice, and countless others.  But since they have not yet played a game under the Fuzz rebrand, we decided to throw them a bone and honor four of the very best to ever put on an Elves uniform.

The only time I ever wore a non-Elves BTSH shirt. The only time I ever will. (Sorta)

Sadly, $h0wT!m3 did not make the cut.

Trevor Beauclair

Biggest Face?

Trevor wasn’t smiling when Corey won “Biggest Face”.

The Elves were a competitive team when Rich added Trevor and his high school buddy Ryan Nakahara before the 2010 season, and their presence elevated the Elves to a new level.  That fall, the Elves won the championship, completing a dramatic rise from a one-win season just two years prior (and totally copying the Sky Fighters progression from 2007 to 2009).  Trevor was a presence at the bars, hammed it up for the media, was nominated for “Biggest Face”, and even made a surprise appearance at a captains meeting.  His move to Los Angeles has been cited as the beginning of the end for the Elves as a BTSH franchise.

Ben Chadwick

Ben proved to be as brittle as this trophy.

Ben proved to be as brittle as this trophy.

The Elves started as a team of free agents, which we described before the 2008 season as “…BTSH’s answer to Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics.  Much like Hanna-Barbera, BTSH found itself with a collection of unrelated and unaffiliated players with no place to put them.”  Their leader was Ben Chadwick, who picked the team name, colors, and logo (sadly, Hopper blew a golden opportunity by not renaming the Sky Fighters with a Simpsons themed name).  Unfortunately, Ben was beset with a steady string of injuries over the years and was frequently found roaming the sidelines in jeans and loafers.  But his leadership presence can’t be dismissed, and he also was a valued contributor to the website (well, sort of).

Rich Glanzer

Richie leading by example.

Richie leading by example.

We all know and love Rich, but his beginnings with the league were rather rocky.  It took him a whole two months to remember that his login for commenting on the website was HockeyRich, a simple concatenation of the sport he was playing and his name.  But after those initial speed bumps, Rich charged ahead to multiple leadership positions.  Besides joining Chadwick in the captaincy and instituting the NEDI, he also became heavily involved in reffing and for the past couple of seasons has been editor-in-chief of this very website.  Plus, he’s the greatest goalie in BTSH playoff history, with one win to his credit and zero goals allowed.  And if you need to know what happened on any given Sunday in BTSH back to 2008, ask Rich.  He’ll tell you in great detail.

Gil Valdes

Gil, in one of the rare moments when he isn't running.

Gil, in one of the rare moments when he isn’t running.

One of many Long Islanders that Rich added to the Elves over the years, but definitely the best (sorry Walsh).  He is the leading scorer in franchise history, and can run circles around almost everyone in the league, most of whom are half his age.  For a while last season, he was the Elves offense, as it took until August or whenever Miles came onboard that Gil didn’t account for more than half of the Elves total goals.  And without him, there is no Gil’s son, Gil’s son’s dad, Gil’s other son, Gil’s neighbor, Gil’s accountant, the guy who walks Gil’s dog, and so on.

Honorable Mention

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Shaun deLacy, who provided the media with a gold mine of content in 2011 with the Shaun deLacy GAA Watch.

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