Shut the Puck Up (NHL Lockout Song)

I remembered this song form the last time there was an NHL lockout and thought it was hilarious. It also hits the nail right on the head.

Do you think he's right about the players? Will there be an NHL season this year?

Read All About It! The Haie - 2012 UHB Champs

The Haie was a dominating team during the 2011-12 UHB season. It capped off a brilliant season in which it led start to finish, by defeating the defending champs for the cup.

Along the way, the Haie, which is Sharks in German, set many season and weekly records, one of which was an eight-week winning streak.

They say goaltending is the key to winning championships and The Haie certainly had that. Jonathan Quick, Mike Smith and Antti Niemi were solid all season long for the club.

On offense, Marian Gaborik, Phil Kessel and Matt Moulson were the big guns that opponents had to contend with.

The Haie built a strong team with the draft but did make some transactions to fine tune their lineup. In all, the team made three trades involving the following players:

1. traded Ryan Kesler to CHC for Marian Gaborik
2. traded P.K. Subban & Ray Emery to CHC for Loui Eriksson & Mathieu Garon 
3. traded Derek Stepan & Jimmy Howard to Seeing Stars for Ryan Kessler & Antti Niemi 

Playoffs
Because the club finished first overall in the regular season, The Haie received a bye in the first round. In the second round, the team went up against CHC, which it defeated easily, 9-3. This set up a finals matchup with the defending UHB champion, Texas Tornado.

It was a hard-fought series but in the end, the Haie swam circles around the Tornado, winning 7-6 and taking home the cup.

Congratulations to The Haie.

Dirty Dangle Hockey: The Different Types of Fantasy Hockey GMs

Dirty Dangle Hockey: The Different Types of Fantasy Hockey GMs: Lance is a Fantasy Hockey Legend NHL GM's are people, and like most people, they have personalities. Brian Burke is outspoken, Don Malone...

How to Join UHB Fantasy League

UHB & UHB2

Currently, there are two different leagues that the UHB operates using Yahoo! Sports; UHB (head-to-head) and UHB2 (rotisserie). Both of these are dynasty or keeper leagues. A maximum of 16 teams is set as the league limit.

How to Join

There are a couple of ways to join either league:

1. Expansion: If one of the leagues has not yet reached the maximum allowable number of teams, it sometimes offers expansion franchises to prospective managers.

2. Transfer: Even when a league is full, there are times when a manager might neglect his/her team or decide that they do not want to continue the following season. In this case, we would transfer team ownership over to a new manager, even in the middle of a season, if need be. In either case, if a franchise becomes available, those who have been put on a waiting list, will be considered first.

Waiting List

If you would like to be considered as a potential manager, simply leave a message here or through our contacts to be put on a waiting list. If a league expands or a franchise needs to be transferred, those who respond will be contacted and accepted on a first come, first served basis, provided they meet certain criteria. Yahoo! fantasy hockey profiles will be used as a barometer in deciding who is a successful applicant.

Manager Requirements:

• must be dedicated and not neglect team
• must respond in timely manner to league e-mails and trade offers
• must be willing to participate in live online draft
• must respect fellow managers and commissioner
• must be in for long haul (more than one season)
• experience in other leagues is an asset but not necessary
• co-managers accepted
  

UHB Fantasy Hockey Expansion

Me like hockey!

 Two New Franchises to Award!

The UHB is looking to expand this season from ten to twelve teams. Going into its 4th season, the head-to-head fantasy league transitioned into a dynasty league last year. That means managers are allowed to keep a certain amount of players from their current roster to carry over into next season. The league is free to join and there is a trophy awarded to the league champion as well as a consolation prize in certain cases.

Although it is possible that there might not be an NHL season due to a lockout, the UHB would still go ahead with its annual draft just in case a new CBA is reached. If the season is cancelled, you would at least have a roster of players to chose from to keep for next season. The draft is conducted live and online, using Yahoo! Sports. The new managers who join would draft 11th and 12th of the first round and then first and second in the following round, alternating in each successive round.

The prospective applicants should be dedicated and knowledgeable hockey fans. Part-timers need not apply. Prior fantasy hockey experience is an asset but not necessary. Your Yahoo! fantasy hockey profile will be considered when applying. The more experience and the higher your performance, the better your chances are of being granted a new franchise.

For more info about the rules, scoring and settings visit our UHB league page or browse other areas of this blog. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or post in the comments section.

Good luck!

UHB Rules

UHB Head-to-Head Dynasty (keeper league)

These UHB rules are in addition to the Yahoo! Sports rules. You are expected to learn them and abide by them. Ignorance of the rules will not be accepted as an excuse. This league is publicly viewable and aims to be family-friendly. The UHB and its commissioner reserve the right to add to this list and/or modify any existing rule at any moment for the good of the league.

1. No manager shall use the name of a real NHL or other professional/minor league team for their team name. Names of famous people, characters and works are also prohibited. Anything copyrighted will be rejected.

2. No vulgar terms or language shall be used in whole or in part as a manager's team name or manager name.

3. Team names shall not be changed once the regular season commences. You may experiment with as many name changes as you want between the time you sign up, right up until the time of the first official games that count in the standings. At that point, the one you choose will be the one you keep all season. ONCE THE SEASON STARTS, ALL TEAM NAMES WILL BE LOCKED.

4. Team icons must be family-friendly and are subject to the same criteria as rule #2.

5. Good-natured trash talk will be allowed within reason but must be kept rated PG.

6. Any manager who neglects his/her team for an extended period of time risks losing their franchise and could have the team assigned to a new manager at any point during the season or at the very least, the following season. Examples of neglect include but not limited to: not responding to trade offers, not editing lineup regularly, not responding to league e-mails, etc. If you are going on vacation, please edit your lineups for the time that you will be away.

7. Managers will be allowed to select 6 players from their roster to keep for next year's roster. Managers are only allowed to keep 1 goalie. The remaining 5 players can be any number of forwards and defencemen. Managers may also choose to not keep a goalie and select an extra F or D.

8. All of the UHB Commissioner's decisions are final.

9. Failure to comply with any of these rules will result in having your team roster locked and possible banishment from the league.

10. To claim the UHB fantasy league prize (the mug), the winning manager must provide a shipping address to where I, the Commissioner, can send it. All costs will be assumed by me, the league's Commissioner, including shipping and handling with the exception of possible custom's duty fees. The prize awarded will be the one that is posted on this site and indicated as the UHB Cup (League Trophy), no substitutions. The UHB Commissioner shall not be held responsible for the winning team manager failing to provide a valid shipping address. If no shipping address is provided, the winner agrees to waive his or her right to the prize and no cup shall be awarded. All personal information will be kept private and will not be used for any other purpose.

11. Should I, the UHB commissioner, end up winning the league championship, I agree to award the runner-up in the championship finals, a consolation prize, that being a white value t-shirt. No substitutions will be allowed for the consolation prize. As with rule #8, runner-up will be required to submit a valid shipping address upon the finish of the season or relinquish the consolation prize. Consolation prize will only be awarded to runner-up if the UHB commissioner wins the UHB championship. If any other team wins the league championship, no consolation prize is awarded.

12. Joining this league means you understand and agree to these rules and conditions.

2012-13 Fantasy Hockey Season?

UHB Square Logo Posters by unitedhockeyblades
View more framed poster art at zazzle.com

Hey hockey fans. It's that time of the year that we all look forward to; a new NHL season! With that comes a new fantasy hockey season also; or maybe not. You might have noticed that this post's title ends in a question mark. The reason for that is it remains to be seen whether NHL owners will lock out the players and if they do, for how long? Will it be the same as it was in 2004-05, when the entire season was cancelled? Only time and greed will tell.

In any case, the UHB still has to conduct business as usual in case there is a season to be played. That means gearing up for our annual fantasy draft. This will be the UHB's 4th season but the first in which managers are allowed to keep some players from last season's roster. This is what is referred to as a dynasty or keeper league. In this case, managers will be allowed to select 5 players in total from last year's team but only able to keep one goalie. If you were a manager last season, check your inbox for your invitation to join again this season.

Keep your fingers crossed and your stick on the ice.