BTSH 2026 Season Preview – Division Three
By: Rich Glanzer
According to a league historian, divisions started in BTSH in 2010. In 15 seasons, only one Third Division team ever made it to the BTSH finals, and they got absolutely destroyed by Filthier.
Now the historian is me and I’m not all that confident that I’m right, but one thing is for sure: Renaissance was minutes away from making the finals from the Third Division last year. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
While the Third Division is much closer in talent to the Second Division than the Fourth, all five teams have some holes to fill if they hope to lift the PBR Cup.
Filthier
After finishing in last in Second Division , Filthier is dropping down to the Third. With so many games against Fourth Division teams, I’d be shocked if James didn’t win the scoring title this year. Sadly, league stats took a five or so year sabbatical, and they weren’t/aren’t kept well to begin with, so we have no idea how many scoring titles he’s won. Unless you’re Mike T. he’s won more than you. And odds are Mike T. is not reading this. I expect Filthier to have a very good record this year. Their attendance is typically solid, and four of their women (Appleyard sisters, Danielle, and Ann) scored three or more goals last season.
My one concern…well I am not actually concerned as I only care about my team, is Doug plays a lot of games as a sub, and if he plays prior to Filthier that can affect his play for them.
Gremlins
An insane stat is that since 1969, the Pittsburgh Steelers have only had three coaches! I rarely use exclamation points, but this is exclamation point worthy.
Well in the spring of 2003, Craig L. became the Unicorn goalie and left in 2012. That’s when the Unicorns became the Gremlins and Jamie Batuwantudawe became the goalie. So since 2003, while many other franchises have had dozens of goalies, the Unicorns/Gremlins franchise has only had two.
Despite the stability at goalie, the Gremmies are going with a change at captain. Rod will be replacing our beloved Walker. Last year, David C. led the team in goals with 11, and the league’s favorite Fazio was second with 5. So offense will be a priority for the league’s oldest team. The are adding Margaret, Tamara and Kevin, but no one knows how good they are as of this writing.
Sky Fighters
Only two teams (should) go home happy in BTSH. The BTSH and Schlitz champions. All others should hang their heads in shame and feel no joy until next season. Sadly, this is super true of Sky Fighters. Up 1-0 with 20 seconds left in the first round against Renaissance, Sky had the ball on the sidelines. All they needed to do was dump the ball in a corner and run to Cam on a
great game played. But instead they tried to score an empty net goal, APK, made the relatively easy save, skated up, and the ball found the Rens’ best scorer Emma, who was left uncovered and top shelfed it with 10 seconds left. The Rens completed the comeback in OT, and the SF season was over. But there’s a great saying, “You either win or you learn…or you get Wes to come out of retirement and play for you.” Yup, that’s the saying. Wes along with my Media Tag Team Partner Joshua F. are going to be a potent one-two punch in the Third Division. I am a Wes Truther and feel he could be the best player in the league. Jake has longed wanted to move up to the Second Division and with their balanced scoring of Shaun, Andreas and Aryeh, Ellie, and Geldner, they should be in every game.
Renaissance
Only two teams (should) go home happy in BTSH. The BTSH and Schlitz champions. All others should hang their head in shame and feel no joy until next season. Sadly, this is super true of Sky Fighters Renaissance.
I have a lot to say. First a spoiler alert. BTSH reminds me of the 1979 cult classic, The Warriors. The sniveling coward in this picture took a shot at the leader of the NYC gangs, because he likes doing things like that. He blamed it on The Warriors, and let’s just say they had a rough time getting back to their home in Coney Island. This is the last scene You Renaissance are good, real good.
But while Swan has the right to claim The Warriors are the best, you, sadly, don’t.
Up by two goals in the semis against Poutine, you didn’t lock it down. Multiple times their forwards went around your D and it forced me to tell Pete’s New Years Eve date that while he’s a great guy, he needs to become more defensive minded before I grant my permission to marry him. Sadly, I was sober when I said this.
No one has ever won the PBR Cup from the Third, but the Rens legitimately can be the first. They are the youngest team in the league, have solid attendance, and have very annoyingly great team comradery. Emma and Ryan are a great one-two punch, but they also have solid secondary scoring. Sophia is solid in net and they also have Yehuda. and I am a Yehuda Guy.
Pete says they are adding multiple high level players. They will miss Mike C., but I think with their collection of players, they can win a championship. But they aren’t ready… yet.
While watching them blow the two-goal lead, I harken back to a play earlier in that game. Steph made two excellent plays that stopped a goal. I was expecting to hear 13 players whooping it up and congratulating her, like they do when one of their players scores their 14th goal against WTP in July. But instead…silence. Not a word. And that’s what’s missing. Not just a commitment to D, but to actually recognize it when it happens.
Winning championships isn’t about the OT goal. It’s about backchecking on the 2 on 1. It’s about not even allowing the 2 on 1. It’s about making an elite player dump the ball because you are in such great position, they won’t even try to go around you. It’s about making the D to D pass, dumping the ball and going for a quick line change. It’s about capitalizing on a mistake that your team didn’t make…wouldn’t make.
It’s about realizing the best play Jack Hughes made in OT in the Olympics wasn’t his goal, but stopping McDavid one on one, which led to his goal. The Championship Window doesn’t stay open forever. It’s open for them. But I want to see them chest bump when Gelman’s shot gets blocked, not when Tommy makes it 9-1 over the Dekes.
Denim Demons
First off, Tracy had two goals last year and I’m very happy for her. But that was tied for the leading scorer amongst women on the team along with Zoe, and if the Demons are going to find success in Division 3, they are going to have to spread out their scoring a little more. Luca, Alex and Will all had more than double digits in goals, but those may dry up a little in Div 3.
I don’t expect the Demons to come in second overall this season, but don’t get me wrong, this team can play. Last year they beat Fuzz and Fresh Kills, the two teams that won in 2024 and 2025. And they almost beat Vertz, who won the Presidents’ Trophy. The improvement in one year was wild. While there will be an obvious point regression because of the division jump, I think they will have a lot of success this season.
Predictions:
I see the Rens winning the division, with Filthier in second, Demons in third, Sky Fighters in fourth and sadly, the Gremmies in fifth. But honestly, two through four is sorta interchangeable.