Sunnyvale Sloops: Year in Review

The Sunnyvale Sloops were founded on a brisk April day in 2014. As Spring was arriving with the promise of better and sunnier days ahead, so to was the promise of a winning season of Sloop hockey.

On the day of the inaugural BHL (then known as the SHL [R.I.P.]), owner/general manager Ricky Fabiszewski made waves with his decisive drafting strategy. He first made forward Matt Roncone the second-highest paid player in BHL history, then proceeded to draft a team loaded with experience (the three oldest players in the league were Sloops) and a myriad of options at goaltender. He also drafted two players (Tony Lattuca and Eric Roncone) who failed to suit up even once for the Sloops, as well as one player (Ryan Parker) who only played very sparingly.

With their work cut out for them, the Sloops started the season quite shakily, and after one week, the owner decided to name Parker his assistant GM. This move would pay dividends a couple weeks later when the Sloops initiated the first BHL blockbuster trade, which sent co-captain Drew Pijacki to the Boomtown Rats for the rights to C.J. Massett, while simultaneously exposing the flawed salary cap system of the now-defunct SHL.

The Sloops would be on the trade wire once again a few weeks later, when they packaged Greg Roncone and Lattuca together and shipped them to the Goon Squad in return for Brandon Reynolds. The move is today considered the biggest heist in modern BHL history as the Goons would later waive Lattuca, and it would carry the Sloops to an improved second half of the season. Making spot-appearances for the Sloops was journeyman Miles Meiler, who potted a short-handed goal and added great chemistry whenever he suited up.

When the playoffs rolled around, Sunnyvale was a well-oiled machine running on all cylinders. Based on the math done by Scott Parker, the Sloops entered Championship Saturday with only a 37 percent chance of winning, but those numbers did not factor in the heart, cohesion and camaraderie possessed by the Sunnyvale team.

The Sloops grinded through their first round playoff match-up with the Rats, and the stage was set for the Finals showdown (best of seven) against the Goons. The Goon Squad, playing shorthanded without top line forward Josh Galante and later further depleted when Parker went down with a toe injury, were still too much for the by-then exhausted Sloops. They fell in five games and settled for a second place finish. Matt Roncone and Fabiszewski finished the playoffs leading the league in goals and assists, respectively.

The Sloops ended the season having scored the most powerplay goals and finished dead last in almost every other statistical category. They would like to be remembered for their heart, humor, the midseason coup d'etat that saw Fabiszewski overthrown (even though his moves eventually led to his team getting to the finals), and especially for breaking the BHL color barrier when they drafted Pijacki, the first African American player in league history.

Sunnyvale Forever.