Arlington Skyhawks

The Arlington Skyhawks are a professional hockey team based out of Arlington, Massachusetts. They are members of League 16 in Tier 2 of the GHL. The team was in formed in December of 2007 as part of League 1343 just before the beginning of the Season 12. The team's home arena is the Sky Center, a new, mid sized, arena with a capacity of less than 16,000.
==Franchise History==
===The Formation of the Skyhawks===
In December 2007 Ian James decided to form a professional Ice Hockey team, and chose Arlington as its home, being right outside the hockey oasis of Boston, Massachusetts. As General Manager, he then set out to find a roster for his newfound team, beginning with head coach Young Baulch. Despite never before tested in that position, James believed that Baulch was the right man to get the team started on the right skate. His leadership and experience, coupled with his skill at training players to their potential, were exactly the skills the new team needed.
The coach hired, a full roster was now necessary and this began with seven year veteran goalie Booker Luckhardt. Luckhardt had previously played four full seasons with Tier 4 team The Wiley Ones with good results. After spending two years in free agency after the Wiley Ones folded, he was signed onto the Skyhawks. Young rookie Cleo Granillo was signed on for the backup position. For the remainder of the team, GM Ian James, and Coach Baulch focused on a balance between veterans who could give the Skyhawks an immediate competitive edge, and rookies who would build the team into a future dynasty. Rising star and team captain, Ksenofont Voronin was among those originally signed to the team. Other notable members of this starting roster included defensemen Evlampiy Arkhipov and Randall Benes, and rookie center Abdul Ianuzzi.
===The Rookie Seasons===
For the first two seasons of their existance, the Skyhawks played in Tier 5. Their roster was composed mainly of young, untested rookies, and older veterans, dropped from other teams. For their first season the Skyhawks performed very well, maintaining the number two place in the league for some time before falling behind the fifth and then climbing back up to third. They were quickly eliminated, however, in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.
In Season 13, the Skyhawks moved forward with a newfound resolve to be the best. Last season's rivals, the Georgia Rebels and the Washington Admirals, all jostled with the Skyhawks for first place. Although the Rebels held the position for most of the season, around midway through they began to fall behind. However, the Admirals came on strong and by the end of the season the Skyhawks only managed to make second place. Throughout the season the Skyhawks were plagued by injuries to their best players and the playoffs were no exception. They went into the finals with four of their top players missing and were unable to win a game. However, they were promoted to the more professional and respected Tier 4.
Season 14 could have been an important year for the Skyhawks, a chance for them to prove themselves at a higher level of competition. However, the team found themselves in a League with only one other team that posed any serious competition. They decided to use the time to train hard and work out the kinks in their strategy. The season proved to be a successful one as expected and the team came in first in the league and won the playoffs.
===Seasons 15 and 16===
In Season 15 the Skyhawks entered Tier 3 and faced the most difficult competition they had seen yet. They struggled each game and barely managed to escape relegation.
==Season-by-season record==
This is a list of the Skyhawks season by season statistics.
Records as of 17 February, 2009.
Season 	League/Tier	GP	W 	L 	OTL	Pts	GF 	GA	W% 	Home 	Away 	Finish 	Playoffs 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Season 12	1343/5 	38	28	7 	3 	59 	125	54	78%	15-4-0	13-3-3	3rd 	1-2-0 (Lost in Quarterfinals)	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Season 13	1343/5 	38	34	3 	1 	69 	170	48	91%	16-2-1	18-1-0	2nd 	4-2-1 (Lost in Finals) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Season 14	758/4 	38	37	0 	1 	75 	300	29	99%	19-0-0	18-0-1	1st 	6-0-1 (League Champions) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Season 15	86/3 	38	20	13	5 	45 	104	93	59%	10-6-3	10-7-2	10th 	(did not make playoffs) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Season 16	86/3 	32	20	10	2 	42 	105	63	66%	9-7-0 	11-3-2	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress 	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress	Season still in Progress
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, W% = Winning Percentage, L10 = Record for last ten games, Home = Record for home games, Away = Record for away games""
==Current Roster==
Goaltenders	Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders	Goaltenders	Goaltenders
# 	 	Player 	Catches 	Acquired 	Place of Birth
79 	 	Booker Luckhardt	L 	Season 12 	Black Oyama, British Columbia
81 	 	Cleo Granillo 	L 	Season 12 	Val-Barrette, Quebec
Defencemen	Defencemen	Defencemen 	Defencemen	Defencemen	Defencemen
# 	 	Player 	Shoots 	Acquired 	Place of Birth
26 	 	Evlampiy Arkhipov - A	R 	Season 12 	Petrozavodsk, Russia
75 	 	Donny Lugones 	L 	Season 12 	Nelson, British Columbia
32 	 	Theo Tiemeyer 	R 	Season 14 	Ajax, Ontario
31 	 	Thed Labatt 	R 	Season 12 	Vauxhall, Alberta
25 	 	Deangelo Strome 	R 	Season 12 	Blainville, Quebec
96 	 	Maklolm Gude 	L 	Season 14 	Lindsberg, Sweden
Forwards	Forwards	Forwards 	Forwards	Forwards	Forwards 	Forwards
# 	 	Player 	Position	Shoots 	Acquired 	Place of Birth
41 	 	Broderick Casamento 	LW 	R 	Season 12	Port Credit, Ontario
45 	 	Prince Sass 	LW 	R 	Season 12	Trenton, Nova Scotia
52 	 	Damian Louviere 	(IR) 	R 	Season 12	Madoc, Ontario
78 	 	Buciac Beckey 	LW 	R 	Season 12	Martin, Slovakia
42 	 	Rufus Nowell 	(IR) 	L 	Season 12	Bethesda, Maryland
55 	 	Jamel Gerdts 	C 	R 	Season 12	Kelvington, Saskatchewan
70 	 	Ksenofont Voronin - C	C 	R 	Season 12	Nazran, Russia
65 	 	Demetrius Mooreland 	(IR) 	L 	Season 12	Asbury Park, New Jersey
16 	 	Abdul Ianuzzi 	C 	L 	Season 12	Knoxville, Tennessee
89 	 	Marco Mcclary 	(IR) 	R 	Season 12	Sidney, British Columbia
40 	 	Peterka Amara 	RW 	R 	Season 12	Zilina, Slovakia
33 	 	Tyson Gottfried 	LW 	L 	Season 13	Trout Lake, Northwest Territory
94 	 	Gordon Moss 	C 	L 	Season 13	Öregrund, Sweden
17 	 	Jefferson Vannorman 	RW 	R 	Season 12	Valdez, Alaska
50 	 	Gustaf Germana 	RW 	L 	Season 12	Stockholm, Sweden
Category:Teams
Category:Tier 2 Teams
Category:American GHL Teams