Berocka Sundqvist

[Berocka 2,263]

Last week there was an announcement that this will be Berocka Sundqvist’s final season. It is now time to look back at what made this Australian truly one of the best in the VHL and undoubtedly the most successful Australian to ever grace the league.

 

Firstly, let us see where his journey began. Just after the S66 dispersal VHLM draft Sundqvist made his presence known to VHLM GMs that he wished to play and was shortly picked up on waivers. His first VHLM club and where he would complete the first season of his career. He had a mediocre season nothing spectacular but for a rookie it was also nothing to that was really expected. He showed the clubs what he was about scoring 25-38-63 in his first 72 games finishing with a +/- 34 and managing 5 game winners. The young left winger from Australia certainly showed some promise and it was believed he would make a good 2^nd or 3^rd liner for a VHL team. Unfortunately, the Mississauga Hounds got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs and he was shortly released from the team. It was then Sundqvist elected for the draft both the VHLM and VHL draft. His draft class was one of the deepest drafts the VHL had ever seen so he did not expect to be drafted very high.

 

So draft time came and in the VHLM Sundqvist was drafted first overall to the Minnesota Storm, it was truly a great honour to Sundqvist to be picked as the first pick and it drove his desire to be the best player he could be. When it came to the VHL draft Sundqvist decided not to go as he thought he would be drafted in the third round, however whilst watching on the television he got a shock. “The Seattle Bears select Berocka Sundqvist with the 17^th pick of the S67 VHL Draft.” Not only was he picked way above where his agent predicted but he would be joining the likes of Rayz Funk, Scott Greene & Hulk Hogan. These are the players that he played with all through S66 with the Hounds. So even though there were some goodbyes they were more like see you soon.

 

S67 rolled around and Berocka tried living up to expectations as the first overall pick, he didn’t perform the best in the league, but he also didn’t let the team down. This time he managed the elusive 100 points in a season scoring 51-49-100. The left winger looked quite promising preparing to move to the big leagues. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Storm couldn’t pull of the cup win losing in the cup final but that wouldn’t be a worry for Sundqvist as his winning days were about to start. During this season Berocka competed in the World Junior Championship for team World and helped team world bring home the Gold medal. Also, before moving up to the VHL competed in the Commissioner’s cup with team d_a and won the cup.

 

Berocka then left the VHLM as he was called up to the Seattle Bears that off season, it was said that the move from the Storm to Seattle was not as bad as the move from Mississauga to Minnesota.

 

Thus, Berocka’s tenure in Seattle had begun, his first season he did alright nothing to win rookie of the year but not enough to get dropped he put up 23-34-57 and helped Seattle get to the playoffs where they would win the first Continental cup as a team. In the playoffs Sundqvist only managed 3 assists.

 

The next season was a dark one for Sundqvist he was expected to produce big numbers now being in his second year. Though the cup hangover hit him hard, he played shocking and would consistently ride the bench a lot of games he would play less than 2 minutes. The coach kept him on the bench as he did nothing on the ice. That season was a hard one for Sundqvist and he was ready to give it all away. General Manager Blake Campbell approached Sundqvist and they had a conversation halfway through the season. Essentially Campbell said that he wasn’t living up to expectations and he was put on the block as maybe a change of scenery would do him well, but no other team wanted him as he was not performing well enough for his contract. The cap hit was not one other GMs wanted to risk for a player doing so poorly. He suggested that due to the immense defensive training he was doing as there was a player away on the blue line that maybe he could fill in a defensive roll. This is when Sundqvist made the switch to defence and his VHL Career changed forever. Even though Berocka didn’t contribute much that season the Bears were still strong enough to go back to back with cups. The team had never been closer.

 

During the offseason Berocka trained more than anyone as he wanted to prove himself as a defenseman, he put up his best VHL stats with 16-44-60 points and 102 shot blocks and 202 hits. He was nominated for the most improved award but was unable to win it. The Bears tried this season to get the threepeat but was knocked out in the 2^nd round in a game seven. Though during the season Berocka played for Team World in the World cup and managed to bring home the gold medal.

 

Season 71 saw another continental cup win for the Bears and Berocka, this has led to the discussion that the Bears and the S67 core of the Bears be considered one of the greatest dynasties of the VHL.

 

Season 72 would be a good season for Berocka but unfortunately not as good for the Bears. Finishing the season with a total of 22-70-92 was incredible fort the Australian, he was aiming for 100 points, but the 70 assists was enough to win him the Alexander Beketov trophy for most assists in the league. He also helped take Team Mercenaries to the win the Gold Medal in the World Cup, which he was a bit annoyed he didn’t get picked for team World but was happy to get the gold medal. But for the Bears they saw a first-round exit in the hunt for a 4^th Continental cup.

 

Now we move on to the most recent season S73. The Bears would take home their 4^th Continental Cup, the still existing core of the Bears of Scott Greene, Hulk Hogan, Ambrose Stark & Rayz Funk have now done something incredible they are the only players to win 4 cups in a career whilst playing for just one team. This shows the amazing talent of the Seattle Bears, it will be interesting to see who of these 5 great players manages to get into the HoF, or if the Bears decide to retire any of their numbers.

 

So that highlights the career of Berocka Sundqvist so far winning 4 continental cups, 2 gold medals at the World championship, one gold medal at the world junior championship, a Beketov trophy and the commissioners cup. Is Sundqvist actually a good player or did he just get lucky. That seems to be the question that everyone has at the moment.

 

Special thanks to @GustavMattias @Rayzor_7 @Banackock @DoktorFunk @TXC @Acydburn @FrostBeard @HenrikZoiderberg and many others for being a big part of Sundqvists journey!

 

 

 

 

 

[Banackock 8,188]

[Berocka 2,263]

Week 2 of 2