# 2016 CBR Brave season

The 2016 CBR Brave season was the Brave's 3rd season in the Australian Ice Hockey League since being founded and entering the league in 2014. The season ran from 23 April 2016 to 28 August 2016 for the Brave. CBR finished fourth in the regular season behind the Melbourne Ice, Perth Thunder and Newcastle North Stars. The Brave qualified for the AIHL Finals in Melbourne and played in semi-final one. Canberra defeated the Ice 4–3 in overtime to qualify for the Goodall Cup Final for the first time in franchise history. The Brave were defeated in the final by the North Stars 1–2.

## News

In March 2016, Josh Unice was named as Brave head coach for the 2016 AIHL season. The inexperienced former goaltender was joined by experienced assistant coach Dave Rogina and strength and conditioning trainer Stuart Philps.
In April 2016, The Brave announced their playing roster for the season. The bulk of the roster returned from 2015 but the team confirmed six imported players from overseas including the inter-league transfer of AIHL MVP Geordie Wudrick from the Newcastle North Stars. The Brave also announced two new partnerships in the month of April. Firstly, a new marketing and supporter partnership with Canberra's national baseball team, the Canberra Cavalry. And secondly, a promotional partnership with Australian Defence Force hockey team the Navy Tigersharks with the goal to help promote the sport in the ADF.
Six matches into the 2016 season, import Canadian defenceman, Art Bidlevskii, was hospitalised after a freak accident in an ugly AIHL match in Newcastle between rivals the North Stars and Brave. Art's voice box was shattered, he lost his voice for a period of time, he was almost placed in a coma and he was told he could die if he played ice hockey again. The accident ended the twenty five year old's playing career. Art took up a role as assistant coach with the team following his release from hospital.
In August, one week before the end of the regular season, the CBR Brave management announced the sudden departure of Josh Unice from the team for personal reasons. Art Bidlevskii was named as replacement head coach on an interim basis for the final match of the regular season and the finals series. The CBR Brave finished the season in fourth place after a surprise 6–4 loss to last placed Sydney Ice Dogs in Liverpool, Sydney. The team qualified for the finals weekend in Melbourne where they would face league premiers, the Melbourne Ice in the first semi-final match.
In September, post-finals, CBR Brave players took out a hat-trick of AIHL player awards for the 2016 season. Czech import, Jan Safar, was named AIHL Defenceman of the season for the second straight year while Casey Kubara was awarded both the Local Player of the year as well as Rookie of the year awards.

## Roster

Team roster for the 2016 AIHL season
2016 AIHL CBR Brave Roster :
| # | Name | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 4 | Art Bidlevskii | D | R | 25 | 2016 | Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada |
| 73 | Stephen Blunden | LW | L | 27 | 2014 | Gloucester, Ontario, Canada |
| 10 | Zachary Boyle | D | L | 20 | 2016 | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| 8 | Nicola Brandi | LW | R | 22 | 2016 | Wetzikon, Hinwil, Switzerland |
| 21 | Jordan Brunt | F | L | 16 | 2015 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 22 | Harrison Byers | C | R | 23 | 2014 | Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| 17 | James Byers | D | R | 22 | 2014 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 23 | Timothy Cox | D | R | 28–29 | 2016 | Australia |
| 38 | Nickolas Eckhardt | G | L | 26 | 2014 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 19 | Jordan Gavin (C) | F | R | 33–34 | 2014 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 14 | Matt Gilpin | F | R | 20 | 2016 | Queensland, Australia |
| 2 | Mathieu Guertin | LW | L | 24 | 2016 | Repentigny, Quebec, Canada |
| 86 | Matthew Harvey | D | R | 30 | 2014 | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| 18 | Mitchell Henning | F | R | 18 | 2016 | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| 3 | Ryan Johnson (A) | F | R | 41–42 | 2014 | Amesbury, Massachusetts, United States |
| 15 | Casey Kubara | RW | R | 20 | 2016 | Wombarra, New South Wales, Australia |
| 16 | Tyler Kubara | F | R | 21 | 2015 | Wombarra, New South Wales, Australia |
| 77 | Tom Letki | F | R | 27 | 2014 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 28 | Matti Louma | RW | R | 36 | 2016 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 64 | Kai Miettinen (A) | F | L | 20 | 2014 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 27 | Luke Moore | D | R | 20 | 2016 | Belfast, United Kingdom |
| 13 | Luke Philps | F | R | 33 | 2016 | Australia |
| 9 | Neal Prokop | C | L | 26 | 2016 | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| 12 | Mark Rummukainen | D | R | 34 | 2014 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 24 | Jan Safar | D | R | 29 | 2016 | Praha, Czech Republic |
| 20 | Alexandre Tetreault | G | L | 18 | 2015 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| 5 | Aleksi Toivonen | G | L | 20 | 2015 | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| 88 | Geordie Wudrick | LW | L | 26 | 2016 | Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada |

## Transfers

All the player transfers in and out by the CBR Brave for the 2016 AIHL season.

### In

| Pos | Player | Transferred From | Local / Import |
| D | Art Bidlevskii | Kallinge-Ronneby IF | Import |
| D | Zachary Boyle | Adelaide Adrenaline | Local |
| W | Nicola Brandi | SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers | Import |
| D | Timothy Cox | No team | Local |
| F | Matt Gilpin | No team | Local |
| W | Mathieu Guertin | Trois-Rivières Blizzard | Import |
| F | Mitchell Henning | No team | Local |
| W | Casey Kubara | Atlanta Jr. Knights | Local |
| W | Matti Luoma | No team | Local |
| D | Luke Moore | No team] | Local |
| F | Luke Philps | No team | Local |
| C | Neal Prokop | No team | Import |
| D | Jan Safar | Newcastle North Stars | Import |
| W | Geordie Wudrick | Newcastle North Stars | Import |

### Out

| Pos | Player | Transferred To | Local / Import |
| D | Aaron Clayworth | No team | Local |
| D/F | David Dunwoodie | Sydney Ice Dogs | Local |
| W | Kelly Geoffrey | Aigles de La Roche sur Yon | Import |
| D/F | Mike Giorgi | No team | Import |
| F | David Lewis | No team | Local |
| F | Jayden Lewis | No team | Local |
| D | Tomas Manco | Sydney Ice Dogs | Local |
| D | Kyle Mariani | Bouquetins de Val Vanoise | Import |
| D | Ben Pagett | No team | Local |
| C | Jordan Peddle | Terrace River Kings | Import |
| C | Scott Pitt | Braehead Clan | Import |
| F | Alain Riesen | No team | Local |
| D/F | Peter Taylor | No team | Local |
| G | Josh Unice | CBR Brave (head coach) | Import |
| G | Stuart Woodall | No team | Local |

## Staff

Staff Roster for 2016 AIHL season

## Standings
### Regular season

Summary
| Season | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Season | P | W | L | OW | OL | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Finish | P | W | L | OW | OL | GF | GA | GD | P | W | L | OW | OL | GF | GA | GD |
| 2016 | 28 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 129 | 117 | +12 | 51 | 4th | 14 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 56 | +14 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 59 | 61 | -2 |
Position by round
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| Position | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
League table
| Team | GP | W | SOW | SOL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
| Melbourne Ice | 28 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 127 | 71 | +56 | 66 |
| Perth Thunder | 28 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 96 | 73 | +23 | 57 |
| Newcastle North Stars | 28 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 105 | 74 | +31 | 52 |
| CBR Brave | 28 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 129 | 117 | +12 | 51 |
| Melbourne Mustangs | 28 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 89 | 102 | −13 | 37 |
| Sydney Bears | 28 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 77 | 95 | −18 | 28 |
| Sydney Ice Dogs | 28 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 92 | 139 | −47 | 24 |
| Adelaide Adrenaline | 28 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 83 | 127 | −44 | 21 |
| Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffs | H Newman Reid Trophy winners |
Source

### Finals

Summary
| Season | Finals weekend | Finals weekend | Finals weekend | Finals weekend | Finals weekend | Finals weekend | Finals weekend | Finals weekend |
| Season | P | W | L | GF | GA | Result | Semi-final | Goodall Cup final |
| 2016 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | Runners-up | Won 4-3 (OT) (Ice) | Lost 1-2 (North Stars) |
Bracket
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Melbourne Ice | 3 | | | |
| 4 | CBR Brave | 4* | | | |
| 4 | CBR Brave | 4* | CBR Brave | CBR Brave | 1 |
| | | | Newcastle North Stars | Newcastle North Stars | 2 |
| 3 | Newcastle North Stars | 3* | Newcastle North Stars | Newcastle North Stars | 2 |
| 2 | Perth Thunder | 2 | | | |
* denotes number of overtime periods

## Schedule & results
### Regular season

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Arena | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | A |
| Result | W | W | W | L | L | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | L |
2016 fixtures and results :
| Date | Time | Away | Score | Home | Location |
| 23 April | 17:00 | Sydney Ice Dogs | 2–5 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 24 April | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 6–3 | Sydney Bears | Penrith Ice Palace |
| 30 April | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 4–2 | Melbourne Mustangs | O'Brien Group Arena |
| 1 May | 16:00 | CBR Brave | 1–7 | Melbourne Mustangs | O'Brien Group Arena |
| 7 May | 17:00 | Sydney Bears | 3 – 2 (SO) | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 8 May | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 4 – 3 (SO) | Newcastle North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium |
| 14 May | 17:30 | Perth Thunder | 6–2 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 15 May | 17:00 | Perth Thunder | 7–6 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 22 May | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 2–7 | Newcastle North Stars | Hunter Ice Skating Stadium |
| 28 May | 17:30 | Newcastle North Stars | 3–5 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 29 May | 17:00 | Sydney Bears | 4–6 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 4 June | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 5–7 | Melbourne Ice | O'Brien Group Arena |
| 5 June | 16:00 | CBR Brave | 3–6 | Melbourne Ice | O'Brien Group Arena |
| 18 June | 17:30 | Melbourne Mustangs | 2–5 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 19 June | 17:00 | Melbourne Mustangs | 1–4 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 2 July | 17:30 | Newcastle North Stars | 3–1 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 3 July | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 6–1 | Sydney Ice Dogs | Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink |
| 9 July | 16:30 | CBR Brave | 3 – 4 (SO) | Perth Thunder | Perth Ice Arena |
| 10 July | 16:30 | CBR Brave | 4–2 | Perth Thunder | Perth Ice Arena |
| 16 July | 17:30 | Sydney Ice Dogs | 5–6 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 23 July | 17:30 | Adelaide Adrenaline | 2–7 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 24 July | 17:00 | Adelaide Adrenaline | 5–8 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 31 July | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 6–4 | Sydney Bears | Penrith Ice Palace |
| 6 August | 17:30 | Melbourne Ice | 10–9 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 7 August | 17:00 | Melbourne Ice | 3–4 | CBR Brave | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| 13 August | 16:30 | CBR Brave | 5 – 4 (SO) | Adelaide Adrenaline | Adelaide Ice Arena |
| 14 August | 16:00 | CBR Brave | 6–5 | Adelaide Adrenaline | Adelaide Ice Arena |
| 20 August | 17:00 | CBR Brave | 4–6 | Sydney Ice Dogs | Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink |

### Finals

Goodall Cup semi-final All times are UTC+10:00
Goodall Cup final

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | Pos | M | G | A | P | PIM |
| Artem Bidlevskii | D | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Stephen Blunden | F | 14 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 99 |
| Zach Boyle | D | 27 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Nicola Brandi | F | 10 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 14 |
| Jordon Brunt | F | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harrison Byers | F | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 108 |
| James Byers | D | 28 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Timothy Cox | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordie Gavin | F | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| Matthew Gilpin | F | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mathieu Guertin | F | 20 | 18 | 31 | 49 | 86 |
| Matthew Harvey | D | 15 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| Mitchell Henning | F | 26 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Ryan Johnson | F | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 70 |
| Casey Kubara | F | 27 | 16 | 33 | 49 | 24 |
| Tyler Kubara | F | 22 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 14 |
| Thomas Letki | F | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matti Luoma | F | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| Kai Miettinen | F | 28 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 32 |
| Luke Moore | D | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luke Philps | F | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neal Prokop | F | 20 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 8 |
| Mark Rummukainen | D | 25 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 18 |
| Jan Safar | D | 17 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 61 |
| Geordie Wudrick | F | 20 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 34 |
Finals :
| Player | Pos | M | G | A | P | PIM |
| Artem Bidlevskii | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen Blunden | F | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Zach Boyle | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicola Brandi | F | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jordon Brunt | F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harrison Byers | F | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Byers | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Timothy Cox | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordie Gavin | F | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Matthew Gilpin | F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mathieu Guertin | F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matthew Harvey | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mitchell Henning | F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Johnson | F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Casey Kubara | F | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tyler Kubara | F | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Thomas Letki | F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matti Luoma | F | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kai Miettinen | F | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Luke Moore | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luke Philps | F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neal Prokop | F | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mark Rummukainen | D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jan Safar | D | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Geordie Wudrick | F | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | Pos | M | SO | MP | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | G | A | PIM |
| Nickolas Eckhardt | G | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Alex Tetreault | G | 9 | 0 | 280 | 22 | 4.72 | 178 | 156 | 0.876 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Aleksi Toivonen | G | 24 | 0 | 1111 | 93 | 5.02 | 754 | 661 | 0.877 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Finals :
| Player | Pos | M | SO | MP | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | G | A | PIM |
| Nickolas Eckhardt | G | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Alex Tetreault | G | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aleksi Toivonen | G | 2 | 0 | 108 | 5 | 2.79 | 66 | 61 | 0.924 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards

2016 Brave awards :
| Team awards for 2016 season 2016 Brave awards AwardRecipient Bravest of the Brave Jan Safar Mathieu Guertin Best Forward Mathieu Guertin Best Defenceman Jan Safar Fans Choice James Byers Player's Choice Kai Miettinen Coach's Award*Not awarded Emerging Brave Casey Kubara John Lewis Memorial Award Andrew Deans Judy Deans | AIHL awards for 2016 season 2016 AIHL awards AwardRecipient Rookie of the Year Casey Kubara Local Player of the Year Casey Kubara Defenseman of the Year Jan Safar |