Brampton Battalion The Brampton Battalion was a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League . The team was based in Brampton , Ontario and started playing in 1998 . As a result of consistently having among the lowest attendance in the OHL ( last place in the OHL for its final 4 seasons ) , the team was relocated to North Bay , Ontario for the 2013 – 14 OHL season . History . The Brampton Battalion was granted an expansion franchise on December 3 , 1996 . Major Junior A hockey returned to Brampton for the first time since 1963 , when the Brampton 7Ups played in the Metro Junior A League before returning to the Junior B level . Brampton was part of the return of major junior hockey to the Greater Toronto Area in the late 1990s that included the Mississauga IceDogs and the revived Toronto St . Michael ' s Majors . In 2005 , team owner Scott Abbott was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame for his work in building the franchise . The Battalion name was chosen from community suggestions , and was also adopted by the competitive minor hockey program . the Battalion were covered by local television Rogers Community Cable 10 and the local newspaper , " The Brampton Guardian " . The Battalion ' s secondary school educational programs were co - ordinated through Turner Fenton Secondary School . Early days in the West . The Battalion began play for the 1998 – 99 OHL season in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference . The Battalion played their first game on September 24 , 1998 losing to the host Peterborough Petes by a 5 - 1 score . Jason Maleyko scored the first goal in club history . The Battalion played their first game at the Powerade Centre on October 9 , 1998 losing to the Kitchener Rangers by a score of 5 - 1 . The first win in club history would come on October 18 when the troops beat the visiting Sudbury Wolves 5 - 4 . The first season on the ice didn ' t go so well however as the Battalion finished the season with only 8 wins , 57 losses , and 3 ties for last in the Western Conference and 19th in the league ahead of only the Mississauga Ice Dogs . The 1999 – 2000 season was much better for the Battalion as they finished with a 25 - 29 - 14 record , good enough for a 3rd place finish in the Midwest Division and 7th in the Western Conference which gave them their first ever trip to the post season . The Battalion won their first ever playoff game vs . the Erie Otters with a 5 - 2 score . However , the 2nd place Otters proved to be too strong and Erie took the series in 6 games . The 2000 – 01 season proved to be the first season in club history that the team would score a record above the . 500 mark with a final tally of 33 - 22 - 13 for a 3rd place finish in the Midwest Division and 5th in the Western Conference . The Battalion would take on the 4th place Guelph Storm in the first round of the playoffs and came out on top by sweeping the Storm in 4 games for the first playoff series win in club history . In round 2 for the second straight year the Troops took on the 1st place Erie Otters . After the Troops took game 1 the Otters would win four in a row and win the series in five games . The Battalion fell back to below the . 500 mark in the 2001 – 02 season posting a 26 - 35 - 7 record for last in the Division and Conference as the team missed the playoffs for the 2nd time in 4 years . Move to the Eastern Conference . During the 2002 off season the North Bay Centennials were bought and moved to Saginaw , Michigan to become the Spirit and thus leaving the East and West unbalanced so the Battalion were moved to the Eastern Conference and given North Bay ’ s former spot in the Central Division . Once again the Battalion surged above the . 500 mark finishing with a 34 - 24 - 10 record good enough to win their first Division Championship in franchise history beating the Toronto St . Michaels Majors by only 2 points . During the 2003 playoffs the Battalion started what would eventually become a rivalry with the Barrie Colts defeating the Colts in the first round in six games . The second round would see the top two in the Division as the Battalion faced Toronto . Brampton started off the series well beating Toronto in game 1 by a 7 - 0 score . However Toronto eventually proved to much for Brampton as the Majors would win four straight and take the series in only 5 games . The Battalion did not fare well during the 2003 – 04 regular season , as their record fell to 25 - 32 - 11 . However , the record was good enough for 7th in the east and a first round matchup with a heavily favored Ottawa 67 ’ s team who had won the East Division . With their backs against the wall , the Battalion shocked many as they took the 67 ’ s to seven games , winning game 7 and the series in Ottawa and advancing to the 2nd round . For the second straight year , in round 2 , the Battalion would have to face the Eastern Conference Champions , the Toronto St . Michael ' s Majors . This time the Majors jumped out to a 3 - 0 series lead . Brampton was able to win 1 game , to force a 5th , but that was as far as they would get as the Majors won the series . During the 2004 – 05 season the Battalion stood tall as they became part of a huge race involving several teams to not only win the Central Division title , but the Eastern Conference Championship as well . Despite posting a 33 - 24 - 11 record , Brampton would lose the race to the Mississauga Ice Dogs and finish 3rd in the central , and 4th in the conference , setting up a first round match up with the Sudbury Wolves . The series with the Wolves was an intense one . The Wolves took the first two games , including one in overtime . However , Brampton clawed their way back , but by game 6 in Sudbury , the Battalion were on the brink of elimination . The game went to double overtime with the Wolves scoring a power play goal to end Brampton ’ s season . Curse vs . the Colts . The 2005 – 06 season would become the best season in club history ; however , the season didn ’ t start off that way . After a somewhat mediocre start the club by mid February had climbed to a record of 30 - 21 - 1 - 2 . With 14 games remaining on the schedule the Battalion would have to win every single game to even have a shot at the Division Championship , so that ’ s exactly what they did . The Battalion would win the last 14 games of the regular season to establish a franchise record for straight wins ( a record that eventually fell during the 2008 – 09 season ) to finish the season with a record of 44 - 21 - 1 - 2 and winning the Central Division Championship by only 1 single point over the Barrie Colts . In the first round of the playoffs the Battalion knocked off the Belleville Bulls in six games before having to face the Barrie Colts in round 2 . Before the series started everybody expected it to be a long and great series . In the first 2 games the teams traded 4 - 1 wins before the flood gates opened and the Colts took control of the series . In game 3 the Colts took a dominating 6 - 1 win before destroying Brampton in game 4 11 - 2 . Game 5 was much closer but the Colts still took the game 3 - 2 and the series in only five games and thus beginning the Battalion ’ s Curse of the Colts . With several key players like future NHLer Wojtek Wolski , Luch Aquino , and Daren Machesney gone the team slumped in the 2006 – 07 season barely making the playoffs with a 27 - 36 - 1 - 4 record , only good enough for the last playoff spot ( 8th ) in the East . During the 1st round they would have to go up against the # 1 Barrie Colts who still had most of their players from the previous season ’ s series . Brampton was able to keep most games close but Barrie kept coming out on top . In game 4 on home ice the Battalion on the brink of elimination had a 4 - 1 lead mid way through the third period and appeared to be on their way to a win before the Colts scored 3 goals in less than 7 minutes to force overtime . In OT it took the Colts only 5 minutes to score and thus end the series in 4 straight games . The 2007 – 08 season saw the team celebrate their 10th season of OHL hockey and the fans saw a great team on the ice as things went much better for the Battalion , with sophomore centre Cody Hodgson , rookie forward Matt Duchene , and veteran winger John Hughes , the team posted several wins finishing with a 42 - 22 - 1 - 3 record , just shy of the club record of 91 points set in 05 – 06 . During the season the Battalion had their first 10 goal game in club history as on September 23 the host Battalion beat up on the Sudbury Wolves 10 - 2 . For the 3rd time in 6 years the team took home the Central Division Championship . In the first round the Battalion once again were set to face the Barrie Colts , who this season had lost many of their key players and had only finished 7th in the east . With Brampton heavily favored to win the series the Colts shocked as Barrie won the first two games by 2 - 1 and 3 - 2 ( OT ) scores . The Battalion were able to come back and win game 3 by a score of 5 - 1 however the Colts would continue to stand behind the absolutely amazing goaltending of Michael Hutchinson in game 4 winning 2 - 1 in overtime . With Brampton on the brink of elimination on home ice in game 5 Hutchinson stood tall again as the Colts won the game 2 - 0 and upset the Battalion in only five games . For the 3rd straight year Brampton had been eliminated by the Barrie Colts . In 10 full seasons of OHL hockey the Battalion have a regular season record of 297 - 301 - 52 - 21 - 9 ( W - L - T - OTL - SL ) in 680 games . 2008 – 09 : Run to the finals . After 3 straight years of being knocked out of the playoffs by the Colts the Battalion built up a roster to make a deep run in 2008 / 2009 . Brampton got off to a slow 2 - 6 start but with the return of Cody Hodgson and the addition of Evgeny Grachev the Troops went on a run of 16 straight wins setting a new franchise record for straight wins . The streak was the longest that any team achieved during the 08 / 09 regular season . Brampton also set a record of 12 straight home wins from October to December ( another franchise record ) . During December Battalion forwards Cody Hodgson and Evgeny Grachev represented their respective countries ( Canada and Russia ) at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa . Grachev helped team Russia to a Bronze medal while Hodgson set a tournament high 16 points to lead Canada to its 5th straight Gold Medal . After the tournament Brampton added more to their roster acquiring all star goaltender Thomas McCollum ( who had also played for his home country of U . S . A . at the World Juniors ) , defenceman Josh Day , and forwards , Anthony Peluso , Matt Kang and Andrew Merrett . Brampton would enjoyed another long 12 - game winning streak in January and February . At the end of the regular season Brampton would finish with a franchise best record of 47 - 19 - 1 - 1 to win the central division for the third time in four years . In the first round of the playoffs the Battalion would sweep the Peterborough Petes four straight . The second round saw the only time in franchise history the Battalion would face their Peel Region rivals in Mississauga . The Troops won the first two games before the Majors won the next two to tie the series . The Battalion however came back with another two wins , taking game six in Mississauga by a 3 - 2 score to advance to the conference finals for the first time in team history . In the Eastern final the Battalion would win game one on the road in Belleville before hammering the Bulls in game two by a 7 - 2 score . Belleville would win game three on home ice before Brampton took a 4 - 3 come from behind win at the Bunker in game four . Game five in Belleville became the longest game in Battalion history as with a birth to the finals on the line the Troops took the Bulls to double overtime tied 2 - 2 before Nick Palmieri would score at 18 : 44 of the second overtime to send the series back to Brampton for game six . The Troops took a 2 - 0 lead early in the sixth game before the Bulls stormed ahead 3 - 2 in the second period . The Troops then exploded in the third with five goals to win the game 7 - 4 to win their first ever conference championship . In the OHL Finals Brampton would go up against the regular season champion Windsor Spitfires . Windsor pounded Brampton in game one by a score of 10 - 1 . Windsor then took a 4 - 1 lead early in game two before holding on for a 5 - 3 win . The Battalion would finally win in game three on the road beating the Spits by a 4 - 2 score . However Windsor answered with another victory in Brampton this time 4 - 1 . With the series on the line in game 5 on the road the Battalion were down 1 - 0 for most of the game before scoring with three minutes left in the third period to send the game to overtime . However the Spits would get an early powerplay and a goal by Taylor Hall ended the Battalion ' s season and give the Windsor Spitfires their first OHL Championship in 21 years . They would go on to win the Memorial Cup in Rimouski . After it was all over Battalion import Evgeny Grachev was named OHL rookie of the year . Matt Duchene collected Scholastic Player of the Year honors , while Cody Hodgson named the OHL ’ s most Sportsmanlike player and Most Outstanding Player . Hodgson then collected CHL Player Of The Year honors , the first Battalion player to ever receive the award . Finally in June Matt Duchene was chosen 3rd overall in the NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche . 2009 - 2013 : The final years In Brampton . After the teams run to the OHL finals in 2008 - 09 the Battalion fell to mid pack in 2009 - 10 . Most of the offense from the previous season was gone as Sean Jones led the team in scoring with 32 goals and 49 points . Cody Hodgson missed most of the season with a back injury . He returned to play 13 games near the end of the regular season but would miss the final 5 games with a foot injury before returning for the playoffs . The Battalion would finish the season with 25 wins and 64 points , good enough for 5th place in the Eastern Conference . The team set a franchise low in goals against with only 181 , but also set the franchise low for goals for with just 167 . Brampton would face the Kingston Frontenacs in the first round of the playoffs . Brampton would take the first two games before Kingston would take the next two . Brampton would win game 5 in overtime in Kingston but the Fronts would force a game 7 following a victory in Brampton . The Battalion playing in just the second game 7 in franchise history would jump out to a 4 - 0 lead before holding on for a 5 - 2 victory in Kingston to advance . The Battalion would face the OHL ’ s leading Barrie Colts in the second round . The Colts would sweep the Battalion in four straight as the Troops fell to Barrie in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years . The Battalion would go through the 2010 - 11 season with a very young group of defenceman and goaltenders . Following a lengthy losing streak in November GM Stan Butler traded goaltender Jacob Riley to Sudbury while releasing import goaltender Dennis Saikkonen . Butler then signed OA goaltender Cody St . Jacques and traded veteran defenceman Kyle Pereira and a draft pick to Guelph for rookie import goaltender Matej Machovsky . With much more steady goaltending the Battalion managed a near . 500 record for the rest of the season finishing with 29 wins and 65 points to finish 6th in the Eastern Conference . However the Troops would fall four straight in the first round of the playoffs to the Niagara Ice Dogs . Battalion captain Stephon Thorne would score two of just three goals scored by the Battalion in the four game series . OA Forward Scott Tanski led the team with 47 points in the regular season . Fourth year forward Sam Carrick would be named captain of the Battalion for the 2011 - 12 season which was a much improved season for the Troops . Led by a 37 goal season from Carrick as well as 5 shutouts from Matej Machovsky the Battalion posted 36 wins for 82 points , the fourth highest points total in team history . The Troops began the playoffs against Sudbury . Powered by hat tricks from Matt MacLeod and Philip Lane the Troops took the first two games on home ice before a dominating 6 - 1 win in game three . The Troops would complete the sweep with defenceman Cameron Wind ’ s goal in double overtime of game 4 . Brampton would face the number one seeded Niagara Ice Dogs in the second round . The Troops would lose game one in overtime on the road and from there they couldn ’ t recover as they would lose four straight . The Troops began the 2012 - 13 season naming Barclay Goodrow the 13th captain in team history . The Troops played at a slightly above . 500 level for most of the season . Early in the season it was announced that the team would be relocating to North Bay , Ontario for the 2013 - 14 season . On January 11 , 2013 defenceman Cameron Wind passed Luke Lynes for most games played in a Battalion uniform as Wind eventually finished the season with 291 career games played . On March 12 , 2013 in the final week of the regular season goaltender Matej Machovsky set the franchise record for most shutouts in a career with his 9th in a 3 - 0 win over the host Ottawa 67 ' s . Captain Barclay Goodrow led the team in scoring with 38 goals and 52 points while rookie Blake Clarke scored 19 goals and 51 points . The Battalion finished the season with a record of 34 - 25 - 3 - 6 finishing second in the Central Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference setting up a rematch of the first round from 2012 with the Sudbury Wolves . Brampton would win game one on home ice by a 4 - 1 score . Sudbury took game two jumping out to an early 3 - 0 lead before holding on 5 - 4 . An outbust directed towards game referee ' s by Battalion coach Stan Butler had him tossed from the game and he was handed a five game suspension it would be his final time behind the Brampton bench as the Troops could not recover losing four straight . The Troops were eliminated in a 1 - 0 overtime loss on home ice in game 5 on March 29 , 2013 . Matt MacLeod scored what turned out to be the final goal in team history during the game four 5 - 4OT loss the night before . Re - location . During the summer of 2012 rumours of the Battalion franchise relocating began to swirl as the their lease agreement with the Powerade Centre was nearing an end . An attendance that was never healthy on a regular basis to begin with was declining in Brampton . Combined with an unfavorable lease in Brampton , owner Scott Abbott had no choice but to look for other options as the 2012 - 13 season got under way . On Monday , November 5 , 2012 following a meeting with city counsel in North Bay , Ontario an agreement in principal to move the Battalion to North Bay for the 2013 - 14 season was agreed upon . Just nine days later fans in North Bay had already bought 2 , 000 season tickets as per the conditions of the agreement . The Battalion would play out of the North Bay Memorial Gardens which will start seeing renovations on and off the ice begin in early 2013 . Franchise owner Scott Abbott indicated that the team will still be named Battalion in North Bay , mentioning the strong military history the city has . Championships . During their time in Brampton the Battalion won four division titles and one conference title . Emms Trophy Central Division Champions Bobby Orr Trophy Eastern Conference Champions Coaches . Stan Butler was the only head coach and general manager in club history . He was appointed to the position in August 1997 . He is currently the longest serving coach with the same franchise . Butler previously coached the Oshawa Generals , Prince George Cougars , and the Canada ' s National Under 18 team . Stan Butler became only the 4th coach in OHL history to coach 1000 games on February 10 , 2011 as his Battalion defeated the only other OHL team Butler has coached ( the Oshawa Generals ) by a 3 - 1 score . On February 26 , 2012 Butler became only the 7th coach in OHL history to win 500 games after the Battalion defeated the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds by a score of 3 - 1 . Butler won 430 of the 500 with Brampton . Team records . Career records . As of March 16 , 2013 Note : Pts = Points ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; PIM = Penalty Minutes ; GP = Games Played . Season - by - season results . Regular season . Legend : OTL = Overtime loss , SL = Shootout loss Uniforms and logos . The Battalion ' s uniform is primarily an army - like shade of olive green . The shoulders feature black bars , with white outlining , this is then further outlined in black . Evenly between the shoulder and elbow lie three military - style chevrons , connoting rank ( here , sergeant ) completing armed forces theme . The logo itself , featuring their mascot , Sarge , gritting his teeth is also army olive green , a mix of yellow and beige , white , fleshish pinky - orange , black , and red . The name Battalion , emblazoned on their uniform is pure red , and is created in a way that it looks three - dimensional . Cartoon series . The " Brampton Battalion " was also a series of comics created and produced by Kevin J . Johnston . The characters were designed to be fun - loving and politically correct , and included all ages , sizes and races . The comics appeared as four - page shorts in the game - day programs and in the local newspaper , and their images were on the back of souvenir t - shirts . The stories depicted mascots of the Ontario Hockey League franchises as the antagonists in humorous situations . Arena . The Brampton Battalion played out of the Powerade Centre , which was formerly known as the " Brampton Centre for Sports & Entertainment " . It is located on Kennedy Road , on the south - side of the city near the 407 ETR . This facility has one main arena , as well as three full size practice rinks on the north - east side , many baseball diamonds as part of the complex . Also a full sized outdoor rink was added to the south side of the complex in the summer of 2008 . Many Battalion fans , as well as the local media ( " The Brampton Guardian " , Rogers Cable 10 ) , often referred to the team ' s home rink as The Bunker .