Winnipeg Braves

The Winnipeg Braves were a Canadian Junior A hockey team from St. James, Manitoba. They were members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for 10 seasons. The Braves entered the MJHL in 1957 as an expansion team. They were owned by Jack Perrin Jr. and affiliated with his Winnipeg Warriors of the Western Hockey League. Team colors were black and orange, the same as the Warriors. In 59, Perrin affiliated all of his teams with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. In 66, the Team was rename the St. James Braves. 
They played in the Winnipeg Arena because of its artificial ice, until the St. James Civic Centre opened in 1967.
The Braves were crowned MJHL champions in 1959 and 1965, winning the Turnbull Cup. In 59, the Team went on to win the Abbott Cup as Western Canada Junior A Champions, and the Memorial Cup as Canada Junior A Champions. The 59 Braves were inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. In 65, they advanced to the Western Canada Final for the Abbott Cup.
In the fall of 1967, Perrin would sell both his MJHL teams (Winnipeg Warriors) to Ben Hatskin. With the NHL mandating the end of professional teams sponsoring junior teams, the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association did not want the newly created major junior to do so either. Before granting Hatskin’s Jets permission to play in the Western Canada Junior League, demanded he sell his 3 MJHL teams to community-minded groups. The new owners renamed the franchise the St. James Canadians. This ended an era of junior hockey in Manitoba.
=Season-by-Season Record=
Note: click on season for team rosters or on league for direct link to that season.
Season 	League 	GP	W 	L 	T	GF 	GA 	Points	Finish	Playoffs
1957-58	MJHL 	30	13	16	1	144	135	27 	3rd 	Lost Semi Final
1958-59	MJHL 	31	22	7 	2	177	111	46 	1st 	Won League
1958-59	Memorial Cup	11	8 	3 	-	46 	31 	- 	- 	Won Abbott Cup
1958-59	Memorial Cup	5 	4 	1 	-	25 	14 	- 	- 	Won Memorial Cup
1959-60	MJHL 	31	16	14	1	141	126	33 	3rd 	Lost Semi Final
1960-61	MJHL 	32	18	14	0	145	117	36 	3rd 	Lost Semi Final
1961-62	MJHL 	40	9 	23	8	110	177	26 	5th 	DNQ
1962-63	MJHL 	39	14	22	3	127	156	31 	4th 	Lost Semi Final
1963-64	MJHL 	30	11	16	3	92 	120	25 	5th 	DNQ
1964-65	MJHL 	45	27	13	5	184	140	59 	1st 	Won League
1964-65	Memorial Cup	11	6 	5 	-	52 	48 	- 	- 	Lost West Final
1965-66	MJHL 	48	20	24	4	207	219	44 	3rd 	Lost Final
1966-67	MJHL 	56	21	34	1	254	361	43 	5th 	Lost Quarter Final
=League Record=
Season 	Player 	Category 	Amount
1958-59	Laurie Langrell	Most Goals--Left Winger	42
=Award Winners, League Leaders, & All-Stars=
Season 	Player 	Achievement
1957-58	Laurie Langrell 	First All-Star Team
1957-58	Bill Allum 	First All-Star Team Coach
1957-58	Al LeBlanc 	Second All-Star Team
1958-59	Laurie Langrell 	Scoring Champion
1958-59	Laurie Langrell 	Most Goals
1958-59	Al LeBlanc 	Most Assists
1959-60	Bob Leiter 	MVP
1959-60	Bob Leiter 	Most Assists (tied)
1959-60	Bob Leiter 	Second All-Star Team
1959-60	John Ayotte 	Most Goals
1959-60	Lew Mueller 	First All-Star Team
1959-60	Bill Addison 	All-Star Team Manager
1960-61	Ernie Wakely 	Top Goals Against Average
1960-61	Ernie Wakely 	First All-Star Team
1960-61	Ken Stephanson 	First All-Star Team
1961-62	Jim Dixon 	Hockey Ability and Sportsmanship Award
1961-62	Rick Best 	Second All-Star Team
1961-62	Wayne Schultz 	Second All-Star Team (tied)
1962-63	Ted Irvine 	First All-Star Team
1962-63	Rick Best 	Second All-Star Team
1963-64	Ted Irvine 	First All-Star Team
1964-65	Wayne Stephenson	MVP
1964-65	Wayne Stephenson	Top Goaltender Award
1964-65	Wayne Stephenson	Top Goals Against Average
1964-65	Wayne Stephenson	First All-Star Team
1964-65	George Anderson 	Second All-Star Team
1964-65	Brian Dyck 	Second All-Star Team
1964-65	Bill Heindl 	Second All-Star Team
1964-65	Dunc Rousseau 	Second All-Star Team
1965-66	Gerry Mazur 	Hockey Ability and Sportsmanship Award
1965-66	Gord Malinoski 	First All-Star Team
1965-66	George Anderson 	Second All-Star Team
1965-66	Jim Woloshyn 	Second All-Star Team
1965-66	 	
=NHL Alumni=
Bill Allum 	Gary Bergman	Ted Green 	Bill Heindl
Howie Hughes 	Ted Irvine 	Bob Leiter 	John Marks
Wayne Stephenson	John Stewart	Andy Van Hellemond	Ernie Wakely
=NHL Draft Picks=
Draft Year	Player 	Drafted by 	Round	Overall
1963 	Cam Allison 	New York Rangers 	4 	20
1968 	Jim Benzelock 	Minnesota North Stars	1 	5
1968 	John Marks 	Chicago Blackhawks 	1 	9
1968 	Bruce Buchanan 	New York Rangers 	2 	19
1969 	Bruce Van Hellemond	New York Rangers 	4 	47
1969 	Warren Harrison 	Oakland Seals 	5 	53
1970 	John Stewart 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	2 	21
Category:Canadian ice hockey teams
Category:Manitoba Junior Hockey League teams