Brockville Braves

The Brockville Braves are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Brockville, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Central Junior A Hockey League. Such NHLer's as Larry Robinson and current player Wayne Simmons of the LA Kings amongst other famous players have all played for the Braves.
==History==
Founded in 1963, the Braves are the second oldest team that has never ceased operation in CJHL history—second only to Pembroke. In the 1979, the teams was the focus of national attention when they were left homeless due to their arena collapsing. This did not stop the Braves though, playing their home games out of Cardinal and Rockland, Ontario, the Braves did not miss a beat.
It took until 1986 for the Brockville Braves to win a CJHL championships. They clinched the Bogart Cup on a late April night, defeating their arch-nemesis Pembroke Lumber Kings 8-7 in the finals. Braves' goalie Jacques Breault was the hero, as with 22 seconds to go in the game, turned away a penalty shot by the league's all-time leading scorers Luc Chabot. Although losing to Orillia, Ontario in the Ontario playdowns, the team was a memorable one. Notable members of this team were all-time Braves leading scorer Larry Mitchell, Breault, Paul Duford, Tim Dubas, Dan Nummikoski, Steve Rachwal, Chad Badawey and Rob White.
Since that championship, the team has experienced more bad times than good. The late 80's and early 90's were not good to the Braves, who failed to make the playoffs multiple times.
In 1997, times began to change for the better again. The Braves competed in and won in Quebec, the Fred Page Cup, the Eastern Canadian Junior "A" championship. This allowed for their team to compete in the event and give them the experience they needed for the next season. The Braves regained their league title in 1998, bringing the club around full circle.
Former NHLer Todd Gill purchased the Brockville Braves and has been the head coach since 2006-07. He helped bring the Fred Page Cup to Brockville for the first time for 2010. Gill played in the NHL from 1984 to 2003 playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes, and St. Louis Blues. Former Braves head coach Mike McCourt was recently named head coach of the OHL's Niagara Ice Dogs for 2009-10. McCourt was head coach with Brockville from 2003 to 2006.
In 2009-2010, the Braves established a league record for most consecutive wins with 26. Brockville completed easy series wins over Kemptville (4-0) and Ottawa (4-0) to win a birth in the finals against the Pembroke Lumber Kings - as predicted by many CJHL followers. However, it was Pembroke that made CJHL history by winning four-consecutive Art Bogart Cup championships knocking off the Braves in 5 games. Despite, the finals loss to the Lumber Kings, the Braves won the Fred Page Cup against the Lumber Kings in an all-league finals tilt as the Braves won 5-1. At the Royal Bank Cup in Dauphin, Manitoba, the Braves broke a Royal Bank Cup record the highest margain of victory by defeating the Oakville Blades 11-2. (The previous record was held by the 1999 Vernon Vipers, who defeated the Charlottetown Abbies 9-3 in the championship game in Yorkton, SASK). The Braves would still have to win their last game against the LaRonge Ice Wolves, in which they did 6-3 to earn a birth in the semi-finals against the defending RBC champions VVernon Vipers. Vernon went on to win the game 2-0, leaving the Braves or any other CJHL team from the previous attempts to make the Royal Bank Cup final out.
==Season-by-season record==
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OL 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Finish 	Playoffs 	 	
1963-64	32 	11 	20 	1 	- 	-- 	-- 	23 	7th OHDJHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	 	
1964-65	36 	16 	16 	4 	- 	165 	141 	36 	7th CJHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	 	
1965-66	36 	19 	16 	1 	- 	188 	175 	39 	5th CJHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	 	
1966-67	50 	19 	25 	6 	- 	173 	218 	44 	3rd CJHL 	Lost Semi-final 	 	
1967-68	40 	25 	11 	4 	- 	193 	152 	54 	1st CJHL 	Lost Semi-final 	 	
1968-69	40 	13 	24 	3 	- 	166 	183 	29 	4th CJHL 	Lost Semi-final 	 	
1969-70	40 	22 	13 	5 	- 	180 	156 	49 	2nd CJHL 	 	 	
1970-71	48 	16 	29 	3 	- 	174 	244 	35 	4th CJHL 	 	 	
1971-72	48 	24 	22 	2 	- 	198 	181 	50 	3rd CJHL 	 	 	
1972-73	55 	26 	27 	2 	- 	273 	290 	54 	3rd CJHL 	 	 	
1973-74	50 	16 	29 	5 	- 	234 	322 	37 	5th CJHL 	 	 	
1974-75	50 	10 	36 	4 	- 	218 	329 	24 	6th CJHL 	 	 	
1975-76	50 	17 	23 	10 	- 	204 	212 	44 	4th CJHL 	 	 	
1976-77	50 	17 	20 	13 	- 	252 	270 	47 	5th CJHL 	 	 	
1977-78	48 	10 	32 	6 	- 	165 	268 	26 	5th CJHL 	 	 	
1978-79	48 	9 	38 	1 	- 	205 	349 	19 	5th CJHL 	 	 	
1979-80	50 	10 	35 	5 	- 	209 	391 	25 	5th CJHL 	 	 	
1980-81	50 	20 	24 	6 	- 	183 	223 	46 	4th CJHL 	 	 	
1981-82	50 	19 	27 	4 	- 	237 	281 	42 	5th CJHL 	 	 	
1982-83	48 	22 	18 	8 	- 	248 	198 	52 	3rd CJHL 	 	 	
1983-84	54 	26 	20 	8 	- 	315 	245 	60 	2nd CJHL 	 	 	
1984-85	54 	37 	15 	1 	1 	364 	237 	76 	2nd CJHL 	 	 	
1985-86	60 	41 	17 	2 	0 	360 	285 	84 	1st CJHL 	Won League 	 	
1986-87	52 	16 	29 	3 	4 	213 	309 	39 	7th CJHL 	 	 	
1987-88	56 	35 	16 	3 	2 	335 	224 	75 	3rd CJHL 	 	 	
1988-89	56 	37 	14 	0 	5 	322 	230 	79 	2nd CJHL 	 	 	
1989-90	56 	38 	8 	4 	6 	377 	256 	82 	2nd CJHL 	 	 	
1990-91	50 	12 	32 	1 	5 	139 	327 	30 	9th CJHL 	 	 	
1991-92	57 	13 	41 	1 	2 	211 	346 	29 	9th CJHL 	 	 	
1992-93	57 	19 	29 	4 	5 	235 	297 	47 	8th CJHL 	 	 	
1993-94	57 	24 	28 	3 	8 	279 	275 	59 	7th CJHL 	 	 	
1994-95	54 	26 	24 	2 	2 	222 	219 	56 	8th CJHL 	 	 	
1995-96	56 	25 	27 	2 	0 	249 	247 	52 	2nd in Yzerman 	 	 	
1996-97	53 	28 	18 	7 	0 	234 	206 	63 	3rd in Yzerman 	 	 	
1997-98	56 	36 	11 	9 	3 	283 	222 	84 	1st in Yzerman 	Won League, Won FPC 	 	
1998-99	54 	39 	11 	4 	0 	294 	190 	82 	1st in Yzerman 	 	 	
1999-00	56 	39 	12 	5 	0 	285 	221 	83 	1st in Yzerman 	 	 	
2000-01	55 	9 	43 	3 	0 	167 	295 	22 	5th in Yzerman 	 	 	
2001-02	55 	12 	35 	11 	0 	213 	302 	35 	5th in Yzerman 	 	 	
2002-03	55 	21 	27 	7 	0 	226 	274 	50 	2nd in Yzerman 	 	 	
2003-04	55 	27 	21 	6 	1 	223 	219 	61 	5th 	 	 	
2004-05	57 	34 	13 	8 	2 	214 	162 	78 	3rd in Yzerman 	 	 	
2005-06	59 	29 	22 	5 	3 	213 	201 	66 	3rd in Yzerman 	Lost Quarter-finals 	 	
2006-07	55 	28 	20 	6 	1 	201 	190 	63 	2nd in Yzerman 	Lost Quarter-finals 	 	
2007-08	60 	38 	18 	3 	1 	270 	196 	80 	3rd CJHL 	Lost Semi-finals 	 	
2008-09	60 	36 	20 	- 	4 	240 	185 	76 	4th CJHL 	 	 	
2009-10	62 	52 	8 	- 	2 	308 	140 	106 	1st CJHL 	Lost Final, Won FPC 	 	
2010-11	62 	44 	15 	- 	3 	233 	160 	91 	3rd CCHL 	Lost Semi-final 	 	
2011-12	62 	41 	17 	- 	4 	242 	186 	86 	3rd CCHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	 	
2012-13	62 	35 	20 	- 	7 	215 	192 	77 	6th CCHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	 	
2013-14	62 	35 	24 	- 	3 	216 	200 	73 	5th CCHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	 	
2014-15	62 	31 	25 	3 	3 	215 	219 	68 	6th CCHL 	Lost Quarter-final 	 	
Season 	GP 	W 	L 	OL 	SL 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Finish 	Playoffs 	 	
2015-16	62 	40 	19 	1 	2 	197 	161 	83 	3rd of 6 Robinson4th of 12 CCHL 	Won Quarterfinal, 4-0 (Grads)Lost Semifinals 0-4 (Canadians) 	 	
2016-17	62 	33 	26 	1 	2 	179 	162 	69 	5th of 6 Robinson,6th of 12 CCHL 	Lost Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Jr. Senators) 	 	
2017-18	62 	38 	20 	2 	2 	210 	160 	80 	2nd of 6 Robinson,3rd of 12 CCHL 	Won Quarterfinals, 4-0 (Lasers)Lost Semifinals, 3-4 (Jr. Senators)	 	
2018-19	62 	41 	16 	3 	2 	202 	149 	87 	2nd Robinson 	W, QF 4-1 (Bears)L, SF 0-4 (Senators) 	 	
2019-20	62 	36 	16 	- 	10 	213 	173 	82 	2nd Robinson 	Lead quarterfinal series 1-0 when playoffs cancelled 	 	
2020-21	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic 	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22	55 	36 	17 	0 	2 	198 	155 	74 	1st Robinson 	W, QF 4-3 (Lumberkings)L, SF 1-4 (Hawks) 	 	
2022-23	55 	29 	18 	4 	4 	166 	154 	66 	T-3rd Robinson 	W, QF 4-3 (Grads)L, SF 1-4 (Senators) 	 	
2023-24	55 	8 	40 	5 	2 	136 	272 	23 	6th Robinson 	Did not qualify 	 	
==Championships==
:CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 1978, 1998
:Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: 1998, 2010
:CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None
== Notable alumni ==
*Terry Carkner - Longtime NHL Defenceman
*Brian Chapman - Former Hartford Whalers Draft Pick and longtime AHL player.
*Todd Gill - Former Toronto Maple Leafs player and current Owner, GM, and Coach of the Braves.
*Brett Harkins - Former NHL, AHL, European League journeyman.
*Hank Lammens - Former New York Islanders draft pick and one time Ottawa Senators player.
*Paul MacLean (ice hockey) - Former NHL Allstar and Current Detroit Red Wings assistant coach.
*Andrei Mezin - 2002 Belarus Olympic Team member
*Larry Robinson - NHL Hall of Famer and former coach of the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings.
*Ray Sheppard - Former 50 Goal Scorer and longtime NHLer.
*Wayne Simmonds - 2007 Los Angeles Kings draft pick and member of the Canadian 2007 World Junior Championship Team.
*Gord Smith - Journeyman NHLer and brother of Hall of Famer Billy Smith.
*Sergei Stas - 2002 Belarus Olympic Team member
*Trevor Stienburg - Former Quebec Nordiques First Round Draft Pick
*Mike Daoust - 2001 NCAA National Champion - Plattsburgh State Cardinals
*Guy Come- 2001 NCAA National Champion - Plattsburgh State Cardinals
*Bryan Murray- 2001 NCAA National Champion - Plattsburgh State Cardinals
==External links==
*Brockville Braves Website
Category:Central Junior A Hockey League team
Category:Canadian ice hockey teams
Category:Established in 1963