The 2015 CBR Brave season was the Brave's 2nd season in the Australian Ice Hockey League since being founded and entering the league in 2014. The season ran from 25 April 2015 to 29 August 2015 for the Brave. CBR finished fourth in the regular season behind the Newcastle North Stars, Melbourne Ice and Perth Thunder. The Brave qualified for the AIHL Finals in Melbourne and played in semi-final one. Canberra were defeated by league premiers, the Newcastle North Stars, 3–4 in their semi-final match and were knocked out of the finals weekend, ending their season.

News

In January 2015, the Brave announced the appointment of Brad Hunt as the new head coach of the team for the 2015 AIHL season. Brad was originally going to take on the assistant coach role for 2015 after hanging up the skates at the end of the 2014 season but with former head coach Matti Louma leaving the club to take on a development coaching position in Perth, Hunt was promoted to head coach instead.

In February 2015, the league commission announced scheduling changes for the 2015 season that saw the Sydney Ice Dogs and Sydney Bears move three home matches from Sydney to Canberra.

In March 2015, the CBR Brave in conjunction with Ice Hockey ACT announced the formation of the Junior Brave team to compete in the 2015 NSW Midget League. The junior program was coached by former AIHL player and Australian representative Andrew Brunt and finished their first season by finishing second in the league and losing the grand final to defending champions, the Liverpool Saints, 3–1. Three of the Junior Brave players made their debut with the senior CBR Brave team in the AIHL during 2015, including: goalie Alexandre Tetrault and forwards Jayden Lewis and Jordan Brunt. Alexandre Tetrault was also selected to represent Australia in the Under 20 World Championships in Serbia in 2016.

In July 2015, the CBR Brave and head coach Brad Hunt parted ways by mutual consent. On ice performances during the first half of the regular season and future planning were cited as the main reasons for the decision. Import goaltender, Josh Unice, was appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Alternative captain, Aaron Clayworth, retired from playing and stepped in to take over as assistant coach for the remainder of the season.

Roster

Team roster for the 2015 AIHL season

2015 AIHL CBR Brave Roster# Nat Name Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace 73 W L 2014 Gloucester, Ontario, Canada 92 F L 2015 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 22 C R 2014 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 17 D R 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 6 D R 2014 Perth, Western Australia, Australia 14 D R 2015 Hamilton, New Zealand 38 G L 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 19 F R 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 39 W L 2015 Newmarket, Ontario, Canada 27 D L 2014 Toronto, Ontario, Canada 65 D R 2014 Calgary, Alberta, Canada 3 F R 2014 Amesbury, Massachusetts, United States 16 F R 2015 Wombarra, New South Wales, Australia 77 F R 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 11 F L 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 93 F L 2015 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 8 D L 2015 Brezno, Slovakia 4 D R 2015 Toronto, Ontario, Canada 64 F L 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 24 D 0 2015 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 77 C L 2015 Elbow, Saskatchewan, Canada 61 C L 2015 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 32 F L 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 12 D R 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 91 F R 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 92 G L 2015 Montreal, Quebec, Canada 69 G L 2015 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 30 G L 2015 Holland, Ohio, United States 29 G L 2014 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Transfers

All the player transfers in and out by the CBR Brave for the 2015 AIHL season.

In

PlayerTransferred From Local / ImportF No Team LocalD Sydney Ice Dogs LocalW No Team ImportF Sydney Ice Dogs LocalF Meaford Knights LocalD No Team LocalD Laval Prédateurs ImportD No Team LocalC Mississippi Surge ImportC Braehead Clan ImportG No Team LocalG HCIK LocalG Sheffield Steelers Import

Out

PlayerTransferred To Local / ImportD No Team LocalF No Team LocalF No Team ImportG CBR Brave head coach LocalC TuTo ImportF No Team LocalF No Team LocalW No Team ImportG KeuPa HT ImportF No Team LocalD No Team LocalF No Team ImportF Ste. Anne Aces Import

Staff

Staff Roster for 2015 AIHL season 2015 AIHL CBR Brave StaffRole Staff Head coach Josh Unice Brad Hunt Assistant coach David Rogina Assistant coach Aaron Clayworth Physiotherapist Carolyn Smith Equipment manager Adrian Miller Bench official Darren Sault Bench official Kelly Sault

Standings

Regular season

Summary SeasonOverall HomeAway2015 28 13 10 3 2 125 104 +21 47 4th 14 9 3 1 1 62 45 +17 14 4 7 2 1 63 59 +4

Position by round

League table Team Newcastle North Stars 28 19 1 4 4 152 83 +69 63 Melbourne Ice 28 15 5 1 7 121 83 +38 56 Perth Thunder 28 14 1 4 9 103 93 +10 48 CBR Brave 28 13 3 2 10 125 104 +21 47 Adelaide Adrenaline 28 11 3 3 11 109 111 −2 42 Melbourne Mustangs 28 11 3 2 12 139 105 +34 41 Sydney Bears 28 11 1 2 14 110 110 0 37 Sydney Ice Dogs 28 0 1 0 27 39 209 −170 01 Qualified for the Goodall Cup playoffsH Newman Reid Trophy winners 1The Ice Dogs were fined three competition points for multiple breaches by-law 4 which requires teams to travel with at least 15 players unless an exemption has been granted.

Source

Finals

Summary SeasonFinals weekend2015 1 0 1 3 4 Semi-finalists Lost 3-4 (North Stars)

Bracket

Schedule & results

Regular season

2015 fixtures and results Date Time Away Score Home Location Recap 25 April 17:30 Sydney Bears 2–4 CBR Brave Canberra 26 April 17:00 CBR Brave 4–7 Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 2 May 17:30 Adelaide Adrenaline 3–5 CBR Brave Canberra 9 May 16:30 CBR Brave 3–4 Perth Thunder Perth 10 May 16:30 CBR Brave 1–4 Perth Thunder Perth 16 May 17:30 Melbourne Mustangs 4–5 CBR Brave Canberra 17 May 17:00 Melbourne Mustangs 4 – 3 (SO) CBR Brave Canberra 23 May 17:30 Adelaide Adrenaline 2–8 CBR Brave Canberra 24 May 17:00 CBR Brave 5 – 4 (SO) Newcastle North Stars Newcastle 30 May 17:30 Melbourne Ice 1–3 CBR Brave Canberra 31 May 17:00 Melbourne Ice 4–2 CBR Brave Canberra 6 June 17:30 Sydney Ice Dogs 1–4 CBR Brave Canberra 13 June 17:00 CBR Brave 1–3 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 14 June 16:00 CBR Brave 2–3 Melbourne Ice Melbourne 20 June 17:00 CBR Brave 3–4 Sydney Bears Canberra 27 June 17:30 Sydney Ice Dogs 4–6 CBR Brave Canberra 28 June 17:30 Newcastle North Stars 5–1 CBR Brave Canberra 4 July 17:00 CBR Brave 2 – 3 (SO) Melbourne Mustangs Melbourne 5 July 16:00 CBR Brave 5–4 Melbourne Mustangs Melbourne 11 July 16:30 CBR Brave 7–11 Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 12 July 15:30 CBR Brave 6 – 5 (SO) Adelaide Adrenaline Adelaide 18 July 17:00 Sydney Bears 3–6 CBR Brave Canberra 25 July 17:30 CBR Brave 7–3 Sydney Bears Penrith 1 August 17:00 CBR Brave 10–2 Sydney Ice Dogs Canberra 8 August 17:30 Perth Thunder 4–3 CBR Brave Canberra 9 August 17:00 Perth Thunder 3–6 CBR Brave Canberra 15 August 17:30 Newcastle North Stars 5 – 6 (SO) CBR Brave Canberra 22 August 17:00 CBR Brave 7–2 Sydney Ice Dogs Canberra

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

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player D 24 28 51 79 46 F 1 0 0 0 0 D 25 4 2 6 102 F 26 1 9 10 10 F 17 0 1 1 10 F 20 4 18 22 120 D 21 5 2 7 18 D 21 28 33 61 40 F 2 0 1 1 2 F 11 7 5 12 2 F 24 3 4 7 55 D 27 5 10 15 4 F 2 0 0 0 0 F 23 1 1 2 2 F 1 0 1 1 0 F 23 0 6 6 20 F 24 10 18 28 46 F 28 2 4 6 38 F 5 0 0 0 2 D 7 2 8 10 24 F 19 18 24 42 18 F 17 0 2 2 8 D 26 3 10 13 49 D 24 1 2 3 18 Finals Player D 1 2 1 3 25 F 0 0 0 0 0 D 0 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 0 0 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 0 0 4 D 1 0 0 0 0 D 1 1 2 3 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 0 0 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 D 0 0 0 0 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 0 0 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 1 1 16 F 1 0 0 0 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 1 1 2 F 0 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 1 1 0 D 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

Regular season Player G 0 - - - - - - - - - - G 1 0 50 2 2.40 20 18 0.900 0 0 0 G 10 0 463 36 4.66 311 275 0.884 0 1 0 G 14 0 679 42 3.71 533 491 0.921 0 1 2 G 6 0 198 19 5.76 120 101 0.842 0 0 0 Finals Player G - - - - - - - - - - - G - - - - - - - - - - - G 1 0 49 4 4.88 38 34 0.895 0 0 0 G - - - - - - - - - - - G - - - - - - - - - - -

Awards

Team awards for 2015 season 2015 Brave awardsAward Recipient Stephen Blunden Best Forward Stephen Blunden Best Defenceman Kyle Mariani Fans Choice Jimmy Byers Player's Choice Mark Rummukainen Coach's Award Kai Miettinen Peter Taylor Jimmy Byers Ryan JohnsonAIHL awards for 2015 season 2015 AIHL awardsAward Recipient * No Brave players won any AIHL Awards in 2015

References