2023 CBR Brave season
Australian ice hockey team season
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The 2023 CBR Brave season was the Brave's 8th season in the Australian Ice Hockey League since being founded and entering the league in 2014. Canberra won a fourth consecutive premiership title and lifted the H Newman Reid Trophy, by finishing top of the regular season standings.[1] The Brave also finished top of the newly formed Rurak Conference and held aloft the inaugural Rurak Conference Cup.[1] Canberra finished second in the AIHL Finals, being beaten by the Melbourne Mustangs in the championship grand final in Melbourne to miss out on the Goodall Cup.[2]
| 2023 CBR Brave | |
|---|---|
Rurak Conference champions | |
| League | 1st AIHL |
| Conference | 1st Rurak |
| 2023 record | 20–1–1–4 |
| Home record | 10–1–0–2 |
| Road record | 10–0–1–2 |
| Goals for | 170 |
| Goals against | 77 |
| Team information | |
| Coach |  Stuart Philps |
| Assistant coach | Jeff Helbren |
| Captain | Kai Miettinen |
| Alternate captains | Bayley Kubara Casey Kubara |
| Arena | Phillip Ice Skating Centre |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals |  Austin Albrecht (39) |
| Assists |  Felix Plouffe (44) |
| Points | Austin Albrecht (76) |
| Penalty minutes | Mike Giorgi (45) |
| Goals against average | Aleksi Toivonen (2.86) |
Season notes
Pre-season, the Brave organised exhibition games against the Brisbane Lightning in Brisbane and Canberra.[3] Former Sydney Sirens head coach, Jeff Helbren, was signed to take on the role of assistant coach.[4] Caribou Kingston became the first ever Brave naming rights sponsor, with the team to be known as the Caribou CBR Brave for 2023 and Peter Di Salvo was added to the coaching roster as a goaltender coach for Toivonen and Tétreault.[4][5] During the season the Brave revealed special one-off jerseys for Caribou Kingston, Menslink and Hockey Fights Cancer. All special jerseys were auctioned with proceeds going towards the team, Menslink and Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.[6][7][8] Off the ice, CBR Brave super-fan, Emma Easton, died in 2023. Before her death, the Brave faithful celebrated Emma's 35th birthday with a rendition of ‘happy birthday’ at a home game at the Brave Cave. Brave players and supporters then came together to produce a memorial video and give Emma a hockey guard of honour at her funeral.[9]
Roster
Team roster for the 2023 AIHL season.[10][11][12]
| Active roster | Coaching staff | |||
Goaltenders
Defencemen
|
Forwards
|
Head Coach
Coaches
Legend Statistics | ||
| Last updated on: 7 August 2023 | ||||
| Elite Prospects IHNA | ||||
Transfers
All transfers in and out of the team since the last AIHL season.[11][13] Kale Costa was announced as a signing in pre-season,[4] but in May 2023 it was revealed he would not be joining the team, instead choosing to stay in the Czech Republic to play for HC Stadion Litoměřice in the Czech 1.liga.[14] In July 2024, the Brave signed goaltender Curtis Villani to an affiliate contract. Villani was added to the roster as an emergency backup but was never dressed or used and was subsequently removed from the roster without playing a game.[15]
In
| Pos | Player | Transferred From | Local / Import |
|---|---|---|---|
| W | Austin Albrecht | Maine Mariners | Import |
| D | Lachlan Fahmy | The Coast | Local |
| G | Andrew Glass | Adelaide Tigers | Local |
| D/F |  Matthew Harvey | No team | Local |
| D | Cameron Marks | Corsaires de Nantes | Import |
| F | Ricki Miettinen | Jokerit (ACT) | Local |
| C | Felix Plouffe | Corsaires de Nantes | Import |
| F | Jake Riley* | Melbourne Ice | Local |
| F | Christopher Stoikos | Waterloo Maroons | Import |
| D | Carson Vance | South Carolina Stingrays | Import |
- * Mid-season transfer
Out
| Pos | Player | Transferred To | Local / Import |
|---|---|---|---|
| D | Declan Bronte | Salem State Vikings | Local |
| D | Garret Cockerill | Jacksonville Icemen | Import |
| F | Wehebe Darge | Newcastle Northstars | Local |
| F | Nicholas Doornbos | Steele County Blades | Local |
| G | Luke Fiveash | No team | Local |
| G | Wylie Hodder | No team | Local |
| D | Lynden Lodge | Perth Thunder | Local |
| D | Matthew Marasco | No team | Local |
| F |  Brandon McNally | Sheffield Steelers | Import |
| F | Hamish Murray | No team | Local |
| D | Matthew Price | Newcastle Northstars | Local |
| D | Alastair Punler | Perth Thunder | Local |
| F | Christopher Stoikos* | Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan Jaguars | Import |
| F | Mario Valery-Trabucco | No team | Import |
| D | Jamie Woodman | Perth Thunder | Local |
- * Mid-season transfer
Staff
Current as of 2023 AIHL season.[11]
| CBR Brave Staff | |
|---|---|
| Role | Staff |
| Head Coach | Stuart Philps |
| Assistant Coach | Jeff Helbren |
| Team Manager | Andrew Deans |
| Equipment Manager | Darryl Day |
| Team Doctor | Rob Reid |
| Physiotherapist | Jono Carey |
| General Manager (hockey operations) | Jordan Gavin |
| Chief Operating Officer | Steve Moeller |
| Chief Executive Officer | Stephen Campbell |
| Bench Official | Darren Sault |
| Bench Official | Kelly Sault |
Standings
Regular season
Summary
| Season | Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| 2023 | 26 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 170 | 77 | +93 | 63 | 1st | 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 37 | +51 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 33 | +49 |
Position by round
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBR Brave (P) | 26 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 170 | 77 | +93 | 63 | 2023 Goodall Cup Finals |
| 2 | Sydney Bears | 26 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 132 | 81 | +51 | 60 | |
| 3 | Newcastle Northstars | 26 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 162 | 112 | +50 | 56 | |
| 4 | Melbourne Mustangs | 26 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 147 | 94 | +53 | 55 | |
| 5 | Perth Thunder | 26 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 141 | 90 | +51 | 52 | |
| 6 | Melbourne Ice | 26 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 144 | 165 | −21 | 30 | |
| 7 | Brisbane Lightning | 26 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 156 | 136 | +20 | 30 | 2023 Goodall Cup Finals |
| 8 | Sydney Ice Dogs | 26 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 104 | 159 | −55 | 23 | |
| 9 | Adelaide Adrenaline | 26 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 90 | 162 | −72 | 13 | |
| 10 | Central Coast Rhinos | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 75 | 245 | −170 | 5 |
Rules for classification:
Tie-break: 1) points; 2) points percentage; 3) head to head; 4) goal difference; 5) goals scored; 6) coin toss
Points: 3 points for regulation win; 2 points for OT or SO win; 1 point for OT or SO loss; 0 points for regulation loss
Note: Sydney Bears deducted 3 points by the league for accidentally breaching player cap regulations in June 2023.[16]
(P) Premiers
Rurak Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBR Brave | 26 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 170 | 77 | +93 | 63 | 2023 Goodall Cup Finals |
| 2 | Newcastle Northstars | 26 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 162 | 112 | +50 | 56 | |
| 3 | Brisbane Lightning | 26 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 156 | 136 | +20 | 30 | |
| 4 | Adelaide Adrenaline | 26 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 90 | 162 | −72 | 13 | |
| 5 | Central Coast Rhinos | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 75 | 245 | −170 | 5 |
Rules for classification:
Tie-break: 1) points; 2) points percentage; 3) head to head; 4) goal difference; 5) goals scored; 6) coin toss
Points: 3 points for regulation win; 2 points for OT or SO win; 1 point for OT or SO loss; 0 points for regulation loss
Finals
Summary
Bracket
Schedule & results
Exhibition games
Regular season
Finals
Goodall Cup semi-final
| 26 August 2023 18:30 | CBR Brave | 4–1 (2–1, 0–0, 2–0) | Perth Thunder | O’Brien Icehouse |
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleksi Toivonen | Goalies | Kristian Stead | Referees: Rob Love Mark Peruzzo Linesmen: Russell Dow Hayden Rogers | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| 6 min | Penalties | 4 min | |||||||||||||||
| 50 | Shots | 39 | |||||||||||||||
Goodall Cup final
| 27 August 2023 14:00 | Melbourne Mustangs | 1–0 (0–0, 1–0, 0–0) | CBR Brave | O’Brien Icehouse |
| Game reference | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liam Hughes | Goalies | Aleksi Toivonen | Referees: Kent Unwin David Gal Linesmen: Russell Dow Hayden Rogers | ||
| |||||
| 2 min | Penalties | 2 min | |||
| 22 | Shots | 33 | |||
Awards
No team awards announced by the Brave for 2023. No Canberra players or staff were awarded any AIHL season awards for the first time in team history.