SATURDAY4th & SUNDAY 5th OF MAY - AT THE 'BRAVE CAVE'
Location: Phillip Ice Skating Centre (The 'Brave Cave')
Saturday warm up: 17:00 - Puck Drop: 17:15
Sunday warm up: 16:30 - Puck Drop 16:45
Tickets: https://shop.cbrbrave.com.au/tickets/
There’s a lot to look forward to this weekend at the Brave Cave!!
Our Mighty Roos reps return for their first home game of the season.
Jacob Carey also returns after representing NZ at Worlds.
Austin Cangelosi makes his long-awaited debut for the Brave.
We play 2 games against the top of the AIHL ladder, Melbourne Ice.
#21 Joey Hughes returns to the Cave representing the Ice for the first time since 2017.
Although the wins haven’t been on our side of the ledger lately, there’s certainly been the signs of good things to come from the Brave boys - and they have been digging deep every single game, showing the guts and determination that makes them all Brave!
This weekend will be no different even though our player numbers are revitalised, the Melbourne Ice are coming in off a flying start to the season, undefeated in all 6 game thus far.
Joey Hughes has been his usual self, racking up 16 points in six games with 4 goals and 12 assists, he might be heading for a name change from ‘The Goat’ to ‘The Apple King’ the way he is going. Former Rhinos star, Joakim Erdugan also on 16 from six, with 9 goals and 7 assists, rounds out the top two-point scorers for the Ice.
The Brave players have a lot to prove - and prove it they will this weekend! The boys are determined to take all six points and start the road back to the top where they belong. The pride is there, the determination is there, the heart is there, the self-belief is there - and they will show everyone what it is to be Brave!!! #ForeverBrave
Kai Miettinen: ‘Get ready for some wins’
Canberra Brave captain, Kai Miettinen, has been a key part of the hockey landscape in the capital throughout the Brave era. As the team celebrates it’s 10-yearanniversary, 28-year-old Miettinen can trace his journey back to the Canberra Knights period.
Like Miettinen, the passionate ice hockey community in Canberra likely finds it difficult pinpointing favourite moments from the Knights franchise, where the team at times struggled to be competitive.
“That’s a tough one,” Miettinen says when asked. After pausing for a moment he continues, “probably my AIHL debut. It feels like a lifetime ago.
“I grew up a fan of the Canberra Knights, I loved going to the games and meeting the players. To put on the Knights jersey and wear the uniform with my idols –Mark Rummukainen, Aaron Clayworth, and Jordy Gavin – that was special.”
Kai’s father, Jorma Miettinen, was a foundation forward with the Canberra Knights in 1981, after having moved to Australia two years earlier at the age of 15.
“His sister was originally here doing a nursing degree,” Miettinen recalls. “He came over to visit her and fell in love with Australia.”
That decision gifted the Canberra hockey community with multiple generations of Miettinens. Kai’s brother, Ricki, made his AIHL debut last season for the Brave, and the 17-year-old forward is back again this year.
While highlights were few and far between for the Canberra Knights, the opposite has been true for the Brave.
The Brave have been perennial contenders for almost a decade, and are recognised as one of the most consistently competitive organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
Miettinen has been a part of two Goodall Cup winning teams – 2018 and 2022. “2018 is always going to feel a bit more special,” Miettinen suggested when asked to compare the two triumphs. “It was the first championship that I won, and the league was better then.”
The 2022 AIHL season featured a reduced number of teams and imports as travel restrictions slowly eased both domestically and internationally.
“2022 was still a flat year for the AIHL coming out of COVID,” Miettinen continued. “There wasn’t quite the same level of competition.”
However, 2022 was special in one respect for Miettinen, his first season wearing the C on a permanent basis. “I have worn an A in the team and filled in as C at points previously. While the captaincy was still pretty new, I’d had a taste of the leadership.”
Miettinen pauses, reflecting on the memory before revealing, “It’s a pretty cool feeling to lift that cup as the captain of the team. A pretty special moment.”
Earlier this season, Miettinen reached a personal milestone with his 250th AIHL game played. He has his sights set on Rummukainen’s games played record, and according to Sean O’Connor from Hockey Hype Australia, Miettinen will match Rummukainen’s record of three seasons as captain of the team at the end of this season.
“I don’t really believe that for a second,” Miettinen replies in disbelief. “It felt like Rummo [Rummukainen] was captain for 20 years!
“That’s a new one, it would be pretty cool, pretty special, to be the longest serving captain.”
Miettinen takes his role as a leader seriously and is constantly looking for ways to improve.
When asked what makes a good leader, Miettinen insightfully replied, “One of the biggest things is being able to see the bigger picture and put yourself second. It’s tough sometimes when you’re in a game and haven’t had some great shifts and need to put that aside and focus on what’s best for the team – being able to put people around you before yourself.”
240 years ago, essayist Thomas Reid suggested that “The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, for if that fails the chain fails and the object that it has been holding up falls to the ground.”
That truth is a guiding principle for Miettinen, who works hard in his role as captain.
“By no means am I a perfect leader,” Miettinen concedes, “I’m constantly learning and adapting. I work hard to make sure the young guys and rookies stay motivated, and everyone feels included.”
“In a sense as captain you’re managing 20 different personalities. It has its challenges. But we have a great group of guys, a great culture, and a tight-knit team.”
The goal for Miettinen this season is to be the best leader he can be. “I want to make sure that I am keeping everyone together as best as I can,” he says. This season brings more games than ever before in the AIHL, with teams playing 30 regular season games.
“Everyone is working full-time jobs,” Miettinen states. “Sometimes the season feels like a bit of a drag. We need to make sure we get through those moments and lift the cup at the end of the season.”
Miettinen also enjoys a good relationship with the Brave fans. For example, last season I was sitting with Brave fans at Macquarie Ice Rink for the team’s game against the Sydney Ice Dogs.
I was seated directly behind the penalty box, where Miettinen made a couple of visits. The Brave fans and Miettinen exchanged some good-natured banter and some laughs around his inability to stay out of the box.
Miettinen has a lot of love for the Brave fans. “At home our fans are the best in the league,” he says proudly. “Our atmosphere is the best in the league. Quite a few times at away games we have come close to having more supporters than the home team has!
“It’s incredible dedication. Not only will they come to all our home games, they travel to cheer us on.”
Asked to choose three words to describe Brave fans, Miettinen suggests “Passionate, loud, enthusiastic.”
The Brave have had a challenging start to the season, with just a single win in seven games played. Recently, the Hockey Hype Australia team calculated the Brave have been missing 11 players from the lineup due to national team and other commitments.
No other team in the league has been impacted as heavily to start the season, which explains the team’s position at the bottom of the Rurak Conference standings.
“I don’t believe that there is another team in the league that can afford to go without 11 players and still be competitive,” Miettinen says. “We have been competitive in every game right to the end.
“That’s a reflection on the depth that we have in Canberra. It’s a good sign that we can still be competitive, and as we get players back it’s going to be a different look on the ice.”
Miettinen anticipates the team to turn things around beginning this weekend as the team hosts the league-leading and undefeated Melbourne Ice in a doubleheader.
“We obviously haven’t had the greatest start to the season results-wise,” Miettinen notes, “we want to give a big thank you to the fans, volunteers, and sponsors.”
“We can promise we have some wins coming. We’re still going to be right up there come Finals time.”
“Thanks for sticking with us, get ready for some wins!”
This will be the first weekend in the Brave Cave for Austin and we’re sure he’ll be popular with the fans! The hype surrounding his signing by the Brave from across the league has been extrordinary. With a hockey pedigree too long to mention, let’s just say Austin is looking forward to lacing them up for the Brave.
Casey has represented Australia twice at Under 18 level, 3 times at under 20 level - and 3 times in the senior men’s team. He has silky smooth hands with the puck and is light on his skates. Casey is right at home as a scorer or being a team player and assisting his teammates with his excellent passing skills.
The Ice and Brave cannot go into this weekends double header in more contrasting form. The Ice are undefeated in six games, their best start to an AIHL season. The Brave are on a five-game cold streak, suffering from their worst start to an AIHL season.
But as the superannuation industry always tells us, prior performance is no guarantee of future results. This has become our mantra this weekend.
The Ice are travelling with a shortened roster compared to their home gameday rosters we have witnessed thus far. The Brave have six returning national team players, with only Aleksi Toivonen still out.
Austin Cangelosi is also set to make his debut and his CV record should have brave fans on the edge of their seats this weekend. He has scored over a goal a game in Norway and the UK, while his time in the NCAA is impressive. Did you happen to catch some of the names he has played with, they include our very own Nathan Walker but also Johnny Hockey.
Historically, the Brave hold a 60% win-rate over the Ice, which is the team’s second lowest against opposition in the AIHL. The Ice have also won 12 games vs the Brave, this is tied top with the Thunder. So, they are a bit of a bogey team for the Brave.
This all indicates that it is going to be a tough weekend for Canberra but one that is full of hope and rejuvenation. All our younger players will have learnt a lot during April, and it will make the team’s depth even better going forward.
#ForeverBrave Sean.
Mitch HENNING
Lachlan FAHMY
Bayley KUBARA (A)
Charlie YORK
Casey KUBARA (A)
Tyler KUBARA
Tommy STEVEN
Jonatan RUTH
Toby KUBARA
Alex TETREAULT (G)
Victor SJODIN (G)
Jackson GALLAGHER
Bodhi MATTHEW
Nick CHRISTENSEN
Justin MAYLAN (IM)
Joey MAATOUK
Kai MIETTINEN (C)
Jordon BRUNT
Matt HARVEY
Austin CANGELOSI (IM)
Matt MARASCO
Henry YORK
Ricki MIETTINEN
HEAD COACH: ASSISTANT COACH: EQUIP. MANAGER: EQUIP. MANAGER
PHYSIOTHERAPIST:
SPORTS MASSAGE:
Jeff Helbren
Darryl Day
Tom Letki
TEAM DOCTOR: Stu Philps
Jono Carey
Brent Russ
Dr. Rob Reid
#45 #51 #64 #74 #81 #86 #91 #98
Lliam WEBSTER
Flyn GOWER
Spencer NAVE
Nathan CACHIA
Lachie WALLS
Mackenzie CARUANA
Joakim ERDUGAN (IM)
Christian PANSINO
Jeff SOLOW IM)
Josh WALT
Joey HUGHES
Lachlan CINCOTTA
Johnny AONSO (IM)
Jacob LAVER
Tatsunoshin ISHIDA (G) (IM)
Samuel BARTLETT
Kevin PENG
Sai LAKE
Thomas FORREST (G)
Austin McKENZIE
Raymond KHALIL
Jamie BOURKE
Ellesse CARINI
MANAGER:
Kahl Heinze
Tom Howard
MANAGER: Kerry Goulet
Ellesse Carini
Your Caribou Canberra Brave are back in action this weekend with the AIHL leading Melbourne Ice entering the Brave Cave for a double header weekend full of fast, fierce and fun action!
The Brave come into the weekend on the back of a tense 6-2 loss against the Newcastle Northstars, where the final score very much doesn’t reflect the competitiveness of the game. The steadfast contingent of the Canberra Brave held their ground against the high powered Northstars outfit, before the Northstars kicked into another gear in the third to streak away.
The Brave receive much needed reinforcements in Austin Cangelosi, the 29year-old centre, hailing from Hillsborough, New Jersey, joins the Brave following his season in the Elite Hockey Ligaen (EHL) in Norway where he played for Stjernen and finished the regular season as the 5th top scorer in the league with 27 goals and 31 assists, 58 total points, in 40 games, for a per game average of 1.45. Cangelosi made his way into the Norwegian All-Star Team for his performance in the 23-24 season and took out the 22-23 award for most goals in the EHL.
Cangelosi will undoubtedly provide the Brave with offensive firepower, stability and as an alternate captain for Stjernen, additional leadership.
The Caribou Canberra Brave also welcome back the majority of their international representatives from the IIHF World Championship, where the Mighty Roos placed 5th in Group A to avoid relegation. The return of the likes of Mitch Henning, Nick Christensen and the trio of Casey, Tyler and Bayley Kubara will provide an instant boost to both the offensive and defensive capabilities of the Brave.
Also making his Caribou Canberra Brave home debut this weekend is New Zealand international Jacob Carey. The 18-year-old centre is also returning from the IIHF World Championships and spent the 23-24 season with the New Jersey Rockets of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). Carey played 26 games and picked up 31 total points (10G, 21A) for a total of 1.19 points per game. Carey is a former New Zealand Ice Hockey League Rookie of the Year, Under 18 World Junior Cup Gold medallist and top player on team and picked up a silver medal in the World Championship.
The addition of Carey will immediately provide the Brave with potency up front and combining with the likes of Austin Cangelosi, Casey Kubara, Justin Maylan and Tommy Steven should be enough to concern defences across the AIHL for the remainder of the season.
The return of Joey Hughes to the Brave Cave may be a bittersweet one for many, but emotion will have no place in this weekend as he is one of the dangermen for the Ice. Hughes and Joakim Erdugan lead the Ice with 16 points each, but following closely behind are Lliam Webster and Josh Walt with 10 points each.
The increased firepower for the Brave will be immediately tested with import goalie, and league leader, Tatsunoshin Ishida between the pipes for the Ice, it will be an almighty effort required from the Brave to take them down. Ishida holds a 6-0 win loss record for the unbeaten Ice, and outstanding 1.67 GAA and 0.935 SV%. This is your Season 2024 David vs Goliath match, and it’s only week 7!
It is always a barn burner when the Ice are in town, so make sure you get on down to the Brave Cave to catch all the action this weekend as the Brave return to near full strength and take on the league leading Melbourne Ice.
Grizz!!
The Canberra Brave would like to say thank you to our Game Day Volunteers - without whom the successful running of our games would not be possible.
Game Day Manager:
Timekeepers / Scorers:
Master Of Ceremonies: Music / DJ:
Memberships:
Ticketing: Merchandise:
Rink Ushers/Setup/All-Rounders: Chuck-A-Puck Retrievers:
Brave Game Day Photographers:
Live-stream Commentators:
Mandi Webb
Darren Sault, Kelly Sault
Jez Margosis
Jess Driver
Kerry Ann Evans, Wendy Scealy
Zach Lyall, Warren Price, Maribel Finnin
Loraine Rourke, Manuela Rudolf
Zoe Chamberlain, Jess Kalinowski, Brandan Ingham, Krisy Maricic
Annie Abbott, Taylah Abbott, Geoff & Lynette Colquhoun, Mick Kelly, Leah Meek, Louise Stevenson
Aaron, Beau, Jordan, Kahira, Panda
Paul Furness, David Tate, George Hain 'Grizzly', ‘Sledge’, Murray Barton
The Canberra Brave would also like to acknowledge the AIHL Accredited Photographers, whose work we use in the production of this publication.
For all media enquiries, please contact: admin@cbrbrave.com.au
We’ve got Poutine in the Canteen with Phat Boy Burgers! Leeroy and Bright Brewery in the Bar!!
2024 MEDIA PARTNER
