BRAVE LIGHTNING GAME DAY PROGRAM
AT A GLANCE the weekend
SATURDAY 20th & SUNDAY 21st OF APRIL - 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/
to the
CAVE BRAVE welcome
WELCOME BRAVE FANS!!
Well, there’s a few changes afoot in our 10th year - and some big things ahead for the season! A big thanks must go to the team at Supercurious for their branding and marketing genius, with a great new colour scheme for 2024, superbly designed home and away kit, a name revamp to Canberra Brave - and some great new merch on its way to celebrate the season!
After a couple of weekends of away games, we’re finally at home in the Brave Cave with our league #1 home crowd support.
The 2024 season home opener features a Saturday / Sunday double header against the Brisbane Lightning, who performed admirably in their debut AIHL season.
The Canberra Brave will be without local players, Casey, Tyler and Bayley Kubara, Mitch Henning, Nick Christensen and Aleksi Toivonen, all of whom will be away playing with the “Mighty Roos” in Belgrade for the Division II World Championships. “Good luck lads”!!
We’ll also be short on imports, with nearly all still playing in finals overseas, so our young guns will have the opportunity to stand up and be counted like they did in 2023, showing the Brave fans that they had the drive and determination to take on the AIHL and compete at the highest level.
It’s going to be too close to call the winner of these two games, but a couple of things for sure, Brisbane will bring their physical style of play to try and rattle the home team - and our boys will be out to show the crowd what they’re made of.
BY canberra brave NUMBERS THE 10 BRAVE YEARS IN THE AUSTRALIAN ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE
Our 10 year feature article comes from one of our resident stats technicians Tristan Metcalfe.
Over the past 10 years, the Brave have been the strongest team in the AIHL. The only team to make the Finals every season, more wins than any other team, and less losses than all except the teams which joined in 2023 all culminating in two Goodall Cups in 2018 and 2022.
BRAVE WINNING RECORD AGAINST ALL OPPONENTS
The overall record through 215 regular season games shows a win percentage of 70.5% - with only the Newcastle Northstars start to 2024 pushing them above 60%..
141W – 11 OTW – 10OTL – 53L
At home, the Brave are even harder to beat – across 109 games in the Brave Cave, they have won 81 (including shootouts and overtime) and lost 28 – a percentage of 74.6%. Away from home, a win percentage of 68.0% is still stronger than any opponent.
But how do we fare against different opponents?
A winning record against all 9 AIHL opponents shows the across-the-board strength of the Brave for a decade, with the strongest records (aside from the Rhinos and Lightning in only 4 games each) against the Ice Dogs and Adrenaline, while the biggest challenge has been posed by the Thunder and the Ice.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
So, we know the team overall has been great - but what about the stars within that team?
Who has played the most for the Brave? No surprises here, that Captain Kai Miettinen has the most games in the Brave jersey, being the only one with over 200 games for the club.
Tyler Kubara also has over 150 games since joining the Brave, and seven other players with 100 games or more, the most recent being Jordon Brunt who reached the 100 game milestone in game 1 of season 2024 against the Newcastle Northstars, after unfortunately missing most of 2023 with an early season ending injury.
TOP 10 - GAMES PLAYED FOR THE BRAVE
6 JAMES BYERS 126 6 27 33 7 MARK RUMMUKAINEN 110 7 29 36 8 BAYLEY KUBARA 104 10 37 47 9 JORDON BRUNT 99 4 16 20 10 WEHEBE DARGE 89 70 117 18 PLAYER GP G A P 1 KAI MIETTINEN 207 48 61 109 2 TYLER KUBARA 153 25 75 120 3 MATT HARVEY 149 44 91 135 4 MITCHELL HENNING 140 22 45 67 5 CASEY KUBARA 132 86 141 227
TOP 10 - ALL TIME POINT SCORERS FOR THE BRAVE
Looking at who has made Saulty work hardest on the scorer’s bench (at least in a good way), this list is led by Stephen Blunden, who put up 230 points in only 78 Brave games –including 108 goals. Casey Kubara is hot on his heels as the highest Brave scorer, only 3 points behind, with 227 points.
PLAYER GP G A P STEPHEN BLUNDEN 78 108 122 230 CASEY KUBARA 132 86 141 227 WEHEBE DARGE 89 70 117 187 MATT HARVEY 149 44 91 135 TYLER KUBARA 153 45 75 120 KAI MIETTINEN 207 48 61 109 GEORDIE WUDRICK 45 40 64 104 JOSEPH HUGHES 57 41 53 94 ANDY CAMENZIND 41 30 47 77 AUSTIN ALBRECHT 19 39 37 76
TOP 10 - POINT SCORERS AT THE BRAVE CAVE
What about just at the Brave Cave?
Once again, Stephen Blunden comes out on top, with Casey right behind. Wehebe Darge also topping 100 points in the Brave Cave, in a Brave jersey.
BRAVE GOALTENDERS
With all this talk about scorers, we can’t forget the guys at the other end of the ice who spend all their time stopping the opposition from scoring. 8 different goalies have played more than one game in net for the Brave, with the most games played by the current duo – Aleksi Toivonen and Alex Tetreault, with 80 and 61 games, respectively.
PLAYER GP A P STEPHEN BLUNDEN 59 77 136 CASEY KUBARA 47 84 131 WEHEBE DARGE 37 65 102 TYLER KUBARA 29 41 70 MATT HARVEY 23 46 69 GEORDIE WUDRICK 21 34 55 JOEY HUGHES 21 33 54 KAI MIETTINEN 22 31 53 AUSTIN ALBRECHT 24 22 46 KELLY GEOFFREY 20 24 44
THE FINAL SAY
And last, but not least, in the 110th Brave Game in the Brave Cave since the first on April 12th 2014, are the countless volunteers, coaches, staff, sponsors and fans that have yelled, screamed, cheered, drummed and made this team the juggernaut that it has been and will continue to be.
Thank you all for reading - and here’s to another 10 years of being “BRAVE”!
GOALIE GP SAVE% GAA SHUTOUT ALEKSI TOIVONEN 80 0.878 4.150 0 ALEXANDRE TETREAULT 61 0.878 3.673 1 BRAD HUNT 4 0.086 7.790 0 JOSH UNICE 14 0 921 3 702 0 MATT HEWITT 26 0.925 2.332 0 MATT CLIMIE 21 0.914 2.569 1 PETRI PITKANEN 25 0.906 3.519 0 STUART WOODALL 7 0.842 5.771 0 TOTAL 236 0 892 3 649 2 BRAVE GOALTENDERS - NOW & THEN
CANBERRA BRAVE | JUSTIN MAYLAN
The first of our 2024 import players has arrived, a big Brave welcome to Justin Maylan. Maylan’s elite playmaking skills and strong leadership qualities will no doubt contribute to the Brave’s chances of success in season 2024.
8 WATCH brave players to
CANBERRA BRAVE | ALEXANDRE TETREAULT
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Well Tets has been around with the Brave since the beginning and has seen a lot of players come and go, but at the ripe young age of 25, still has his best years ahead of him. Backing the team up with his good mate Aleksi Toivonen, we really do have a dynamic duo protecting the Brave net! GO TETS!!!
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TEAM LINEUP
Jonatan RUTH
Lachlan FAHMY
Justin MAYLAN (IM)
Charlie YORK
Max ASTNER
Tommy STEVEN
Alex TETREAULT (GT)
Bodhi MATTHEW
Victor SDOJIN (GT)
Jackson GALLAGHER
Matthew BUSKAS
Joey MAATOUK
Kai MIETTINEN (C)
Jordon BRUNT
Toby KUBARA
Henry YORK
Ricki MIETTINEN
HEAD COACH:
ASST. COACH:
EQUIP. MANAGER: PHYSIO: MASSAGE:
TEAM DOCTOR: Stu Philps
Jeff Helbren
Tom Letki
Jono Carey Brent RussDr Rob Reid
STATS CORNER
The Brave and Lightning have a short history together. Last season the Brave enjoyed a clean sweep over the four games series against the Lightning with a +20 goal difference.
The Lightning did however live up to their reputation of being a high scoring team themselves, even against one of the best defences in the league. They managed to score 12 times in those four games, the second highest return for any team against the Brave last season (top was the Northstars with 16 goals).
The first game in 2023 between these two teams was also in Canberra and it saw both teams rack up big minutes in the penalty box, 71 minutes in total. However, surprisingly, the remaining three games produced less minutes in the box combined, 67 in total.
The Brave were kept blank on the special teams only once last season against Brisbane. They scored six power play goals over the four games, but more impressively they scored four short handed goals too and a penalty shot.
A big plus for the Brave going into this one is the lack of form Harley Anderson is in compared to this time last season. Anderson currently has one point and zero goals from four games. Last season after four games he had 10 goals and 20 points. It does demonstrate the different start the Queenslanders are experiencing this term compared to last.
It’s been a tough start to the season for both teams, so expect scrapping, expect goals and if history repeats itself, expect the penalty boxes to be busy. It’s still early days and anything can happen.
#FOREVERBRAVE Sean.
sean o'connor
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TEAM LINEUP
Mitch DYCK (A)
Anthony BARNES
Patrick POPOVICS
Sam HODIC
Thomas KILIWINK
Arum RAPCHUCK
Aiden CATACOVIC
Aaron WANNAT (A)
Neil PRETORIUS
Luke MOORE
Nick NOVYSEDLAK (G)
Curtis MEGER (G)
Matt LAVERGNE
Onrii DALGITY
Derry ADLER
Zac GUMM
Anthiny SANTILLI
Josh LaBRIE
COACH:
COACH: MANAGER: Terry Kiliwink
Mike Sarant
Julie Haidley-Fixter
grizzly’s
GAME PREVIEW
The Caribou Canberra Brave welcomes the Brisbane Lightning to The Brave Cave in their home opener, looking to avenge their recent form and recapture the form that has seen the Brave solidify their place as a powerhouse of the AIHL.
Standing in their way, however, are the equally sluggish Lightning. A Cinderella story of the 2023 AIHL season, and one that will evoke comparisons to the Brave, should the Lightning continue to build on what could only be considered a highly successful maiden campaign.
These two sides meet in a Brave Cave double header, which is sure to set the old barn alight, with a rabid Brave faithful that is always vocal and a momentous home launch of the 10-year milestone season.
It has been a slow start to the season from both the Brave and the Lightning, with the Brave narrowly edging the Lightning in the Rurak standings due to their -7 goal differential. Both teams hold a 1-3-0-0 record coming into the weekend, and both with a point to prove.
The Brave look to demonstrate a key to their continued success, being depth and ability to score across the team sheet. It is no short order trying to replicate the quality of Mitch Henning, Aleksi Toivonen, Nick Christiansen and three quarters of the Kubara Kontingent in Casey, Tyler and Bayley! Whilst the Brave will sorely miss the lads, we wish them all the best in Serbia at Worlds!
The Lightning, on the other hand, could come into the weekend with a full deck of cards, looking to recapture their scoring prowess from 2023. Can the likes of Jordan McTaggart and Julian Fodor unleash the form that saw them combine for 89 total points last year against an undermanned Brave outfit?
grizzly’s game preview
Or can your Caribou Canberra Brave weather the Storm and steady the ship? These are uncharted waters for a Brave camp that are not overly familiar with the residing in the lower half of the combined AIHL standings, but the key takeaway here is that it is very much early going for season 2024.
BRING THE PASSION
PROUD PARTNERS
2024 NAMING RIGHTS PARTNER
We’ve got Poutine in the Canteen! With Leeroy and Bright Brewery in the Bar!!
2024 MEDIA PARTNER
PROUD SPONSORS
MAJOR TEAM SPONSORS
PROUD SPONSORS
PLAYER SPONSORS
KAI MIETTINEN & MATT HARVEY
ALEXANDRE TETREAULT
ALEKSI TOIVONEN
JACKSON GALLAGHER
CASEY KUBARA & BAYLEY KUBARA
PLAYER SPONSORS
MITCH HENNING CHARLIE YORK
JORDON BRUNT
THE WOODS FAMILY TYLER KUBARA
JACOB CAREY
THE CAVE DWELLERS
NICK CHRISTENSEN
ROBYN & DAVID KEMP
LACHLAN FAHMY
