Brampton Battalion
| Brampton Battalion | |
|---|---|
| File:BramptonBattalion.png | |
| City | Brampton, Ontario |
| League | Ontario Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | Central |
| Founded | December 3, 1996 |
| Home arena | Powerade Centre |
| Colours | Olive, yellow, black, white |
| General manager | Stan Butler |
| Head coach | Stan Butler |
| Affiliates | Bramalea Blues Brampton Capitals |
The Brampton Battalion are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team is based in Brampton, Ontario and started playing in 1998.
History
The Brampton Battalion were granted an expansion franchise on December 3, 1996. Major Junior A hockey had returned to Brampton since 1963, when the Brampton 7Ups played in the Metro Junior A League before returning to the Junior B level.
Brampton was part of the return of major junior hockey to the Greater Toronto Area in the late 1990s that included the Mississauga IceDogs and the revived Toronto St. Michael's Majors. In 2005, team owner Scott Abbott was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame for his work in building the franchise.[1]
The Battalion name was chosen from community suggestions, and was also adopted by the competitive minor hockey program. Brampton is covered by local television Rogers Community Cable 10, and the local newspaper, The Brampton Guardian. The Battalion's secondary school educational programs are co-ordinated through Turner Fenton Secondary School.
Early Days In The West
The Battalion began play for the 1998-99 OHL season in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference. The Battalion played their first game on September 24 1998 losing to the host Peterborough Petes by a 5-1 score. Jason Maleyko scored the first goal in club history. The Battalion played their first game at the Powerade Centre on October 9 1998 losing to the Kitchener Rangers by a score of 5-1. The first win in club history would come on October 18 when the troops beat the visiting Sudbury Wolves 5-4. The first season on the ice didn't go so well however as the Battalion finished the season with only 8 wins, 57 losses, and 3 ties for last in the Western Conference and 19th in the league ahead of only the Mississauga Ice Dogs.
The 1999-2000 Season was much better for the Battalion as they finished with a 25-29-14 record, good enough for a 3rd place finish in the Midwest Division and 7th in the Western Conference which gave them their first ever trip to the post season. The Battalion won their first ever playoff game vs the Erie Otters with a 5-2 score however the 2nd place Otters proved to be too strong and Erie took the series in 6 games.
The 2000-2001 Season proved to be the first season in club history that the team would score a record above the .500 mark with a final tally of 33-22-13 for a 3rd place finish in the Midwest Division and 5th in the Western Conference. The Battalion would take on the 4th place Guelph Storm in the first round of the playoffs and came out on top by sweeping the Storm in 4 games for the first playoff series win in club history. The win in game 4 is still the only time to date in club history that the Battalion have clinched a playoff series on home ice. In round 2 for the second straight year the Troops took on the 1st place Erie Otters. After the Troops took game 1 the Otters would win four in a row and win the series in five games.
The Battalion fell back to below the .500 mark in the 2001-2002 season posting a 26-35-7 record for last in the Division and Conference as the team missed the playoffs for the 2nd time in 4 years.
Move To The Eastern Conference
During the 2002 off season the North Bay Centennials were bought and moved to Saginaw, Michigan to become the Spirit and thus leaving the East and West unbalanced so the Battalion were moved to the Eastern Conference and given North Bay’s former spot in the Central Division. Once again the Battalion surged above the .500 mark finishing with a 34-24-10 record good enough to win their first Division Championship in franchise history beating the Toronto St. Michaels Majors by only 2 points. During the 2003 playoffs the Battalion started what would eventually become a rivalry with the Barrie Colts defeating the Colts in the first round in six games. The second round would see the top two in the Division as the Battalion faced Toronto. Brampton started off the series well beating Toronto in game 1 by a 7-0 score. However Toronto eventually proved to much for Brampton as the Majors would win four straight and take the series in only 5 games.
The Battalion didn’t fare to well during the 2003-2004 regular season as their record fell to 25-32-11. However the record was good enough for 7th in the east and a first round matchup with a heavily favored Ottawa 67’s team who had won the East Division. With their backs towards the wall the Battalion shocked many as they took the 67’s to seven games, winning game 7 and the series in Ottawa and advancing to the 2nd round. For the second straight year in round 2 the Battalion would have to face the Eastern Conference Champions, the Toronto St.Michaels Majors. This time the Majors jumped out to a 3-0 series lead. Brampton was able to win 1 game to force a 5th but that was as far as they would get as the Majors won the series in five.
During the 2004-2005 season the Battalion stood tall as they became part of a huge race involving several teams to not only win the Central Division Title but the Eastern Conference Championship as well. Despite posting a good 33-24-11 record, Brampton would loose the race to the Mississauga Ice Dogs and finish 3rd in the central and 4th in the conference setting up a first round match up with the Sudbury Wolves. The series with the Wolves was an intense one. The Wolves took the first two games including one in overtime. Brampton clawed their way back however in game 6 in Sudbury the Battalion were on the brink of elimination. The game went to double overtime with the Wolves scoring a Powerplay goal to end Brampton’s season.
Curse vs The Colts
The 2005-2006 season would become the best season in club history however the season didn’t start off that way. After a somewhat mediocre start the club by mid February had climbed to a record of 30-21-1-2. With 14 games remaining on the schedule the Battalion would have to win every single game to even have a shot at the Division Championship, so that’s exactly what they did. The Battalion would win the last 14 games of the regular season to establish a franchise record for straight wins (a record that eventually fell during the 2008-2009 season) to finish the season with a record of 44-21-1-2 and beating the Barrie Colts to win the Central Division Championship by only 1 single point. In the first round of the playoffs the Battalion knocked off the Belleville Bulls in six games before having to face the Barrie Colts in round 2. Before the series started everybody expected it to be a long and great series. In the first 2 games the teams traded 4-1 wins before the flood gates opened and the Colts took control of the series. In game 3 the Colts took a dominating 6-1 win before destroying Brampton in game 4 11-2. Game 5 was much closer but the Colts still took the game 3-2 and the series in only five games and thus beginning the Battalion’s Curse of the Colts.
With several key players like future NHL star Wojtek Wolski, Luch Aquino and Daren Machesney gone the team slumped in the 2006-2007 season barely making the playoffs with a 27-36-1-4 record, only good enough for the last playoff spot (8th) in the East. During the 1st round they would have to go up against the #1 Barrie Colts who still had most of their players from the previous season’s series. Brampton was able to keep most games close but Barrie kept coming out on top. In game 4 on home ice the Battalion on the brink of elimination had a 4-1 lead mid way through the third period and appeared to be on their way to a win before the Colts scored 3 goals in less then 7 minutes to force overtime. In OT it took the Colts only 5 minutes to score and thus end the series in 4 straight games.
The 2007-2008 season saw the team celebrate their 10th season of OHL hockey and the fans saw a great team on the ice as things went much better for the Battalion, with sophomore centre Cody Hodgson, rookie forward Matt Duchene, and veteran winger John Hughes the team posted several wins finishing with a 42-22-1-3 record, just shy of the club record of 91 points set in 05-06. During the season the Battalion had their first 10 goal game in club history as on September 23 the host Battalion beat up on the Sudbury Wolves 10-2. For the 3rd time in 6 years the team took home the Central Division Championship. In the first round the Battalion once again were set to face the Barrie Colts, who this season had lost many of their key players and had only finished 7th in the east. With Brampton heavily favored to win the series the Colts shocked as Barrie won the first two games by 2-1 and 3-2(OT) scores. The Battalion were able to come back and win game 3 by a score of 5-1 however the Colts would continue to stand behind the absolutely amazing goaltending of Michael Hutchinson in game 4 winning 2-1 in overtime. With Brampton on the brink of elimination on home ice in game 5 Hutchinson stood tall again as the Colts won the game 2-0 and upset the Battalion in only five games. For the 3rd straight year Brampton had been eliminated by the Barrie Colts.
In 10 full seasons of OHL hockey the Battalion have a regular season record of 297-301-52-21-9 (W-L-T-OTL-SL) in 680 games.
2008-2009 Season, The Streak
During the off season Brampton saw many players leave the team as Goaltender Bryan Pitton moved to the ECHL, defense man Bobby Sanguinetti, Cory Emmerton and captain John De Grey to the AHL as well as Luke Lynes, Graham McNabb and Zack Shepley all to age. Cody Hodgson was drafted 10th overall in the NHL draft in the 1st round to the Vancouver Canucks and missed the first five games of the season while at Canucks camp but was returned to Brampton in early October. Brampton started the season off slow going 2-6 in the first eight games however the team would begin a franchise record winning streak. From October 13 to November 23 Brampton would win 16 straight games to boost their record to 18-6 before finally losing on November 27 on the road vs Niagara when the Ice Dogs scored with just 7 seconds left in overtime. Brampton would win 2 more games to extend their "unbeaten streak" to 19 games before finally losing in regulation at home on December 4 to Saginaw 5-2. During December forwards Cody Hodgson and Evgeny Grachev each represented their country at the 2009 World Junior Championships playing for Canada and Russia respectively. Matt Duchene was invited to Team Canada camp but was one of the final cuts. While Grachev would win Bronze with Russia, Hodgson would be the tournaments leading scorer in leading Team Canada to a Gold Medal victory. After the world juniors the Battalion acquired several players at the OHL trade deadline. First Brampton traded Michael Hasson to rival Niagara for overage defense man Josh Day and forward Andrew Merrett. Then Brampton traded the rights to John Hughes (who decided to play the 08-09 season in Austria) to Kingston for overager Matt Kang. Brampton then acquired some toughness when they traded Kyle DeCoste to Sault Ste Marie for heavyweight Anthony Peluso. Finally the Troops traded rookie goaltender Brandon Foote (who had posted an impressive 11-2 record) and forward Josh Shalla to Guelph for Thomas McCollum who played for Team USA at the World Juniors and had been drafted 30th overall by the Detroit Red Wings. The Battalion would post another extended winning streak in the second half of the season. From January 11 to February 6 Brampton would win 12 straight games before losing to the Belleville Bulls on the road 3-1 on February 11, exactly one month after the winning streak started. After scoring 40 goals and 40 assists for 80 points in 60 games, and having a +48, Evgeny Grachev was announced as the winner of the Emms Family Award as OHL rookie of the year on April 8th, 2009.
Championships
The Battalion are in quest of their first J. Ross Robertson Cup and first Memorial Cup. The Battalion have won four division titles and one conference title to date.
Emms Trophy
Central Division Champions
- 2002–03, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008-09
Bobby Orr Trophy Eastern Conference Champions
- 2008-2009
Coaches
Stan Butler has been the only head coach and general manager in club history. He was appointed to the position in August 1997. He is currently the second longest serving coach with the same team, second only to Brian Kilrea. Butler previously coached the Oshawa Generals, Prince George Cougars, and the Canada's National Under 18 team.
Players
Award Winners
- 1998 – Jay Harrison Jack Ferguson Award, First overall draft pick
- 1999-00 – Rostislav Klesla CHL Top Draft Prospect Award
- 2005-06 – Wojtek Wolski William Hanley Trophy, Most Sportsmanlike Player
- 2005CHRIS RULES!!-06 – Wojtek Wolski Red Tilson Trophy, Most Outstanding Player
- 2008-09 - Evgeny Grachev Emms Family Award, Rookie of the Year
- 2008-09 - Cody Hodgson William Hanley Trophy, Most Sportsmanlike Player
- 2008-09 - Matt Duchene Bobby Smith Trophy, OHL Scholastic Player of the Year
- 2008-09 - Cody Hodgson Red Tilson Trophy, Most Outstanding Player
NHL Alumni
The Brampton Battalion have 10 alumni that have graduated to play in the National Hockey League.
- Brent Burns
- Brian Finley
- Jay Harrison
- Rostislav Klesla
- Kamil Kreps
- Jay McClement
- Raffi Torres
- Wojtek Wolski
- Phil Oreskovic
- Michael Vernace
Current Roster
as of April 15th 2009.
| Goaltenders | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Glove | Acquired | NHL Draft | Place of Birth | |
| 33 | 
|
Thomas McCollum | L | Trade GUE 2009 | Detroit | Sanborn, New York |
| 1 | 
|
Patrick Killeen | L | Brampton Battalion 2006 | Pittsburgh | Carp, Ontario |
| Defencemen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Acquired | NHL Draft | Place of Birth | |
| 2 |
|
Ken Peroff | R | Brampton Battalion 2005 | 2009 | Chisholm Township, Ontario |
| 3 |
|
Kyle Pereira | L | Brampton Battalion 2007 | 2009 | Brampton, Ontario |
| 4 |
|
Ben Alavie | R | Brampton Battalion 2006 | Free Agent | Richmond Hill, Ontario |
| 5 |
|
Matt Clark | R | Brampton Battalion 2006 | 2009 | Campbellville, Ontario |
| 6 |
|
Brad Albert | L | Brampton Battalion 2005 | Free Agent | Nepean, Ontario |
| 7 | 
|
Alexander Eriksson | L | Brampton Battalion 2007 | 2009 | Umea, Sweden |
| 8 |
|
Cameron Wind | R | Brampton Battalion 2008 | 2010 | Barrie, Ontario |
| 21 |
|
Josh Day | L | Trade NIA 2009 | Free Agent | St. John's, Newfoundland |
| Forwards | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Position | Acquired | NHL Draft | Place of Birth | |
| 9 |
|
Matt Duchene | L | C | Brampton Battalion 2007 | 2009 | Haliburton, Ontario |
| 10 |
|
Matt Kang | L | LW | Trade KGN 2009 | Free Agent | Toronto, Ontario |
| 11 |
|
Scott Tanski | R | RW | Brampton Battalion 2006 | 2009 | Burlington, Ontario |
| 12 |
|
Craig Moore | L | LW | Brampton Battalion 2007 | 2009 | Orleans, Ontario |
| 14 |
|
Thomas Stajan | L | C | Trade OS 2007 | Free Agent | Mississauga, Ontario |
| 15 | 
|
Evgeny Grachev | L | LW | Brampton Battalion 2008 | New York R | Yaroslavl, Russia |
| 16 |
|
Sam Carrick | R | C | Brampton Battalion 2009 | 2010 | Stouffville, Ontario |
| 17 |
|
Jason Dale | R | RW | Brampton Battalion 2006 | Free Agent | Pickering, Ontario |
| 18 |
|
Stephon Thorne | L | LW | Brampton Battalion 2006 | 2009 | Mississauga, Ontario |
| 19 |
|
Cody Hodgson | R | C | Brampton Battalion 2006 | Vancouver | Markham, Ontario |
| 20 |
|
Derek Gregorack | R | LW | Brampton Battalion 2009 | Free Agent | Ajax, Ontario |
| 22 |
|
Andrew Merrett | R | RW | Trade NIA 2009 | 2009 | Ottawa, Ontario |
| 23 |
|
Anthony Peluso | R | RW | Trade SSM 2009 | St.Louis | King City, Ontario |
Team records
| Team Records for a single season | ||
| Statistic | Total | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Most Points | 96 | 2008–09 |
| Most Wins | 47 | 2008–09 |
| Most Goals For | 272 | 2005–06 |
| Least Goals For | 180 | 2003–04 |
| Least Goals Against | 184 | 2008–09 |
| Most Goals Against | 362 | 1998–99 |
| Individual player records for a single season | |||
| Statistic | Player | Total | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Goals | Wojtek Wolski | 47 | 2005–06 |
| Most Assists | Wojtek Wolski | 81 | 2005–06 |
| Most Points | Wojtek Wolski | 128 | 2005–06 |
| Most Points, Rookie | Evgeny Grachev | 80 | 2008–09 |
| Most Points, Defenceman | Michael Vernace | 72 | 2005–06 |
| Best GAA, Goalie | Thomas McCollum | 2.11 | 2008-09 |
| Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played | |||
Season-by-season results
Regular season
Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shoot Out Loss
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | Tied | OTL | SL | Points | Pct % | Goals For |
Goals Against |
Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 68 | 8 | 57 | 3 | - | – | 19 | 0.140 | 198 | 362 | 5th Midwest |
| 1999–00 | 68 | 25 | 28 | 11 | 4 | – | 65 | 0.449 | 213 | 226 | 3rd Midwest |
| 2000–01 | 68 | 33 | 22 | 9 | 4 | – | 79 | 0.551 | 231 | 210 | 3rd Midwest |
| 2001–02 | 68 | 26 | 35 | 5 | 2 | – | 59 | 0.419 | 215 | 258 | 5th Midwest |
| 2002–03 | 68 | 34 | 24 | 6 | 4 | – | 78 | 0.544 | 239 | 202 | 1st Central |
| 2003–04 | 68 | 25 | 32 | 9 | 2 | – | 61 | 0.434 | 180 | 221 | 4th Central |
| 2004–05 | 68 | 33 | 24 | 9 | 2 | – | 77 | 0.551 | 214 | 200 | 3rd Central |
| 2005–06 | 68 | 44 | 21 | – | 1 | 2 | 91 | 0.669 | 272 | 222 | 1st Central |
| 2006–07 | 68 | 27 | 36 | – | 1 | 4 | 59 | 0.434 | 214 | 277 | 4th Central |
| 2007–08 | 68 | 42 | 22 | – | 1 | 3 | 88 | 0.647 | 264 | 187 | 1st Central |
| 2008-09 | 68 | 47 | 19 | - | 1 | 1 | 96 | 0.706 | 264 | 184 | 1st Central |
Playoffs
- 1998–1999 Out of playoffs.
- 1999–2000 Lost to Erie Otters 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals.
- 2000–2001 Defeated Guelph Storm 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
Lost to Erie Otters 4 games to 1 in conference semi-finals. - 2001–2002 Out of playoffs.
- 2002–2003 Defeated Barrie Colts 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals.
Lost to St. Michael's Majors 4 games to 1 in conference semi-finals. - 2003–2004 Defeated Ottawa 67's 4 games to 3 in conference quarter-finals.
Lost to St. Michael's Majors 4 games to 1 in conference semi-finals. - 2004–2005 Lost to Sudbury Wolves 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals.
- 2005–2006 Defeated Belleville Bulls 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals.
Lost to Barrie Colts 4 games to 1 in conference semi-finals. - 2006–2007 Lost to Barrie Colts 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
- 2007–2008 Lost to Barrie Colts 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals.
Uniforms and logos
The Battalion's uniform is primarily an army-like shade of olive green. The shoulders feature black bars, with white outlining, this is then further outlined in black. Evenly between the shoulder and elbow lie three military-style chevrons, connoting rank (here, sergeant) completing armed forces theme.
The logo itself, featuring their mascot, Sarge, gritting his teeth is also army olive green, a mix of yellow and beige, white, fleshish pinky-orange, black, and red. The name Battalion, emblazoned on their uniform is pure red, and is created in a way that it looks three-dimensional.
- Uniform Colours: Olive Green, Yellow, Black and White
- Logo Design: "A militant with an army hat with Battalion under the militant."
Cartoon Series
The Brampton Battalion was also a series of comics created and produced by Kevin J. Johnston. The characters were designed to be fun-loving and politically correct, and included all ages, sizes and races.
The comics appeared as four page shorts in the game-day programs and in the local newspaper,[citation needed] and their images were on the back of souvenir t-shirts.[citation needed] The stories depicted mascots the other Ontario Hockey League franchises as the antagonists in humorous situations.
Arena
The Brampton Battalion play out of the Powerade Centre, which was formerly known as the "Brampton Centre for Sports & Entertainment." It is located on Kennedy Road, on the south-side of the city near the 407 ETR. This is a facility has one main arena, as well as three full size practice rinks on the north-east side, many baseball diamonds as part of the complex. Also a full sized outdoor rink was added to the south side of the complex in the summer of 2008.
- Powerade Centre - The OHL Arena & Travel Guide
- Capacity = 4,980
- Ice Size = 200' x 85'
See also
External links
- www.battalionhockey.com Official web site
- Ontario Hockey League Official web site
- Canadian Hockey League Official web site
References
- "1", Brampton Sports Hall of Fame, Scott Abbott, retrieved May 18, 2006.
