Brampton Battalion

Hockey team |CAN_eng=1
team = Brampton Battalion

city = Brampton, Ontario
league = Ontario Hockey League
conference = Eastern
division = Central
founded = December 3, 1996
arena = Powerade Centre
colours = Olive, Yellow, Black, White
coach = Stan Butler
GM = Stan Butler
affiliates = Bramalea Blues
Brampton CapitalsThe 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. [http://www.bramptonsports.ca/inductee.php?pk=111 [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.

Championships

The Battalion are in quest of their first J. Ross Robertson Cup and first Memorial Cup. The Battalion have won three division titles to date.

Emms Trophy
Central Division Champions
* "2002–03, 2005–06, 2007–08"

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
*"2005-06" – Wojtek Wolski Red Tilson Trophy, Most Outstanding PlayerNHL Alumni
The Brampton Battalion have 9 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
*Jason Spezza
*Wojtek Wolski

Current Roster

"as of October 3rd, 2008."

Goalies
*1 -- Patrick Killeen (Carp, Ontario) ~ PIT 2008
*30 -- Brandon Foote (Whitby, Ontario)

Defencemen
*2 -- Ken Peroff (Chisholm Township, Ontario)
*3 -- Kyle Pereira (Brampton, Ontario)
*4 -- Ben Alavie (Richmond Hill, Ontario)
*5 -- Matt Clark (Campbellville, Ontario)
*6 -- Brad Albert (Nepean, Ontario)
*7 -- Alexander Erikssön (Umea, Sweden)
*8 -- Cameron Wind (Barrie, Ontario)

Forwards
*9 -- Matt Duchêne (Haliburton, Ontario)
*10 -- Josh Shalla (Whitby, Ontario)
*11 -- Scott Tanski (Burlington, Ontario)
*12 -- Craig Moore (Orleans, Ontario)
*14 -- Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ontario)
*15 -- Evgeny Grachev (Khabarovsk, Russia) ~ NYR 2008
*16 -- Sam Carrick (Stouffville, Ontario)
*17 -- Jason Dale (Pickering, Ontario)
*19 -- Cody Hodgson (Markham, Ontario)~ VAN 2008
*18 -- Stephon Thorne (Mississauga, Ontario)
*21 -- Michael Hasson (Ariss, Ontario)
*22 -- John Hughes (Whitby, Ontario)
*23 -- Kyle DeCoste (London, Ontario) ~ TB 2008
*27 -- Chris Beauchamp (Midland, Ontario)
*28 -- Luke VanMoerkerke (Tillsonburg, Ontario)

Team records

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,Fact|date=February 2008 and their images were on the back of souvenir t-shirts.Fact|date=February 2008 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.
* [http://www.ohlarenaguide.com/battalion.htm Powerade Centre] - The OHL Arena & Travel Guide

: Capacity = 4,980: Ice Size = 200' x 85'

ee also

*List of ice hockey teams in Ontario

External links

* [http://www.battalionhockey.com/ www.battalionhockey.com] Official web site
* [http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/ Ontario Hockey League] Official web site
* [http://www.chl.ca/ Canadian Hockey League] Official web site

References

* [http://www.bramptonsports.ca/inductee.php?pk=111 "1"] , Brampton Sports Hall of Fame, Scott Abbott, retrieved May 18, 2006.