Tavistock Braves

Tavistock Braves
Midwestern Junior C Hockey League
City Tavistock, Ontario
Founded 1970
Head Coach Jamie Petrie (2014-15)
General Manager Jamie Petrie (2014-15)
Arena Tavistock & District Recreation Centre
Team Colors Black, Yellow, and White
League Champions 1983, 1987, 1988, 2008
OHA Cups 1983

The Tavistock Braves are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team based in Tavistock, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Midwestern Junior C Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association.

History

During the 1981-82 season Tavistock finished first overall in regular season league play for the first time in franchise history. In 1982-83 the feat was repeated and was upstaged with the first and only OHA Cup in franchise history. In 1986-87 and 1987-88 Tavistock would once again post back-to-back first overall regular season finishes. However in both seasons they would fall short of the OHA Cup.

After suffering relative mediocrity through the 1990s Tavistock would return as a power in the 2000s. In the early 2000s Tavistock was consistently held just short of a championship by a pair of Hawks. Both Exeter and Hagersville took turns ending Tavistock's postseason runs a little earlier than expected.

As the decade progressed Tavistock would encounter a new rival. In the spring of 2006 the Delhi Travellers would be responsible for eliminating the Braves in the conference finals in four games. In 2006-07 Tavistock finished first place overall during the regular season. The league's top two scorers, Jeff Roes and Joe Voll played for the Tavistock Braves during the 06-07 season, Voll set a team and conference record tallying 122 points in 42 games. However come playoff time the Braves again found themselves in a battle for the conference title with Delhi. This time falling short in a dramatic game seven double overtime loss. In 2007-08 Tavistock would again meet the rival Travellers in the McConnell Conference final, however unlike the previous two years the Braves managed to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to take the Conference title. Twenty-five years after their previous OHA Cup Championship the Braves were unable to duplicate the accomplishment and fell to a strong Thamesford Trojans team in four games.

With the restructuring of the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League for the 2008-09 season Tavistock found themselves in a conference with longtime local rivals the Ayr Centennials and Wellesley Applejacks as well as a newly formed foe in Thamesford. Due to an imbalanced schedule Tavistock and Thamesford would play each other eight times during the regular season. The two heavy weights of the division battled it out for the conference title until January when Thamesford began to pull away. As expected the two teams breezed through their first rounds and met up in the conference finals. Tavistock came out with the short end of the stick losing an extremely close series four games to one with no games were decided by more than a goal.

In the Summer of 2013, the Ontario Hockey Association realigned and the Braves ended up in the Midwestern Junior C Hockey League.

Season-by-season standings

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
1970-71 34 17 12 5 - 210 177 39 2nd WJDHL
1971-72 30 7 22 1 - 138 210 15 7th WJDHL
1972-73 29 4 22 3 - 114 202 11 8th WJDHL
1973-74 34 6 27 1 - 141 269 13 8th WJDHL
1974-75 32 12 18 2 - 168 198 28 7th WJDHL
1975-76 28 16 8 4 - 173 131 36 3rd WJDHL
1976-77 31 21 8 2 - 216 150 44 3rd WJDHL
1977-78 34 8 25 1 - 149 239 17 8th WJDHL
1978-79 34 9 21 4 - 158 236 21 8th WJDHL
1979-80 33 10 19 4 - 148 182 24 8th WJDHL
1980-81 34 19 10 5 - 217 150 43 4th WJDHL
1981-82 38 27 7 4 - 260 165 58 1st WJDHL
1982-83 38 31 5 2 - 278 147 64 1st WJDHL
1983-84 34 15 17 2 - 220 186 32 5th WJDHL
1984-85 34 23 9 2 - 230 158 48 3rd WJDHL
1985-86 42 20 15 7 - 206 195 47 5th WJDHL
1986-87 40 28 8 4 - -- -- 60 1st SJDHL
1987-88 31 24 4 3 - -- -- 51 1st SJDHL
1988-89 36 19 16 1 - 238 194 39 10th WJDHL
1989-90 35 9 21 5 - 133 183 23 14th WJDHL
1990-91 40 16 21 3 0 181 209 35 12th WJDHL
1991-92 34 16 16 2 0 162 172 34 12th OHAJDL
1992-93 39 13 17 7 2 141 164 35 12th OHAJDL
1993-94 40 12 22 6 - 179 225 30 12th OHAJDL
1994-95 39 21 11 3 4 189 172 49 5th OHAJDL
1995-96 40 17 21 0 2 181 198 36 11th OHAJDL
1996-97 39 20 16 1 2 196 176 43 7th OHAJDL
1997-98 37 8 28 1 2 115 168 17 16th OHAJDL
1998-99 37 15 20 1 1 126 148 32 14th OHAJDL
1999-00 38 15 21 1 1 145 188 32 12th OHAJDL
2000-01 40 29 9 2 0 -- -- 60 2nd OHAJDL
2001-02 40 28 7 4 1 213 112 61 2nd OHAJDL
2002-03 40 21 15 2 2 158 145 46 6th OHAJDL
2003-04 40 30 9 1 0 187 116 61 2nd OHAJDL
2004-05 39 27 9 3 0 174 126 57 2nd OHAJDL
2005-06 37 21 10 5 1 191 126 48 7th OHAJDL
2006-07 42 34 7 0 1 243 116 69 1st SOJHL Lost Conf. Final
2007-08 42 26 14 - 2 169 115 54 6th SOJHL Lost Final
2008-09 40 19 17 - 4 131 137 42 6th SOJHL Lost Conf. Final
2009-10 36 17 14 - 5 136 136 39 8th SOJHL Lost Conf. Final
2010-11 35 26 6 - 3 160 91 55 1st SOJHL Lost Final
2011-12 35 21 11 - 3 141 97 45 6th SOJHL Lost Quarter-final
2012-13 38 17 18 - 3 151 129 37 5th SOJHL-Mc Lost Div. Quarter-final
2013-14 40 16 22 - 2 110 160 34 6th MWJCHL Lost Quarter-final
2014-15 40 17 21 2 - 117 127 36 7th MWJCHL Lost Quarter-final

Playoffs

Tavistock Braves defeated St. George Dukes 4-games-to-2 in OHA final
Lucan Irish defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-3 in OHA final
Exeter Hawks defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-none in final
Exeter Hawks defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-2 in final
Tavistock Braves defeated St. George Dukes 4-games-to-2 in conf. quarter-final
Tavistock Braves defeated Wellesley Applejacks 4-games-to-1 in conf. semi-final
Delhi Travellers defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-none in conf. final
Tavistock Braves defeated Ayr Centennials 4-games-to-0 in conf. quarter-final.
Tavistock Braves defeated Hagersville Hawks 4-games-to-2 in conf. semi-final.
Delhi Travellers defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-3 in conf. final.
Tavistock Braves defeated Hagersville Hawks 4-games-to-0 in conf. quarter-final.
Tavistock Braves defeated St. George Dukes 4-games-to-1 in conf. semi-final.
Tavistock Braves defeated Delhi Travellers 4-games-to-3 in conf. final.
Thamesford Trojans defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-none in OHA Cup final.
Tavistock Braves defeated Ayr Centennials 4-games-to-1 in conf. semi-final.
Thamesford Trojans defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-1 in conf. final.
Tavistock Braves defeated Ayr Centennials 4-games-to-1 in conf. semi-final.
Thamesford Trojans defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-3 in conf. final.
Tavistock Braves defeated Port Dover Sailors 4-games-to-0 in quarter-finals.
Tavistock Braves defeated Delhi Travellers 4-games-to-3 in semifinals.
Ayr Centennials defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-2 in McConnell Conference finals.
St. George Dukes defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-3 in quarter-finals.
Tavistock Braves defeated Burford Bulldogs 4-games-to-2 in preliminary quarter-finals.
Ayr Centennials defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-1 in quarter-finals.
New Hamburg Firebirds defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-2 in quarter-finals.
New Hamburg Firebirds defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-1 in quarter-finals.

Notable alumni

Jeff Zehr played for the Tavistock Braves during the 1993/94 season.

External links