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.

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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.]

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 2000–01 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 2001–02 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 2003–04 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 2004–05 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 2005–06 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 2008–09 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 2006–07 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 2007–08 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.

2008–09 - Run to the finals

After yet another disappointing loss to the Colts in the 2008 playoffs the Battalion would surge back for their best season in club history. The Season started on a bad note going 2-6 to start the year. However after the bad start the Battalion roster began to bulk up for the season as Cody Hodgson was returned to the team by the Vancouver Canucks after Hodgson had been drafted 10th overall in the 08 NHL Draft. New import pick Evgeny Grachev from Russia also made his way to Brampton after being drafted by the New York Rangers. With Matt Duchene the three players made a great trio as the Battalion would go on a record setting run in October and November winning 16 straight games (a new club record, and longest such run in the OHL during the season). After starting the streak on October 13 it came to a sudden end on November 27 when the Battalion lost on the road to the Niagara Ice Dogs 6-5 in overtime (Brampton had actually tied the game with just 1 second left in the 3rd) The Battalion would win two more games to extend the unbeaten streak to 19 games before finally losing in regulation 5-2 to Saginaw (which also brought an end to a club record 12 straight home wins). During the holiday season Battalion forwards Cody Hodgson and Evgeny Grachev would represent there countries at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa. Grachev would win Bronze with Russia while Hodgson lead the tournament in scoring in leading team Canada to the gold medal. Matt Duchene was also invited to team Canada camp but was one of the final cuts. After the WJC the Battalion increased there roster even more at the OHL trade deadline. First the Battalion added former foes from Niagara in Josh Day and Andrew Merrett (trading away Michael Hasson). Then the Battalion traded the rights to overage forward John Hughes (who decided to spend the 08/09 season in Austria) to Kingston for overage forward Matt Kang. But Stan Butler wasn’t done as he then added All Star goaltender Thomas McCollum (a first round draft choice by Detroit) who had just himself played at the WJC for his native USA from Guelph and sent rookie goaltender Brandon Foote and Josh Shalla to the Storm. Finally Brampton added some toughness in acquiring tough guy Anthony Peluso from Sault Ste Marie sending Kyle DeCoste to the far north of the OHL. Afterwards Brampton would go on another big run winning 12 games in a row over the course of a month. Brampton would finish the regular season at a club record 47 wins and 96 points however Brampton one fall just 2 points short of 1st place in the East as Belleville collected 98 points. That would set up a first round match up with the Peterborough Petes in which the Battalion won in 4 straight games (just the 2nd sweep in Battalion history). Then in the 2nd round for the first time ever the Peel Region Rivals would hook up as the Battalion would take on Mississauga. Brampton would prevail in 6 hard fought games as for the first time in club history Brampton made a trip to the conference finals where they would meet up against the 1st place Belleville Bulls. Brampton shocked Belleville taking game 1 on Yardman Arena ice and then came back to win at home by a big 7-2 score. Belleville climbed back in the series with a 6-2 home ice win but Brampton would take a strangle hold 3-1 series lead with a 4-3 come from behind win. Game 5 of the east finals would become the longest game in Battalion history as Brampton and Belleville would battle late into double overtime with Belleville eventually prevailing 3-2. That would set up Game 6 on Bunker ice and the Battalion would send the crowd home happy as once again the Battalion came from behind scoring five third period goals in winning the game 7-4 and the series 4-2 sending Brampton to the OHL Finals for the first time in team history. The finals however would not go as the Battalion planned. Brampton was set to play Windsor however the Spits embarrassed Brampton in game 1 by a huge 10-1 score. Windsor would also win game 2 (5-3) to take a 2-0 series lead. Brampton however tried to climb back into it with a 4-2 road win in game 3. However Windsor would come back with a 4-1 win in Brampton, in a game which got very nasty with both teams losing several players due to fights and misconducts in the final five minutes. The Spits would eventually prevail on home ice with a 2-1OT win in Game 5 to win the OHL Championship. Brampton’s long season which became the best in franchise history had come to an end.

When all was said and done Brampton players had collected 4 awards as Evgeny Grachev won the Emms Family Award as rookie of the year. Matt Duchene took the Bobby Smith Trophy as OHL Scholastic Player Of The Year. Finally Cody Hodgson took home two awards, winning the William Hanley Trophy as Most Sportsman Like Player and the Red Tilson Trophy as Mos Outstanding Player Of The Year, the second Battalion player to earn the OHL’s highest honour. Hodgson also took home CHL Player of the Year honours, the first Battalion player to receive the award.

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
• 2005–06 – 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 15 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	Anaheim	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	Colorado	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 = Shootout 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.
• 2008–2009 Defeated Peterborough Petes 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
  Defeated Mississauga St.Michaels Majors 4 games to 2 in conference semi-finals.
  Defeated Belleville Bulls 4 games to 2 in conference finals.
  Lost to Windsor Spitfires 4 games to 1 in 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.

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, and their images were on the back of souvenir t-shirts. 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.

• - The OHL Arena & Travel Guide

: Capacity = 4,980

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario