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
- 1983 Won league, Won OHA Championship
- Tavistock Braves defeated St. George Dukes 4-games-to-2 in OHA final
- 1987 Won league, Lost OHA final
- Lucan Irish defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-3 in OHA final
- 2002 Lost league final
- Exeter Hawks defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-none in final
- 2004 Lost league final
- Exeter Hawks defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-2 in final
- 2006 Lost conference 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
- 2007 Lost conference 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.
- 2008 Won McConnell Conference, Lost OHA Cup 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.
- 2009 Lost conference 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.
- 2010 Lost conference 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.
- 2011 Lost league finals
- 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.
- 2012 Lost quarter-finals
- St. George Dukes defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-3 in quarter-finals.
- 2013 Lost 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.
- 2014 Lost quarter-finals
- New Hamburg Firebirds defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-2 in quarter-finals.
- 2014 Lost 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.
