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Home > Sports > Braves get jump in playoff series, Team claims regular season title, captures league awards

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Braves get jump in playoff series, Team claims regular season title, captures league awards

Posted Mar 11, 2010 By Jeff Maguire

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EMC Sports - The Brockville Braves, the CJHL's regular season champions, got their post-season off to a great start, hammering the Kemptville 73's 7-3 in the opening game of their best-of-seven quarterfinal Tuesday night.

Shayne Stockton and Mark Williamson each recorded five-point games to lead the Braves to victory.

Game two of the series was played last night (Wednesday) in Kemptville with the third game slated for the Brockville Memorial Centre tomorrow (Friday) at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Central Junior Hockey League (CJHL) announced its season-ending awards for 2009-2010 last week and not surprisingly players and staff from Brockville Braves and Pembroke Lumber Kings led the honours.

Lumber Kings, who this week embark on a quest for their fourth straight Art Bogart Cup (CJHL championship), claim four of the awards while Brockville, who nipped Pembroke at the wire for the regular season pennant, pick up two trophies.

Braves' coach, general manager and owner Todd Gill was named 'Coach of the Year'. He led Brockville to a magnificent 52-8-1-1 record this season (106 points). Included was a CJHL record 26-game winning streak.

Braves unprecedented run began last Oct. 30 and concluded with a 2-1 home ice win over Cumberland Grads on Jan. 15. It might have been much longer except for Pembroke's 6-5 shootout victory over Brockville on Sunday, Jan. 17 in Pembroke. After that Braves embarked on a shorter three-game victory run.

Gill and company also successfully applied to host this year's Fred Page Cup Eastern Canadian Junior A championship tournament. It will be staged from April 21-25 at Brockville Memorial Centre. So no matter how Braves do in the CJHL post season they will fight for a berth in the 2010 Royal Bank Cup (RBC), national Junior A championship tournament, which will be played in Dauphin, Manitoba May 1-9.

The Fred Page event will feature the host Braves along with the CJHL champion, or runner-up if Brockville claims the league crown along with the Maritime and Quebec champions.

Gill, a 45-year-old Brockville native, enjoyed a 19-year career in the National Hockey League (NHL) mainly with Toronto Maple Leafs. The defenceman scored 82 goals and 270 assists in 1,007 career games. Gill played for seven different NHL teams during his long career.

This is his second Coach of the Year award. He also received the honour at the end of the 2006-2007 CJHL campaign.

Thompson wins

Brockville also receives one of this year's CJHL player awards with veteran forward Shayne Thompson picking up the 'Top Graduating Player' trophy. Thompson, a 20-year-old left winger from Stittsville, is in his first full season with Braves after being dealt to Brockville from Kanata Stallions at the junior hockey trade deadline Jan. 10, 2009. He starred for most of two seasons with Stallions.

This has been a stellar campaign for Thompson who helped lead Brockville to the regular season pennant and, no matter how the club does in the playoffs, will have a shot at making it all the way to the Junior A national championship tournament. The 5' 11", 200 pound Thompson, who is also Braves' captain, scored 33 goals and added 54. His 87 points tied him with Pembroke's Kyle Just for ninth place in the overall CJHL scoring parade.

Thompson is committed to the University of Massachusetts Lowell next year where he will play hockey on a scholarship.

Kanata star forward Allan McPherson was selected 'Most Sportsmanlike Player' in the league this season.

Another Kanata native is the 'Top Prospect Award' winner in the league this season. Michael Borkowski, a 17-year-old left winger led Cumberland Grads in scoring during the 2009-2010 campaign.

Pembroke coach and general manager Sheldon Keefe is the 'Manager of the Year' for the third straight season. Keefe has led Lumber Kings to three straight Bogart Cup championships. The 'Best Defenceman' in the league this year is Pembroke blueliner and team captain Ben Reinhardt, a native of Arnprior. Reinhardt's teammate Damian Cross is the winner of the 'Outstanding Player' award. Cross, a 20-year-old right winger, played in all 62 games scoring 53 goals and contributing 87 assists to finish with an even 140 points. And the fourth trophy for Pembroke this season goes to Matthew Peca who was selected 'Rookie of the Year'.

This year's 'Best Goaltender' award goes to Doug Carr of Cornwall Colts. Carr, a 20-year-old from Hanover, Massachusetts is in his third season with the hockey club.

The 'Scholastic Player of the Year' in the CJHL is veteran forward Andrew Calof of Nepean Raiders. The 18-year-old centre from Ottawa led Raiders in scoring this season with 45 goals and 53 assists in 57. Calof moves to prestigious Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. this fall, underlining his status as scholastic player of the year.