Les Braves de Valleyfield are a Junior ice hockey team from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada. They were a part of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League for 25 seasons. Another franchise relocated and took over their market and former moniker in 2014.
History
The Valleyfield Braves is the second team to bear this name. The first Braves team was formed in 1944 as a Senior Amateur hockey team in the Quebec Provincial Hockey League, then moved to the Quebec Senior Hockey League in 1945 and finally as a Minor League team with the Quebec Hockey League from 1953 to 1955.
The current Valleyfield team won their first league championship in 1999. The Braves advanced to the Fred Page Cup in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The tournament was won by the Charlottetown Abbies. In 2002, the Braves returned to the Fred Page Cup in Truro, Nova Scotia. The Valleyfield Braves playing a semi-final games against the CJHL's Ottawa Jr. Senators in a must-win game between both teams. The Halifax Oland Exports got a bye to the final and were hosting the Royal Bank Cup and the Central representative was to be decided between Valleyfield and Ottawa. Ottawa won 7-2 and advanced to the Royal Bank Cup, while Valleyfield returned home. The town of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and the Valleyfield Braves were chosen to host the Fred Page Cup in 2004. The Valleyfield Braves out-powered 5th ranked St-Eustance Gladiateurs 4 games 1 in the finals. The tournament was eventually won by the CJHL's Nepean Raiders.
In 1999-00, the Valleyfield Braves played the CJHL's Brockville Braves in an inter-locking home and home series.
The Braves dissolved their QJAAAHL franchise in the Summer of 2013 to seek a membership with the semi-professional Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey. The LNAH team was also known as the Valleyfield Braves. Eleven games into the 2013-14 LNAH season, the franchise relocated to Laval and became the Laval Braves.
Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs1988-89 40 12 21 7 - 197 249 31 8th QPJHL 1989-90 42 21 15 6 - 197 209 48 4th QPJHL 1990-91 44 33 10 1 - 278 169 67 1st QPJHL1991-92 48 23 21 4 - 235 220 50 8th QPJHL1992-93 50 30 17 3 - 269 216 63 6th QPJHLWon League, won DHC1993-94 48 37 11 - 0 321 200 74 1st QPJHL Won League, won DHC1994-95 48 29 15 - 4 258 198 62 3rd QPJHL1995-96 48 19 26 - 3 210 257 41 9th QPJHL1996-97 48 30 16 - 2 226 191 62 4th QPJHL1997-98 54 28 22 - 4 256 231 60 8th QJAAAHL1998-99 52 33 18 - 1 300 241 67 5th QJAAAHLWon League1999-00 58 25 30 - 3 263 277 53 10th QJAAAHL2000-01 49 34 12 2 2 301 205 72 1st QJAAAHL2001-02 53 36 14 1 2 299 211 75 2nd QJAAAHL Won League2002-03 50 29 14 3 4 264 213 65 2nd QJAAAHL2003-04 50 30 13 1 6 246 189 67 3rd QJAAAHL Won League2004-05 48 29 15 2 2 226 172 62 4th QJAAAHL2005-06 51 25 21 0 5 226 216 55 7th QJAAAHL Lost quarter-final2006-07 54 36 14 4 0 257 206 76 4th QJAAAHL Lost semi-final2007-08 52 26 23 0 3 228 210 55 9th QJAAAHL 2008-09 49 21 20 - 8 220 214 50 8th QJAAAHL2009-10 51 16 33 - 2 183 284 34 12th QJAAAHL DNQ2010-11 49 31 16 - 2 222 171 64 6th QJAAAHL Lost final2011-12 49 28 16 - 5 245 225 61 5th QJAAAHL 2012-13 52 20 28 - 4 193 255 44 11th QJAAAHL Lost preliminary
References
External links Braves Webpage