Tim Ruhnke – Recorder & Times
There isn’t much breathing room, but they’re in a better position than the teams behind them.
The Brockville Braves are entering the second-last week of the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) regular season in seventh place, one point behind Renfrew and two points ahead of Cornwall and Carleton Place. The top eight teams will advance to the playoffs.
The Jr. A Braves face having to play seven games in 13 days, starting with a rare Tuesday night home game against second-place Smiths Falls at the Brockville Memorial Centre at 8:30 p.m.
The odds of making the playoffs are in the Braves’ favour: Cornwall and Carleton Place are left with just three games each, while Renfrew has six.
Tenth-place Hawkesbury has not been eliminated from playoff contention, but the Hawks trail Carleton Place and Cornwall by seven points with five games left on their schedule.
With a win over Cornwall on Sunday, Navan became the fifth team to clinch a playoff spot. Rockland has locked up the regular-season championship. Smiths Falls, Ottawa and Kemptville have also clinched.
Cornwall has fallen out of a higher playoff position, managing to pick up just three points in 11 games since late January. Two of the Colts’ three remaining games are against Rockland. The Nationals are 47-3 and have been at or near the top of the CJHL’s national Jr. A rankings throughout the season.
Renfrew is Cornwall’s other opponent.
The team that ends up with the eighth and final playoff position will face Rockland in a best-of-seven opening round series.
Brockville picked up three of a possible four points on the weekend. After defeating Carleton Place at home Friday night, the Braves fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Wolves in Renfrew on Saturday night.
Dylan Paron gave the home team a 1-0 lead at 5:40 of the first period. Brockville tied the game at 18:50 on Liam Harry’s fifth goal of the season.
Renfrew went up 2-1 when John Collins-Williams scored on a power play at 5:38 of the second. Less than a minute later, Ryan McNally’s 18th goal of the year drew the Braves even.
Brockville took the lead at 8:10 of the third when Drake Sled scored his seventh goal of the season. Kingston Harris tied the game at 16:40.
Paron scored in the seventh round of the shootout to earn the extra point for the Wolves. He was named first star. Second and third stars went to Harris and Sled.
Renfrew outshot Brockville 39-33. Ayo Ogini picked up the win in net for the Wolves; Austin Caley made 35 saves for the Braves.
Caley had picked up the victory at home the previous night when Brockville downed the Canadians 5-2. Matt Vohra’s 16th goal of the year gave the Braves the lead at 11:21 of the first. Zach Lapier scored on a power play at 18:14 of the middle frame to tie the game, and his second goal of the night gave Carleton Place the lead at 3:34 of the third.
Brockville drew even at 5:47 on Cohen Gill’s third goal of the season. The Braves went up for good on a power play at 16:37; it was Tristan Fedele’s first goal of the year. Jesse Lumsden’s 12th goal of the campaign added to the lead at 18:13, and Sled’s unassisted empty-netter about 20 seconds later sealed the victory.
Sled, who also had an assist Friday night, was named first star. Gill received the second star. Third star went to Lapier.
A crowd of 345 was on hand at the Memorial Centre.
Brockville (21-20-2-5) has a back-to-back against winning teams to start the week. After hosting Smiths Falls in a game that had originally been scheduled for the Friday before Christmas, the Braves will take on fourth-place Kemptville at the North Grenville Municipal Centre on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. That game had initially been slated for this past Sunday afternoon.
It’s the final Braves-73’s matchup of the regular season; they split the first four games.
After visiting the 73’s Wednesday, the Braves will host Nepean on Friday night at 7:30. The 11th-place Raiders have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Smiths Falls will host a rematch with Brockville on Sunday at 4 p.m. The County Road 29 rivals will play each other three times in less than two weeks to end the regular season. The Bears beat the Braves in their first two meetings of 2025-2026.
Original Story at Recorder.ca
