Weekly Wrap-up – Braves get a New Head Coach – Drop two games

Harper Cotie – Voice of the Braves

The Brockville Braves went into Friday’s home game vs. the Ottawa Jr. Senators with a brand-new boss behind the bench in Jason Clarke. The 51-year-old is highly regarded in hockey circles after an impressive run with the Carleton Place Canadians as owner, head coach and general manager from 2010-2021. During that span, the Canadians won three Fred Page Cups, and one Bogart Cup with Clarke at the helm.

That amount of success then moved Clarke up to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) level as an assistant coach and then a head coach in the 2021-22 season with Shawinigan and Acadie-Bathurst (respectively). Clarke took yet another step forward in his coaching career by spending the last two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Diego Gulls as an assistant from 2022-24.

Unfortunately, on the ice the Braves failed to take advantage of the new coach bump over the weekend with a 4-1 loss to the Jr. Senators on Friday and a 5-2 loss to the Canadians in Clarke’s return to Carleton Place on Sunday. However, with 17 games remaining in the regular season, and the team being in the fight for the eighth and final playoff spot, there’s plenty of runway left for the Braves to have success under their new head coach.

Next up for Brockville is a double-header this weekend against the first place Rockland Nationals. Puck drop is 7:30 Friday night at the Brockville Memorial Centre, and you can catch the action on FloHockey!