2025 has followed a similar pathway to 2024 for the Brave so far. A slow start, and building momentum in the back half of the season. The Finals Preview looks at how this form has been built.
2025 Record
Overall record (15W – 3OTW – 0OTL – 10L) (0.607 PCT)
- Record against finals-bound teams (9W – 2OTW – 0OTL – 9L)
Story of the season: Contending again, can they go back-to-back?
Figure 1: Canberra Brave Percentage – overall, and against Finals-bound teams.
The big difference in performance against the best teams for Canberra is in the goals conceded – rising from 4.6 per game to 5.3 against finals-bound teams. They’ll want to keep a lid on that this weekend.
Figure 2: Canberra Brave goal scoring – versus league average, overall and against finalists.
Figure 3: Canberra Brave special teams performance.
Strengths
Scoring spread – the Brave have the lowest share of scoring from their top 3 or 5 scorers, with 27.8% and 42.4% respectively. This is a testament to the depth of the Brave, with three lines of scoring threats.
Local scoring – similar to the overall scoring spread, Canberra imports make up the lowest share of points (30.8%) and goals (24.2%), with the strong local contingent hitting the scoreboard.
Powerplay – with the man-advantage, the Brave have success 26.4%, ranked third in the AIHL, behind only the Ice and Thunder.
Form – since the start of July, Canberra have the best record in the league, with 10 wins (one in OT) and 2 losses.
Weaknesses
Goaltending – Brave goaltending duo Alex Tetreault and Joel Hasselman have been working to come back from a slow start to the season, and have save percentages of 0.870 and 0.869, respectively. The good news here is that since July, these rise to 0.889 and 0.870.
Discipline – collecting 19.5 PIMs per game, the Brave attract the third-most penalties of any team in the league (behind the Mustangs and Thunder).
When they win
The biggest difference for the Brave in wins versus losses is goaltending. In wins, the average save percentage is 0.907, but in losses this falls to 0.807. At the other end of the ice, scoring averages 6.3 goals per game in wins, and 3.5 goals in losses.
Player to watch
Jesperi Viikilä. Since arriving in Canberra, the Finnish forward has been a key playmaker for the Brave, and forms an important partnership with Jake Ratcliffe.
Under the radar: Bray Crowder has been an important addition from the Ice Dogs in 2025, with an offensive threat from the blueline and will be a key part of a large defensive corp.
Key Stats
Top 10 scorers
Goalies
Projected lineup
The key unknown here is the availability of Kale Costa. If he plays, he likely fits on a line with Cam Todd, leaving a choice for Coach Stu Philps how to shuffle Tommy Steven, Dominic Canic and Kai Miettinen around.
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