The Caribou CBR Brave have a dedicated supporter base and a unique fan culture within the AIHL. There are two unofficial fan groups who attend Brave games, the Bravehearts and the Brave Hecklers. Both groups have their dedicated areas within the ‘Brave Cave’.
The Bravehearts were formed in 2014, the same time as the team, and are known for wearing tartan sashes and face paint. Their most famous chants include “all hail the beard”, which would be chanted when Matt Harvey entered the ice, and “C-B-R, C-B-R”, which the whole crowd gets into.
The Hecklers were originally founded in 2011 and followed the Canberra Knights. When the Knights folder and the Brave were born, they switched to supporting the new Canberra based team. The group is known for being very vocal with relentless heckling of the visiting team to make their trip to the Brave Cave uncomfortable.
Brave supporters are also known for their relatively large frequent away day travelling support for the team, whether it is in Sydney or Perth or anywhere in between. So don’t be surprised to see and hear them around the country in AIHL rinks.
Over the years the Caribou CBR Brave fans have built up rivalries with other AIHL teams and sets of fans. The biggest of these rivalries is with the Newcastle Northstars. Bad blood was spilt in the lead up to the 2016 AIHL season when the Brave poached AIHL points record holder Geordie Wudrick from the Northstars. This led to a war of words between the two teams, the coaches and the fans, with Newcastle head coach Andrew Petrie famously labelling Canberra a city in the middle of nowhere. This riled up the fanbases and resulted in lasting memes, t-shirts and placards.