Foundation
 
The CBR Brave was founded on 6 March 2014 to replace the Canberra Knights in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) after the Knights owner handed back his AIHL licence and folded the team following 33 years of existence.
 
The CBR Brave was born from a grassroots community campaign that raised over $27,000 and was headed by Mark Rummukainen and a group of ex-Knights players. A new ownership consortium was established shortly afterwards with Allinsure director Peter Chamberlain and advertising firm Coordinate's owner-director Jamie Wilson after the pair got in contact with Mark Rummukainen. With a new ownership structure in place and funds secured, the Brave were granted an AIHL licence from the league.
 
Inaugural season (2014)
 
Ahead of the Brave’s first AIHL season in 2014, the team announced Matti Louma as head coach and Mark Rummukainen as maiden captain. Finnish goaltender Petri Pitkänen was signed as the first import player for the fledgling team.

The CBR Brave took to the ice for the first time in the AIHL at Phillip Ice Skating Centre on 12 April 2014. In front of 1,000 supporters, the Brave faced the Newcastle North Stars. The visitors won the game 2–0, inflicting the first loss for the new Brave team. The Canberra Times described the loss as a win for the city of Canberra despite the result. To still have a team competing a few weeks after the Knights folded was incredible.
 
The first AIHL win for the Brave came in their second game, again at home in Phillip, in front of a sold-out crowd. Canadian import, Mathieu Ouellette, scored the team’s first ever goal to open the scoring in the game. Christopher McPhail (X2), Jordie Gavin, Kai Miettinen and Mathieu Ouellette again would add to the scoreline for the Brave as they ran out 6–2 winners over the Sydney Ice Dogs.
 
The Brave finished the regular season in 2014 by placing third in the league standings, clinching a Finals spot at the first try. It was the first time a Canberra team had reached Finals since the league was formed in 2000.
 
Finals was held at the Melbourne Icehouse in Docklands, Victoria. The Brave played the Melbourne Ice in their inaugural Finals semi-finals experience. In front of 1,500 spectators, the Brave lost the game 6–1 with future cult hero, Stephen Blunden, scoring the Brave’s first Finals goal.
 
Building years (2015-17)
 
During the next three seasons the Brave continued to develop and grow their supporter base. The team consistently challenged towards the top of the eight-team league, finishing fourth in the regular season twice (2015-16) and third in 2017. In 2016, the team reached the Goodall Cup Final for the first time, losing to Newcastle in the final. In 2017 the repeated this feat, but once again lost in the final to the Melbourne Ice.
 
First championship (2018)
 
In 2018, the Brave signed Rob Starke as head coach and improved consistency once more, winning 24 games in the 28-game regular season to clinch the team’s first AIHL Premiership title and the H Newman Reid Trophy. In Finals, again held in Melbourne, the Brave defeated the Melbourne Mustangs in the semi-finals to qualify for the Goodall Cup Final. In the showpiece event, the Brave took on the Sydney Bears, ultimately defeating the Sydneysiders 4–3 in overtime, with American forward Trevor Gerling scoring the winning goal. The CBR Brave hoisted the Goodall Cup high after the final siren, the first time a Canberra team had won the Goodall Cup since 1998, back when it was contested by states and territories.


 
Second premiership (2019)
 
Attempting to go back-to-back, the CBR Brave in 2019 recorded a near perfect regular season, dropping points only twice, with one regulation loss and one overtime loss. The Brave broke AIHL regular season records for most wins (26), most points (79), largest winning streak (17 matches), most goals scored (161), fewest goals conceded in a 28-match season (67) and least losses in a 28-match season (2). However, despite such a dominating season, the team were knocked out of Finals in the semi-final stage with a shock 4–6 loss to fourth placed Sydney Bears, who would go onto win the Goodall Cup. This left the Brave with just the premiership title and the H Newman Reid Trophy.
 
Covid-19 break (2020-21)
 
The AIHL was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. National and state border restrictions made it impossible to play a national competition.  Before the 2020 season cancellation, the Brave had announced the appointment of Stuart Philps as their new head coach, following Rob Starke stepping down to move back to Canada.
 
In 2021, with the season cancelled for the second year in a row, the Brave, Newcastle Northstars and Sydney Ice Dogs announced an exhibition cup named the McCormack Cup. The three teams would play 24 games plus finals, however the series was first postponed and then abandoned after 9 games had been played due to another Covid-19 outbreak. The Brave were on top of the ladder at the time.
 
AIHL return and second championship (2022)
 
In 2022, the league returned, however the Adelaide Adrenaline and Perth Thunder were unable to participate due to border restrictions and rink agreement issues. This left the Brave and others in a six-team competition for the season. The Brave won the regular season and claimed their three-peat H Newman Reid Trophy and premiership title. The team went on to clinch the Goodall Cup for a second time with a grand final victory over the Newcastle Northstars. Rising Australian star Casey Kubara scored the winning goal in a 3–2 game. it was the team's second time completing the Premiership-Championship double.



Premiership 4-peat (2023)

Success continued for the Brave organisation in 2023. The team signed its first naming rights partner with the local business Caribou Kingston, becoming known as the Caribou CBR Brave. The league welcomed back Adelaide and Perth and expanded to ten teams by adding Central Coast Rhinos and Brisbane Lightning. The expansion enabled the league to implement a two-conference system for the first time since 2012.

The Brave were placed in the Rurak Conference, named after Don Rurak, along with Newcastle, Brisbane, Adelaide and the Central Coast. The team topped the conference standings at the end of the regular season, finishing 7 points ahead of Newcastle in second, qualifying for Finals and claiming the Rurak Conference trophy.

On top of the conference win, the CBR Brave finished first in the combined league standings for the fourth season in a row. The team lifted the H Newman Reid Trophy once again. The Brave are the first team in AIHL history to accomplish this feat.

At Finals, Canberra met Perth Thunder in the semi-finals, defeating the Western Australians 4-1. The following day, the Brave faced off against home team the Melbourne Mustangs in the grand final. This was their first grand final appearance since winning the league in 2014. Unfortunately, in the final, Canberra struggled to break down a stubborn Mustangs defence lead by MVP goaltender Lliam Hughes. A single goal was all it took to differentiate the two teams and claim the championship. Mustangs captain, Brendan McDowell, scored the winning goal to lift the Goodall Cup. The Brave finished second.

10 Years of Brave (2024)

In 2024, the Brave celebrated its 10-year anniversary. To celebrate the milestone, the team had a brand re-fresh that included a modified logo, new colours and modified name. The Brave switched from blue, yellow and white colours to black, gold and white. The team dropped the CBR branding in favour of the more traditional Canberra Brave.
 
Expectations were high in the nation’s capital that the Brave could reclaim the championship. However, the season did not start to script. Canberra won just once in eleven games. The first back-to-back victories came in mid-May. Top locals off on international duty and the slow pace to bring in imports contributed to the sluggish start.
 
However, the mood and results shifted in the second half of the season and the Brave began to climb the conference and overall league standings. By the end of the regular season, Canberra finished second in the Rurak Conference, 2 points behind Newcastle, and settled into fifth overall.
 
At Finals, the Brave played its first preliminary final against the Thunder. Unlike last season, this game was far closer, with the Brave running out 2–1 victors in the end. Progressing to the semi-finals, Canberra faced off against league premiers, the Sydney Bears. A strong second period proved the difference between the two rivals in a 5–2 victory and the Brave were off to the grand final once more. A top class second period once again secured victory for the Canberrans as they scored 5 unanswered goals. Alex Tetreault securing his first Finals shutout in the process.  Canberra’s Kiwi forward, Jake Ratcliffe, was named Finals MVP after the game. The Brave hoisted the Goodall Cup for a third time and second time in three seasons under head coach Stu Philps.