Batherson named to Acadia Hockey Honor Roll

(Wolfville, NS)  The Acadia Axemen hockey program celebrated the annual Axemen Hockey Honour Roll Induction with three former players, Norm Batherson, Gregory Hubbert and David Hastings and a past assistant coach Muck Reading, this past Saturday night

From Windsor, NS, Muck Reading was inducted as an Assistant Coach.  Reading joined the Axemen coaching staff in 1979 and coached along side Don Wells and later, Tommy Coolen.  Reading retired from coaching and the Canadian Forces in 1987.

Norm Batherson, a native of Sydney, NS and from the class of 1994, played for the Axemen from 1990 to 1994 and was a standout at Acadia.  Batherson played with the Bellville Bulls of the OHL in 1988 and then moved to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL in 1989. During these 2 years in Major Junior, Norm accumulated 57 points including 15 goals.

During Batherson’s three years with the Axemen, he played in 68 regular season games, scoring 43 goals and 62 assists for a total of 105 points. Following the Axemen’s first National Championship in 1993, Batherson signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators and played in Charlottetown for the PEI Senators of the American Hockey League. That season he accumulated 37 points including 14 goals and 23 assists.

Batherson moved to the Portland Pirates of the AHL, who went 42 days – 17 games into the season without losing a game with 14 wins and 3 ties – an AHL record for the best start of a of a regular season.  Norm still holds the Pirate’s record  for the most shorthanded goals in a season with 6, is their 13th all-time goal scorer, their 10th all-time leader in assists and is 11th in all-time points scored with 395 total points including 155 goals.  Following his AHL career, Batherson played in the Premiere German League for seven seasons, before returning to the Annapolis Valley. Norm now lives in Antigonish, NS and is an assistant coach with the StFX X-Men.

Barrie, ON native Greg Hubbert, who played for Acadia from 1973 to 1977, captained the Axemen during the 1976-77 season.  Hubbert, who resides in Berwick, NS, has spent nearly 32 years in the Valley as a teacher and coach of various sports.

The last on the list of four inductees is David Hastings who was a goaltender for Head Coach Don Wells until his graduating year of 1974. A native of Newcastle, NB who grew up from age 8 onward in Moncton, NB, David was a Dean’s List Scholar at Acadia.  Prior to Acadia, David played for the Junior A Charlottetown Junior Islanders and was selected 85th overall in the 1972 NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.  David resides in Fall River, NS.