Max Paddock commits to Axemen

Acadia adds highly touted netminder

Axemen recruit Max Paddock makes a save while playing for the Prince Albert Raiders. Photo credit to Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff

The Acadia Axemen are proud to announce the commitment of netminder Max Paddock to the team starting in the fall of 2021. Standing at 6’2”, Max is a native of Brandon, Manitoba, and has spent the past 5 season playing in the WHL with the Regina Pats and most recently the Prince Albert Raiders.

Over those 5 years, Paddock played in 148 regular season games, with a 64-58-14 record, with a 3.01 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. In 2018, Max backstopped the Regina Pats to a Memorial Cup final appearance for the host team, and was named to the Memorial Cup all-star team, as a rookie.

We asked Max about his decision to come to Acadia, he said, “For me theΒ decision was pretty easy when Burnsy reached out to me;Β first off,Β my cousinΒ Travis Young played for the Axemen a while back and he had nothing but good things to say about the program. Also knowing that JordyΒ Stallard, another Brandon, Manitoba native, will help make the transition out eastΒ a lot smoother.”

In the shortened 2020-21 WHL season, Max was named the Prince Albert Raiders most valuable player. He also earned an amateur tryout with the AHL’s Stockton Heat in 2021, his second pro camp, as he also took part in the San Jose Sharks rookie camp in 2018. He had been invited to the Winnipeg Jets summer development camp in 2019, but was unable to attend after undergoing off-season shoulder surgery.

Acadia head coach Darren Burns is excited with the addition of Paddock in net, saying, β€œWe believe we have added one of the best goalies in the Canadian Hockey League in Max. He had a great year to finish his junior career and has been a player who has excellent memorial cup experience, carrying the ball when Regina hosted the pressure filled tournament. He comes from an excellent hockey background in terms of family pedigree and has a great reputation as a person and teammate. Everyone knows the goaltending position is the most important in hockey. Max is a major positive addition for our program.”

The family pedigree Coach Burns referred to includes his uncle John Paddock who coached in the NHL and has been a GM/coach in the AHL and junior levels through much of the past 20 years; also as mentioned by Max, he is also a cousin to former Acadia Axemen player and assistant coach, alumnus Travis Young.

With the addition of Paddock, and returning 2019-20 AUS MVP, Logan Flodell, the Axemen goaltending duo will rival the best in USports, and will give Acadia a chance to win on every given night in the ultra competitive AUS conference.

When asked to describe his on ice game, Max said, “I’m a competitor who relies on athleticism to make saves and I enjoy doing whatever it takes to win hockey games.”

Paddock joins Keegan Stevenson as 2021-22 Axemen recruits, with more additions to be announced in the upcoming days. We look forward to seeing Max in net this upcoming season in an Acadia Axemen jersey.

Want to see Max Paddock in action? Watch the highlight video from his time in the WHL.