Acadia announces Moncada as recruit

Axemen add talented centreman to lineup

The Acadia Axemen are proud to welcome Luke Moncada, from Markham, Ontario to the program. Luke is a 6’1” centre who played 4 seasons of junior in the OHL, and spent last season in the AHL.

We asked Moncada what made him chose Acadia for his next step, he said, “Through conversations with Darren Burns and Kris Mcdonald alongside speaking with current and former Acadia players, it was clear that Acadia offered me the best opportunity to further both my education and hockey career. Between the on and off ice training regiment at Acadia and the highly competitive AUS conference, it was clear that Acadia was the best fit for me.

Luke described his own play saying, “Axemen fans can expect to see a responsible 200 ft centremen that impacts the game on both ends of the ice. A player with a lot of passion and heart and will do anything to help my team win.”

Luke was drafted 42^nd overall in the 2016 OHL Priority draft by the Guelph Storm. After playing for the Storm in his first season, he was traded to the North Bay Battalion. In the 2019-20 season, he was named assistant captain with North Bay and had his best offensive season, scoring 34 goals in 62 regular season games, and a total of 60 points.

Over 4 years in the OHL, Moncada played in 234 regular season games, scoring 106 points and adding 134 penalty minutes.

In 2020-21, Luke played with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, where he added 3 points in 17 games, and had a +5 plus/minus rating.

Coach Burns is very pleased with the new addition to the Acadia lineup saying, “Luke is a huge addition for our program. It was extremely important to add a player of his skill level to our line up. He is a very gifted two way forward who plays a strong game all over the ice. His intelligence on the ice allows him to be very versatile. Spending the season in the American Hockey League will help him bring a lot of experience to our program in his first year. It was easy to tell in my discussions with him that he has a tremendous passion for the game.”

Moncada joins an impressive recruiting lineup for the upcoming season which also includes netminder Max Paddock, defensemen Luke Zazule & Olie Mainolfi, and forward Keegan Stevenson.

Acadia was named the host team for the USports hockey national tournament this March in Halifax, NS, after hosting the 2020 tournament which was halted after one day of play due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.