Tomilson commits to Acadia

Axemen add OJHL’s Top Defenceman

PICKERING, ON – October 29, 2021 – Photo by Shawn Muir / OJHL Images

The Acadia Axemen are proud to welcome Brendan Tomilson to the hockey program this fall. The 6 foot tall defenceman, from Cameron, Ontario joins the Axemen after captaining his Pickering Panthers within 1 game of winning the Junior β€˜A’ National Championship, losing 4-1 to the Brooks Bandits in the Centennial Cup final.

Tomilson was named the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) Defenceman of the Year for 2021-22 scoring 55 points, 14 goals and 41 assists, in 54 regular season games.

Brendan joined the Panthers last fall after playing two seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he added 17 points in 80 regular season games.

Tomilson says Acadia has been on his radar saying, β€œWhile playing in Halifax for a couple years I heard a lot about the atmosphere around Acadia and how close of a community it is with having the small-town feel. Acadia offers both a first-class education as well as a first-class hockey program that sees a lot of players turn pro, and after talking to the coaching staff it felt like a perfect fit for me from all aspects.”

Axemen head coach Darren Burns likes the latest addition to his roster saying, β€œWe feel Brendan is going to be a player who is taylor made for the AUS. He is an extremely hard working defenceman who is a fierce competitor and prides himself in being in top notch shape. He is coming off an excellent year where he logged a lot of ice time playingΒ  for Pickering, who made it all the way to the Centennial Cup Final. He makes a real efficient first pass coming out of the defensive zone and we know he has a team first attitude and is a player who never under achieves. This mentality will be a huge addition to our back end this season.”

Prior to suiting up with the Mooseheads, Brendan played for the Lindsay Muskies of the OJHL from 2017-19 notching 19 points in 101 games.

β€œAxemen fans can except to see a hard-nosed and responsible two-way defenceman. I take a lot of pride in the D zone and making a good first pass to exit the zone, but also like to jump up into the rush and contribute on the offensive side. With saying that, I also like to play a very physical in your face style of hockey, and am willing to do whatever is needed from me to help our team win,” said Tomilson.