Thomas Couture commits to Acadia

Axemen add 2022 Memorial Cup winning goaltender starting in the 2023-24 season

The Acadia Axemen are proud to welcome goaltender, Thomas Couture to the program for September 2023.

Thomas, from Levis, Quebec, has played the past 3 years in the QMJHL, winning a Memorial Cup with the Saint John Sea Dogs in 2021-22, and led the QMJHL with 29 wins on the season.

At the time of writing this article, Thomas played 66 regular season games with a 45-13-6 record, a .906 SV% and a 2.79GAA.

Couture is excited to enroll at Acadia and join the Axemen hockey program saying, β€œI chose Acadia University because I feel like this is the best place for me to excel on and off the ice. The fit with coach Darren Burns was good and my parents also loved their meeting with him, so this decision wasn’t a really hard one for me. Studying in English and coming back to the Maritimes was a priority for me and Acadia provides me with both.”

After starring in the QMAAA midget league in 2018-19 and 2019-20 with the Levis Chevaliers, with a 43-5-0 record, he got a small taste of the QMJHL when he played 3 games with the Rimouski Oceanic in ’19-β€˜20.

In 2020-21 with the shortened pandemic season, Thomas split time in the MJHL and AJHL.

2021-22 was a breakout season starting with the Moncton Wildcats where Couture went 11-5-2 in 18 games before being acquired by the Saint John Sea Dogs where he went 18-1-1 in 22 games.

After the Memorial Cup win, the Sea Dogs sent the netminder to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies where he has played in 23 games up until the holiday break, with a 14-7-2 record.

Acadia Axemen head coach Darren Burns is pleased with suring up his goaltending tandem for the upcoming years, saying, β€œWe are extremely happy to have Thomas committed to Acadia for next season. He is a top quality person and an extremely well regarded goalie. We have got excellent reports from those we rely on for goaltending assessments and there is no question that Rouyn-Noranda has an excellent track record for developing goalies. He is a player who is well respected in the Quebec league and there is no question his commitment will be instrumental in building the team we want for next season.”

Couture, the first official Axemen recruit announced for the 2023-24 season, will join Zachary Paputsakis in the Axemen crease, with 5th year netminder Conor McCallum graduating from the program this spring.

When asked what Axemen fans can expect from him in net next season, Couture said, β€œYou can expect a technical goalie that plays a calm game but isn’t afraid to get outside of his structure to make the desperation saves. I may not be the tallest but I’m a fast goalie that plays big.”