Former NHL All-Star defenceman Chris Chelios spent 26 astounding years in the National Hockey League before retiring at the age of 48 in 2010. He was a member of the Canadiens, Black Hawks, Red Wings and finally a short stint with the Thrashers in his final year.Read more »
Mike Cazzola & Brett Thompson, Axemen scoring leaders over the past 4 years. (Photo By Josh Schaefer/CIS University Cup)
Mike Cazzola and Brett Thompson, two Ontario born hockey players, came to Acadia University together 4 years ago. What they’ve done since has been instrumental to the success of the Acadia hockey program, including an AUS Championship, 2 CIS National Tournament appearances, multiple All-star selections, one leading the AUS in points, the other leading the AUS in goals in separate season. Just to name a few of the accolades.
After successful junior careers in the OHL, Thompson scoring 139 goals and 255 points in 310 games, while Cazzola notched 225 points in just 219 games, the two former junior teammates decided to come to Acadia University together to suit up for the Axemen. They spent much of their four seasons as linemates with the Axemen, and became home town fan favorites, with their skilled, high octane, in your face style of play. They teamed up with Liam Heelis to be one of the most potent forward lines in the CIS.
The pair took no time fitting into the AUS, Thompson put up 26 points in 28 games in 2012-13, while Cazzola scored 29 points in 28 games. The stats landed both players on the AUS All-Rookie team for the season, and Cazzola was named the AUS Rookie of the year.
2013-14 saw Cazzola represent Canada at the Universiade in Italy, along with teammates Chris Owens and Liam Heelis. Mike went on to score 9 points in just 6 games in the tournament, helping Team Canada win the championship, while playing against teams which included many KHL players, which is the Russian Pro Hockey League.
The Axemen went on to win the AUS that season, earning themselves a birth in the CIS National tournament in Saskatoon, Sask. En route, Cazzola tied linemate Liam Heelis for the most points in the AUS with 42 points in 28 games, earning both players’ selections as 1st team All-Stars in the AUS for 2013-14.
2014-15 saw Brett Thompson lead the AUS in goals with 19, to go along with 38 points in 28 games, earning him 1st team AUS All-Star status, and also being named to the 2nd team CIS All-Stars. Cazzola landed on the 2nd team AUS all-star team for the season, scoring 32 points in 26 games. The pair led the Axemen to their second straight appearance at the CIS National Tournament, this time in Halifax, NS.Read more »
HALIFAX, N.S. – The AUS announced today All-Stars and Major Awards for men’s hockey. Four Axemen were honoured including Matthew Pufahl named as a first team AUS All-Star; Mike Cazzola and Geoff Schemitsch named as second team AUS All-Stars and Kyle Farrell named to the AUS All-Rookie Team.
Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2015-16 AUS men’s hockey major award winners and all-stars as selected by the conference’s eight head coaches following regular season play.
Second-year StFX forward Eric Locke of Toronto has been named the Atlantic University Sport most valuable player.
Other AUS major award winners announced today were Dalhousie’s Phil Gadoury of Montreal, who was named rookie of the year; Saint Mary’s Ben Duffy of Lower Sackville, N.S., who was selected as the most sportsmanlike player; StFX’s Nathan Chiarlitti of Maple, Ont., who earned the Godfrey award for student-athlete community service; and StFX head coach Brad Peddle, who was named the AUS coach of the year for the first time in his career.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (Kelly Trophy): Eric Locke, StFX
The Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey most valuable player is Eric Locke of the CIS No. 5-ranked St. Francis Xavier University X-Men.
Locke, a third-year human kinetics student in his second year of eligibility, notched 35 points in 28 games played this season—the third most in the Atlantic conference.Read more »
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The UPEI Panthers completed the upset bid and are headed to the semifinals after defeating the Acadia Axemen 4-3 in overtime Friday night.
Marcus Power’s heroics brought 1,200 cheering fans to their feet after netting the game-winning goal five minutes into the extra frame.
After surrendering a two-goal lead early in the third period, the resilient Panthers stuck with their game plan and battled back for the win.
The Panthers, who came into the series struggling to score, made every shift count and outscored the Axemen 10-6 in two games of the best-of-three series.
Game 2 saw both teams come out of the gate aggressive and physical, but Acadia had the first opportunity to get on scoreboard. A Panthers blocked shot led to an Axemen odd-man rush, but Mavric Parks denied the threat to keep the game scoreless.
Acadia continued their strong push and eventually broke through. After Parks made the initial save on an Axeman shot, forward Chance Braid poked away at the puck until it crossed the goal line, giving them a 1-0 edge.
Three minutes later, Power found Brent Andrews who went five hole past Acadia netminder Brandon Glover, tying the game at one apiece.Read more »
WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Four goals in the opening nine minutes of the second period gave the visiting UPEI Panthers an insurmountable 5-1 lead and eventual 6-3 win over the CIS No. 5 ranked Acadia Axemen in the opening game of the AUS quarterfinal best of three series.
The Panthers opened the scoring at 9:35 in the first period when Nelson Armstrong (Peterborough, Ont.) carried the puck over the blueline and fed teammate Marcus Power (St. John’s, NL) a high slot pass. Power gained control of the puck and sent it back to Power for an easy tap-in past a sprawling Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.).
With a 1-0 deficit after one period, Axeman Mike Cazzola (Guelph, Ont.) responded only 1:16 into the second frame. Cazzola picked up a loose puck along the boards and sent a pin point pass to Brett Thompson who was along in front of the net. Thompson’s attempt to score fell short but the puck trickled between the pads of Mavric Parks (Eganville, Ont.), allowing Cazzola to net the tying goal.Read more »
WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Sam Fioretti’s (Calgary, Alta.) wrap around goal with 7:28 remaining in the overtime period, gave the Axemen a 3-2 win over the visiting Saint Mary’s Huskies. The Axemen finish the regular season with a 19-7-2 record and third place in the final AUS standings, while the Huskies sit three points behind Acadia in fourth place with a 17-8-3 record.
Rookie Chance Braid (Wainwright, Alta.) opened the scoring early in the first period when the Huskies defensive unit coughed up the puck to Braid who was unattended in the slot. Braid’s backhand over stretched out Cole Cheveldave’s (Calgary, Alta.) glove hand side gave the Axemen an early 1-0 lead.
Calder Brooks (Emerald Place, Sask.) scored his first of two goals at the 9:18 mark of the first period after teammate Stephen MacAulay (Cole Harbour, N.S.) fed Brooks an across the crease pass from the face-off circle, setting up an easy tap-in past goaltender Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.).
Just over a minute after the Huskies goal, Brett Thompson (Sault Ste Marie, Ont.) setup Zachery Franko (Winnipeg, Man.) at the ringette line from the shallow corner. Franko let loose a blistering slap shot that caught the top shelf on Cheveldave’s glove hand side for the 2-1 Axemen lead.
The lone goal of the second period was Brooks’ second goal of the night. Picking up a rebound from a blocked Jamie Doornbosch (Richmond Hill, Ont.) shot, Brooks backhanded a shot over Glover’s glove hand side to tie the game at two with 3:04 remaining in the second frame.Read more »
Antigonish, N.S. – In a late-season battle for second place in the conference, the StFX X-Men (18-6-3) skated to a 4-1 win over the visiting Acadia Axemen (18-7-2) in AUS hockey action Wednesday night at the Keating Centre.
Coming into the mid-week match-up, the CIS #4-ranked Axemen led the X-Men (#8) by one point in the standings. With the victory, the X-Men kept their hopes alive of securing a first-round playoff bye. If StFX wins its regular season finale Friday night over the visiting Dalhousie Tigers, they will clinch second place in the league.
In the opening five minutes of the first period, the Axemen garnered a power-play chance, but the X-Men – led by goaltender Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) – kept the game scoreless.
A couple minutes later, at 7:20, the X-Men jumped to a 1-0 edge on a Max Iafrate (Livonia, MI) goal with the man advantage. After faking a pass from just inside the blue line, the first-year defenseman re-loaded and beat a screened Brandon Glover (Victoria, BC) high to the glove side with a wrist shot. Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON) collected the helper on the opening marker.
At 12:58, also on the power play, Sam Fioretti (Calgary, AB) evened the contest, when he collected a rebound on the lip of the crease before roofing a backhander over a sprawled Owsley, who had made the initial save on an Axemen shot from the blue line. Boston Leier (Saskatoon, SK) and Matthew Pufahl (Saskatoon, SK) notched the assists.Read more »
