Category: Team Stories

Saint Mary’s Huskies @ Acadia Axemen

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Friday, January 20th @ 7pm

UPEI Panthers @ Acadia Axemen

Friday, January 13th @ 7PM

Saturday, January 7th @ 7pm

Friday, January 6th @ the Halifax Forum

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, “I 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-‘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, “We 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 5^th 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, “You 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.”

Former Moosehead centreman commits to Acadia

The Acadia Axemen are proud to welcome Zack Jones to the hockey program, he will join the team starting in the January.

Jones is a Bridgewater, MA, in the United States, and played the last 3 years in the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads. The 5’9” center is a left-handed shot, who will add an offensive punch to the Axemen lineup, having scored 38 goals and 85 points in 158 regular season games with the Mooseheads.

We asked Zack what made him choose Acadia, he said, “Acadia University seems like a great school and I am very excited to attend. Living in Halifax for the last few years, I have heard nothing but great things as a school. It checks off everything I was looking for in a hockey program, and after talking with the coaching staff it was a great fit for me.”

In the 2019-20 season he had 15 goals and 34 points in 63 games. The shortened 2020-21 season saw him put up 13 points in 29 games, and last season he had his best season in the QMJHL, with 18 goals and 38 points in 66 games.

Coach Darren Burns likes the addition of the centreman saying, “Zach will be a very welcome addition to our team. He plays with a lot of pace works extremely hard and has an excellent reputation as a teammate. He’s a player we were looking to add this past off season. To be able to bring him in now will help us. He is tailor made for AUS hockey and with his addition we have immediately gotten better.

Prior to joining the Mooseheads, Zack was an All-Star in the National Collegiate Development Conference with the Boston Junior Bandits where he scored 35 points (4 goals 31 assists) in 50 games. The NCDC is a league comprised of 16 to 20-year-old players. Jones also had 53 points (22 goals 31 assists) in 2017-18 with the U16 Boston Junior Bandits.

We asked Jones what Axemen fans can expect to see from his game in January, he said, “the Axemen fans can expect a hard-working, fast skater and a playmaker. I like to play hard in the D zone first, before getting into the offense. With saying that, I can bring offensive production as well and will do whatever it takes to help our team win games.”

Jones and the Axemen will return to AUS regular season action, following the holiday break, on January 6th as they face the Dalhousie Tigers at the Halifax Forum.