Category: Team Stories

Featuring 2004 Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee Paul Coffey

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Smooth-skating Paul Coffey embodied everything an offensive defenseman could be – lightning fast, skilled playmaker, booming shot, savvy — yet still able to defend his team’s zone employing blinding speed.

Born June 1, 1961 in Weston, Ontario, after two seasons of junior, Paul Coffey was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers using their first pick in the 1980 Entry Draft. It was perfect timing for both sides – the Oilers were a highly skilled, offensively explosive club and Coffey’s skill set fit in perfectly as the quarterback of the dynamic young team.

In his second season, 1981-82, Paul led all NHL defensemen with 89 points and was chosen for the Second All-Star Team. In 1982-83, he collected 96 points, but it was his 126 points in 1983-84 that put him second only to teammate Wayne Gretzky in the NHL scoring race that year. That season, the Edmonton Oilers won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

On his way to helping lead the Oilers to their second straight Stanley Cup, Paul Coffey won the Norris Trophy as the National Hockey League’s best defenseman and was selected to the First All-Star Team in 1984-85, a feat he replicated in 1985-86 in a season that can only be considered extraordinary. Coffey finished third in scoring with 138 points, including 48 goals.

Prior to the 1986-87 season, Coffey was traded to Pittsburgh, where he was able to further his exploits. In both 1988-89 and ’89-90, Paul cracked the

100-point plateau for the fourth time. Coffey helped the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup in 1990-91.

In February 1992, Coffey was moved to the Los Angeles Kings, the third of what would eventually be nine teams on his NHL resume. In January 1993, it was off to Detroit, but an injured knee hampered his play that season. By the following season, he had rebounded and not only led the Red Wings in scoring but was once again awarded the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.Read more »

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Heelis adds to his hardware for the year; Gibbons awarded the Kevin Powell Memorial Award

The AUS Champion Acadia Axemen hockey team wrapped up the 2013-14 season with the announcement of their team awards at the Annual Fred G. Kelly Awards Night hosted by the Department of Athletics.

The award for Rookie of the Year for the 2013-14 season went to co-winners Geoff Schemitsch and Michael Clarke.

A standout first year defenseman, Geoff Schemitsch played a big role on the team’s back end. Good offensively and responsible defensively, Geoff is a smooth skating defenseman and a  player to watch for years to come. This season Geoff was named to the AUS All-Rookie team.

Michael Clarke flew under the radar the entire season. Scoring nine of his 12 regular season goals in the second half of the season, Clarke was one of the Axemen’s top goal scorers. A strong and physical player, Michael shoots the puck like a pro and plays a complete two way game. With great hands, Michael has the ability to take control of a hockey game.

Second year centerman Travis Randell was named the Most Improved Player of the Year. A great leader that can play in all situations, Travis is a centerman that has the ability to produce and play a sound defensive game. While Travis had three goals in the regular season – all three in the second half of the season, he also scored three important goals in eight playoff games including two eventual game winning goals.Read more »

2014 AUS Champion Acadia Axemen Graduating Player’s Banquet

Monday April 7th at the Wolfville Lion’s Hall

Doors open at 5:15pm with Dinner beginning at 5:45pm

Cost: $20.00

Dinner: Ribs, Potatoes, Vegetables, Desert with Tea or Coffee

Come celebrate this year’s graduating Axemen; Evan Mosher, Cullen Morin, Leo Jenner, Chris Owens, KC Brown, Joe Gaynor and Dustin Ekelman

Please email Mike Chiasson at mike.chiasson@acadiau.ca to reserve your tickets for this year’s event.

Down but not out; a win & some help needed

The Axemen will need a little help if they want to take home this year’s University Cup, but first they must take care of business themselves.  In a season deciding game for the Acadia Axemen, the Atlantic University Sport representative at the CIS University Cup will face the host team, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

Acadia dropped a 4-2 decision to the Windsor Lancers on Thursday night, which now means they need to beat the host team Friday night, and then look for the Huskies to knock off the Lancers on Saturday evening. With all the teams at this tournament being so close competitively, this is by no means a long shot. If the three teams in the Axemen’s pool are tied with 1 and 1 records, the team to advance to Sunday’s University Cup final will be chosen by the tie-breaker of goals for and goals against differential. This is why you may have noticed that the Axemen did not pull their goalie, Evan Mosher, in the final minute of play in the 4-2 loss to Windsor.

The Axemen had two defencemen leave Thursday’s games with injuries; both Colin Archer and Cullen Morin left the game and did not return. There is no update available at this time on their statuses for Friday’s game. With fellow blue liner Geoffrey Schemitsch also out with injury, the Axemen will need to play a tight defensive game as a team.

The host Huskies, meanwhile, look to shake the rust off after a long layoff since losing their quarterfinal playoff round 2 games to 1 to UBC back on February 23^rd. U of S enjoyed a successful regular season under long-time head coach Dave Adolph, going 17-11 on the season, including an impressive 11 win to only 3 loss record on home ice. The Huskies, who also hosted last year’s University Cup, are trying to improve on a 0-2 finish, leaving them third in their pool in 2013. The only National Championship came in 1983 for U of S Men’s Hockey, coach Dave Adolph was co-captain on the team.Read more »

Axemen Quest for the University Cup Starts Thursday Night

The Acadia Axemen will open their quest for the University Cup on Thursday night in Saskatoon as they face the University of Windsor Lancers at 10pm Atlantic time at the Credit Union Centre. You can watch Thursday’s game live online at http://www.cis-sic.tv/

You can also listen to Len Hawley’s call of the game on AVR Radio in the Annapolis Valley, 97.7FM, or online at avrnetwork.com

The AUS Hockey Champion Axemen are in search of their first CIS National Championship since 1996, while Windsor is looking to claim their first National crown for Men’s hockey.

Windsor is coming off a hard fought 3-2 Queen’s Cup win over the OUA East division-winners McGill Redman this past Saturday night; it was a one game, winner take all game, to crown the OUA champion, and was the first time in 16 years that the Lancers took the Queen’s Cup, led by an incredible 50-save performance by their goaltender and player of the game Parker Van Buskirk.

The path for Windsor to the University Cup in Saskatoon began with the Lancers knocking off the Toronto Varsity Blues 2 games to 0, then taking the Western Mustangs 2 games to 1, and in the OUA West Finals, they defeated the Lakehead Thunderwolves 2 games to 0. As mentioned, in the 1 game Queen’s Cup OUA Championship, they defeated McGill 3-2.

The Axemen meanwhile, have had some time to regroup, heal some bumps and bruises, and prepare for the CIS Championship tournament. They defeated the Saint Mary’s Huskies in Game 4 of their best of 5 series last Monday, March 10^th to win the AUS Championship series 3 games to 1.

Acadia had a first round bye in the AUS and defeated the Moncton Aigles Bleus 3 games to 1 in the best of 5 Semi-finals.

Acadia posted a 21-7 record this regular season, and were no strangers to winning on the road with an 11-3 road record. They are led by the power line of Liam Heelis (24 goals, 42 pts), Mike Cazzola (31 assists, 42 pts) and Brett Thompson (33 pts), with AUS First Team All-Stars Chris Owens on defence (31 pts) and Evan Mosher in goal (23 games, 17-5 record 2.21 GAA, .919 Save %).Read more »

Head coach Darren Burns was a player when Acadia won its first national championship in 1993 and was an assistant to Mark Hanneman when the Axemen captured its second Canadian banner three years later.

Assistant coach Mike Alcoe has been a mainstay for a quarter for a century. He was there for the national titles in ’93 and ’96 and was Burns’ assistant when the Axemen last appeared at nationals in 2006.

And they’ll be there this week in Saskatoon as Acadia returns to the CIS University Cup championship.

“After all these years, we’re still here,” Burns, in his 13th season as Acadia head coach, said earlier this week.

“(Alcoe) has put 20-plus years into the program. People like him typify what goes behind the scenes at Acadia, not just with the hockey program but the university in general. To see guys like Mike and the work he puts in year after year, it’s nice for him to get this experience again. His loyalty to the program and his loyalty to me is a special thing.

“We have a big job but we also want to enjoy the moment. It’s a fine line. We have to be prepared. You just can’t be happy to be there.”Read more »