AUS Regular Season hockey has finally returned to Wolfville! Your Acadia Axemen return to the ice in Wolfville for their season home opener tonight, as they host the UPEI Panthers. Game time is 7pm. This weekend is also Homecoming weekend at Acadia University, so get your tickets to the hockey game, and come on out and cheer on the team!

One item that has changed since their last regular season AUS game in Wolfville is the name of the Arena, which was formerly known as the Acadia Arena, has been renamed the Andrew H. McCain Arena. You will also notice many upgrades and renovations to the Arena, including new lighting, sound system, and wall materials. Another major addition you will surely notice is the walking track around the arena.

Arrive early to the game on Friday night, as prior to puck drop, a special ceremony will take place as the Axemen raise their 2014 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Championship banner to the rafters of the arena.

Now onto the game! The Axemen are coming off a 4-0 win over the Dalhousie Tigers last Saturday night in Halifax, which saw their top line of Liam Heelis, Brett Thompson, and Mike Cazzola combine for 3 of Acadia’s 4 goals. The Panthers suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to UNB in Charlottetown on Saturday night, despite an outstanding performance in goal from Mavric Parks, as he turned away 39 of 42 shots he faced from UNB.

Parks will more than likely get the start on Friday night, while Acadia’s Brandon Glover, who shutout the Tigers, will likely get the nod for the Axemen.

Acadia will look to put their team speed and relentless work ethic to the forefront on the larger ice surface of the McCain Arena this weekend; characteristics that were clearly a factor in the retooling of this year’s team and recruitment of new players.

For those out of town, or who can’t make Friday’s game, the game can be watched live online at AUStv.ca , as always, Len Hawley will have the call of the game on AVR Radio, 97.7FM or online on avrnetwork.com. The Axemen return to the ice at home on Saturday night as they welcome the St. Thomas Tommies to town.

Regular Season Opener: Dal Tigers Host the Acadia Axemen

It’s go time for the Acadia Axemen! Having been chomping at the bit to get back on the ice after their appearance at the CIS championships last March; the Axemen now begin the long journey to get back to the University Cup tournament, and gain a shot at redemption. Game 1 of the journey is the 2014-15 regular season opener for both the Acadia Axemen and Dalhousie Tigers, on Saturday at 7pm at the Halifax Forum.

Dal starts the season with 11 new faces, including former Moosehead Memorial Cup winner Brendan Duke.They will look to compete for a playoff position after finishing 8th in the AUS last season with a 3-24-1 record.

Tigers head coach Chris Donnelly believes that his team can make some noise this season, saying, “We are returning a strong core of character players and looking around the league, a lot of teams have lost some core players, so this could be a good year for us to move up in the standings.”

Team leader in points  from a year ago, (17 points) Fabian Walsh and Pierre-Alexandre Vandall will be heavily relied upon for scoring for Dalhousie. While third year netminder Wendell Vye will more than likely see action for Dal in goal.

The Axemen will look to match their AUS championship season of a year ago, which included a second place 21-4-3 record in the regular season.

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Global News – University Cup Heads to Halifax

(HALIFAX, N.S.) – Atlantic University Sport stakeholders, fans and members of the media gathered today and yesterday at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax and the Crowne Plaza Moncton, respectively, to take part in the first annual AUS men’s hockey media days to kick off the 2014-15 season.

Head coaches Pat Powers (St. Thomas), Serge Bourgeois (Université de Moncton), Gardiner MacDougall (UNB) and Forbes MacPherson (UPEI) briefed media and fans in attendance in Moncton on this year’s teams and their expectations for the season.

In front of a Halifax audience, head coaches Trevor Stienburg (Saint Mary’s), Brad Peddle (StFX), Darren Burns (Acadia) and Chris Donnelly (Dalhousie) did the same.

Each of the eight coaches were joined by a pivotal player from the roster. Coaches and players took part in question and answer periods with media and other stakeholders.

2014 season preview interview with Darren Burns – Click Here
Season Preview – Important Facts – Click Here

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(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) – The Acadia Axemen opened the 2013-14 season unranked in the CIS Top 10, but by the second week of regular the season they cracked the list at number eight after a perfect 4-0 start which extended into a 10 game streak without a loss in regulation time.

Ranked third in the country by the Holiday Break, the Axemen took the top spot in the AUS standings and established themselves as the team to beat in the Atlantic conference.

As the season closed out, the Axemen ended up in second place, trailing first place UNB by four points with a 21-4-3 record but securing quarter-final bye heading into the post-season.

A four-game victory in the best-of-five semifinal series against Moncton matched up the Axemen with the rival Saint Mary’s Huskies, who had knocked off the first place Varsity Reds.

Acadia went on to defeat the Huskies in the best-of-five final series to capture their first AUS championship since 2006 and the ninth Atlantic conference title in team history.

The championship team was rewarded with the prestigious selection of team captain Liam Heelis as the AUS and CIS Most Valuable University Hockey Player Award.

Heelis was also chosen as the AUS male representative for the coveted CIS BLG Award that honours one male and one female athlete as the top Canadian University Athlete of the Year.

The Axemen will open the 2014-15 regular season Saturday night in Halifax where they will take on the Dalhousie Tigers. Game time is at 7:00pm.

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Sunday, October 5th at 4pm Atlantic Standard Time

The Northeastern men’s ice hockey team takes the ice for the first time this season, on Sunday at 4pm Atlantic Standard Time at the Matthews Arena. Their opponent is the Acadia Axemen who will be coming off a Saturday night game against the Quinnipiac Bobcats.

The Northeastern Huskies, who were picked 16th in the USCHO.com preseason poll this past Monday, return 21 letter winners from last season’s 19-14-4 squad, including Hobey Baker Award candidate Clay Witt in goal. Witt set program records for goals against average (2.37) and save percentage (.932) in 2013-14, and is back for his second season as the Huskies’ starting netminder. Witt, along with fellow senior Torin Snydeman, will serve as an assistant captain this season while Dax Lauwers and Adam Reid will wear the ‘C.’

The Huskies have 10 of its top 11 scorers back from a season ago, including rising junior Kevin Roy and sophomore center Mike Szmatula, both of whom received Hockey East accolades at the conclusion of last season. Roy enters his third season with 80 points in 66 career games (1.21 points per game), and could become the 46th player in program history to reach 100 career points this season.

Axemen head coach Darren Burns said, “Northeastern has many returning players this year and had a great year of recruiting. We will, no doubt, have to be at the top of our game on Sunday afternoon.”

This will mark Acadia’s final pre-season game before opening up the AUS regular season on Saturday, October 11^th in Halifax against the Dalhousie Tigers.

The Axemen will look to continue to gel as a group after adding eight new faces to the lineup since winning the AUS championship last season.

To watch the game live online, click here or paste the following link in your internet browser:

http://portal.stretchinternet.com/northeastern/portal.htm?eventId=168644&streamType=video

(Northeastern information source http://www.gonu.com)

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Saturday, October 4th at 8pm Atlantic Standard Time

The Acadia Axemen are traveling south of the border this weekend to take on a pair of NCAA Division 1 opponents in exhibition hockey play.

In the first match on Saturday at 8pm Atlantic Standard Time, the Axemen face-off against the Quinnipiac Bobcats at the High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Connecticut.

The Quinnipiac University men’s ice hockey team are ranked 15th in the first United States College Hockey Division I Men’s Poll of the 2014-15 season, as announced on Sept. 29, 2014, after finishing the season at #9 last year. The Bobcats were picked to finish fifth in the 2014-15 ECAC Division in Hockey Preseason Polls by the league’s coaches and third by the league’s media. In addition, the coaches chose senior co-captain Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ontario) as an All-ECAC Hockey Preseason selection while sophomore Sam Anas (Potomac, Maryland) was chosen by the media for the all-league team.

Acadia Coach Darren Burns had this to say about Saturday’s opponent, “We are very excited to play Quinnipiac, as we know they are a very strong team. We will have to be prepared to be at our best defensively, as they are an explosive team, which is well coached.”

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Liam Heelis to Attend Florida Panthers Prospect Camp

Acadia Axemen captain Liam Heelis will be taking his show on the road later this week; all the way to Florida and Tennessee! Liam, the reigning CIS Men’s Hockey MVP, will take part in the NHL’s Florida Panthers prospect camp from Sept 11-16.

The 23 year old, Heelis will join 2 goalies, eight defenseman and 14 other forwards. Included in those prospects is last year’s first overall pick in the NHL entry draft, Aaron Ekblad, who was also a junior teammate of current Axemen defenceman Chris Buonomo with the Barrie Colts of the OHL.

The prospect camp will be composed of a day of medical and physical testing, an on ice practice in Florida, followed by a round robin tournament in Nashville, Tennessee between 4 teams, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators & the Florida Panthers.

Acadia Axemen head coach Darren Burns expressed his excitement for Heelis saying, “We are very excited for Liam that he has been invited back to Florida’s camp. We believe he continues to get better as a player and this opportunity will be another positive step in his goal of playing in the NHL. He has continued to work hard and it will be good for him to get this experience heading into our season.”

Also on the prospect roster for the Panthers is Saint Mary’s Huskies forward Stephen MacAuley, UNB defenceman Keevan Cutting, former Halifax Moosehead Mackenzie Weegar, and Glace Bay native Logan Shaw, who played last season with San Antonio of the AHL.

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