Category: Team Stories

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.

Zazula named to USports ‘Team AUS’

TORONTO – For the eighth time since 2015, a team of U SPORTS men’s hockey all-stars will be facing members of Canada’s National Junior Team Selection camp as a part of its preparation for the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship.

U SPORTS has selected players exclusively from the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference to represent the All-Star team and face Team Canada’s hopefuls in a pair of games at the Avenir Centre in Moncton on Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. AT and Dec. 12 at 12 p.m. AT.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.avenircentre.com

The U SPORTS squad is loaded with firepower, as the Top 10 AUS scorers have all made the roster, with every player scoring at a greater than a point-per-game clip. The team will be led by AUS leading scorer Liam Hawel from the STFX X-Men, who has posted 27 points in 18 games this season (12-15-27). The former Soo Greyhound and Kitchener Ranger also played seven games for the Laval Rocket of the AHL in the 2020-21 season before joining the X-Men for the 21-22 campaign where he scored 18 goals and added 19 assists.

The U SPORTS defence is led by UPEI Panthers blueliner Matthew Brassard. The former Barrie Colt and Niagara Ice Dog is the leading point-getter amongst rearguards in Canadian university men’s hockey with 23 points in 18 games (3-20-23). Legendary UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall, who will also oversee the U SPORTS entry at the upcoming FISU Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, New York, will guide the All-Star team with six members of his UNB REDS, including fourth year forward Brady Gilmore (3-16-19)

“This is an excellent opportunity for U SPORTS to show our continued support for Hockey Canada in helping them best prepare the Canadian World Junior Team for the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Atlantic Canada,” said Lisette Johnson-Stapley, Chief Sport Officer of U SPORTS. “We are honoured to be invited annually to the selection camp, while simultaneously showcasing some of the best talent Canadian university hockey has to offer. We greatly appreciate Hockey Canada’s support in hosting some of Canada’s top university players.”

Hockey Canada’s National Junior Team has faced various U SPORTS competition on a regular basis since 1988. U SPORTS began its current All-Star team format in 2015 and in seven previous camps has a 6-6-1 record.

U SPORTS MEN’S HOCKEY ALL-STAR ROSTER

TEAM STAFF

Acadia Axemen @ Dalhousie Tigers