Posted on Posted in Alumni News

Acadia alumnus named Toronto assistant coach

Photo credit Nick Brancaccio

The Toronto Maples Leafs announced the hiring of Acadia Axemen alumnus Paul McFarland as their new assistant coach this week. McFarland, who played for the Axemen from 2006-2010, will join Mike Babcockโ€™s coaching staff in Leafs country, replacing D.J. Smith who moved on from Toronto to take on the head coaching role with the Ottawa Senators.

McFarland was last yearโ€™s special guest speaker at the 20th Acadia Hockey Celebrity Dinner, after he had finished his first season behind the bench with the NHLโ€™s Florida Panthers. A season that saw the Panthers miss the NHL playoffs by just one point. After a second season, alongside head coach Bob Boughner, Panthers management decided to take a different direction and brought in Joel Quenneville as the new head coach, making McFarland a coveted free agent to join the coaching staff of many professional hockey teams.

McFarland grew up in Richmond Hill, a part of the Greater Toronto Area, and went on to play four seasons of major junior hockey, with the Kitchener Rangers and the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. In his first season with Kitchener in 02-03, the Rangers won the OHL championship and the Memorial Cup. Paul has always been known for his leadership skills and work ethic, serving as the captain of the Windsor Spitfires in the final year of his OHL career.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Acadia alumnus back with hockey Axemen

WOLFVILLE, N.S. โ€“ Acadia University and Acadia menโ€™s hockey head coach Darren Burns announced today that former Axeman Daniel Pettersson will join the teamโ€™s coaching staff this fall.

โ€œWe are extremely excited to add Dan to our coaching staff. He is a very hard-working individual and is very passionate about the game of hockey. He has an intelligent hockey mind and itโ€™s an excellent time to add him to our staff as we head into hosting a U SPORTS National Championship. โ€ŽAnytime you have a resource like this in your community and he’s a former Axemen, it’s a perfect fit,โ€ noted Burns.

Pettersson played his junior hockey career from 2007-2011 with the QMJHL Moncton Wildcats and then jumped to the professional ranks from 2011-2014 in Sweden for two seasons and one season in France.

In 2014, Pettersson joined the Axemen and remained for three seasons, playing 44 games in two seasons and capturing a U SPORTS bronze medal in his final senior year in 2017. Pettersson participated in the 2017 FISU Games with Team Sweden in Kazakhstan and was the teamโ€™s top scorer in the International university championship tournament with 10 points in five games.

Petterssonโ€™s coaching background began in the 2015-2016 season with the Acadia Minor Hockey Association Atom AA team as an assistant coach and the Peewee AAA team in 2016-17.ย  In the 2017-2018 season, Pettersson became an assistant coach with the Midget AAA Valley Wildcats assistant and hasnโ€™t looked back in the coaching profession. With more than 10 years of experience in skill development and hockey school Instruction, Pettersson spent two years as a skills/development coordinator in Sweden.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Major Midget & Major Bantam Conditioning & Skills Development Camps scheduled

The Acadia Axemen and Valley Wildcats organization are pleased to announce that together, they will be running a major midget and major bantam conditioning and skills development camp at the Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville this summer.

Acadia Axemen Head Coach Darren Burns expressed excitement for the upcoming camps, โ€œBoth programs are extremely excited to work together to help create the best development opportunities for the kids in the valley. Axemen coach Kris MacDonald and I see this as an excellent opportunity and only the tip of the ice berg for the kids in the valley. Both of our staffs working together year-round can only help in player development and opportunities โ€Žfor hockey players throughout the Annapolis Valley.”

While Valley Wildcats new bench boss, Brandon Benedict added, โ€œThis is very exciting. Growing up in the Valley I know how much talent and potential there is. Being a former Axemen and now coach and director of hockey operations for the Valley Wildcats, I realize how important the synergy is between our two programs, it can only be a positive for our young hockey players.”Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

21st Annual Acadia Axemen Celebrity Hockey Dinner

When: Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Where: Andrew H. McCain Arena, Wolfville

 

Darren Burns, head coach of the Acadia University menโ€™s hockey team, announced April 15, 2019 that Brian Burke, Sportsnet hockey analyst and former NHL general manager, will headline this yearโ€™s Acadia Axemen Celebrity Hockey Dinner in June.

 

Prior to joining Sportsnet in 2018, Burke served as President of Hockey Operations of the Calgary Flames, President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks (winning the Stanley Cup in 2007), Vancouver Canucks and Hartford Whalers. Burke was also General Manager for the United States national men’s hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics and is a member of Rugby Canada’s board of directors.

 

Noted for his brash personality, outspokenness, extensive vocabulary and unwillingness to wear a tie, Burke is one of the most insightful, informative and entertaining figures in the hockey world.

 

Born in Providence, Rhode Island and raised in Edina, Minnesota, in a family of 10 children, Burke graduated from Providence College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. While attending Providence, he played for the Friars Division I hockey team where, during his senior year, he served as captain.

 

In 1976-77, Burke played seven games with the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League (AHL). He played one full year in the AHL with the Maine Mariners, who won the Calder Cup championship. Burke retired after the 1977-78 season and attended Harvard Law School, where he graduated with a Juris Doctorin 1981.
โ€œWeโ€™re so excited to have Mr. Burke headline this yearโ€™s dinner,โ€ Burns said. โ€œMr. Burke has had a Hall-of-Fame worthy career as a hockey executive and is well on his way to repeating that success in television. Our guests will be very entertained.โ€
The 21st Acadia Axemen Celebrity Hockey Dinner takes place Wednesday, June 26th at the Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville. Since starting in 1998, the event has raised close to $425,000 in support of the menโ€™s varsity hockey program at Acadia. Tickets and corporate tables are available to purchase online. To register, please click here.

 

For more information on the Celebrity Dinner event, contact Len Hawley, Chairperson, at (902) 585-1044 or e-mail: len.hawley@acadiau.ca. More special guests for the dinner to be released in the upcoming weeks.

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Corneil with powerplay goal for Acadia

ANTIGONISH, NS โ€“ย The StFX X-Men have advanced to the Subway AUS semifinal series with a 4-1 victory over the Acadiaย Axemenย Sunday night in front of aย sold outย crowd of over 1800 at the Charles V. Keating Centre.ย 

Sam Studnicka (Windsor, ON) scored the game winner midway through the second period and Chase Marchand (Halifax, NS) was a brick wall in the StFX net, turning aside 41 pucks.ย 

After the X-Men lost a tough overtime game in Wolfville on Friday night, they were able to reset and take the series-deciding game.ย ย 

After going 0-for-7 on the man advantage in Game 2, the X-Men turned things around and scored on their second power play opportunity of the game as veteran fifth year forward Adam Stevens (Bedford, NS)ย tallied at 11:40 to giveย StFXย a 1-0 lead.ย 

Matt Needhamย (Pentincton, BC)ย fed the puck to a streaking Stevens in the slot and he ripped one up high under the cross bar past Loganย Flodellย (Regina, SK).ย ย 

The one goal held up after 20 minutes as StFX held a slight 12-10 shot advantage in the opening frame.ย 

Theย Axemenย tied it up just over five minutes into the second period at the tail end of a power play. Marchand made the initial pad save off a Garrett McFadden (Kincardine, ON) shot from the point but the rebound came right to the stick of Johnnyย Corneilย (Lindsay, ON) who quickly deposited it into the StFX net.ย 

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Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

DiGiacinto ties the game late, & scores OT winner

Wolfville, N.S. โ€“ The Acadia Axemen extended their season with a 3-2 overtime win over the StFX X-Men on Friday night in Wolfville in game two of the best of three quarterfinal series against StFX. The series is tied at one.

The overtime winning goal came from Subway First Star of the Game Cristiano Digiacinto, who stepped in over the blue-line and ripped a shot into the top right corner of the net for the game-winner.

The Axemen spent most of the first half of the opening period killing off three consecutive penalties.

Despite, their early penalty troubles, Acadia got on the scoreboard first, thanks to a power-play marker from forward Kyle Farrell.

Farrell redirected a wrist shot from the blue-line by forward Stephen Harper, to make it 1-0.

Acadia out-shot the X-Men 19-4 in the first period and had several opportunities add to their lead โ€“ including two shots off the post from Farrell โ€“ but the score remained 1-0 heading into the second.

StFX was the only team to score in the second frame.

The Axemen continued to kill off several more penalties and were 7-for-7 on the night up to the point of 14.1 seconds remaining in the second period when a shot from the point by defenceman William Thompson was redirected off the body of an Acadia player and into the Axemen net to tie the game at one after two periods.

StFX came out a much different team in the third period, playing their best hockey of the game despite 31-16 shots on goal advantage for the Axemen following two periods of play.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Game 2 of best of 3 goes Friday night in Wolfville

ANTIGONISH, N.S. โ€“ย The StFX X-Men took a 1-0 series lead in the Subway AUS quarter-final series with a 5-0 victory over the Acadiaย Axemenย Wednesday evening at the Charles V. Keating Centre.ย 

Chase Marchand (Halifax, NS) earned the shutout victory with 34 saves and Daniel Robertson (Windsor, ON) scored a pair of goals for the X-Men.ย ย 

Both teams were without the services of their respective head coaches behind the benches as both Coach Peddle and Coach Burns were serving suspensions resulting from supplemental discipline handed down by the AUS office.ย 

The X-Menย opened upย a 2-0 first period lead off goals from Holden Cook (Whitby,ย ON) and Robertson. Cook tallied on the power play at 5:42, finding room from behind theย Axemenย net to circle into the slot area and wrist a shot past Loganย Flodellย (Regina, SK).ย 

Robertson’s goal came just over two minutes later as he took a pass from Cook at the point and directed what appeared to be a harmless shot towards the Acadia net,ย but it fooledย Flodellย and the home team had a 2-0 lead.ย ย 

Shotsย favouredย the X-Men 16-10 after 20 minutes of play.ย ย 

Robertson notched his second goal of the night 13:13 into the second period while the X-Men were shorthanded. He brought the puck from his own blue line through the neutral zone ripped a shot from the point that beatย Flodell.ย ย 

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Posted on Posted in Team Stories

The Acadia Axemen celebrated their graduating senior players on Friday night. Players recognized were captain Liam Maaskant, assistant captain Kyle Farrell, and top scorer Stephen Harper.

The Axemen also recognized graduating student athletic therapist Tyler Gunn. Finally, the Axemen celebrated assistant Brett Cote who graduates this Spring. From the WHLโ€™s Red Deer Rebels, Brett had to end his playing career due to health issues. With a full scholarship, Brett remained & continued to be an integral member of the Axemen team.โ€ฌ