Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Axemen Coaches Burns & Richards excited for continued partnership

For the past 15 years, male & female hockey players of all ages and skill levels have had the opportunity to continue their hockey development by taking part in the leading spring hockey program which takes place at Acadia University Arena.  The long-time partnership between the University of Acadia and the Atlantic Hockey Group has benefited thousands of young hockey players.

Established in 2003, the Jr Axemen program was the vision of Darren Burns, Head Coach of the Acadia Axemen hockey program and Charlie Bourgeois, Director of the Atlantic Hockey Group.  The objective was to offer a local program for players and families lead by the many high-level coaches we have in the area. To provide an alternative to having families forced to travel to Halifax or other major centers to take part in spring hockey.  It was also very important to make available programs for players of all skill levels – for the Elite to recreational players.  Says Bourgeois “With the great success of the Jr Axemen program I believe it is fair to say that we have exceeded expectations.  The success of the program is due to the hard work of many great hockey people.”

Mark Richards, a long-time assistant coach with the Acadia Axemen (entering his 16th season) as well as minor hockey is the Director of the program.  Mark has also operated the very successful Acadia Selects program which takes part in the Elite spring hockey division.  Among his many responsibilities, Mark is responsible for bringing in the most qualified coaches to work with our players. Says Mark, “we are very fortunate to have a great hockey culture in the Valley area. Our teams are led by a group of very passionate, dedicated and knowledgeable coaches.  The ultimate goal is to find the balance of high-level training as well as providing our teams the opportunity to compete against teams at the appropriate level allowing us to challenge players of all levels.”Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Southam with lone Axemen goal

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (2-3-0) were unable to mount a comeback against the undefeated UNB Reds (5-0-0) on Friday night, as they lost 2-1. Although the teams were evenly matched for most the game, UNB dominated the third period to take the win.

Despite chances on both sides, the first period was a scoreless affair. UNB dominated the play early in the period, but Acadia eventually found their footing before the midway point of the first.

By the end of the first period, the shots were 12-9 for the Axemen.

UNB broke the scoreless tie with a shorthanded marker in the second period from Reds forward Samuel Dove-McFalls.

Dove-McFalls buried the puck into the empty net after the Axemen goalie fell over and let go of the loose puck, making it 1-0 for UNB.

The Axemen responded just under six minutes later when they tied the game off a goal from Acadia forward, Rodney Southam.

Southam scored off a weird bounce like McFalls’ goal, as the puck ricocheted off the glass behind the net and bounced in front where Southam potted it to make it 1-1.

By the end of the second period, the shots were 22-19 for the Axemen.

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Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Flodell with 26 saves in victory

WOLFVILLE, N.S – The Acadia Axemen (2-2) gave the home crowd something to cheer for on Homecoming Weekend in Wolfville, as they defeated the Dalhousie Tigers (1-3) 6-3 on Friday night. The game was a back and forth for most of the 60 minutes – including 4 lead changes – but Acadia pulled away in the third period with four goals coming in the final frame.

Acadia opened the scoring just before the midway point of the first, with a power-play from rookie TJ Fergus.

Fergus took a pass in front from forward Ryan Foss and buried the puck into the wide-open net for the first goal of his USports career to make it 1-0 for the Axemen.

Dalhousie responded with two of their own, with both goals coming from Aiden Jamieson.

Jamieson came streaking into the offensive zone, got the Axemen goalie moving to the right and then slid a low shot into the left corner of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

Just over two minutes later, the Tigers added another goal on a beautiful toe drag wrist shot from Jamieson at the left face-off circle in the offensive zone, which beat the Axemen goaltender high glove side.

Despite Acadia leading 11-9 in shots by the end of the first, the Tigers took a 2-1 lead into the second.

Although both sides had their chances during the second, it was a mostly uneventful period until Axemen forward Stephen Harper tied the game up late in the period.

Harper burst in with less than eight minutes to play in the second, muscling his way past the Tigers defense where he waited out the Tigers goalie and flipped the puck over his left pad to tie the game at 2-2.

By the end of the second period, the shots were 29-20 for the Axemen.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Alumni News

Peyton, St. Louis, Reynolds & Dickie to be Inducted

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Acadia’s 2018 Homecoming weekend celebrations will include the Axemen Hockey Honour Roll induction luncheon on Friday, Oct. 12 beginning at 11:30 am at Fountain Commons.

Included in this year’s hockey honour roll induction ceremony are former Axemen Josh St. Louis ’01, Chris Peyton ’00 and Doug Reynolds ’98. Also included in this year’s Hockey Honour Roll induction is former head coach Kevin Dickie, who is now the Executive Director of Athletics and Community Events.

Former Axemen Captain, Chris Peyton, will be entering the Honour Roll after an outstanding four year career. Peyton played his Junior hockey years with the Halifax Mooseheads before coming to the Axemen. With 59 assists, Peyton is leader of his class of 1996 to 2000 in assists.

After an incredible 57 goals and 108 points in his last year of Major Junior hockey with the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL, Josh St. Louis was arguably the top recruit entering the CIAU in 1997. In only 3 seasons, St. Louis scored 43 goals for Acadia in his career – 22nd among the top Axemen.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Colella notches 2 points in loss

Photo by Rachel Drummond

ANTIGONISH, N.S. – The StFX X-Men outplayed the Acadia Axemen Wednesday evening at the Charles V. Keating Centre, besting the visitors 5-2 after an intense, physical game that saw a combined 74 minutes of penalties incurred. 

Freshman goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon, a native of local Antigonish, N.S. guided the X-Men to their first win of the season and the first of his AUS career, posting 25 saves and earning the game’s second star honour. 

StFX opened the scoring early, just 1:33 into play, when Subway player of the game and first star Bryson Cianfrone (Stoney Creek, ON)  found the back of the net after taking advantage of his position in the slot. StFX managed to hold the line and keep play in the Axemen zone, despite several failed clearing attempts. Assisting on Cianfrone’s snapshot goal was Matt Needham (Penticton, BC). 

The X-Men kept the momentum going, scoring six and a half minutes later. William Bower (Saint John, NB) passed the puck behind the net to Adam Laishram (Ashburn, ON) who took the initial shot on goal. Lane Cormier (Hopewell, NS) capitalized on the rebound bringing the score to 2-0. 

Acadia answered StFX’s goal at 11:52 with a shot that rang off the post behind Mann-Dixon. Michael Zipp (Edmonton, AB) took a shot from the slot that bounced off the post, Jackson Houck (Delta, BC) captured the rebound and scored off a backhanded shot. Third star of the evening Maurizio Colella (Tottenham, ON) was also credited with an assist on the goal.  

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Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Axemen fall prey to the 3rd period penalty calls

The Acadia Axemen looked to bounce back from a tough 7-1 loss at the hands of the BU Terriers, as they faced the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Sunday afternoon. The Axemen came out with a strong effort, outplaying the home team for much of the game, but the River Hawks came from behind on the strength of a number of 3rd period powerplays to defeat the Axemen 4-3.

The River Hawks opened the scoring at 13:49 of the first period, on the powerplay, when Colin O’Neill scored from the slot, beating Axemen starting goalie Dawson Carty.

The Axemen answered back on the powerplay, when Jackson Houck ended up in alone on River Hawk netminder Tyler Wall and popped a shot to the top corner, blocker side on the New York Ranger drafted netminder, to square the game at 1 at 15:39 of the 1st period.

The home team took the lead back before the end of the period when Chris Schutz made it 2-1 at 17:53. UML had the 13-11 edge in shots in the opening frame.

Acadia tied the game back up at 7:49 of the 2nd period when Jack Flaman skated down the left wing and ripped a shot on the short side over the River Hawk goalie’s shoulder. The goal was the Axemen’s first even strength goal on the season. That was all the scoring in the 2nd period, Acadia played a very strong period, outshooting UML 12-6 in the period.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

DiGiacinto nets the lone Acadia goal

The Acadia Axemen faced off on Saturday night against the top ranked team in the ultra competitive ECAC conference of the NCAA’s Division 1, the Boston University Terriers. The outcome on the scoreboard was not what the Axemen had hoped, as they were downed 7-1 by the home team.

The Axemen’s night got off to a bad start early when a strange puck bounce fooled Axemen starting goaltender Logan Flodell to put BU up 1-0 just 1:56 in, despite Acadia being on the powerplay.

Just two minutes later, the Terriers struck again as defenceman Shane Switzer took a pass in the slot and beat the Axemen netminder to make it 2-0. The Axemen settled down after that goal and played a strong final 15 minutes of the opening period, but couldn’t beat the BU starter Jake Oettinger.

The Terriers put a stop to the Axemen’s momentum early in the 2nd period as they scored at 1:35 and then again at 2:34 to stretch the lead to 4-0. They tacked another on before the midway point of the period to make it a 5-0 game.

BU opened the 3rd period scoring just 41 seconds into the frame on another bad bounce for the Axemen as the puck went off the skate of an Acadia player, and into their own net; BU rounded out their scoring at 8:03 as Joel Farabee ripped home a top corner shot to make it 7-0 for the home team.

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