Posted on Posted in Team Stories

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OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport unveiled Monday its roster for a two-game exhibition series between CIS men’s hockey all-stars and Canada’s National Junior Team prospects in two weeks. Acadia defenseman Matt Pufahl was one of six AUS players named to the CIS All-Star roster.

The two-game set, which was announced earlier this month, will take place at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. EST and Sunday, Dec. 13 at noon EST as part of the National Junior Team’s preparation for the 40th IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland (Dec. 26 – Jan. 5).

The 23-player CIS lineup – including 20 with CHL experience – is comprised of 11 standouts from the OUA conference and six apiece from the AUS and Canada West leagues.

Highlighting the university squad are two members of the reigning two-time University Cup champion Alberta Golden Bears, a pair of former NHL draft picks, as well as the current CIS leaders in scoring, goals and goaltending.

“I know I speak on behalf of our entire coaching staff when I say we’re very pleased with the makeup of this team,” said head coach Shawn Camp from the University of Guelph, who will be accompanied behind the bench by assistant coaches Darren Burns from Acadia, Brett Gibson from Queen’s and Mike Sirant from Manitoba. “In order to compete with the National Junior Team we need to have players who have speed, skill and mobility, and we certainly have that when you look at the individuals on this roster. We know these guys will compete hard and play with composure.”

Protecting the CIS net in Toronto will be goaltenders Kevin Bailie from Queen’s, Corbin Boes from Dalhousie and Jordon Cooke from Saskatchewan.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Axemen score four third period goals for the win

Hometown Hockey's Tara Slone was on hand for the ceremonial opening faceoff to kick off the weekend of events in Wolfville.
Rogers Hometown Hockey’s Tara Slone was on hand for the ceremonial opening faceoff to kick off the weekend of events in Wolfville.

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Tied at one after two periods, the CIS No. 4 Acadia Axemen netted four unanswered goals within six minutes in the third frame, handing the visiting Dalhousie Tigers a 5-1 loss on the eve of Rogers Hometown Hockey weekend in Wolfville. The loss is the third in a row for the Tigers, while the Axemen extend their winning streak to six.

Phil Gadoury (Montreal, Que.) scored the first and only goal for the Tigers at 14:24 in the first period.

Acadia didn’t get on the scoreboard until early in the second period on the man advantage when Geoff Schemitsch (Thornhill, Ont.) scored his first of two goals. Schemitsch’s wrist shot from under the blue line made it past a crowd in front of Tiger goaltender Corbin Boes (Saskatoon, Sask.) for Acadia’s first goal.

Out-shooting the Tigers 27-15 after two periods, the flood gates opened in the third. Fourteen seconds into the final frame, Brett Thompson (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) scored his seventh goal of the season assisted by Mike Cazzola (Guelph, Ont.). Thompson’s tough angle shot from the centre of the faceoff circle beat Boes on the short side.

Less than a minute later, fourth year forward Mike Cazzola scored his third goal in two games giving Acadia a 3-1 lead early in the third period. Cazzola’s goal was taken nearly at the same spot as Thompson’s preceding goal and was assisted by Thompson.

Remy Giftopoulos (Ancaster, Ont.) scored with 4:41 off the clock in the third frame to give the Axemen a commanding 4-1 lead. Giftopoulus pulled the puck out from behind the net and circled to the slot where he beat Boes high on the blocker side.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Cazzola nets two powerplay goals

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WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Riding a four game winning streak, the CIS No. 4 ranked Acadia Axemen extended it to five with a 3-1 win over the visiting Saint Mary’s Huskies.

Acadia’s Mike Cazzola (Guelph, Ont.) scored his first of two powerplay goals with under three minutes remaining in the opening period. Cazzola’s goal, his ninth of the season, was on a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle to give the Axemen a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

CIS coaches announced for series vs. National Junior Team prospects

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OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Tuesday its coaching staff for a two-game exhibition series between CIS men’s hockey all-stars and Canada’s National Junior Team prospects in December.

The two-game set, which was announced last week, will take place at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET and Sunday, Dec. 13 at noon ET as part of the National Junior Team’s preparation for the 40th IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland (Dec. 26 – Jan. 5).

Shawn Camp from the University of Guelph has been appointed head coach of the all-CIS squad. He will be accompanied behind the bench by assistant coaches representing all three CIS conferences, including Darren Burns from Acadia University, Brett Gibson from Queen’s University and Mike Sirant from the University of Manitoba.

Burns, who hails from Brockville, Ont., is in his 15th campaign in charge at Acadia. A three-time conference coach of the year and the 2005 recipient of the Father George Kehoe Memorial Award at the CIS level, he has guided his troops to a pair of AUS titles and was an assistant coach with the Universiade gold medal-winning squad in 2007 in Italy. The former Axemen captain was a member of two University Cup championship teams at Acadia, first as a player in 1993 and then as an assistant in 1996.

Coach Darren Burns said, “It’s truly an honour to get this opportunity in December. There is no question that the hard work and dedication of Acadia University, the coaching staff and players here over the past several years, has provided this opportunity for me. It will be a privilege to represent the CIS, AUS, and Acadia at this event. I believe the CIS committee and Hockey Canada have created a tremendous opportunity for all involved, not just this year, but for many years to follow. A lot of hard work and preparation has went into this, and they should be commended.”

Burns added, “Team CIS will need to focus on doing their best to win these two games with integrity and passion. It is important for the team to focus and help the Team Canada Juniors prepare for this prestigious tournament. We need to do everything we can to help our countries team prepare to win Gold in January.”Read more »

Posted on Posted in Alumni News

A look back at Baker, Clark, Heelis, & Gibbons

Acadia University has been a hot bed for hockey talent for many years… through the late 1980’s and 1990’s, Acadia was a perennial favourite to challenge for the AUS and CIS National titles. Throughout those years, there were many hockey greats to suit up with the Axemen, be it future NHLer Chris Kotsopoulos, or Darren Colbourne, Norm Batherson, George Dupont, Kevin Knopp, Mark McFarlane, Jeff MacLeod and Sean O’Reilly just to name a few. Most notably, in 1994, Axemen Duanne Dennis was the first Acadia University player to be named the nation’s top men’s hockey player, winning the Senator Joseph A Sullivan Trophy.

Since 2000 though, Acadia has turned out some of the top men’s university hockey talent in the country, let’s look back at a few of those who earned exceptional honours:

Kevin BakerKevin Baker, a native of Kingston, Ontario, was a 1999 NHL draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, chosen in the 7th round. He chose to come to Acadia University after two season of playing in the AHL (American Hockey League) and ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) leagues.

Baker said, “I had to sit out my first year at Acadia (due to being a pro for two years previous) and got to help out, almost like an assistant coach. It was a great experience with my head coach, Darren Burns so I got to see that side of college life, and then I played for three years. I was MVP one year and then we went to the Nationals one year, so it was a really good experience.”

From 2003-2006 in 77 regular season games with Acadia, Baker racked up 103 points including 24 goals and 40 points in 28 games in 2004-05, and 24 goals and 47 points in 05-06. His performance in 05-06 led him to be named the CIS Player of the Year, earning the Senator Joseph A Sullivan trophy.

Acadia head coach Darren Burns said of Baker “He was a pure goal scorer, who always seemed to come up with the clutch goal, when we really needed it. He was very deserving of the prestigious award.”

After graduating, Baker went on to play in the pro ranks in the ECHL, AHL, Germany, Italy, and CHL (Central Hockey League), being named the ECHL MVP in 2008-09, scoring 102 point and being named to the first all-star team. He had also been named to the ECHL first all-star team in 06-07 as well. He continued to be a prolific scorer as late as last season, in 2014-15 with the ECHL’s Quad City Mallards, Kevin notched 50 points in 59 games. He finished off the season by representing the United States in the 2015 Ice Hockey Classic in Australia this summer, playing against many NHL, AHL, and ECHL players.

andrew_clark_actionAndrew Clark, a native of Brandon, Manitoba, graduated with a Kinesiology degree in 2013. From 2009-13 in 111 regular season games, Clark amassed 131 points, including 39 points in 28 games in 2011-12. That year he was named a CIS First Team All-Canadian, and named the CIS Men’s hockey player of the year, becoming the third Axemen to take home the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy. He was named a 2012 finalist for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport and national law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) Award for top male athlete in the country.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Acadia moves into first place in the AUS

Athletics - AThe Axemen flexed their offensive might on Saturday night, as they routed the STU Tommies (1-11-1) by a score of 12-2. The win was Acadia’s 4th straight victory, and coupled with a StFX loss, moved the Axemen (10-2-1) into first place in the AUS division; a single point ahead of both the X-Men and UNB.

The goals came fast and furious with Brett Thompson scoring just 50 seconds into the opening frame, and just 55 seconds later, Zach Franko made it 2-0. Mike Cazzola wristed a shot to the top corner behind Tommies starter Tyson Teichmann to make it 3-0. With Axemen defenceman, Liam Maaskant off for roughing, Travis Randell scored shorthanded, his second goal of the year, ending the scoring in the opening period.

St. Thomas came out in the 2nd peroid and got on the board when Rankyn Campbell banked a shot off of Axemen netminder Robert Steeves to cut the lead to 4-1. But Acadia extinguished any hope for the Tommies, scoring 5 straight goals, including Remy Giftopoulos, Michael Clarke, Daniel Pettersson, Mike Cazzola, & Brett Thompson added goals. It was Cazzola’s 2nd of the night and 8th of the year and Thompson’s second of the night and 6th on the season. Thompson’s goal was a powerplay marker. St. Thomas ended the period scoring, as Eric Diodati made it 9-2.

The third period saw the Axemen add three more to the scoreboard as Dylan Anderson scored his 4th on the year at 1:55, Boston Leier added his team leading 8th goal of the season, at 3 minutes, and rounding out the goals was Zach Franko scoring on a breakaway, his second marker of the game, and 5th of the season.

Robert Steeves picked up the win for Acadia, stopping 20 of 22 shots, while Tyson Teichmann took the loss for STU, stopping 18 of the 24 shots he faced, while backup Luke Lee-Knight stopped 8 of 14. Acadia outshot STU 38-22. The Axemen were 1 for 3 on the powerplay, while STU was 0 for 5.

All but one Axemen were credited with at least a point in the win, just Sam Fioretti was kept off the score sheet. Four Axemen notched 4 points, including Zachery Franko, Remy Giftopoulos, Mike Cazzola, and Brett Thompson. See the complete game boxscore here.

The Axemen now head home for the final two games prior to the study and holiday break. They will face the Saint Mary’s Huskies on Wednesday night, and the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday night. Friday night’s game will be a part of the Rogers Sportsnet Hometown Hockey Tour which will take place all weekend in Wolfville. Check out all of the event details here!

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Acadia scores 3 in the third to defeat U de M

Athletics - AIt’s not the way Acadia Axemen head coach Darren Burns would prefer to get the wins, but the Acadia Axemen are making comebacks looks easy and normal as of late. Acadia came into the third period in Moncton, trailing the host Aigles Bleus 3-1 and killing a penalty. When the final buzzer rang, the Axemen were victorious 4-3.

Moncton scored the only goal of the first period when Danny Chiasson put the puck past Axemen goaltender Brandon Glover and into the net at 15:42. Acadia controlled much of the play in the first period but were stymied by U de M netminder Brandon Thibeau, who turned aside all 16 shots the Axemen fired his way. Many were grade A scoring chances.

Moncton padded their lead in the second period at 12:34 when Alex Emund converted a nice three way passing play with the Saulnier brothers to make it 2-0. Acadia answered back at 14:41, when Zachary Franko went for a wrap around and banked the puck off of Thibeau and into the net, to cut the lead to 2-1. But the Aigles Bleus wasted no time getting their two goal lead back as Alex Saulnier converted another three way passing play just 55 seconds later to go back up 3-1. Moncton took that lead into the intermission.

Acadia got the spark they needed at the 3:00 mark of the third period when Brett Thompson scored on the powerplay, taking a pass from Franko and beating Thibeau to cut the lead to one. Matt Pufahl picked up the secondary assist on the goal.

The Axemen found a way to tie the game at 14:25 when Boston Leier found a loose puck infront of the net and made no mistake to square the game at three. Michael Clarke had the only assist on the goal.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

CISCanadaOTTAWA (CIS) – Hockey Canada and Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Wednesday a two-game exhibition series that will see a selection of CIS all-stars face off against Canada’s National Junior Team prospects as they prepare for the 40th IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland (Dec. 26 – Jan. 5).

The games will be played at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET and Sunday, Dec. 13 at noon ET.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Hockey Canada for what should be two very entertaining hockey games, and the first step in an expanded partnership between our organizations,” said Graham Brown, chief executive officer of CIS. “We all know how excited Canadians get every December about our National Junior Team. These games will provide great exposure for CIS men’s hockey, and I know our players and coaches are looking forward this opportunity to shine on a national stage.”

“It is important for us to make the most of our opportunity to assess the players during December’s selection camp,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams for Hockey Canada. “These two games on international ice provide us with additional insights we simply wouldn’t get from intrasquad play, as we look to build the strongest team possible to represent Canada in Finland.”

The 23-player CIS roster, comprised of 11 standouts from the OUA conference as well as six apiece from the AUS and Canada West, will be announced on Nov. 30. The coaching staff, including representation from all three CIS leagues, will also be unveiled by the end of the month.

For its part, Hockey Canada will announce the roster of players invited to Canada’s National Junior Team selection camp on Dec. 1. The camp will take place at the MasterCard Centre from Dec. 10 to 13 and the final roster will be announced on Dec. 20, following pre-competition games in Finland against Belarus and the Czech Republic.

“I want to thank both Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League for the dialogue with CIS over the past few years,” said Kevin Dickie, chair of the CIS men’s hockey technical committee and member of the CIS board of directors. “Having coached the World Junior team, I know how critical these game‎s are in their preparation and selection process. From our end, it’s an opportunity to showcase the outstanding caliber of CIS men’s hockey, which is as good as it gets in our country.”

The National Junior Team has faced CIS competition on a regular basis in recent years in its preparation for the IIHF Championship, with most of those contests coming against a single university team or a selection from two or three programs. Last December, the Hockey Canada hopefuls swept a two-game set versus the Toronto Selects from Ryerson, York and U of T.