Posted on Posted in Team Stories

MEDIA-DAY-14(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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Posted on Posted in Team Stories

MH-ACA_Preview-2014(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.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Acadia knocks off No. 16 Huskies in exhibition play, 3-2

Axemen coach Darren Burns believed the weekend was a building block for his team saying, “It was a great weekend for our program. The team worked very hard, we played two very good teams in Northeastern and Quinnipiac. We need to make sure we use this to help us prepare to play next weekend.”

Athletics - ABOSTON – Zach Aston-Reese and Kevin Roy both scored for the No. 16 Northeastern men’s ice hockey team, but an Acadia goal midway through the third period sealed the victory for the Axemen in exhibition play on Sunday afternoon at Matthews Arena, 3-2.

The Huskies fought back in the final period to tie the game with 11:41 left in regulation, but Acadia fired right back with the eventual game-winning goal from Alex Beaton less than two minutes later.

Clay Witt (nine saves) and Derick Roy (15 saves) split time in goal for NU, which outshot Acadia 34-27 in the game. NU converted on one of its five power play opportunities in the game while holding the Axemen to an 0-of-4 showing on the man advantage.

NU came out and took control of the game early, outshooting the Axemen 11-7 and scoring the period’s lone goal midway through the frame. Aston-Reese created Northeastern’s first scoring chance of the afternoon when he broke through the Acadia defense and went in alone on Glover. Stephen Woodworth raced to catch up, and hauled down Aston-Reese in the act of shooting, resulting in a penalty shot being awarded to the Huskies.  Aston-Reese took the penalty shot, beating Glover five-hole for the score.

Acadia had a chance to tie the game on their lone power play of the frame when the power play unit collapsed in on Witt, but the NU defense stood tall in the final seconds of the minor penalty to Jake Schechter.

Garret Cockerill nearly put the Huskies up two late in the period with NU on the power play when he fired a shot through traffic that rang off the crossbar.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Axemen take advantage of special teams to top Bobcats

Athletics - AHAMDEN, Conn. – The Quinnipiac University men’s ice hockey team lost to Acadia, 4-1, in an exhibition game at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports in Hamden, Conn.
The Bobcats scored early in the first period when Derek Smith’s shot from the point was knocked down in front of Acadia goalie Brandon Glover. K. J. Tiefenwerth picked up the rebound and zipped the puck across the crease to Tim Clifton in the opposite face-off circle. Clifton’s one-timer beat Glover stick-side to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead.
The second period tilted towards Acadia, as the Axemen scored three times to jump out to a 3-1 lead, scoring a short-handed goal and converting on two power plays. Liam Heelis scored the Axemen’s first goal of the game when he picked up a puck in the neutral zone, made a move around a Quinnipiac defensman and ended up with a one-on-one opportunity. Heelis faked left, brought the puck around to his right and then beat Quinnipiac freshman goalie Sean Lawrence with the backhand.
Less than two minutes later, Acadia worked the puck in deep with Boston Leier taking a pass from Mike Cazzola and firing on Lawrence from the slot. The puck bounced out of Lawrence’s pads to his left where Leier was able to get a stick on it and punch it past Lawrence to give Acadia a 2-1 lead. With just under six minutes to play in the period, Acadia skated with a 5-on-3 advantage with two Bobcats in the box. Acadia moved the puck around the Bobcats’ half of the ice before  Cazzola zipped a pass across the Bobcats zone to Matthew Pufahl, who touch-passed the puck to the opposite post to Zachary Franko for the one-timer on a virtually wide-open net.
With less than five minutes to play, Acadia added another goal as Franko picked up a loose pick in front of the Bobcats bench and pushed it up-ice to Leier. Leier skated between the face-off circles and sent a pass to Cazzola who fired a shot from the face-off circle to the right of Jacob Meyers that beat the Bobcats’ goalie stick-side.
Axemen Head Coach Darren Burns was happy with the way his team played saying, “Our guys played with great composure. They (Quinnipiac) scored early, but our guys got better as the game went on. It was a real good character win.”
Acadia moves on to face Northeastern Huskies tomorrow in CIS/NCAA Exhibition play.
submitted in part by http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

northeastern_logo VS Athletics - A

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 11th 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)

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Quinnipiac Bobcats vs Athletics - A

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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Posted on Posted in Alumni News

Mallards Sign Prolific Veteran Kevin Baker

By: Mallards Communications Staff on http://myqcmallards.net

Former Axemen Kevin Baker signs with the Quad City Mallards of the Central Hockey League after his previous team the Arizona Sundogs abruptly folded last month.
Former Axemen Kevin Baker signs with the Quad City Mallards of the Central Hockey League after his previous team the Arizona Sundogs abruptly folded last month.
10/01/2014 10:22 AM
The Quad City Mallards have signed forward Kevin Baker, the Mallards announced today.
Baker, 35, scored 34 goals- tied for third most in the Central Hockey League- and totaled 64 points in 65 games with the Arizona Sundogs last season.  The Kingston, Ontario native also finished fifth in the CHL in power play goals (11) last year.  He went on to score five more goals and tack on nine points in 11 playoff games while pushing the Sundogs to an opening round upset of top-seeded Missouri and a berth in the semi-finals.
“When Arizona and Denver players became available, Kevin was one guy I really wanted to get,” said Mallards coach and general manager Terry Ruskowski.  “He’s not just a good player, he’s also a good person, someone who can provide leadership for our younger guys.  He’s someone we can count on to come through when the chips are down.”
The 6’ 1, 192-pound Baker joins the Mallards for his eleventh professional season having produced 276 goals and 327 assists for 603 points in 686 career games.  Along the way, Baker was named 2008-09 ECHL Most Valuable Player and 2005-06 Canadian Interuniversity Sport Player of the Year and twice (in 2006-07 and 2008-09) made the All-ECHL First Team.
Baker has scored 30 or more goals in back-to-back seasons and rung up 27 or more each of the last three years.  In all, he has found the net 30 or more times in a campaign on five occasions and scored at least 27 goals in six of his last seven seasons in North America.

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Posted on Posted in Alumni News

Former Axemen to play in Central Hockey League

Former Axemen Dustin Ekelman joins the Brampton Beast for the 2014-15 season (Photo By Josh Schaefer/CIS University Cup)
Former Axemen Dustin Ekelman joins the Brampton Beast for the 2014-15 season (Photo By Josh Schaefer/CIS University Cup)
09/29/2014 9:54 AM – original post on http://www.bramptonbeast.com
BRAMPTON, ON – The Brampton Beast announced today that Grant Rollheiser will be playing between the pipes for a second year. The Beast also agreed to terms today with forwards Dustin Ekelman and Linden Bahm for the 2014-15 season.
Rollheiser was 6th round draft pick for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  The 6 foot 225 pound goalie had 871 saves in 30 games, with a .906 save percentage in the Beast’s inaugural year. In early November of last season ‘Rollie the Goalie’ led the Central Hockey League in save percentage at .956 and was second in goals against average with a 1.62 mark.
“I enjoyed being in Brampton last year,” said Rollheiser. “The fans, my teammates and our staff were great and I had a great experience with the organization last season.” Prior to the Beast, the Chilliwack native played for the Wichita Thunder and had his first professional appearance with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL. Rollheiser played four years at Boston University and helped champion the nationals in his freshman year.
Linden Bahm is a new addition to the Beast this year.  The right-winger played four years at Carleton University and finished his career with a total of 68 points in 119 games. The Kinburn, Ontario native is excited to get back on the ice and make his first professional appearance with the Beast.
Dustin Ekelman will also be joining the Beast this upcoming season. Originally from Whitby, Ontario, the rookie forward played four years at Acadia University and had 48 points in 113 games. Ekelman played alongside recent Beast signing Matt McCready in his first year of junior with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. The 25-year old looks to contribute energy and physical play to the Beast lineup this year.
The Beast start their season on Friday, October 24th at 7:30PM at the Powerade Centre. Individual game tickets are now on sale. Season tickets and group pricing is available for purchase. Visit bramptonbeast.com or call for more information. For media inquiries or questions, please contact Mallory Dayot, Manager of Marketing at ext. 214 or mdayot@bramptonbeast.com.

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Acadia Downs Dal 7-2 in Liverpool, NS

The Acadia Axemen take warmup at Liverpool's Queens Memorial Arena
The Acadia Axemen take warmup at Liverpool’s Queens Memorial Arena

The Acadia Axemen took to the road Friday for an AUS hockey exhibition game against the Dalhousie Tigers in Liverpool on Nova Scotia’s beautiful South Shore. The game was played at the Queens Memorial Arena.

The Axemen were victorious, downing the Tigers by a score of 7-2.

Acadia’s Brett Thompson opened the scoring in the first period, converting on the power play. Not long after that linemate Mike Cazzola got his first of two on the night to put the Axemen up 2-0. Before the period ended, Dalhousie closed the gap to one with a goal.

There was no scoring in the 2nd period, but the third period made up for the lack of scoring in the second. It started with Scott Trask getting on the board, but the Tigers battled back again, this time on the powerplay, to make it a 3-2 game.

From there the Axemen took over scoring 4 straight goals. Captain Liam Heelis answered back to regain Acadia’s 2 goal lead, Mike Cazzola notched his second of the game, and Travis Gibbons and Joel Ridgeway rounded out the scoring for Acadia.

The Axemen are heading to the United States next weekend for 2 exhibition games against NCAA opponents in Quinnipiac and Northeastern. The game against Quinnipiac is Saturday at 8pm Atlantic, and Sunday’s game versus Northeastern will be at 5pm Atlantic time.

Acadia opens up their AUS regular season October 11th on the road against the Dal Tigers at the Halifax Forum.