Schemitsch, Buonomo, Trask, Ferry and Makin headline additions

story courtesy of acadiau.ca 16/08/2013 12:27 pm

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Acadia University and Axemen hockey head coach Darren Burns are pleased to announce this year’s committed recruits for the 2013-14 season. The recruiting class of 2013 includes two defencemen and three forwards.

This year’s recruits will add size to the 2012-13 AUS third place finishing Axemen including 6’2″ defenceman Geoffrey Schemitsch of Thornhill, Ont. A former Oshawa General (OHL), Geoff was selected in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Highly skilled and an excellent puck moving defenceman, Burns is happy on Schemitsch’s choice of Acadia. “Geoff sees the ice extremely well and has the ability to log a lot of minutes. His smooth skating and great passing skills will help our powerplay this season”.
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Chiasson returns following youth hockey development position with Pittsburgh

story courtesy of acadiau.ca

Michael ChaissonWOLFVILLE, N.S. – Former Hockey Axeman Michael Chiasson will replace the departing Travis Young as the new assistant head coach for the Acadia men’s hockey program. Acadia University and head coach Darren Burns announced the news of Chiasson joining the Axemen in the coming weeks prior to the start of the Acadia Summer Hockey Camps in early August.
Chiasson, a native of Cole Harbour, N.S., was a goaltender for the Axemen from 2007 to 2011 and became a manager of youth hockey programs with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL in the fall of 2011. Chiasson spent the last year and a half developing and implementing programs to help youth hockey development throughout western Pennsylvania. In doing so, Michael worked with all age groups in camps and clinics for players and goalies in the greater Pittsburgh area.Read more »

Caribous shuffle the deck

Clarenville trades for Ryan and Keith Delaney

The Clarenville Caribous bolstered their roster ahead of hosting the 2015 Allan Cup in a big way last week, landing reigning Herder champions Keith and Ryan Delaney from the Eastlink CeeBees Stars via a trade. keithdelaney

© Chris Ballard photo

Keith Delaney hopes to be hoisting the Herder trophy again in 2013-2014, this time as a member of the Clarenville Caribous.

The Delaney brothers and the CeeBees’ second round pick (eighth overall) in this year’s draft are heading to Clarenville in exchange for Matt and Mitch Bragg, Brandon Street, Andrew Hill and the Caribous’ first round pick (fourth overall) in the upcoming draft.Read more »

Assistant Travis Young takes offer to coach professional Hungarian team

story courtesy of acadiau.ca on 25/06/2013 4:08 pm

travis_youngWOLFVILLE, N.S. – Acadia men’s hockey coach Darren Burns will be searching for a new assistant coach in the coming months prior to the 2013-14 season.

Assistant coach Travis Young will be heading to Hungary to head up the Miskolc Polar Bears. Young, who played for the Axemen for two seasons beginning in 2004 before retiring from hockey in his third year due to reoccurring concussions, was named as a CIS All-Rookie during the 2004-2005 season. Young became an assistant coach with the Axemen during the 2007-2008 season.

In his six years as an assistant coach, Young coordinated Acadia hockey’s summer camps along with working on Axemen’s special teams including the powerplay and penalty killing units.

Young will join the Polar Bears beginning August 1st. The Miskolc Polar Bears, centered in Miskolc, Hungary, play in the MOL league – an international ice hockey league organized for clubs based in Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. The league, founded in 2008, is sponsored by the Hungarian petro-chemical company the MOL Group.

While Axemen head coach Darren Burns was sorry to hear about the news from Young earlier this week, he was thrilled to see him move on with his coaching endeavours. “I am extremely happy for Travis. Although you never want to lose such a quality individual who knows so much about hockey and I am very happy he is getting this opportunity” pointed out Burns.

Adding, “He was a huge part of our program as a player and as a coach. His hockey mind and loyalty as a person always made him a great fit with the Axemen program. Becoming a head coach is usually a goal of assistant coaches. He certainly deserves this opportunity. His efforts in helping develop young players at our camps, while his work with the Acadia Minor Hockey Association has allowed him to leave a positive mark in our community.  We wish him the best of luck and know he will achieve success in his new job”.

Young had mixed feelings of the decision to accept the job in Hungary. “It was a very difficult choice to leave Acadia as it has been home for the last nine years and Darren gave me a great opportunity to get involved in the coaching side of the game when I was forced to stop playing, but the chance to become a Head Coach in a professional league was tough to pass up”, noted Young. “It was also always a goal of mine to play professionally in Europe after my university career ended and I didn’t get that chance due to some injuries, so this seems like a great opportunity to see a different part of the world while also gaining some very valuable coaching experience”.

The opportunity to coach in Hungary has also opened the doors at the end of March 2014 for Young to work with the Hungarian Under 18 National team for the month of April and coach at the World Championships Division 1 Group B.

The 16th Annual Hockey Celebrity Dinner highlighted by Wendel Clark appearance

Story courtesy of acadiau.ca 20/06/2013 10:52 pm

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WOLFVILLE, N.S. – For the 16th consecutive year, the Axemen Hockey Celebrity Dinner, presented by local barristers BoyneClarke, drew the attention of the Annapolis Valley sport community with this year’s headliner NHL great and former Toronto Maple Leafs’ captain Wendel Clark.

With just over 500 in attendance, Clark grabbed the attention of an appreciative crowd from his stories of past glory with the Toronto Maple Leafs to his opinion on today’s game and the recent banning of checking in minor hockey leagues across Canada. In a Question and Answer session with TSN Correspondent and emcee Paul Hollingsworth, Clark spoke about the tough guys of the past NHL and how much the game has changed over the last decade with more physical play.Read more »

New York Islanders/Bridgeport Signing: Chris Bruton, fighter and Acadia alum

By @LHHockey on May 21 2013, 2:17p http://www.lighthousehockey.com/

The beloved ex-Peoria fighter gets his first NHL contract.

Chris BrutonThe New York Islanders announced another low-on-the-radar signing today that may have you asking yourself, “Who?” As is typical in these late-bloomer additions to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, his history and path to the pros is an adventurous one.

The signing is Chris Bruton, who is essentially an undersized AHL fighter with some modest hockey skill. (See his ample fight card at hockeyfights.com, going back to Spokane in the WHL.)

But he gets a two-way contract — i.e., an NHL deal — so he at least potentially could see time with the big club. This is part of the annual rotation of muscle guys we see in the AHL, with some of them receiving that added carrot of a two-way deal.Read more »

ECHL’s Stockton Thunder grab OT win with Clark winning goal

story courtesy of acadiau.ca 06/05/2013 5:50 pm

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Former AUS and CIS men’s hockey Most Valuable Player of the 2011-12 season has once againandrew_clark_action found success in hockey, this time with the Stockton Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League in Stockton, CA.

Named as an AUS All-Star this past season, Clark finished second in the AUS this season with 14 goals and 18 assists in 28 games. He hit an AUS career high of 15 goals and 24 assists last season as the conference’s point leader and CIS MVP.Read more »

A great influence on so many people

story courtesy of the chronicle herald, May 4, 2013 – 10:12pm By STEVE BEZANSON Sports Reporter

conniemacneil

Connie MacNeil passed away this past Thursday. He was 84. This photo was taken at Acadia Arena in January 2010, prior to the 60th anniversary of him scoring three goals in a six-second span. (ERIC WYNNE / Staff / File)

His record of 3 goals in 6 seconds during an Annapolis Valley Senior B Hockey League playoff game at the old Acadia Arena on Feb. 27, 1950 might always be cause for debate among hockey purists.

But one thing that will never be disputed is the character and charisma Connie MacNeil exhibited as an educator, academic administrator, coach and athlete. A native of Reserve Mines, MacNeil, 84, passed away on Thursday.

“I just saw Connie in church last week and he was his normal, cheerful self,” said Nova Scotian sports historian Burton Russell, a lifelong friend of MacNeil. “And to suddenly hear he’s gone, I’m just shocked. But he sure had a great life and a great influence on so many people.Read more »

Character, experience key for LU men

By Ben Leeson, Sudbury Star

Craig Duncanson is the new head coach of the men's hockey team at Laurentian University. JOHN LAPPA/THE SUDBURY STAR/QMI AGENCY

Craig Duncanson is the new head coach of the men’s hockey team at Laurentian University. JOHN LAPPA/THE SUDBURY STAR/QMI AGENCY

While building the first Laurentian University men’s hockey team in 13 years, head coach Craig Duncanson has focused as much on what’s between prospective players’ ears and inside their chests as on what they can do with their hands and feet.

“We have recruited extensively and surrounded ourselves with as many quality ju nior players as possible, guys who have been captains in leagues across Ontario and a few from out west and from Quebec,” Duncanson said. “These are leaders, captains and that’s how we’re trying to create that culture, by adding good character people.Read more »

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22 April 2013 Last updated at 10:49 GMT

Nottingham Panthers: Brandon Benedict re-signs

Nottingham Panthers import forward Brandon Benedict has signed a new contract to stay with the treble-winning side for a third season.

Benedict, 30, who joined the Panthers in 2011 from Belfast, played 65 games in Nottingham’s Elite League, Challenge Cup and play-off triumphs last term.

Coach Corey Neilson, who recently signed a contract extension, said retaining the Canadian is a major coup.

“He was a primary target for us,” Neilson revealed.Read more »