Burbidge, Pettet named to NS Hockey U18 team

The Acadia Axemen hockey program would like to wish our congratulations to Maggie Burbidge of Falmouth, who has been named to the Under 18 Nova Scotia Female Hockey team for 2014-15.

Maggie, who is currently just 13 years old until mid-January, has played her minor hockey with the Acadia Axemen minor hockey program. She was named to the team in a posted letter from the Hockey Nova Scotia’s High Performance Development Committee on the Hockey Nova Scotia website.

You can read the full post here: http://www.hockeynovascotia.ca/hns_12370_51292.html

Last season, Burbidge was a member of the Acadia Peewee AAA hockey team, and attended school at Newbridge Academy in Lower Sackville, where she was enrolled in the advanced hockey program.

Topping the year off, Maggie was selected to the East Coast Selects Q team, composed of girls from the Atlantic provinces, Quebec and the eastern U.S., from Maine to New York State, competing in the World Selects Invitational tournament in Finland. Maggie is the daughter of Jeff & Alana Burbidge.

Acadia Axemen head coach Darren Burns had the following to say, “It has been an absolute pleasure to watch what Maggie has done so far in her young career. She is a tremendous role model for the players in the valley on, and off the ice.”

Burns who coached Burbidge last year with her Peewee AAA team added, “We are extremely proud of her accomplishments and Acadia Hockey looks forward to following her for years to come.”

Also named to the team was Kentville native Brette Pettet, who finished last season on the Team Atlantic Canada under 18 team, while playing the rest of the season with Minnesota Prep School, Shattuck St. Mary’s. Brette is just 15 years of age, and was a big part of Shattuck St. Mary’s U.S. national U-16 Tier 1 girls’ hockey championship win in 2013. At the time, she was the only Grade 8 student on a team made up mostly of Grade 9 to 11s.

Congratulations to both Maggie and Brette on this outstanding achievement.

Inside Acadia athletics: Athletic director Kevin Dickie

original post at http://thechronicleherald.ca/community/annapolis-valley/1226553-inside-acadia-athletics-athletic-director-kevin-dickie

Acadia University athletics have rich history and a longstanding winning tradition in each respective program. High quality facilities as well as tremendous local fan support help make an Acadia afternoon on the turf, or evening in the rink unbeatable. The man at the helm of Acadia’s athletic prowess is athletic director, Kevin Dickie.

Poliziani-From final round pick to blueline fixture

Axemen in partnership with the Atlantic Hockey Group set date for Aug 8-10 at Acadia Arena

The Acadia Axemen in partnership with the Atlantic Hockey Group have announced a specialized hockey camp for the Under 14, 2002 birthdates from August 8-10th at Acadia Arena in Wolfville, POE Prep Hockey Camp.

Coach Darren Burns had this to say about the announcement,

“We are very excited to be able to host a camp like this for the 02 age group. We feel that this is just the beginning for providing a destination for kids in Atlantic Canada to come in the summer. I believe that this is something which could expand very rapidly and provide a very cost effective way of creating a tremendous experience for kids.  We are very fortunate to have the expertise of having a world class kinesiology department as well as the strength and conditioning leadership of Elliott Richardson’s program here at Acadia. The specialization at the goaltending position with  our own Michael Chiasson will also be a staple of this weekend.  Creating this partnership with the Atlantic Hockey Group allows us to utilize their professionalism , experienced and well respected coaches along with our university players to bring in the top aspiring players in Atlantic Canada at this age Level.Read more »

Fioretti Named CHL Humanitarian of the Year

Written by Marc Smith of http://www.discovermoosejaw.com on Saturday, 24 May 2014

Sam Fioretti’s hard work in the community has now earned him national recognition.

The former Moose Jaw Warriors captain was named the 2014 CHL Humanitarian of the Year on Saturday at the annual CHL Awards in London, Ontario.

“It’s a huge honour to win an award like this for the entire CHL,” said Fioretti over the phone from London on Sunday. “It’s not only for me, but it’s an award for my teammates, who also put a lot of time into the community and were always eager to give back.

The award caps off Fioretti’s four-year WHL career with all four seasons spent in Moose Jaw where he became a well known face in the community for more than his hard work and skill on the ice.

Last season, Fioretti worked hard to continued many of the community programs that had been started in previous years, but also worked to create and spearhead two new initiatives. He worked with the Moose Jaw Police Service to go into schools to speak with students about bullying and then started the Warrior Workouts program aimed at teaching kids the correct ways to get active.

“I’ve got to say a big thank you to the community of Moose Jaw,” said Fioretti. “They embraced these two programs and made it very enjoyable to be apart of them.

“We’re role models as WHL players and it’s nice to give back to the community which gives so much to us.”Read more »

Junior A hockey: Ancaster’s Giftopoulos has added good feet to great hands

Soft hands and great feet

IceLevel.com

This year — with the Windsor Spitfires where he was traded last season — Ancaster’s Remy Giftopoulos, pictured, is a point-a-game guy.

Compliment someone on how good their hands are and those within earshot will almost certainly cock their eyebrow and wonder what the heck you’re talking about. Unless, of course, you’re speaking to someone who’s a massage therapist, a doctor delivering babies or someone working in the bomb-disposal business, in which it makes perfect sense.

Or a hockey player.

Good hands have certainly been a bonus for Remy Giftopoulos. His talented mitts have always allowed him to score. Even as a small boy playing minor hockey, he had the gift.

His ability to make some magic with a stick and a puck landed the Ancaster native in the Ontario Hockey League as a 16-year-old with big dreams and lofty expectations. Which is when reality hit hard. At that level, hands are secondary. Speed is king.

“I’ve been told one of my weaker points was my skating,” the 20-year-old says. “I definitely realized it when I came to the next level.”

In order to perform magic with the puck, you have to be able to get the puck. Which comes from wheels. As a guy who never took powerskating lessons growing up and who’d developed some bad habits on his blades, it was a splash of cold water in the face.Read more »