Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Axemen Quest for the University Cup Starts Thursday Night

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The Acadia Axemen will open their quest for the University Cup on Thursday night in Saskatoon as they face the University of Windsor Lancers at 10pm Atlantic time at the Credit Union Centre. You can watch Thursday’s game live online at http://www.cis-sic.tv/

You can also listen to Len Hawley’s call of the game on AVR Radio in the Annapolis Valley, 97.7FM, or online at avrnetwork.com

The AUS Hockey Champion Axemen are in search of their first CIS National Championship since 1996, while Windsor is looking to claim their first National crown for Men’s hockey.

Windsor is coming off a hard fought 3-2 Queen’s Cup win over the OUA East division-winners McGill Redman this past Saturday night; it was a one game, winner take all game, to crown the OUA champion, and was the first time in 16 years that the Lancers took the Queen’s Cup, led by an incredible 50-save performance by their goaltender and player of the game Parker Van Buskirk.

The path for Windsor to the University Cup in Saskatoon began with the Lancers knocking off the Toronto Varsity Blues 2 games to 0, then taking the Western Mustangs 2 games to 1, and in the OUA West Finals, they defeated the Lakehead Thunderwolves 2 games to 0. As mentioned, in the 1 game Queen’s Cup OUA Championship, they defeated McGill 3-2.

The Axemen meanwhile, have had some time to regroup, heal some bumps and bruises, and prepare for the CIS Championship tournament. They defeated the Saint Mary’s Huskies in Game 4 of their best of 5 series last Monday, March 10th to win the AUS Championship series 3 games to 1.

Acadia had a first round bye in the AUS and defeated the Moncton Aigles Bleus 3 games to 1 in the best of 5 Semi-finals.

Acadia posted a 21-7 record this regular season, and were no strangers to winning on the road with an 11-3 road record. They are led by the power line of Liam Heelis (24 goals, 42 pts), Mike Cazzola (31 assists, 42 pts) and Brett Thompson (33 pts), with AUS First Team All-Stars Chris Owens on defence (31 pts) and Evan Mosher in goal (23 games, 17-5 record 2.21 GAA, .919 Save %).Read more »

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Acadia’s Heelis named player of the year

Liam Heelis, a third-year forward from Acadia University, was named the CIS player of the year in men’s hockey, Wednesday night. CIS Photo
Liam Heelis, a third-year forward from Acadia University, was named the CIS player of the year in men’s hockey, Wednesday night. CIS Photo
Story courtesy of Sportsnet.ca March 19, 2014, 9:16 PM

SASKATOON – Liam Heelis, a third-year forward from Acadia University, was named the CIS player of the year in men’s hockey, Wednesday night.

The Georgetown, Ont., native became the second Axemen player in three seasons and the fourth in program history to claim the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy. He follows in the footsteps of forwards Andrew Clark (2012), Kevin Baker (2006) and Duane Dennis (1994).

Other winners announced during the SaskTel All-Canadian Presentation at TCU Place in Saskatoon were McGill rearguard Ryan McKiernan, who was named CIS defenceman of the year; Calgary netminder Jacob DeSerres, selected as the country’s best goaltender; Queen’s goalie Kevin Bailie, who received the Clare Drake Award as rookie of the year; UNB forward Chris Culligan, who claimed the R.W. Pugh Award as the nation’s most sportsmanlike player; Queen’s head coach Brett Gibson, who captured the Father George Kehoe Memorial Award; and Alberta defenceman Ben Lindemulder, who merited the Dr. Randy Gregg Award recognizing his excellence in hockey, academics and community involvement.

The PotashCorp University Cup presented by Co-op gets under way on Thursday at the Credit Union Centre and culminates Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Local Time (3:30 p.m. Eastern) with the gold-medal final, live on Sportsnet.

SENATOR JOSEPH A. SULLIVAN TROPHY (player of the year): Liam Heelis, Acadia

Heelis is the third straight AUS player – and sixth in the past seven years – to win the Sullivan Trophy. Saint Mary’s forward Lucas Bloodoff was the recipient last season.

The six-foot-one, 195-pound sniper exploded in his third university season as he won the AUS scoring title with 42 points, including a CIS-leading 24 goals, in only 26 league games, a significant improvement from his 10-12-22 mark as a sophomore a year ago. A terrific special teams player, he tied for the CIS lead with four short-handed markers and was second in the Atlantic conference with seven power play goals. He also potted three game-winners and ranked second in the Maritimes with 117 shots.

Thanks in large part to his stellar play, the Axemen took second place in the ultra-competitive AUS conference with a 21-4-3 record and were ranked in the top five nationally for most of the season.

A former OHL player with Owen Sound and Peterborough, Heelis has now accumulated 86 career points in 81 regular season games with the Axemen. Last December, the arts major played an integral part as a team of AUS standouts claimed gold for Canada at the FISU Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy.

“We are extremely proud of Liam’s accomplishments, not only on the ice this year, but as a leader in the community at Acadia,” said Axemen head coach Darren Burns. “His determination, leadership and commitment as a person showed every day in practice and in games, enabling him to be a very dominant player for our team this year. I would be hard pressed to say that I have witnessed a player improve as much as Liam has in the AUS. His outstanding season was no doubt instrumental in our team’s success.”

The other finalists for the Sullivan Trophy were forwards Zach Harnden of Western and Derek Hulak of Saskatchewan.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Burns, Alcoe boast strong links to university’s past winning teams

story by GLENN MacDONALD of chronicleherald.ca
Published March 19, 2014 – 11:57pm
AC Darren Burns
Links to Acadia’s University Cup glory days in the 1990s can be found behind the Axemen bench.

Head coach Darren Burns was a player when Acadia won its first national championship in 1993 and was an assistant to Mark Hanneman when the Axemen captured its second Canadian banner three years later.

Assistant coach Mike Alcoe has been a mainstay for a quarter for a century. He was there for the national titles in ’93 and ’96 and was Burns’ assistant when the Axemen last appeared at nationals in 2006.

And they’ll be there this week in Saskatoon as Acadia returns to the CIS University Cup championship.

“After all these years, we’re still here,” Burns, in his 13th season as Acadia head coach, said earlier this week.

“(Alcoe) has put 20-plus years into the program. People like him typify what goes behind the scenes at Acadia, not just with the hockey program but the university in general. To see guys like Mike and the work he puts in year after year, it’s nice for him to get this experience again. His loyalty to the program and his loyalty to me is a special thing.

“We have a big job but we also want to enjoy the moment. It’s a fine line. We have to be prepared. You just can’t be happy to be there.”Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Axemen veteran has chance to finish university career with national title

GLENN MacDONALD SPORTS REPORTER  ChronicleHerald.ca
Published March 19, 2014 – 7:23pm
Last Updated March 20, 2014 – 1:18pm
Acadia defenceman Leo Jenner lifts the trophy after the Axemen won the AUS men’s hockey championship over the Saint Mary’s Huskies on March 10. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)
Acadia defenceman Leo Jenner lifts the trophy after the Axemen won the AUS men’s hockey championship over the Saint Mary’s Huskies on March 10. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

It took until Leo Jenner’s fourth — and likely final — Atlantic university hockey season to earn a trip to nationals.

The Acadia defenceman and his Axemen were close twice before. Last season and in 2011, all they had to do was reach the conference championship and they would’ve punched their tickets to nationals either as the AUS champion or as a wild card. But each time they lost in the semifinals, falling a game short.

This season, they earned it. The CIS No. 2-ranked Axemen captured their first AUS banner in eight years to advance to the University Cup, which opens Thursday in Saskatoon.

“This was the hardest year for the Atlantic conference to do it,” said Jenner, a six-foot-four, 225-pound stay-at-home blue-liner.

“There were a couple times where all we had to do was make it to the AUS final. This year, we had to take the hard route by winning the whole thing just to get to the (CIS).

“It’s definitely more fulfilling to actually win something. We didn’t want the handout.”Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

UNIVERSITY CUP: SEEDING, POOLS, SCHEDULE

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OTTAWA (CIS) – For the second straight year, the University of Alberta Golden Bears have earned the number one seed heading into the CIS men’s hockey championship in Saskatoon.CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE

The seeding and pools were announced Sunday for the PotashCorp University Cup presented by Co-op. The six-team tournament, hosted by the University of Saskatchewan, gets under way on Thursday at the Credit Union Centre and culminates next Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Atlantic Time with the gold-medal final, live on Sportsnet.

Sportsnet also has live coverage of the last two contests of the preliminary round, Saturday at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Atlantic, on Sportsnet 360. All seven games from the championship will also be webcast live on www.CIS-SIC.tv.

Joining Canada West champion Alberta at the competition will be the second-seeded Acadia Axemen (AUS champs), No. 3 Windsor Lancers (OUA champs), No. 4 McGill Redmen (OUA finalists), No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies (hosts) and No. 6 Carleton Ravens (OUA bronze medallists).

Alberta will skate in Pool A with McGill and Carleton in the round-robin portion of the tourney, while Acadia, Windsor and Saskatchewan battle in Pool B. Opening day will see the Golden Bears take on the Ravens at 4 p.m. and the Axemen square off against the Lancers at 10 p.m.

The Bears are the most decorated team in CIS men’s hockey history with 13 University Cup titles. Acadia (2), McGill (1) and Saskatchewan (1) have also claimed the CIS banner in the past.

NOTES: A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday… A meet-the-teams media conference is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Atlantic on Wednesday at the Credit Union Centre… The CIS major award winners and all-Canadians will be announced on Wednesday night.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

The Acadia Axemen are headed to the CIS championships in Saskatoon!

2013-14 Acadia Axemen - AUS Champions
2013-14 Acadia Axemen – AUS Champions

The Axemen completed the victory with a 3-1 win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies Monday night in Halifax.  The victory clinched the AUS Conference title for the Axemen, and sends them to Saskatoon as the AUS representative in the CIS National tournament.

The Axemen, still trying to solve Huskies netminder Anthony Peters after his stellar Game 3 performance, reversed their fortunes on the power play.  Dustin Ekelman scored for Acadia with the man advantage, giving the Axemen a 1-0 lead and forcing the Huskies to abandon their physical style of play a bit.  Now having to play catch up, the Huskies continued to battle, and it paid off at the seven minute mark of the second period, when Steven Shipley redirected a harmless shot from Matt Tipoff past a helpless Evan Mosher.  The score was tied, and the Huskies continued to swarm.

But disaster struck for the Huskies less than eight minutes later, as Saint Mary’s defenseman Cameron Wind handed the puck to former Halifax Moosehead Travis Randell in front of his own net.  Randell made no mistake, faking out Peters and scoring what eventually would hold up to be the game winner.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Saint Mary’s Fends Off Elimination With Game 3 Win

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The Acadia Axemen walked into the Halifax Forum Sunday with a chance to wrap up the AUS Conference championship series.

They will walk in Monday with a chance to do the same.  The Saint Mary’s Huskies gritted out a 2-1 win behind their goaltender, Anthony Peters, and his stellar play.  Peters stopped 23 of 24 shots, many of them the difficult kind.  The Huskies jumped on their goalie’s back as he carried them to victory.

This game had all the explosive potential of a spark in a keg of dynamite.  The two teams have developed a definite playoff hatred for one another, as evidenced by the combined 118 penalty minutes they recorded.

There was a scary moment in the game, as Geoff Schemitsch took a vicious hit along the boards and was unable to get off the ice under his own power.  There was no word on his condition going into Game 4.

Lucas Bloodoff got the festivities started for Saint Mary’s in the second as he scored on a rebound off Acadia goaltender Evan Mosher.  Mosher, forced into a great save, could only watch as the rebound squeaked away from him and Bloodoff buried it.  Mosher recorded 18 saves of his own in the contest, almost matching Peters save for save.Read more »

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Axemen Move To Within One Win Of AUS Championship

1979668_679494915430678_122915648_n The Acadia Axemen and Saint Mary’s Huskies renewed their hockey rivalry Friday night in Wolfville in Game 2 of the AUS Conference championship series.  Despite a much better performance from Huskies’ goaltender Anthony Peters, the Huskies still fell behind in the series 2-0 of the best of five.  Acadia took Game 2 with a 3-0 win.

It was a sharp contrast to Game 1, which the Axemen took by a 6-3 score.  After a scoreless first period, the Axemen broke through at 6:37 of the second, as Travis Randell scored off a fantastic pass from Alex Beaton.  The Axemen were up 1-0, a rare treat as Peters turned in a much improved performance from the night before.

Acadia netminder Evan Mosher matched his counterpart save for save in this one, however, stifling all 19 shots he faced for the shutout victory.  Peters stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced.  He was on the bench when Acadia scored two empty net goals – one from Travis Gibbons and one from Dustin Ekelman – in the last two minutes of the game, as Saint Mary’s had pulled Peters for their sixth attacker.  It was a move that ultimately backfired as Acadia sealed the deal and moved within one victory of the CIS championships to be held in Saskatoon later this month.

Watch the video highlights of the game here:

Read more »

Posted on Posted in Alumni News

Melfort to Host 2014 Hall of Fame Inductions

SJHL-News_thumb03/07/2014, 11:30am CST
Story courtesy of SJHL.ca

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, in association with the Melfort Mustangs, is pleased to announce 2014 Induction Class for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame.

The SJHL Hall of Fame Weekend will include the Induction Dinner at the Northern Lights Palace on Friday July 25th, and a charity golf tournament on Saturday July 26th at the Melfort Golf and Country Club. Proceeds from the event will benefit Big Brothers and Sisters, KidSport and the Melfort Mustangs.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is pleased to welcome into the Hall of Fame Kevin Dickie, Brad Meier,  Willie Mitchell, Brian Munz, Mark Odnokon, Rick Schultz, Neil Shewchuk, Leonard Strandberg and the 1995-96 Melfort Mustangs team.

More details, including sponsorship opportunities, will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

For interview requests with the 2014 SJHL Hall of Fame Class, please contact Branden Crowe at (306) 920-8077(306) 920-8077 or email: branden@melfortmustangs.com.

 

2014 SJHL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Kevin Dickie – 1992 – 1996

– Head Coach of the Melfort Mustangs from 1992 – 1996
– Won 2 SJHL Championships and 1 Anavet Cup.
– All time record with the Mustangs: 151 – 83 –26
– Head Coach of the Saskatoon Blades (WHL), Regina Cougars (CIS), Acadia Axemen (CIS)
– Assistant Coach of Canada’s National Junior Team
– Currently the Athletic Director for Acadia University.Read more »