Everyone loves Ekelman

****This is an article written last year about 2010 Axemen Recruit Dustin Ekelman, then of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors of the OHL.

By Sunaya Sapurji Apr 17, 6:50 pm EDT

Dustin Ekelman stands in the hallway outside the dressing room fully decked out in a suit and tie. He is barefoot.

“I can’t find my socks,” the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors forward says sheepishly, rummaging though his pockets.

It’s understandable, for on this night, the overage forward is the star of the game having scored the game-winning goal—shorthanded no less—to help the Majors defeat the top ranked Barrie Colts, 5-2, and tie their best-of-seven Eastern Conference final at one game apiece.Read more »

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WOLFVILLE, NS – The Acadia University Axemen hockey team completed last season with not only a second place Atlantic University Hockey Conference finish but also academically out-performed their hockey conference opponents for the second year in a row, adding 10 CIS Academic All-Canadians to Acadia’s overall 74 Academic All-Canadians for 2009-10.

Ranked fourth in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Top Ten at #4 for ten consecutive weeks this past season, the Axemen had 10 Academic All-Canadians on a 25 man roster. In 2008-2009, the Acadia hockey squad claimed an all-time high of 14 Academic All-Canadians on a 25 man roster.Read more »

Darren Burns “ecstatic” about 2010 Axemen

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BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Advertiser/Register

The  Acadia hockey Axemen finished a strong second in the 2009-10 AUHC regular season, but suffered a disappointing 3-1 loss to Saint Mary’s in the playoff semifinals. Head coach Darren Burns says the fact that the Huskies went on to capture its first-ever CIS title is scant consolation.

Burns used the off-season to search out players to both fill the holes on his roster left by graduating players and address some of his team’s main on-ice concerns – most notably a lack of scoring from the defense.Read more »

Former Local Hockey Standout Named Penguins Head Coach

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The Penguins Organization is excited to announce that one of the most successful players to come out of the community has been named Head Coach for the Jr. Penguins. Joel Isenor was named to the position this past weekend.

The East Hants Jr Penguins are proud to announce Joel Isenor as the team’s Head Coach. Isenor will be joining the Penguins after spending the previous 2 years coaching the East Hants Midgett AAA Minor Hockey Team. Joel is a local guy with a long resume of hockey acheivements throughout his junior and university career. He graduated Acadia University in May of 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.Read more »

Acadia hockey dinner continues to pack ’em in

Published on July 2nd, 2010
BY JOHN DECOSTE 
Kings County Advertiser/Register

Thirteen years is a long time to sustain an annual event, but the Acadia Hockey Celebrity Dinner continues to draw impressive crowds.

A big reason is the amount of work that goes into the dinner – far more than any of us realize – and for which the organizing committee deserves a huge pat on the back.

I don’t know what exactly the founders of the dinner envisioned when they began the event back in 1998 but, chances are, it wasn’t that it would still be going strong – or even stronger – 13 years later.Read more »

MIRAMICHI – Miramichi Timberwolves star defenceman Chris Owens will play with the Acadia Axemen in the Atlantic University Sport hockey conference next fall.

Owens, a 20-year-old from St. John’s, played four seasons with the Timberwolves in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. He led the league in scoring with 92 points, including 23 goals, in 49 games last season. He was named the league’s player of the year and top defenceman.

Owens, who finished with 258 points in 213 MJAHL regular-season games, is Miramichi’s all-time career scoring leader. He also holds the league record for most career points scored by a defenceman.

Owens was sought after by several teams, including the St. Thomas Tommies, University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, St. Francis Xavier X-Men and Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. After some consideration, Owens said Acadia seemed like the best choice.

“I visited the school there and I just really liked the environment, the school, the surroundings and stuff. And I met all the guys (on the hockey team) and they all seem great, and I like the coach (Darren Burns),” said Owens, who was the Timberwolves’ captain last season.

“It was a hard choice” picking which school, he said. “A lot of schools seemed great and they all seemed to have good programs, but I liked this one the best.”

Owens never won a Kent Cup MJAHL championship in his time in Miramichi, but hopes to bring an AUS championship to Acadia. The Axemen finished in second place with a 19-6-3 regular-season record last season, but fell to the eventual Canadian champion Saint Mary’s Huskies in a conference semifinal.

Owens said he still hopes to play professional hockey in the future, but intends to focus on academics for now and earn a degree. He’ll study business at the Wolfville, N.S. school.

“Business is really just what interested me the most. Maybe someday I’d like to have my own business or work in marketing,” he said. “I’m just getting started, I guess, so I’m not really too sure yet. But that seems like a good starting point.”

Owens extended his thanks to Miramichi for helping him build as a hockey player. He made note of T-Wolves head coach and general manager Bill McGuigan, who Owens said helped turn him “into a better player and a person.”

Russ Moyer’s incredible hockey journey

By Joey Butkevich
BayToday.ca
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
russ_moyer07This week, Baytoday sat down to talk with North Bay’s Russ Moyer, and his journey throughout the hockey ranks. Since 2003-04, Moyer has been travelling the world, and making a living from a game he loves and has played since he can remember. The former North Bay Athletic (Blades) graduate, has had a successful professional career as a mobile defenceman, both in North America and overseas.

Moyer has recently returned from Denmark, where he played for Aalborg Hockey team in the Denmark’s top league. The smooth skating defenceman had a terrific year – his first overseas; finishing with 4 goals, 20 assists for 24 points in 32 games. Russ notes that the calibre of hockey in Denmark was really good, and was able to help his team make a run to the league finals. There was one difference Moyer recalls from his recent stay in Denmark, stating that the Danish culture was definitely a surprise for both him and his girlfriend Patti.Read more »

Chiefs select Top 25 Players of all time with Bruton named
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 – Spokane Chiefs Sports Information (Spokane, WA) The Spokane Chiefs named the Top 25 Chiefs in 25 Years at a press conference on Friday, February 26th in the Spokane Arena.  Sixteen of the 25 were in attendance at the event and were involved in special pre-game ceremonies on Friday night when the Chiefs hosted the Prince George Cougars at 7:30.  The ceremonies will began shortly before 7:00. 

The Top 25 Chiefs in 25 Years include 13 Memorial Cup Champions, five from 1991 and eight from 2008. Three players went on to win the Stanley Cup as pros, two were NHL All-Stars and the top six scorers in Chiefs history are represented. Fifteen of the 25 players have played in the NHL, including five this season. Four players from the 2009-10 Chiefs are also represented on the team; Jared Cowen, Tyler Johnson, Jared Spurgeon and Mitch Wahl. 
Read more »

Former Mustangs’ goaltender and current Melfort resident Trevor Amundrud recently received an honour as part of his former team.

The 1995-1996 Acadia Axemen hockey team was named to the Acadia Sports Hall of Fame on October 17,2009 in Wolfville, NS as part of the University’s homecoming week.

Amundrud played with the Melfort Mustangs in 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 under head coach Kevin Dickie. The team finished first in the North and lost in the SJHL in his last season.

“After my junior career was done I went down there,” he said.

He enjoyed the entire experience while attending the ceremony.

“A lot of them I hadn’t seen in about 13 years, so it was pretty good,” he said.Read more »

Current X-Men hockey assistant coach Norm Batherson was recently named to the Acadia Hockey Honour Roll for his accomplishments as a player while with the Axemen hockey program.

(Wolfville, NS)  The Acadia Axemen hockey program celebrated the annual Axemen Hockey Honour Roll Induction with three former players, Norm Batherson, Gregory Hubbert and David Hastings and a past assistant coach Muck Reading, this past Saturday night

From Windsor, NS, Muck Reading was inducted as an Assistant Coach.  Reading joined the Axemen coaching staff in 1979 and coached along side Don Wells and later, Tommy Coolen.  Reading retired from coaching and the Canadian Forces in 1987.Read more »