‘Character and a great work ethic’ get ice Axemen to playoffs

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The Acadia hockey Axemen are gearing up for the playoffs rather than watching from the sidelines - as many felt they would be at this point.

The Axemen, with 14 first-year players on the roster, were pretty much written off in terms of the AUHC playoff picture back in mid-November after starting the season 1-9.

The “never-say-die” Axemen ended the first half with three wins in four games, then rang up six wins in a row in the second half before securing the final playoff berth with a 4-3 shootout win over Saint Mary’s Feb. 15 in Halifax.

Acadia finished the regular season with a respectable 11-14-3 record after dropping their final game 4-1 to St. F.X. Saturday in Wolfville.

With a win and a St. Thomas loss Feb. 16 (neither of which happened), Acadia could have finished as high as fourth and opened the post-season at home.

As it was, the Axemen opened the playoffs Wednesday in Moncton, and will host the Aigles Bleus in game two of their best-of-three series Feb.22 at Acadia Arena.

Speaking Feb. 18, head coach Darren Burns admitted he has “never been prouder of a group of guys” than he was after the Axemen battled back to tie SMU in regulation time Feb. 15, then won the shootout to earn a playoff berth.

“I had confidence in the character of the guys we brought in last fall,” he said. “All the pieces were there; the key was to be as perfect as we could be defensively and not be outworked.”

Burns felt the Axemen showed “tremendous dedication” all season, in weathering their slow start and especially in the second half, when they exhibited “a real ‘no-quit’ attitude.

“Now,” Burns said, “we have to make sure we keep it up, and not settle for a ‘happy to be here’ mentality” against Moncton.

On paper, Acadia is a substantial underdog against the Aigles Bleus - but the match-up might not be as one-sided as many think. In their two meetings since Christmas, Acadia beat the Aigles Bleus 4-2 in Moncton and lost in overtime in Wolfville.

To Burns, while Acadia’s success has been a real team effort, he felt a key to making the playoffs was “our veteran players stepping up big-time. They’ve all been outstanding, especially at key times.”

More than getting to play at least two more games than many might have expected, “it’s huge for the future of this group of players to make the playoffs this season, and a valuable experience for the future.”

Burns stressed this year’s Axemen are “a pretty special group.

“We had to really ‘beat the woods’ last summer recruiting, and we went after guys that we felt had a strong work ethic and weren’t quitters. It looks right now like we found them.”

He added, “no one gave us much of a chance after the start we had, but we never gave up and we’ve been rewarded for it. Outside of winning the AUS title two years ago, last Friday night was probably the biggest hockey experience of my life.”