Acadia University and the Acadia Axemen hockey team have announced the commitment of three Major Junior graduates: one from the Western Hockey League Brandon Wheat Kings and two from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, including Acadie-Bathurst Titans and the Halifax Mooseheads.
The Axemen hope to top off their young roster with three impressive additions this season. While defensemen are on the top of head coach Darren Burns' recruiting list, a scorer or two to complement last year's top goal-getters, including Jonathan Laberge (32 points), Philippe Bertrand (30 points), Chris Bruton (29 points) and Ryan Graham (26 points) is a welcome addition.
Brandon Wheat Kings' Andrew Clark, a dangerous offensive player who sees the ice well and has a great hockey sense, is a proven consistent scorer who capped off his junior career with a 40-goal season.
"Andrew will be a great addition for our team this year,” Burns said. “His ability to score will bring much-needed offence to our line-up. He has shown the ability to score in the regular season and in the playoffs as well. He should have an easy transition to the university game and will add a new dimension to our power play."
Acadie-Bathurst's Spenser Jezegou is the second top addition to the 2009-2010 line-up. "Spencer will help with big body presence up front. He is a very hard worker who has very good poise and no doubt will help bring some offence to our team. A quiet leader who does not get outworked for the puck, Spencer will be a strong asset on the power play this year," Burns said.
Jezegou is considered a solid power forward who is very strong on the boards and has a knack for the net. His poise with the puck made him a consistent threat with Acadie-Bathurst last season.
Former Mooseheads captain
Former captain of the Halifax Mooseheads, Graham Bona, has committed to arriving on the Acadia campus this fall. Bona, a defenseman, is a strong skater and will provide muscle to the Axemen roster.
Burns hopes Bona will add depth to his defensive core. He is the third past Moosehead captain to suit up for Acadia in the last five seasons. Former Axemen and Mooseheads Robbie Sutherland and Brandon Benedict both captained Acadia under Burns’ leadership.
"Graham is a great character kid who did a great job as captain of a young Mooseheads hockey Club,” Burns noted.
“I feel he will do better than many expect at the university level because of his toughness in the corners and his strong size, skating ability and desire to succeed.”
Burns added, "in terms of numbers, it has not been a large recruiting year. We only wanted to bring in players who we felt could give us grit and scoring ability. These three players will be a huge boost for our program and there is no doubt we are putting great emphasis on many of our returning players elevating their games and growing into their own. Our exhibition schedule is a very competitive one and it will give us an excellent preparatory period to be ready for league play."
The Axemen open up the hockey exhibition season on the road in Port Hood, N.S. as they take on the St. F.X. X-Men Friday, Sept. 18 and then return home for the Don Wells Memorial Hockey Tournament the weekend of Sept. 26-27.
The Axemen will then head south of the border to take on the NCAA's University of New Hampshire Saturday, Oct. 3 and UMass-Lowell Sunday, Oct. 4.
Before the regular season begins Friday, Oct. 16, the Axemen host the Universite de Trois Riviere Patriots for two games starting Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10.
New recruits add scoring, grit to hockey Axemen
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