"The day that governing bodies & ๐ colleges of today & yesterday forget the past, there's no future."
This feed & the related site are here to preserve history & to assist past & present ๐ teams.
Relay info via email (โ๏ธ on ) or Twitter direct message.
๐น๐ Ray Bennett, who was head coach of the Red Deer College Kings for two seasons (1995-96 & 1996-97), will have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Bennett joined the Colorado Avalanche as an assistant coach prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
Thoughts & condolences to the friends & family of former Vikings equipment manager Mike Klug who passed away at the age of 52 in Camrose on Friday, November 27th.
The 2017-18 MacEwan Griffins Men's & Women's Hockey Teams rewrite the record books. For the first time in conference hockey history, men's & women's teams from the same post secondary institution have repeated as conference champions in the same season.
MacEwan University is the lone post secondary institution in conference history to win men's & women's hockey ACAC titles in the same campaign for three straight seasons (2016-17 through 2017-19).
๐บ๐ For the first time in history, five players from one women's hockey team have been named ACAC All Conference First Team Selections. Brianna Sank, Jaime Erickson, Morgan Casson, Shyla Jans & Chantal Ricker of the 2019-20 MacEwan Griffins received the honour on Thursday.
๐น๐ This feed & its accompanying website as well as its predecessors have always placed the interests of the hockey programs first. Please read this letter & reach out to David Ritz & Dean Prpick via email to assist.
๐น๐ 23-year-old Nakehko Lamothe, a member of the MacEwan Griffins menโs hockey team, passed away on Friday, January 25th. After playing a game against SAIT in Calgary, Nakehko became unwell, and was rushed to Foothills Hospital where he passed away shortly before midnight.
Braden Bystrom and Jantzen Leslie of Red Deer College are among the post-secondary students chosen from the 2019 Future Leaders Development Program to receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Hockey Alberta Foundation.
๐บ๐In the fall of 2008, Deanna Iwanicka joined the NAIT Ooks as head coach. Ten seasons later, she leaves as the conference career leader in regular season games coached (226) and regular season wins (124) to become the head coach of the University of Windsor Lancers.
๐น๐For the 17th time in conference history, NAIT will finish atop the regular season standings. It is also the 7th straight season the Ooks have placed first in the regular season standings equaling the mark set by the 2004-05 through 2010-11 SAIT Trojans.
๐น๐Darcy Haugan, who played with Briercrest & was the Humboldt Broncos head coach & general manager until he perished in the April 6th crash, is the inaugural recipient of the NHL's Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award which recognizes one who champions local efforts through hockey
๐น๐ ACAC men's hockey coaches who have guided teams to three or more first place finishes in the regular season:
Ken Babey (SAIT), 10
Perry Pearn (NAIT), 7
Allan Ferchuk (RDC), 6
Scott Atkinson (MRC), 5
Serge Lajoie (NAIT), 3
Tim Fragle (NAIT), 3
Scott Fellnermayr, who played four seasons with the NAIT Ooks, has been named interim head coach of the team for the 2020-21 season.
Fellnermayr succeeds Tim Fragle, who is now general manager and head coach of the Trail Smoke Eaters in the BCHL.
๐บ๐ On Friday in Red Deer, the MacEwan Griffins downed the Red Deer College Queens 3-1 to take the best of 5 championship final series 3 games to 1. It is MacEwan's second straight title and third in conference history.
๐บ๐MacEwan's Chantal Ricker has been named Playoff MVP as the Griffins complete a best of five championship final series sweep with a 3-2 overtime win over the NAIT Ooks. Morgan Casson netted the series winner for the Griffins with 1:43 left in the 1st overtime.
๐น๐ Ken Babey will be the third former ACAC Men's Hockey Coach to enter into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame joining Dale Henwood & Bob McGhee. (The 1984-85 CCAA champion NAIT Ooks Men's Hockey Team who won all their regular season & post season games are also in the Hall.)
In Red Deer at the 2019 Canada Winter Games, Isabelle & Marc Lajoie are the 1st brother & sister to play for Team Alberta at the same Canada Winter Games. They follow in the footsteps of former NAIT head coach Serge Lajoie who coached Team Alberta at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.
๐บ๐ The first ever regular season game in ACAC men's hockey was played outdoors on January 15, 1966 in Jasper Place. The next women's regular season game in ACAC women's hockey will be played outdoors on Saturday, December 1st at Falun
๐บ๐NAIT's Carlin Boey is the second player in the history of women's hockey in the conference to be a four time first team all conference selection. The first was Sherri Bowles who also donned an Ooks jersey.
๐น๐ Allan Ferchuk will join former ACAC head coaches Ken Babey, Dale Henwood, Bob McGhee, & Perry Pearn (who entered with the 1984-85 NAIT Ooks) in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 induction class. Ferchuk guided the RDC Kings to 3 CCAA titles & 4 ACAC titles.
๐น๐ The Briercrest Clippers will be making their first appearance in the semi finals after entering the ACAC in 1997. The Clippers play in Barkman Arena named after John Barkman who coached the team to Prairie Athletic Conference titles in 1970-71 & 1979-80.
๐บ๐For the fourth time in the 18th season of women's hockey in the conference, MacEwan places first in the regular season after defeating SAIT & Red Deer edging NAIT. MacEwan faces Olds & NAIT meets Red Deer in the best of three semi finals. Dates & times to be announced.
Former NAIT head coach Perry Pearn will be an assistant coach with the Canadian Womenโs Olympic Hockey Team as they go for gold in PyeongChang, South Korea.
๐บ๐ACAC women's hockey coaches who have produced the most all conference selections:
Deanna Iwanicka, 23
Scott Rivett, 17
Rob Weddell, 17
Terry Larson, 15
Lindsay McAlpine, 15
๐บ๐ MacEwan's Carley Jewell has been named ACAC Women's Hockey Player of the Year and NAIT's Megan LeBlanc has been named ACAC Women's Hockey Rookie of the Year.
๐บ๐ Of the 82 players to be honoured as an All Conference First Team Selection over 20 seasons, 26 were honoured at least twice. Of the 26, 10 were honoured at least three times. Of the 10, only Carlin Boey & Sherri Bowles were honoured on four occasions.
๐น๐ Bill Peters, who played with the Red Deer College Kings & the Camrose Lutheran College Vikings, has been named head coach of the Calgary Flames.
๐บ๐NAIT goaltender Kaitlyn Slator completes the season with 19 wins to set a new regular season record (24 game schedule) surpassing the mark of 16 set by Katie Urness of the U of C Dinos during the 2008-09 campaign.
๐บ๐ The 2019-20 All Conference Selections, Coach of Year, Player of the Year & Rookie of the Year were unveiled prior to the start of the best of five championship final series.
๐น๐ Former NAIT coach Serge Lajoie led the University of Alberta Golden Bears to their 16th national championship. The Golden Bears doubled the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 4-2 on Sunday.
๐น๐ Darcy Haugan was the first Briercrest hockey player to be an ACAC all conference selection. No other former CCAA player has been honoured with an NHL award.
Twenty years ago, the Briercrest Bible College Clippers of Caronport, Saskatchewan recruited a 22 year old from Peace River, Alberta who would become the team's leading scorer & point getter in their ACAC era
For the seventh time in conference history, a post secondary institution has won men's and women's hockey titles in the same season.
It's the first time for Red Deer.
SAIT (2006-07), NAIT (2012-13 & 2014-15) & MacEwan (2016-17, 2017-18 & 2018-19) also accomplished the feat.
๐บ๐ For the first time since the 2013-14 campaign, MacEwan & NAIT will meet in the best of five championship final series. The two time defending conference champion Griffins downed the Queens 3-1 to advance. Dates & times of the championship final to be announced.
๐บ๐ The Red Deer College Queens post a 4-3 come from behind victory over the NAIT Ooks to win the deciding game of the best of three semi finals series. Red Deer advances to the best of five championship final series against the MacEwan Griffins. Dates and times to be announced.
๐น๐ An emotional weekend for both the Vikings & Griffins who meet in a home & home series. Today, the entire Vikings team attended the funeral service of ACAC Hall of Fame member Joe Voytechek. Tomorrow, the Griffins will retire Nakehko Lamothe's No. 28 in a pre-game ceremony.
๐บ๐ ACAC Academic All-Canadians are athletes who have maintained an honours average & been recognized as an all-conference selection. 2017-18 honorees are:
Natalie Bender, MacEwan (G)
Carley Jewell, MacEwan (D)
Brittney Savard, NAIT (F)
Tracie Kikuchi, Red Deer (G)
๐น๐ Blaine Gusdal has coached 347 regular season & 52 playoff games in the conference. Tonight, the Vikings head coach reaches the 400 games coached milestone joining:
Ken Babey 839
Jim MacLean 486
Terry Ballard 444
Gary Snydmiller 431
Allan Ferchuk 414
Perry Pearn 412
๐บ๐ Men's hockey teams from Medicine Hat College participated in the ACAC for six seasons from 1969 through 1971 & from 1983 through 1987.
This fall, Medicine Hal College will become the 10th post secondary institution to field a women's hockey team in conference play.
#acac
๐บ๐ NAIT shaded Red Deer 3-2 in double overtime on Sunday to win the best of 3 semi final series two games to one & will face MacEwan in the best of 5 championship final series.
MacEwan advanced by winning their best of 3 semi final series against SAIT two games to none.
๐บ๐ In the best of 3 semi finals, NAIT will have home ice advantage against Olds, while MacEwan has home ice advantage against Red Deer. Although SAIT & Olds could end up with 15 points & 7 wins, the teams split their regular season series & Olds would have more regulation wins.
Former NAIT & MacEwan netminder Shannon Szabados will be the first Alberta born women's hockey player to don Canada's jersey at three different Winter Olympic Games.
๐บ๐MacEwan head coach Lindsay McAlpine is the conference career leader among active women's hockey coaches in games (243) & wins (127).
(The all time career leader in both categories is Deanna Iwanicka, who spent a decade behind the NAIT bench, with 150 wins in 270 games.)
๐บ๐Action in the 20th regular season of women's hockey begins on October 10th. Here are dates of the home openers for each team:
Thursday, October 10th: Olds
Friday, October 11th: Red Deer & NAIT
Saturday, October 12th: MacEwan
Saturday, October 19th: SAIT
The 2019 IIHF Women's World Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Espoo, Finland from April 4th through April 14th. Canada's head coach is former NAIT head coach Perry Pearn. One of Canada's three goaltenders is former NAIT netminder Shannon Szabados.
The Darcy Haugan Memorial Statue was unveiled Saturday in front of the Baytex Energy Centre in Peace River to honour the former Briercrest Clippers forward who served as head coach of the North Peace Navigators and the Humboldt Broncos.
๐บ๐ The best of five championship final between NAIT & MacEwan begins this weekend. The teams are at the Downtown Community Arena on Thursday for a 7:00 PM start & at the NAIT Arena on Saturday for a 6:00 PM start.
Here's the entire schedule:
๐บ๐ NAIT goaltender Kaitlyn Slator sets a conference record for most saves in the regular season (24 game schedule) with 570 surpassing Jaydlin Spooner's total of 558 with Olds during the 2017-18 regular season. Save statistics were not recorded in 2000-01, 2002-03 & 2003-04.
๐บ๐The 19th regular season of women's hockey begins on Friday, October 5th with home openers for the Ooks & the 2017-18 conference champion Griffins. For the complete 2018-19 regular season schedule, coach contact information & more, visit & bookmark
๐น๐ ACAC Hockey Award Recipients announced. Brett Njaa of MacEwan, Joel Hamilton of SAIT & Dan Dekoning of Briercrest recognized as ACAC All-Canadians for being an all conference selection & maintaining an honours average.
๐น๐ For those of you who do not receive a print copy of the Camrose Booster, here's an article from this week's edition on the challenges facing the Augustana Vikings.
To assist, reach out to
@davedangr
&
@prpetrator
via Twitter direct message.
Congratulations to former SAIT men's hockey head coach Ken Babey who entered the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame today via a virtual ceremony. The Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame member joins ACAC hockey alumni Dale Henwood, Bob McGhee, Rob Kerr & the 1984-85 NAIT Ooks in the Hall.
An update on the efforts of the Augustana Vikings Men's Hockey Alumni Association to save the hockey program from the May 26th, 2020 edition of the Camrose Booster:
๐บ๐Stefanie Thomson of Oshawa, Ontario has been named as the sixth head coach in the history of the NAIT Ooks succeeding Deanna Iwanicka who is now the head coach of the University of Windsor Lancers.
๐น๐ Red Deer edged NAIT 2-1 on Friday (the 24th) to sweep the best of five final series three games to none & become conference champions for the first time since 1994.
For the Kings, it's their ninth conference title.
#acachockey
#acac
๐น๐ Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock & Colorado Avalanche assistant coach Ray Bennett are former RDC Kings head coaches. Bennett was an assistant coach with Canada's Women's Olympic Team in 1998 & Babcock was head coach of Canada's Men's Olympic Team in 2010 & 2014.
๐น๐ The best of 3 semi final match ups are set as NAIT will face Augustana & MacEwan will meet Red Deer. Dates & times to be announced. On Saturday, Red Deer & Augustana completed sweeps of their best of 3 quarter finals. Red Deer edged Concordia 4-3, Augustana downed SAIT 5-2.
๐บ๐ Red Deer shaded NAIT 2-1 in overtime on Friday (the 24th) to sweep the best of five final series three games to none & repeat as conference champs.
For the Queens, it's their fifth conference title equalling the mark set by Mount Royal.
#acachockey
#acac
Humboldt Broncos head coach & general manager Darcy Haugan, who played with Briercrest & did not survive Friday's crash, received Hockey Alberta's Meritorious Award in 2015. Former ACAC coaches Gary Snydmiller, Jim MacLean & Dale Henwood have also been honored with the award.
๐น๐ Week 14 of the 2022-23 regular season is over.
Red Deer secured a first round playoff bye & home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. SAIT or Augustana will also have a first round playoff bye. NAIT, Briercrest & Concordia will play in the first round.
#acac
#acachockey
๐น๐ Serge Lajoie, who coached the NAIT Ooks to a pair of conference titles, is now the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League.
A pair of former ACAC coaches will be inducted into the Order of Hockey in Canada on June 18th in London, Ontario. Mike Babcock coached the Red Deer College Kings to an ACAC title in 1988-89. Danielle Goyette guided the University of Calgary Dinos to an ACAC title in 2008-09.
๐บ๐The schedule for the 2018-19 Championship Final Series has been released with games at NAIT on Friday & MacEwan on Saturday. The teams have only met once before in the best of five finale with NAIT receiving gold medals after taking the series three games to one in 2013-14.
๐บ๐ Week 14 of the 2018-19 regular season is in the books. Olds & SAIT trade road wins. Red Deer & MacEwan also exchange road victories. With SAIT's loss on Saturday, Red Deer punches a ticket to the post season.
๐บ๐For the second time in the history of women's hockey in the conference, a team has had six all conference selections. The 2018-19 NAIT Ooks equal the mark set by the 2000-01 Mount Royal College Cougars.
๐น๐ Former head coaches - Ken Babey (Trojans), Ray Bennett (Kings) & Dale Henwood (Ooks) - as well as a former general manager - LeRoy Johnson (Vikings) - will be awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for accomplishments & dedication to sport later this month.
๐น๐ ACAC Career Coaching Leaders (Regular Season First Place Finishes)
Ken Babey, 10
Perry Pearn, 7
Allan Ferchuk, 6
Scott Atkinson, 5
Tim Fragle, 4
Serge Lajoie, 3
Bob Moore. 2
Cecil Thompson, 2
Joe Voytechek, 2
Mike Babcock, 2
Val Schneider, 2
๐น๐MacEwan & NAIT meet in the best of three final series for the third season in a row. MacEwan is going for a third straight title & fourth in conference history. NAIT is hoping to become conference champs for the first time since 2016 & for the 18th time in conference history.
๐น๐ With Saturday's win over the Briercrest Clippers in Caronport, the NAIT Ooks clinch a playoff spot for a conference record 44th consecutive season.
The CEO of the 2019 Canada Winter Games is former RDC Kings assistant coach Scott Robinson. A number of ACAC head coaches including Mario Amentea, Ray Bennett, Larry Hofmann, Trevor Keeper, Ron Kraft, Serge Lajoie, & Bill Luke also coached hockey teams at the Canada Winter Games,
Action in the 2019 Canada Winter Games continues. Four coaches hold the distinction of coaching teams at the Canada Winter Games and the CCAA National Hockey Championships.
It appears an announcement on a possible start date for the 2021-22 regular season is planned before the end of August. Action would begin between November 12th, 2021 & January 14th, 2022 unless the season is cancelled. Fewer games & less travel are options being considered.
If you are in or around the Rose City, you can pre-order The Viking Cup: A Small College Town Scores Big Time by LeRoy Johnson (either hardcover or softcover) for pickup from Fox & Fable in Camrose at a discounted rate until October 22nd. Here's the link:
๐น๐ Brent Devost, who played with the Red Deer College Kings when they were coached by Mike Babcock, has been named head coach of the SAIT Trojans.