X-Men hockey athletes Locke, Marchand, Dirk & MacDonald receive AUS honors

2016-17 AUS men's hockey major awards and all-stars announced
UNB's Philippe Maillet named MVP

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2016-17 AUS men's hockey major award winners and all-stars as selected by the conference's seven head coaches following regular season play.

Fourth-year UNB forward Philippe Maillet has been named the Atlantic University Sport most valuable player.

Other AUS major award winners announced today were Saint Mary's Hunter Garlent of Thorold, Ont., who was named rookie of the year; Acadia's Geoff Schemitch of Thornhill, Ont., who was selected as the most sportsmanlike player; StFX's Eric Locke of Toronto, Ont., who earned the Godfrey award for student-athlete community service; and UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall who was named the AUS coach of the year for the fifth time in his career.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (Kelly Trophy): Philippe Maillet, UNB Varsity Reds

The Atlantic University Sport men's hockey most valuable player is Philippe Maillet of the U Sports No. 1-ranked UNB Varsity Reds.

Maillet, a fourth-year forward from Terrebonne, Que., led the nation in points with 55 on the season. His 32 assists and 22 goals were the second and third most, respectively, notched by any U Sports player.

He led the country in power play goals with 14 and his plus-minus rating of +34 was the best in U Sports.

This is the second time in his career Maillet has captured the AUS award as the conference's top player. He also earned the honour in his second year following the 2014-15 season. In his inaugural season in 2013-14, he was named AUS rookie of the year.

This is the third consecutive season Maillet has been named an AUS first team all-star. In 2014-15, he was also named a first team CIS (now U Sports) all-Canadian. In 2013-14, he was a member of both the AUS all-rookie team and the AUS second team all-star squad.

In his four-year career with UNB, Maillet has amassed 166 points in 101 games played.

Prior to joining the Varsity Reds, he spent four seasons in the QMJHL from 2009-10 to 2012-13 with the Victoriaville Tigres where he notched 240 points in 252 games played.

Maillet is the fourth UNB player to claim the Kelly Trophy as the conference's top player and the only player from the Varsity Reds to ever earn the honour twice.

He will now represent the conference as the AUS nominee for the U Sports Senator Joseph A. Sullivan trophy as the nation's top player.

The Atlantic conference has claimed eight of the past 13 national player of the year awards. Acadia's Liam Heelis is the most recent AUS recipient of the national honour. He earned the accolade following the 2013-14 season.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (A.J. MacAdam Trophy): Hunter Garlent, Saint Mary's Huskies

The Atlantic conference rookie of the year and recipient of the A.J. MacAdam Trophy for 2016-17 is Saint Mary's Huskies forward Hunter Garlent.  

In just his first year with the Saint Mary's program, Garlent finished second in the conference and third in the nation in points with 45 in the regular season.

In 30 games played, the five-foot-nine commerce student from Thorold, Ont., racked up 18 goals and 27 assists. He tied for most game-winning goals with four on the season.

In the first three games of the AUS postseason, Garlent had a league-leading four goals and five total points. He scored two goals and added an assist in Saint Mary's Game 1 win over UPEI and notched another two goals in Game 3—including the game winner which allowed the Huskies to advance to the semifinals.

Prior to joining the Saint Mary's squad, Garlent played five seasons in the OHL—first with the Guelph Storm from 2011-12 to 2013-14 and then with the Peterborough Petes for the second half of 2013-14 to 2015-16.

He amassed 112 points for the Storm in 147 games played and another 157 points for the Petes in 145 games played.

Garlent will now look to become the first-ever Saint Mary's player to be selected as the U Sports (formerly CIS) rookie of the year later next month. The last AUS player to receive the honour was former StFX standout Jason Bast following the 2010-11 season.

COACH OF THE YEAR (Bob Boucher Trophy): Gardiner MacDougall, UNB Varsity Reds

In his 17^th season as head coach, Gardiner MacDougall has been selected by his peers as the 2016-17 AUS coach of the year for the fifth time in his career.

MacDougall guided the U Sports No. 1-ranked UNB Varsity Reds to a 25-2-3 regular season record this year and a first-place finish in the Atlantic conference standings with 53 points. This is the tenth consecutive year UNB has finished first in the regular season standings.

This season, the Varsity Reds led the nation in goals (148), assists (258), goals per game (4.93), shots per game (38.2) and power play goals (51). They also allowed the fewest goals against averaging just 1.90 per game.

To date, MacDougall boasts an impressive 419-161-18 career record, including regular season, AUS playoff and U Sports championship action.

MacDougall is the fourth coach from the UNB Varsity Reds to earn AUS coach of the year honours and this is his fifth time earning the award.

He now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the Father George Kehoe Memorial Award as the U Sports coach of the year. MacDougall has earned the national award twice already in his career—first following the 2009-10 season and then again following the 2014-15 season.

An AUS coach has claimed this award in five of the past seven seasons. StFX head coach Brad Peddle earned the honour last season. Trevor Stienburg of the Saint Mary's Huskies earned the accolade in 2012-13 and Moncton's Serge Bourgeois in 2011-12.

MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER (Don Wells Trophy): Geoff Schemitsch, Acadia Axemen

In his fourth season with the Acadia Axemen, defenceman Geoff Schemitsch has been chosen as the Atlantic University Sport most sportsmanlike player and recipient of the Don Wells Trophy.

A kinesiology student from Thornhill, Ont., Schemitsch finished the regular season with 24 points. He scored five goals, added 19 assists and finished with a plus-minus rating of +16. In 30 games played this regular season, he amassed just 18 penalty minutes.

In his four AUS regular seasons, he has played 106 games, tallied 61 points and taken just 60 career regular season penalty minutes.

Schemitsch was also named an AUS first team all-star today for the first time in his career. Last season, he earned AUS second team all-star nods and in 2013-14, he was a part of the AUS all-rookie team.

Last season, he was also selected as the AUS conference male representative for the CIS (now U Sports) Top 8 Academic All-Canadian awards.

Schemitsch is the first Acadia player to be named the conference's most sportsmanlike player since the 2006-07 season when former Axemen standout Brandon Benedict earned the honour.

He now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U Sports R. W. Pugh Award. The only Acadia player to ever win the national honour was Greg Clancy in 1994-95.

Former UNB standout Chris Culligan is the most recent AUS player to earn the national honour, he won following the 2013-14 season.

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD (The Godfrey Award): Eric Locke, StFX X-Men

StFX's Eric Locke is the 2016-17 Atlantic conference recipient of the Godfrey Award and is the AUS nominee for the prestigious Dr. Randy Gregg Award.

The Godfrey Award, named after Dr. Bill Godfrey, is given annually to the player who best represents the spirit of intercollegiate hockey by his leadership both on and off the ice and by his conduct throughout the season.

In his third-year of eligibility from Toronto, Ont., Locke has worked hard on the ice, in the classroom and in his community this season.

He played in all 30 games for the X-Men this regular season, posting 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points.

In two StFX postseason wins so far, Locke has led the X-Men with two goals and two assists.

Last season he was named the AUS most valuable player and a CIS (now U Sports) first team all-Canadian.

Off the ice, Locke is a three-time academic all-Canadian who finished at the top of his class in the BSc human kinetics honours program with a 95 per cent average. He hopes to attend medical school next year.

Locke is heavily involved in both the StFX and Antigonish communities. He has served as his team's representative on StFX's student-athlete advisory council for the past two seasons. He is also a member of the StFX Pre-Med Society, the StFX Leadership Academy and the winner of the Leader of Distinction Award.

He volunteers his time with Fit 4 Life and Fit 4 Tots—a StFX human kinetics community service program which promotes healthy lifestyles to children.

Locke is also involved with the Antigonish Minor Hockey Mentorship Program, the Antigonish Multisport Program and the Paq'Tnkek First Nation Learn to Play Initiative.

This is the fourth consecutive year a player from the StFX X-Men has taken home the Godfrey Award. Former X-Men standouts Nathan Chiarlitti (2015-16), Rob Slaney (2014-15) and Murdoch MacLellan (2013-14) earned the honour the past three seasons.

Locke now becomes the AUS nominee for the Dr. Randy Gregg Award. StFX's Chiarlitti took home the national award last season. X-Men head coach Brad Peddle also earned the honour as a player following the 1998-99 season.

FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

The Atlantic University Sport first and second team all-stars were also announced today, along with this year's all-rookie team.

First Team All-Stars:
Goaltender: Chase Marchand, StFX (1^st year – Halifax, N.S.)
Defence: Jordan Murray, UNB (4^th year – Riverview, N.B.)
Defence: Geoff Schemitsch, Acadia (4^th year – Thornhill, Ont.)
Forward: Philippe Maillet, UNB (4^th year – Terrebonne, Que.)
Forward: Hunter Garlent, Saint Mary's (1^st year – Thorold, Ont.)
Forward: Jean-François Plante, Moncton (3^rd year – Sherbrooke, Que.)

Second Team All-Stars:
Goaltender: Étienne Marcoux, UNB (2^nd year – Terrebonne, Que.)
Defence: Matthew Pufahl, Acadia (3^rd year – Saskatoon, Sask.)
Defence: Jagger Dirk, StFX (3^rd year – Penticton, B.C.)
Forward: Cam Braes, UNB (5^th year – Shawnigan Lake, B.C.)
Forward: Eric Locke, StFX (3^rd year – Toronto, Ont.)
Forward: Alex Saulnier, Moncton (4^th year – Cap-Pelé, N.B.) 

All-Rookie Team:
Goaltender: Chase Marchand, StFX (Halifax, N.S.)
Defence: Matt Murphy, UNB (Fredericton, N.B.)
Defence: Cole MacDonald, StFX (Wetaskiwin, Alta.)
Forward: Hunter Garlent, Saint Mary's (Thorold, Ont.)
Forward: Stephen Harper, Acadia (Burlington, Ont.)
Forward: Bronson Beaton, Saint Mary's (Springhill, Ont.) 

The 2017 Subway AUS Men's Hockey Championship semi-final series are set to begin tonight. The two best-of-five playoff series will see the UNB Varsity Reds face off against the Saint Mary's Huskies, while the Acadia Axemen take on the StFX X-Men. The schedule is as follows:

Semifinal Series #1 (Best 3-of-5): UNB (1) vs. Saint Mary's (4)

Game 1: Thursday, Feb. 23 – Saint Mary's at UNB, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, Feb. 24 – Saint Mary's at UNB, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Monday, Feb. 27 – UNB at Saint Mary's, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday, Feb. 28 – UNB at Saint Mary's, 7 p.m.*
Game 5: Thursday, Mar. 2 – Saint Mary's at UNB, 7 p.m.*
(*if necessary)

Semifinal Series #2 (Best 3-of-5): Acadia (2) vs. StFX (3)

Game 1: Thursday, Feb. 23 – StFX at Acadia, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, Feb. 24 – StFX at Acadia, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Monday, Feb. 27 – Acadia at StFX, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday, Feb. 28 – Acadia at StFX, 7 p.m.*
Game 5: Thursday, Mar. 2 – StFX at Acadia, 7 p.m.*
(*if necessary)

The winners of each series will advance to the Subway AUS Men's Hockey Championship final series.

All matches of the AUS semifinals will be broadcast live on Bell Aliant Fibe TV (on TV1—channels 1 and 401) and webcast at www.AUStv.ca.

The 2017 Cavendish Farms Coupe U Cup is being hosted by the University of New Brunswick at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton, N.B., March 16-19. As host, the UNB Varsity Reds receive an automatic berth in the national championship.

The Atlantic conference receives two additional berths in the championship, which will be awarded to the AUS champion and runner up. Should the Varsity Reds earn a place in the AUS final playoff series, a best-of-three consolation final series will be held in order to determine the recipient of the third berth at the national championship. 

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