Darren Burns
Darren Burns
Title: Head Coach
Organization: Men's Hockey
Phone: 902-585-1212
Email: darren.burns@acadiau.ca
Darren Burns is in his 22nd season (excluding COVID season) at the helm of the Acadia Axemen hockey team.
 
Darren and the Axemen qualified for the 2020 U SPORTS championship University Cup despite being the host of the ill-fated championship and hosted the 2022 U SPORTS Championship in Wolfville in 2022. It was the sixth time in the last 10 seasons.
 
Burns guided the Axemen to a bronze medal win at the 2017 U SPORTS National championship tournament in Fredericton. The Axemen eliminated No. 1 ranked Alberta in the opening game and then lost UNB in a semi-final match-up. The Axemen then topped the StFX X-Men for the bronze medal win.
 
Burns was selected in 2015, as an assistant coach for the U SPORTS All-Star squad that played two exhibition games in early December 2015 against the World Juniors Team Canada.
 
In 2007, Burns was an assistant coach with the gold medal-winning Team Canada at the Universiade Games in Turin, Italy.
 
Burns, who captained the Acadia in his senior year as an Axemen, is the third-longest serving coach in the AUS. In his 23 seasons as head coach, his teams have not made the playoffs only three times – those in his first three years rebuilding the Axemen. With a 302-245-14 regular season and postseason record, Darren has made the postseason 19 years in a row within one of the toughest university hockey conferences in the country.
 
Burns has played an important role in the development of local Annapolis Valley hockey players, consulting in the creation of the Acadia Minor Hockey Association. Acadia Axemen summer hockey camps have also grown to offer an assortment of special camps that have assisted in the development of local and provincial players.
 
A native of Brockville, ON, Burns played for the Axemen from 1990-95 and was a member of the 1992-93 National Championship winning squad. Darren also won a second U SPORTS Championship as an assistant with the Axemen in 1995-96. Burns resides in Port Williams, NS, with his wife Lana, son Brady and daughter Allie.