Wolfville, Nova Scotia – The Acadia Axemen are proud to welcome Flint Firebirds alumnus Tyler Deline to the program. The 5’10” defenceman from Peterborough, Ontario is a left shot, who put up 82 points in 171 regular season games in the OHL, including 144 PIMs, and was a +21 over his time in Flint. He also added 10 points in 22 career playoff games.
We asked Tyler why he chose Acadia University & the Axemen, and he said, “I felt like Acadia was the best place for me to become a better player on the ice and academically in the classroom as well.”
After making his OHL debut in the 2018-19 season, he played in his 1st full year with the Flint Firebirds in 2019-20 where he had 6 points in 43 games; the 2020-21 season was cancelled in the OHL due to the pandemic. In 2021-22, Deline returned to Flint with additional offensive punch putting up 38 points in 61 games, and another 9 in 15 post season games. This past season he remained consistent with 37 points in 58 games and was a +16.
Acadia Axemen Head Coach Darren Burns sees the addition of Deline as a boost to the team’s backend saying, “Tyler is an excellent addition to our back end heading into next year. We believe he has very strong offensive instincts and makes smart passes coming out of his end and on the powerplay. He combines a very intelligent poised skill set, with good vision, and also has the grit that is needed to succeed in our league. In our conversations with him it was very evident that he is a low maintenance kid who loves the game. We want to add players who want to get better, will bring an offensive game, and love hockey. He checks these boxes.
Deline described a glimpse of what we can expect this fall from him saying, “Axemen fans can expect a defenseman who likes to create offence and plays with lots of passion and grit.”
Deline joins an impressive recruiting class for Acadia, with netminders Thomas Couture & Brayden Peters, and forwards Brady Burns & Ethan Ernst.
For more information visit acadiaaxemenhockey.com.
