Johnny MacAskill

Athlete - Hockey
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990

Johnny MacAskill, born in Boston but a Glace Bay resident during his formative years, first attracted attention on the Acadia campus during the fall of’ 49 as he and his teammates won the Maritime Intercollegiate rugby title with a sudden-death victory over Mt. Allison. In the provincial championship game against St. F.X., he scored the Axemen’s lone try in a 9-2 win and in the tri-province finale, he again recorded the lone try. During the regularly scheduled games that fall, the Glace Bay flash connected for eight converts.

The subsequent fall he served as co-captain of a team that posted a 4-0 victory over N.S. Tech to win the Halifax and District League title –with John seconding two penalty kicks. He continued to shine as the Axeman twice defeated Dalhousie Tigers, 11-0, allowing them to represent the Mainland in McCurdy Cup play against the Glace Bay Legionnaires.

John, of course, was equally outstanding on the ice lanes, being a member of Coach Fred Kelly’s ’48-’49 Axemen that defeated St. F.X. and UNB to win provincial and Maritime honours –the last Acadia team to do so. In the Maritime championship victory he shared the offensive heroics with Robert “Gint” MacKenzie and Lloyd “Rocky” MacFarlane. He was twice voted to the Nova Scotia Intercollegiate All-Star Team and toured the Maritimes and Quebec with the Intercollegiate All-Stars.

In ’50-’51, John and his “M” line teammates of MacNeil and Fraser “Squix” Matheson sparkled as the Axemen dropped a 7-6 heartbreaker in the championship game to a very powerful St.F.X. team that featured the likes of Jackie MacLellan and the Swartzack brothers.

In recognition of his hockey laurels, John was named a charter member of the Acadia Hockey Honour Roll in 1980. An admirer of John’s hockey talent likened him to John Belliveau –smooth, intelligent and gentlemanly.

It is a pleasure to welcome for induction to Acadia’s Sports Hall of Fame, John D. MacAskill –of the class of ’52.