Champions Hockey
program staff
Stacy Smallman & Dax MacLean - Co-Founders
Dax MacLean was a talented and gifted scorer who excelled at every level of hockey he played. Throughout his minor career in Chatham, he was a perennial all-star who was always at or near the top in scoring. In 1991 he led the “AAA” Midget Rivermen to a Provincial and then, Atlantic title.
In '93 he joined the Notre Dame Hounds in the SJHL where he became a two-time all-star and team scoring leader. In '95, Dax attended UNB where he established himself as one of the premier players in the country. He was an all-star as a rookie and led the Varsity Reds the next year to a silver medal at the CIAU Championships. In '97-'98, he was a key cog in their first CIAU title. That year he was the team’s scoring leader, league MVP, Most Sportsmanlike, and All-Canadian First Team forward. In his final season, Dax became UNB’s all-time leading goal scorer; a record he still holds.
Stacy Smallman is a prolific figure when it comes to hockey and is widely regarded as one of the best hockey players to come out of OLeary PEI. Stacy played hockey with the Summerside Western Capitals, winning the Centennial Cup. He also had a brief tenure with Pensacola Ice Pilots, a pro team in the ECHL in the '97-'98 season. He moved on to play with the UNB Varsity Reds, taking home a silver in his first year and winning a National Championship in year four.
Matthew Wright, Program Coordinator
Matt is in his 4th year as the Program Coordinator of Champions Hockey.
Wright is a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick and played two seasons with the Midget AAA Canadiens, winning the NB/PEI Major Midget Hockey League scoring title and MVP award in 2011-12.
Wright went on to play three seasons in the Maritime Junior Hockey League with the Yarmouth Mariners, SouthShore Lumberjacks and Valley Wildcats. In his last two seasons, he was an assistant captain and averaged more than a point per game. He went on to play for the St Thomas University Tommies in their final season.
Wright has worked summer camps with hockey New Brunswick as a group leader for their High Performance Program. He's been an assistant coach for the Swifty's Capitals Bantam AA hockey team for two seasons, in charge of running checking clinics for Hockey New Brunswick and asst coach for the EDZA Pee Wee AAA Canadiens in 2019-20 and EDZA West U13 AAA Express in 2020-21. In 2021-2022 he was an assistant coach for the U15 AAA Minor Caps as well as an assistant coach for Hockey New Brunswick U14 Male team who captured a silver medal at Atlantics.
Wright is currently the assistant coach of Champions Hockey Academy U16 Eagles.