Halifax Settle for Weekend Split

Photo - Trevor MacMillon (Herd website)

Once again, the Halifax Mooseheads were outshot during the game but they could not make up for the defensive lapses on Saturday night as the Saint John Sea Dogs won 6-2. The away team got off to a quick start as Cameron Chartrand scored his first of the year just 62 seconds into the game but Will Bent answered a little over 2 minutes later to tie the match at 1-1. Chartrand picked up another goal later in the period to give Saint John a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. The Sea Dogs' defenceman's three points on the night gave him first start and pushed his season totals (2G & 5A) to exactly what he had all of last year as a rookie. Many in Scotiabank Centre felt that that third goal should not have been counted as it looked like it was off-side but the referees called it a good goal. Halifax closed the gap in the middle frame with a goal by Nathan Langlois on the power play, however that would be all the pucks they would get past the Dogs goaltender. The Mooseheads continued to pressure for the remaining of the second period but found themselves down 4-2 after 40 minutes. Another two goals in the third gave Saint John their fourth win in the last five games. Veteran Daniel Walters did give the Moose Country faithful something else to cheer about as he got in an actual fight about half way through the game. 

FINAL: Sea Dogs 6 at Mooseheads 2
Stars: 3. Patrick McNab HAL | 2. Alexander Donovan SNB | 1. Cameron Chartrand SNB
Attendance: 8,188

GAME LOG
First period
1:02 SNB Cameron Chartrand (1) | A: Cancik & Donovan
3:10 HAL William Bent (2) | A: Minella & Mertz
5:10 SNB Alexander Donovan (10) | A: Groulx & Chartrand
12:26 SNB Cameron Chartrand (2) | A: Rozzi

Second period
16:58 HAL Nathan Langlois (11), PP | A: Nobert & Kulebiakin
19:38 SNB Jabez Seymour (3) | A: Morin & Lemieux

Third period 
0:35 SNB Matyas Cancik (3) | A: Delarosbil & Groulx
17:33 SNB Dylan Rozzi (6), EN | A: Groulx

Highlights

Power play: SNB - 0-for-2; HAL - 1-for-5
Shots: 34-27 in favour of Saint John

Did not play - Nico Uschan (injured) and Cole MacLeod (healthy)

Next game
Our Halifax Mooseheads will host the Quebec Remparts in the annual DND Appreciation Night game on November 14. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.

Game Day 17: vs. Saint John

PREVIEW - Your Halifax Mooseheads continue their four game homestand with a visit from the Saint John Sea Dogs this evening in what is being promoted as wiener dog race night. Halifax is coming into the game having won their last two but these two clubs are pretty evenly matched according to the standings. The Sea Dogs have a handful of 2027 NHL draft prospects on their roster, including team leading scorer and 18 year old rookie Jamie Glance and highly touted forward Alexis Joseph who both received an A rating last month. Also on that ranking projected to be drafted in the first round is Mooseheads defenceman Malik L'Italien, who unfortunately has not picked up a point in his last five games. During the second intermission be sure to stay in your seats as a number of wiener dogs will be racing across the ice surface to be the first one over the line and receive a trophy. 

Halifax is coming off a 4-1 victory on Friday night against the Cape Breton Eagles with both Quinn Kennedy (1G/2A) and Shawn Carrier (3A) recording three points in the home win. Saint John hasn't played since November 1st when they were defeated by the Eagles in Sydney 5-1 with Jamie Glance scoring the lone goal. 

Coverage
TV: FloHockey | Radio: Jack 92.9 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry

Overall records
Sea Dogs: 9-5-1-1 = 20 points (3rd in Eastern conference, 7th overall)

Mooseheads: 8-4-3-1 = 20 points (4th in Eastern conference, 8th overall)

Leading scorers
HAL: Quinn Kennedy 21pts (7G & 14A), Nathan Langlois 19pts (10G & 9A), Shawn Carrier 16pts (7G & 9A)
SNB: Jamie Glance 21pts (7G & 14A), Alexander Donovan 14pts (9G & 5A), Alexis Joseph 14pts (6G & 8A)

Head-to-head

Halifax is 0-0-1-0 against the Sea Dogs this season while Saint John has a 1-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two clubs met on October 4 in the New Brunswick city with Saint John picking up a 4-3 overtime victory. Mateo Nobert had a goal and an assist for the Mooseheads while Halifax's Jack Fichthorn stopped 24 of the Sea Dogs shots. 

Out of town 
Drakkar vs. Armada - 5:00 p.m.

Sagueneens vs. Voltigeurs - 5:00 p.m.

Foreurs vs. Tigres - 5:00 p.m.

Islanders vs. Eagles - 7:00 p.m.

After the buzzer 

The Mooseheads will host their annual DND Appreciation Night on November 14 against the Quebec Remparts. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.

Smith, Mertz Lead Provincial Victory

Photo - Herd website

Goaltender Carson Mertz stood on his head in the third period which allowed the Halifax Mooseheads to pick up a 4-1 victory on Friday night over their provincial rival Cape Breton Eagles. The home team started the game on the right foot when forward Brady Smith scored his first QMJHL goal in his return from an injury around the midway point of the opening period. Former Herd forward Reece Peitzsche had the puck bounce off of him near the net which tied the game up for Cape Breton. After 40 minutes, the Mooseheads had a 2-1 lead and had the chance to extend it in the third with still 90 seconds remaining on an Eagles penalty. However, the away team put a whole lot of pressure on Mertz in the final frame as they outshot Halifax 20-4 in the period. Mateo Nobert scored late in the game to give the Mooseheads some insurance but Lucas Beckman was pulled shortly after to give Cape Breton an extra man. 

FINAL: Eagles 1 at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Quinn Kennedy HAL | 2. Brady Smith HAL | 1. Carson Mertz HAL
Attendance: 7,266

GAME LOG
First period
11:41 HAL Brady Smith (1) | A: Kennedy & Carrier
14:35 CAP Reece Peitzsche (7) | A: Chandler & McCullough

Second period 
8:21 HAL Owen Phillips (2) | A: Kennedy & Carrier

Third period 
17:14 HAL Mateo Nobert (7) | A: Kulebiakin & Minella
19:53 HAL Quinn Kennedy (7), EN | A: Carrier

Highlights

Power play: CAP - 0-for-1; HAL - 0-for-2
Shots: 40-22 in favour of Cape Breton

Did not play - Jayden Napon (healthy) and Nico Uschan (injured)

Next game
Your Halifax Mooseheads continue their home stand tomorrow with wiener dog race night against the Saint John Sea Dogs. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.

Stats Sunday: October

Games played: 10
Record: 4-3-2-1, 11pts
Goals for/against: 33 / 37
Powerplay*: 16.7%
Penalty kill*: 68.5%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Mateo Nobert 12, Shawn Carrier 12, Nathan Langlois 11, Oleg Kulebiakin 10, Quinn Kennedy 9
Goals: Shawn Carrier 6, Nathan Langlois 6, Quinn Kennedy 3, Oleg Kulebiakin 3, Mateo Nobert 3
Assists: Mateo Nobert 9, Oleg Kulebiakin 7, Shawn Carrier 6, Quinn Kennedy 6, Nathan Langlois 5
Penalty minutes: Daniel Walters 22, Shawn Carrier 18, Quinn Kennedy 14, Nathan Langlois 12, Eddy Doyle 9
Plus/minus: Paul Sintschnig +9, Mateo Nobert +5, Quinn Kennedy +4, Nico Uschan +4, Eddy Doyle +3
Rookie scoring: Paul Sintschnig 6pts, Jackson Smail 3pts, Duncan Anderson 1pt, Jayden Napon 1pt, Carson Mertz 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Carson Mertz     3-2-1-0     3.33 GAA     0.895 SAV%
Jack Fichthorn     3-2-2-1     4.09 GAA     0.852 SAV%

*overall

Herd Word

We’re over a month into the regular season and there have been some stories that I have not shared so I thought I should do it in a Herd Word tonight. You’ll probably know most of these but if you don’t have social media, it’s possible you don’t.

POLL RESULTS
Before the regular season began in the last Herd Word, I asked you where you thought the Mooseheads will finish in the standings at the end of the year. Well here are the results below. I think we will finish between 7th-10th place overall.  

Where in the standings will our Halifax Mooseheads finish at the end of the regular season?

— Moose Country (@MC_MooseCountry) September 17, 2026

LEADERSHIP GROUP
While it was already known that 5th year defenceman Owen Phillips would continue as the Captain of the Mooseheads for the season, the brass announced which players would also be apart of the leadership group. Forwards Shawn Carrier, Daniel Walters and Quinn Kennedy were named to serve as alternate captains a couple of days before the regular season began. Kennedy had an A on his jersey during 2025-26 while the other two seemed to during the occasional game last year.

Photo - Herd website

Congrats to all four young men on being given the honour.  

MEDIA GUIDE
The 2026-27 QMJHL media guide was released late last month and here are a few key dates for the season. 

    - QMJHL Prospects Game in Gatineau October 28

    - CHL USA Prospects Challenge in Chicoutimi and Quebec December 1 & 2

    - Holiday trade period December 19-January 6

    - Memorial Cup hosted by Guelph Storm May 21-30

    - QMJHL Entry Draft will be held in Victoriaville June 4-5

FIRST GOALS
Both Austrian players that Halifax selected in June's import draft picked up their first QMJHL career goals during opening weekend. Nico Uschan got his on the Friday night in Cape Breton while Paul Sintschnig scored during the home opener the following evening. Rookies Jayden Napon and Duncan Anderson have also recorded their first goals. 

🚨 Austria la vista, baby 🚨

Nico Uschan buries the first of his QMJHL career for a 2-1 Mooseheads lead 💪 @FloHockey

Assists: Kennedy, Langlois | #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/eiNPNn776r

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) September 18, 2026

🚨First of the career for Paul Sintschnig 🚨

One to remember for the Austrian rookie 🇦🇹

Assists from Quinn Kennedy & Malik L'Italien#GoMooseGo | #ForTheCity | @FloHockey pic.twitter.com/b3YkYBR4oL

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) September 19, 2026

PROSPECTS GAME

Photo - QMJHL website

With the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League prospects game being tomorrow, why not mention the rosters. The league announced the first 6 players back on September 17 and Halifax defenceman Malik L'Italien was one of the guys selected on that list. He joined Saint John Sea Dogs' Alexis Joseph and Jamie Glance, Carter Meyer and Patrick Deniger of the Quebec Remparts plus Shawinigan Cataractes' Vladimir Shtyrkhunov named in the press release.  

"Alexis, Jamie, Carter, Malik, Vladimir and Patrick have very bright futures ahead of them, and on October 28, they will have the opportunity to showcase their talent in front of approximately 100 National Hockey League scouts and executives," said QMJHL vice-president of hockey operations, Eric Chouinard. 

The next 11 players were named on October 8 with Mooseheads Austrian rookie Paul Sintschnig among the young guys who will participate. There was a goaltender, 4 defenceman and five other forwards named on that day. The remaining 23 players were named about two weeks ago while the team rosters were unveiled on October 20. L’Italien will suit up for Team Crosby while Sintschnig will play on Team Lafleur. 

HEPDITCH RELEASED
Our Halifax Mooseheads announced a week ago that they have relieved associate coach Josh Hepditch of his duties. Hepditch was with the club for a little over a year having been hired prior to the 2025-26 season. The Fredericton, NB native was primarily responsible for coaching the defenceman and overseeing the power play unit. 

The search for a replacement will begin immediately. Good luck to Josh in his new position wherever he lands. 

EXTRA TIME RECORD?
I have not been able to find out if this is a league record but, as far as I can tell, it is a franchise record. The Halifax Mooseheads started the 2026-27 regular season with eight of their first 10 games going to extra time. I looked through the team’s schedules since the beginning and Halifax has not gone past regulation more than 3 times in the first ten matches before this year. Three of the games needed a shootout with the Mooseheads winning two of them. I wonder if we’ll see the most overtime/shootout games in a full season. 

NHL DRAFT
The Central Scouting Services along with the National Hockey League announced its preliminary players to watch list for the 2027 NHL entry draft on Monday and its two young men who have already been mentioned above. Montreal, QC-native L’Italien was given an A rating as a potential first round selection while forward Sintschnig is among the B rated prospects that could be picked in the second or third round in June. Among the 28 young men who earned an A rating, Malik was one of four QMJHL players to receive it along with Jamie Glance and Alexis Joseph of the Saint John Sea Dogs plus Quebec Remparts’ Carter Meyer. Michigan University’s Landon DuPont is the projected first overall pick. 

Congratulations to Malik and Paul on being touted as NHL draft picks and good luck tomorrow at the prospects game. 

Photo - NHLPR

COMING UP
Halifax has finished their six game homestand, going 4-1-0-1 during the time at the Scotiabank Centre, and are set to head out on the road to end the month. The Mooseheads will visit the province of Quebec for the first time this season as they play three games in 4 days. It’ll be a tough trip as they are set to battle against clubs that are above them in the standings currently, including the 8th best team in the country (Victoriaville). The trip will begin with visiting the Gatineau Olympiques on Thursday, followed by the Victoriaville Tigres early Saturday evening and finishing in Sherbrooke versus the Phoenix on November 1. 

90's Night Party

Photo - Myles Dennis

The visiting Charlottetown Islanders controlled big chunks of the game but the Halifax Mooseheads were able to ride a hot start to a 6-3 victory on Saturday night. Halifax scored four times on their first 6 shots in the opening frame and Jack Fichthorn was able to make saves at the right time to help his team get their second regulation win of the season. Overage forward Quinn Kennedy continued his four-game point streak with a goal to get the party started during 90's night 4:15 into the match. Rookie Nico Uschan picked up his second goal of the year late in the first period to give the Mooseheads a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes. Halifax seem to spend almost all of the first 5 minutes in the middle frame in the offensive end but could only muster one shot but looked like they were going to get out of the second period still up. However, Cameron Haye broke the shutout for the Islanders at the 15:59 mark to send the teams to their dressing rooms with the home team up 4-1. Charlottetown kept up the pressure in the final 20 and were able to get another two past Fichthorn, including a power play goal by Antoine Provencher. Down two with two minutes to go, the Islanders pulled their goaltender but could not get any closer and actually the Herd extended their lead with a shorthanded empty net goal from Daniel Walters. 

FINAL: Islanders 3 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Shawn Carrier HAL | 2. Jack Fichthorn HAL | 1. Nathan Langlois HAL
Attendance: 6,916

MC's Top Herd: n/a

GAME LOG
First period
4:15 HAL Quinn Kennedy (6) | A: Langlois & Carrier 
6:10 HAL Mateo Nobert (5) | A: Kulebiakin & Sintschnig
16:02 HAL Nathan Langlois (8), PP | A: Kulebiakin & Carrier

18:47 HAL Nico Uschan (2) | A: None

Second period

15:59 CHA Cameron Haye (3) | A: Charron & Shields

Third period 

5:29 CHA Antoine Provencher (4), PP | A: Herron & Haye

9:59 HAL Nathan Langlois (9) | A: Carrier

15:35 CHA Kimani Eccleston (7) | A: None

19:14 HAL Daniel Walters (2), SH EN | A: Carrier

Highlights

Power play: CHA - 1-for-5; HAL - 1-for-2

Shots: 36-20 in favour of Charlottetown

Did not play - Evan Nee (injured), Junior Gualberto (healthy) and Brady Smith (injured)

Next game

Our Halifax Mooseheads will head out on their first Quebec road trip, starting with a visit to the Gatineau Olympiques on October 29. Puck drops at 8:00 p.m.

Kids Day Ends in Overtime

Photo - Trevor MacMillan (Cataractes website)

For the eighth time in their first 10 games, the Halifax Mooseheads needed extra time as they got a 4-3 overtime victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes. The Sunday afternoon match was kids day and there certainly were a lot of them in attendance but the team also allowed the young people to take over some of the pre-game aspects like the Moose Minute, starting line-up announcement and singing the anthem. Halifax got out to a great start with Quinn Kennedy getting on the home team on the board within the first 4 minutes of the game. It was Kennedy's first goal since opening weekend when he scored 3 times. The two teams went to the dressing rooms with the Mooseheads up 2-0 after 20 minutes, outshooting Shawinigan 16-12 in the period. A couple of missed calls and miscommunication by the red and green allowed the Cataractes to come back and take the lead after two periods with captain Chad Lygitsakos picking up his 6th of the season to put Shawinigan up 3-2 on the power play at the 16:44 mark. In the third however, Will Bent picked up his first of the year to tie the game with under 8 minutes remaining. Both goaltenders stood strong in the final stretch to force overtime where Nathan Langlois became the hero. Langlois was behind the net and somehow squeezed the puck over the line but the referee did not see it go over so the play was reviewed before being called good goal. 

FINAL: Cataractes 3 at Mooseheads 4 OT
Stars: 3. Malik L'Italien HAL | 2. Quinn Kennedy HAL | 1. Jacob St. Cyr SHA
Attendance: 6,837
MC's Top Herd: Quinn Kennedy 

GAME LOG
First period
3:45 HAL Quinn Kennedy (4) | A: Nobert & Minella
6:38 HAL Paul Sintschnig (3) | A: L'Italien & Kennedy

Second period 
0:40 SHA Dylan Laframboise (3) | A: Fortin & Bergeron
15:56 SHA Samuel Boyer (5) | A: Bergeron & Corso
16:44 SHA Chad Lygitsakos (6), PP | A: Bergeron & Shtyrkhunov

Third period
12:03 HAL William Bent (1), PP | A: Nobert & L'Italien

Overtime

2:02 HAL Nathan Langlois (7) | A: Minella & Kennedy

Highlights

Power play: SHA - 1-for-4; HAL - 1-for-5

Shots: 52-33 in favour of Halifax

Did not play - Cole MacLeod (healthy), Brady Smith (injured) and Jayden Napon (healthy)

Next game
Your Halifax Mooseheads are set to have a provincial rivalry game as they welcome the Cape Breton Eagles on Friday. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.