Tuesday, April 30, 2013

CHL League Finals Set!

The individual league finals in the Canadian Hockey League are finally set. We had to wait until Tuesday night to find out the Western Hockey League final as the Edmonton/Calgary series went to 7 games. The QMJHL final was official Sunday night while the OHL final became official on Monday. The Halifax Mooseheads come in as heavy favorites after finishing the regular season with best record in the CHL and being ranked #1 in the final BMO rankings. The winners of each league final will join the Saskatoon Blades later in May for the Memorial Cup.

2013 PRESIDENT'S CUP FINAL
#1 Halifax Mooseheads vs. #2 Baie-Comeau Drakkar; series starts Friday at 8:00pm

2013 J. ROSS ROBERTSON CUP FINAL
#W1 London Knights vs. #E2 Barrie Colts; series starts Friday at 8:05pm

2013 ED CHYNOWETH CUP FINAL
#W1 Portland Winterhawks vs. #E1 Edmonton Oil Kings; series starts Friday at 11:00pm


Last games
Halifax: Game 4 Thursday Apr 25 Mooseheads 9 at Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 6 (HAL wins series 4-0)
Baie-Comeau: Game 6 Sunday Apr 28 Drakkar 4 at Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 0 (BAC wins series 4-2)
London: Game 5 Friday Apr 26 Plymouth Whalers 4 at Knights 5 OT (LDN wins series 4-1)
Barrie: Game 7 Monday Apr 29 Colts 3 at Belleville Bulls 1 (BAR wins series 4-3)
Portland: Game 5 Friday Apr 26 Kamloops Blazers 1 at Winterhawks 4 (POR wins series 4-1)
Edmonton: Game 7 Tuesday Apr 30 Calgary Hitmen 0 at Oil Kings 2 (EDM wins series 4-3)



Game One of the Halifax/Baie-Comeau series will be broadcasted on national television. It was originally scheduled for a 7pm start but will now be a 8pm Atlantic time start. Watch it on Sportsnet. Game two can be seen by Maritime fans on Eastlink TV at 7:00pm on Saturday.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Finals schedule released

PLAYOFFS
#1 Halifax Mooseheads vs #2 Baie-Comeau Drakkar
President's Cup Final

Your Halifax Mooseheads and Baie-Comeau Drakkar announced the schedule for their President's Cup final matchup.

HALIFAX - The number one ranked team in the country will try to win their first ever QMJHL title as they take on Baie-Comeau. This is Halifax's third time in the big dance however they lost the two previous visits. The Moose can taste the Cup now and so can the Drakkar and it all starts on Friday on national television. Long rests between series seem to be an advantage for the Mooseheads which normally doesn't happen. Baie-Comeau will get their head coach and main goalies back after all 3 served their two games suspensions from a brawl in the Blainville series.

MACAULAY: Stephen MacAulay will be playing in his fourth straight Cup final. This will be his first with a different team as he played the other 3 with the Saint John Sea Dogs. The last two finals, MacAulay and the Dogs won the President's Cup and won the Memorial Cup in 2011.

HEAD-TO-HEAD ~ all-time: 54 games 28-16-3-2; this season: 2 games 2-0-0-0; playoffs 13 games 8-5-0-0

LAST GAME - Baie-Comeau come into the game as winners of their Round 3 series with a 4-0 shutout win against Blainville. While Halifax is coming into the final round of the Q playoffs with a 12-0 record off a high-scoring 9-6 Game 4 win versus Rouyn-Noranda.

Playoffs tickets for game one on Friday and game two on Saturday will be available on Tuesday at 10am at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstores, www.ticketatlantic.com and by calling (902) 451-1221

Game #1
Friday May 3 @ 8:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #2
Saturday May 4 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #3
Tuesday May 7 @ 8:30pm at Centre Henry-Leonard ~ Baie-Comeau, QC
Game #4
Wednesday May 8 @ 8:30pm at Centre Henry-Leonard ~ Baie-Comeau, QC
Game #5
Friday May 10 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #6
Sunday May 12 @ 3:00pm at Centre Henry-Leonard ~ Baie-Comeau, QC
Game #7
Monday May 13 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS

Sunday, April 28, 2013

CANADA WINS GOLD!!!

Hockey fans in Canada can cheer once again as Team Canada won Gold at the Under 18 World Championship in Sochi, Russia. The last tournament that Canadians played in was the Women's World Championships earlier this month in which Canada lost to USA for gold. The last Men's tournament was the World Juniors which Team Canada lost the bronze medal game to host Russia. The sledge hockey team shutout Team USA in the Gold Medal game 8 days ago.

Team Canada took a 1-0 lead at 9:29 of the first period from a goal by Laurent Dauphin. USA tied it up at 1:48 of the second and than took the lead at 9:42 into the middle frame with goals by Connor Clifton and Mike McCarron respectively. Canada would take a 3-2 lead before the end of the middle 20 and there was no score in the 3rd period. Team USA was very close to tying it in the dying minutes but could not get past Philippe Desrosiers who made 35 saves.

2012 Halifax Mooseheads draft picks Jack Eichel and John Hayden played for Team USA. Hayden was named alternate captain of USA. He was a -1 and had 3 shots during 16:39 of ice time. Eichel had 2 shots on goal while playing 6:41 minutes. 16 year old Connor McDavid was the tournament's leading scorer with 14 points. He was held pointless in both the semi final and gold medal games. He ended with 8 goals and 6 assists with back to back hat tricks and a +8.

Canada's record: 7-0-0-0

Scores
Slovakia 1 - 4 Canada (prelim)
Canada 3 - 1 Germany (prelim)
Canada 10 - 1 Switzerland (prelim)
Sweden 0 - 6 Canada (prelim)
Canada 6 - 0 Czech Republic (quarters)
Canada 3 - 1 Finland (semis)
Canada 3 - 2 United States (gold)


In the Bronze Medal game, Finland won 2-1 in regulation over host Russia. Finland got goals from Artturi Lehkonen and Kasperi Kapanen while Russia's only goal was scored by Vladimir Tkachyov. It was Finland's fourth bronze medal. USA won their 3rd silver medal. This was Canada's third gold medal after winning gold in 2003 and 2008, all three 5 years apart. Team USA had won the four previous tournaments.


The next tournament for Team Canada is the 2013 Men's World Championships which will be held in Finland and Sweden from May 3 to May 19 and will be qualifications for the 2014 Olympic games.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

PEI Rocket update

Good news Maritime fans. The PEI Rocket/Islanders announced yesterday that they are staying on the island. The QMJHL approached the PEI ownership on April 15 with an offer to buy the team. The team has been owned by the Savard family for awhile. No details have been released by the team of how the new group is made of. For full report click here. No word on whether or not if the new management will still change the team name.

Round 3 stats

2013 President's Cup Playoffs Round Three vs. #8 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

Team stats
4-0-0-0 (12-0-0-0 overall)
23 GF/16 GA (69/25 overall)
143 SF/115 SA (479/259 overall)
30.8% on PP (1st)
90% on PK (1st)

Team leaders
Points: 29 - Jonathan Drouin 12GP-10-19-29 (1st)
Goals: 13 - Stefan Fournier (1st)
Assists: 19 - Nathan MacKinnon (2nd)
Game winning goals: 3 - Nathan MacKinnon (2nd)
Penalty minutes: 26 - Austyn Hardie (4th)
Faceoffs: 178 - Nathan MacKinnon 178/291
Plus/minus: +18 - Brendan Duke & Jonathan Drouin
Shots: 61 - Nathan MacKinnon
Wins: 12 - Zach Fucale (1st)
Goals against average: 2.02 - Zach Fucale (3rd)
Save percentage: 0.903 - Zach Fucale (6th)

Results
Game 1 Saturday April 20 Rouyn-Noranda 4 at Halifax 6
Game 2 Sunday April 21 Rouyn-Noranda 4 at Halifax 5 OT
Game 3 Tuesday April 23 Halifax 3 at Rouyn-Noranda 2 OT
Game 4  Thursday April 25 Halifax 9 at Rouyn-Noranda 6


Other series
#1 Halifax Mooseheads vs #8 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (HAL wins 4-0)
#2 Baie-Comeau Drakkar vs #3 Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (BAC leads 3-2)

Tomorrow's games
Drakkar vs Armada at 7:30/ET

Friday, April 26, 2013

Media'Caps: Mooseheads 9, Huskies 6

Here are some recaps from last night's 9-6 Mooseheads win over the Huskies...

My recapThe Halifax Mooseheads remain perfect as they booked their ticket on Thursday night to the finals for the third time in franchise history.

The Canadian Press' recapThe Halifax Mooseheads are four wins away from completing their dominating Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season.

Metro Halifax's recapThe Halifax Mooseheads have punched their ticket to the President’s Cup.

The Chronicle Herald's recapThe roll continues for the Halifax Mooseheads.

News 95.7's recap: Perfect.

HalifaxMooseheads.com's recapGet ready Moose Country.

MISSING IN ACTION: Brennan Bailey, Liam Alcalde, Dominic Beauchemin, Max Lindsay and Jonathan Lacroix-Courville were healthy scratches for the Mooseheads while Liam O'Brien did not play for the Huskies.

MACKINNON: Nathan became the all-time leading playoff scoring leader for the Mooseheads last night after recording 4 points. He scored two goals back-to-back with his second one ending up as the game winner.

FRK: Nate was the only one with 4 points as Marty Frk had two goals and two assists as well. Frk was able to tie the game at one for us. Marty also led both teams in shots with 6 pucks towards the net.

FUCALE: Zach was a beast all game and even though he let in 6 goals, he made some awesome saves to keep his team in the game for a chance to win.


DESJARDINS: Gabriel Desjardins of the Huskies scored a hat trick during the game. He scored with less than a minute left to close the gap to 3 goals. This is the 20 year olds last junior game so I guess he wanted to put on a show.

PERFECT: This is the third straight sweep for the Mooseheads. Many people thought that this series would go to 5 games but I guess the Herd didn't want that to happen as they won the four games even when it looked like Rouyn-Noranda would pull it out and win. Halifax is the only team in the playoffs that remain perfect and they will look to continue it in the Finals.

FINALS: Halifax is going to the President's Cup finals for the third time in franchise history. The last time we were in the finals was in 2005 playing against Sidney Crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic. Hopefully this year will be a different outcome than the 2 previous times as we lost both.

BRAWL: In Game 4 of the Blainville/Baie-Comeau series, their was a bench clearing brawl at the end of the game. This led to many suspensions and big fines. All four goalies were suspended for Game 5 so it will be interested to see who they use. Both head coaches were suspended for two games. Eight other players were suspended most of them just a game. Game 5 goes tonight in Baie-Comeau with the series tied 2-2.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

RECAP: President's Cup Here We Come!!

Highest scoring game in 2013 playoffs let Herd advance
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs Halifax Mooseheads
Series: HAL wins 4-0
STARS: 3. Desjardins (ROU) | 2. Fucale (HAL) | 1. Andrighetto (ROU)
Attendance: 3,215

ROUYN-NORANDA - The Halifax Mooseheads remain perfect as they booked their ticket on Thursday night to the finals for the third time in franchise history. They only need four more wins to get to the big show in Saskatoon which starts May 17. In a game that saw both teams scoring in bunches, which led to the highest scoring game in this year's playoffs, Gabriel Desjardins got a hat trick in his last game while Marty Frk and Nathan MacKinnon got 2 goals each. It was the first game in the series that wasn't decided by a goal, the first game was 6-4 but the last goal was an empty netter. The Huskie faithful were cheering for their team all game and they gave Rouyn-Noranda a standing ovation for the last minute.

FINAL: Halifax 9 at Rouyn-Noranda 6

Point getters: HAL Frk 4 (2G & 2A), MacKinnon 4 (2G & 2A), Drouin 3 (2G & 1A), MacAulay 3 (3A), Abeltshauser 2 (1G & 1A), Andrews 2 (1G & 1A), Fournier 2 (1G & 1A), Hardie 1 (1A); ROU Andrighetto 4 (4A), Desjardins 3 (3G), Kucherov 3 (3A), Fournier 2 (1G & 1A), Brisebois 2 (2A), Power and St-Cyr had 1G each

Goaltenders: Belanger ROU | Fucale HAL

Shots 1st: 18-10 ROU | 2nd: 11-8 ROU | 3rd: 12-7 HAL

Powerplay ROU 0/4, HAL 1/1

GAME LOG
First period
0:35 Gabriel Desjardins (7) | A: Andrighetto | ROU
0:42 Marty Frk (10) | A: MacAulay & Andrews | HAL
1:07 Brent Andrews (4) | A: Frk & MacAulay | HAL

Penalties: Brendan Duke HAL (8:49, High-sticking), Trey Lewis HAL (11:54, High-sticking)

Second period
0:59 Dillon Fournier (4) | A: Andrighetto & Kucherov | ROU
7:19 Konrad Abeltshauser (4) | A: none | HAL
8:39 Jonathan Drouin (9) | A: MacKinnon & Frk | HAL
13:37 Gabriel Desjardins (8) | A: Andrighetto & Brisebois | ROU
13:54 Maxime St-Cyr (5) | A: Kucherov & Brisebois | ROU
16:15 Stefan Fournier (13) | A: Hardie | HAL

Penalties: Austyn Hardie HAL (2:47, Tripping), Konrad Abeltshauser HAL (4:57, Tripping)

Third period
0:46 Nathan MacKinnon (8) | A: Fournier | HAL
1:33 Nathan MacKinnon (9), PP | A: Drouin & Abeltshauser | HAL
8:21 Martin Frk (11) | A: MacAulay | HAL
8:48 Marcus Power (5) | A: Kucherov | ROU
11:53 Jonathan Drouin (10) | A: MacKinnon | HAL
19:24 Gabriel Desjardins (9) | A: Fournier | ROU

Penalties: Allan Caron ROU (1:02, Cross-checking), Martin Frk HAL (8:48, Abuse of officials), Austyn Hardie HAL (17:45, Roughing), Maxime St-Cyr ROU (17:45, Roughing)

PLAYOFF GAME #12: Rouyn-Noranda

GAMEDAY
2013 Playoffs Round Three, Game Four
Halifax Mooseheads at Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Tonight at 8:30pm
Radio: News 95.7 | TV: Eastlink | Webcast: Telus | Live: @MetroMooseheads
Iamgold Arena ~ Rouyn-Noranda, QC


SERIES
Halifax leads the best-of-seven series 3-0

PREVIEW - Can the Halifax Mooseheads get their third straight sweep or will Rouyn-Nornada be the team to give the Moose their first lost?

This question will be answered tonight after the Mooseheads took a 3-0 stranglehold on the series on Tuesday night. After a scoreless first, Marcus Power scored his fourth of the playoffs to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead that didn't last long. Konrad Abeltshauser scored just over 2 minutes later to tie the game and than Stefan Fournier scored for the Herd a period later to give them a 2-1 lead. With less than 4 minutes left in regulation, Francis Perron tied it up for the home team and forced overtime. The game winner took longer this time but the result was the same. Jonathan Drouin scored the overtime winner off a nice feed from Nathan MacKinnon.

Both goalies were pretty good after a high scoring game on Tuesday. They both made some very nice saves.

The Huskies were able to shoot 12 pucks at Fucale in the first period as did the Moose but in the last 3, they couldn't get more than six as shots ended 49-24 in favour of Halifax

NOT PLAYING - Trey Lewis is projected to be back in the lineup tonight after being out in Game 3

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 20 Huskies 4 at Mooseheads 6
Game 2 Apr 21 Huskies 4 at Mooseheads 5 OT
Game 3 Apr 23 Mooseheads 3 at Huskies 2 OT
Game 4 Apr 25 Mooseheads at Huskies
*Game 5 Apr 27 Huskies at Mooseheads
*Game 6 Apr 29 Mooseheads at Huskies
*Game 7 May 1 Huskies at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN

NEXT GAME
If Rouyn-Noranda wins to extend their season this series will shift back to Halifax with Game 5 played on Saturday night at 7pm. If not than the Mooseheads will go to their 3rd league final which we do not know when will start.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Media'Caps: Mooseheads 3, Huskies 2 OT

Here is a collection of recaps from last night's 3-2 Halifax Mooseheads overtime win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies...

My recapDespite having a 2-1 goal lead with less than 4 minutes left in regulation, the Mooseheads had to wrestle another win out in overtime.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: A change of venue helped, but not enough for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Metro Halifax's recapJonathan Drouin has put the Halifax Mooseheads in firm control of yet another series.

The Canadian Press' recapThe Halifax Mooseheads are one win away from the President Cup final.

HalifaxMooseheads.com's recapWhat a series.

MISSING IN ACTION: Trey Lewis (flu), Brennan Bailey (healthy), Liam Alcalde (healthy), Max Lindsay (healthy) and Jonathan Lacroix-Courville (healthy) were all out for Halifax.

DROUIN: Big Jo was named before the game as CHL Player of the Week after scoring 9 points in two home games on the weekend. He continued being a big part of the team's success last night scoring the overtime winner.

NEXT GAME: Halifax will look to sweep their third straight series Thursday night in Rouyn-Noranda. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

Wednesday notes

CSS RANKINGS
The final CSS Rankings for the 2013 NHL Draft were released today. Defenseman Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks is #1 on the list followed by our two favourite players Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin who are #2 and #3 respectively of North American skaters. Darnell Nurse (SSM Greyhounds) and Sean Monahan (Ottawa Senators) round out the top 5. Zach Fucale is ranked as the #1 North American goalie. William Carrier of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles was also named on the list at #18.

Halifax Mooseheads players on list:
#2 - Nathan MacKinnon
#3 - Jonthan Drouin
#114 - Matt Murphy
#164 - MacKenzie Weegar

New Jersey is the host of the 2013 NHL Draft which will be held on June 30th.

UNDER 18
Twenty-three of the Canadian Hockey Leagues best players from teams not currently in the playoffs are over in Sochi for the IIHF U-18 World Championships. They are highlighted by Connor McDavid who is a 16 year old rookie forward with the Erie Otters. He's been impressing scouts all over the place, which led the OHL to give him Exceptional Player status to be drafted a year earlier. He won't be NHL draft eligible until 2015 but in his first year with Erie, he racked up 66 points in 63 games. He has continued that success in Russia during the tournament having recorded 11 points in Canada's first four games. His 3 power play goals and assist on Tuesday led to a 6-0 shutout win over Sweden to clinch first place in their group. They will now play Czech Republic in the quarter finals. Russia won the other group and will play Germany, while the other two will be Finland versus Switzerland and Sweden versus USA. The quarter final games will be played on Thursday.

MATTEAU
New Jersey Devils prospect Stefan Matteau reportedly travelled back on a fan bus to Blainville from Baie-Comeau after the Armada's 2-1 loss on Saturday. It was reported that he had quit the team after the game. He has since been released by the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for his actions.

UNDEFEATED
The Halifax Mooseheads are the only undefeated team now in the CHL playoffs after winning in overtime last night. Baie-Comeau lost their game last night 3-0 so they are now 10-1. The Moose are now one win away from their third straight sweep and a berth in the QMJHL final. They can wrap it up tomorrow night in Rouyn-Noranda.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

RECAP: Another Overtime.

Great saves by goalies make for low scoring game
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs Halifax Mooseheads
Series: HAL leads 3-0
STARS: 3. Fucale (HAL) | 2. Power (ROU) | 1. Belanger (ROU)
Attendance: 3,052

ROUYN-NORANDA - Despite having a 2-1 goal lead with less than 4 minutes left in regulation, the Halifax Mooseheads had to wrestle another win out in overtime. After 6 goals scored in the first period of Game 2, there was none in this game. There was actually more goals in the first period on Sunday night than there was in tonight's game. Jonathan Drouin was there hero this time around after receiving a pass from Nathan. Rouyn-Noranda scored the first goal of the game and the Herd tied the game a little more than two minutes little. The Mooseheads pulled in front a period later with a big goal by team leading scorer Stefan Fournier. Francis Perron scored his first of the playoffs to tie the game and send it to overtime. The game winner was a bit later tonight, about 10 minutes later than the one in game number two.

FINAL: Halifax 3 at Rouyn-Noranda 2 OT

Point getters: HAL Abeltshauser, Drouin and Fournier had 1G each, Andrews, Duke, Falkenham, MacAulay and MacKinnon had 1A each; ROU Power and Peron had 1G each, St-Cyr 1 (1A)

Goaltenders: Belanger ROU | Fucale HAL

Shots 1st: 12-12 tie | 2nd: 12-5 HAL | 3rd: 14-6 HAL | OT1: 11-6 HAL

Powerplay ROU 0/5, HAL 0/3

GAME LOG
First period
None

Penalties: Konrad Abeltshauser HAL (3:16, Cross-checking), Brendan Duke HAL (9:12, Hooking), Jonathan Drouin HAL (18:48, Cross-checking)

Second period
9:01 Marcus Power (4) | A: None | ROU
11:12 Konrad Abeltshauser (3) | A: Andrews & Falkenham | HAL

Penalties: Andrew O'Brien ROU (4:15, Elbowing), Austyn Hardie HAL (18:42, Roughing), Andrew O'Brien ROU (18:42, Roughing)

Third period
11:10 Stefan Fournier (12) | A: MacAulay | HAL
16:08 Francis Perron (1) | A: St-Cyr | ROU

Penalties: Stefan Fournier HAL (2:06, Interference), Andrew O'Brien ROU (16:56, Hooking)

1st Overtime
16:01 Jonathan Drouin (8) | A: MacKinnon & Duke | HAL

Penalties: Stephan MacAulay HAL (0:18, High-sticking), Dillon Fournier ROU (8:15, Hooking)

PLAYOFF GAME #11: Rouyn-Noranda

GAMEDAY
2013 Playoffs Round Three, Game Three
Halifax Mooseheads at Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Tonight at 8:30pm
Radio: News 95.7 | TV: Eastlink | Webcast: Telus | Live: @MetroMooseheads 
Iamgold Arena ~ Rouyn-Noranda, QC



SERIES
Halifax leads the best-of-seven series 2-0

PREVIEW - The fans at the Metro Centre got their first scare of this year's playoffs in Game 2.

Just like in Game 1, there was a penalty early with the Mooseheads scoring on it. This time it was Halifax who got a penalty and Jonathan Drouin scoring shorthanded. Rouyn-Noranda were able to pull ahead after that in the first 10 minutes. The period ended with the Huskies leading by two goals and a score of 4 to 2. Neither team scored in the middle frame. Nathan MacKinnon scored early in the third period to close the gap to one goal. Ten minutes later, Andrew Ryan brought the whole building to their feet when he scored the tying goal. Both teams pressured in the last five minutes but neither could get past the goaltenders.

Overtime was pretty intense. Rouyn-Noranda was the only one to get penalties in the extra frame with a total of four minutes. I thought the crowd was the loudest I have ever heard after the tying goal but it was even louder after the winning goal. I think there was only one person sitting after Marty Frk's game winner and she was sitting beside me but everyone was cheering loudly.

After the first period where the Huskies outshot the home team, the Herd outshot them 25-10 in the last two periods plus overtime including a 10-3 middle frame.

NOT PLAYING - Trey Lewis will not be playing tonight.

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 20 Huskies 4 at Mooseheads 6
Game 2 Apr 21 Huskies 4 at Mooseheads 5 OT
Game 3 Apr 23 Mooseheads at Huskies
Game 4 Apr 25 Mooseheads at Huskies
*Game 5 Apr 27 Huskies at Mooseheads
*Game 6 Apr 29 Mooseheads at Huskies
*Game 7 May 1 Huskies at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Drakkar at Armada - 8:30pm/AT

NEXT GAME
Game 4 will once again be hosted by the Huskies on Thursday. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Media'Caps: Huskies 4, Mooseheads 5 OT

Here are some recaps about last night's 5-4 overtime win over the Huskies...

My recapThe first overtime of the 2013 playoffs for Halifax ended on a high note when number 91 scored the game winner that sent over 10000 fans home hooting and hollering.

The Canadian Press' recapMartin Frk scored in overtime as the Halifax Mooseheads edged the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 5-4 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action Sunday.

The Chronicle Herald's recapThe Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are showing everyone they are for real but they don’t have any results to show for it yet.

Metro Halifax's recapThe Halifax Mooseheads showed their playoff mettle on Sunday night.

MISSING IN ACTION: Brennan Bailey, Brian Lovell, Liam Alcalde, Max Lindsay and Jonathan Lacroix-Courville were healthy scratches for the home team.

MACKINNON: Nathan once again got 4 points last night, this time a goal and 3 helpers

FALKENHAM: Ryan received the fur coat last night for his work ethic. In overtime with his team killing a penalty, Falkenham made two huge back-to-back saves to keep the game tied. Here they are:



FUCALE: After last night's game, Zach fell to second in goals against average with a 1.68 behind Drakkar goalie Philippe Cadorette. He's let in eight goals in the first two games of this series, which is one less than what he let in from the first 8 games.

OVERTIME: This is the first game that has gone to overtime for the Halifax Mooseheads in this year's playoffs. It didn't take very long for it to end either as Marty Frk scored

HEAT: There is very little love between these two teams as there was many hits, checks, slashes and heated conversations between the players all game. Course when your playing for a chance to be in the final and you have two very tough offensive teams it isn't surprising.

REFS: The referees were the worst that I have seen them in the three games I've been to. They missed a lot of obvious calls and called some stupid ones too. The over 10,000 fans that watched the game were not very fond of the refs last night but than again when are we ever unless its the other team getting penalties. There were some that even we should've gotten but weren't called.

50/50: Last night's fifty-fifty winner won $23,425

NEXT GAME: This round 3 matchup now switches its attention to the Quebec city as Rouyn-Noranda now play hosts to Halifax on Tuesday at 8:30pm.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

RECAP: Edge of Your Seat Excitement.

Mooseheads comeback from 2 goal deficit
Halifax Mooseheads vs Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Series: HAL leads 2-0
STARS: 3. Frk (HAL) | 2. Drouin (HAL) | 1. MacKinnon (HAL)
Attendance: 10,138

HALIFAX - The first overtime of the 2013 playoffs for Halifax ended on a high note when number 91 scored the game winner that sent over 10000 fans home hooting and hollering. After being the first team to score, the Mooseheads found themselves trailing 2-1 less than 10 minutes into the game in a period that saw six goals. The boys were able to tie it up before Rouyn-Noranda made it 4-2 at the end of the first twenty. The second period wasn't very interesting as neither team was able to get passed the goalies who made some pretty good saves all game. In the third period, fans were starting to get nervous but as always the home team did not disappoint as they scored two goals to force overtime. The Halifax Metro Centre was the noisiest I have ever heard it after Andrew Ryan scored the tying goal with everyone out of their seats cheering excitedly. It was a bit louder after the goal in extra time went in.

FINAL: Rouyn-Noranda 4 at Halifax 5 OT

Point getters: HAL Drouin 4 (1G & 3A), MacKinnon 4 (1G & 3A), Frk 3 (2G & 1A), Ryan 1 (1G), Andrews and Falkenham had 1A each; ROU Desjardins 3 (3A), Andrighetto, Dea, Power and St-Cyr had 1G each, Brisebois, Caron and St-Cyr had 1A each

Goaltenders: Fucale HAL | Belanger ROU

Shots 1st: 14-10 ROU | 2nd: 10-3 HAL | 3rd: 8-4 HAL | OT1: 7-3 HAL

Powerplay HAL 3/8, ROU 1/5

GAME LOG
First period
1:09 Jonathan Drouin (7), SH | A: MacKinnon | HAL
3:45 Marcus Power (3) | A: Desjardins & Perron | ROU
9:13 Maxime St-Cyr (4) | A: Desjardins & Brisebois | ROU
12:04 Marty Frk (8), PP | A: Drouin & MacKinnon | HAL
16:40 Jean-Sebastien Dea (12) | A: none | ROU
18:43 Sven Andrighetto (8), PP | A: Desjardins & Slight | ROU

Penalties: Martin Frk HAL (0:39, Tripping), Gabriel Desjardins ROU (11:28, Interference), Darcy Ashley HAL (17:26, Slashing), Andrew O'Brien ROU (19:11, Slashing)

Second period
None

Penalties: Matt Murphy HAL (1:57, Hooking), Jean-Sebastien Dea ROU (8:34, Playing without helmet), Sven Andrighetto ROU (11:10, Interference), Dillon Fournier ROU (13:54, High-sticking)

Third period
2:58 Nathan MacKinnon (7), PP | A: Drouin & Frk | HAL
13:19 Andrew Ryan (3) | A: Andrews & Falkenham | HAL

Penalties: Jean-Sebastien Dea ROU (2:26, Tripping), Liam O'Brien ROU (3:54, Roughing), Austyn Hardie HAL (3:54, Slashing), Trey Lewis HAL (3:54, Boarding), Austyn Hardie HAL (18:51, Tripping)

1st Overtime
7:12 Marty Frk (9), PP | A: Drouin & MacKinnon | HAL

Penalties: Mathieu Brisebois ROU (5:09, Roughing), Allan Caron ROU (5:24, Checking from behind)

PLAYOFF GAME #10: Rouyn-Noranda

GAMEDAY
2013 Playoffs Round Three, Game Two
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at Halifax Mooseheads
Tonight at 7:00pm
Radio: News 95.7 | TV: None | Webcast: Telus | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS



SERIES
Halifax leads the best-of-seven series 1-0

PREVIEW - Rouyn-Noranda looks to tie the series after scaring the Moose faithful on Saturday night.

Halifax was put to a much tougher test last night when the Huskies scored at 1:26 of the third period to tie up Game 1 twice. After the Mooseheads scored the first two goals in the first 11 minutes, the Huskies scored goals in the last minute and the first minute of the second. Halifax than scored another two, including one on a penalty shot. The Herd were able to put it away though after Rouyn tied it at four when Jonathan Drouin scored at 8:58 and Nathan MacKinnon scored an empty net goal.

Both teams top lines had big nights as Drouin recorded five points, Nathan scored a hat trick and had a assist while Sven Andrighetto added to his league leading points by scoring a goal and assisting on 2 others. Nikita Kucherov also had 3 points for the Quebecois team scoring two of his teams goals and adding a helper.

For the first time in this years playoffs, Halifax was the team that got outshot as the pucks to the net ended 31-29 in favour of Rouyn-Noranda.

NOT PLAYING - Lovell, Bailey, Alcalde, Lindsay and Lacroix-Courville will probably all be healthy scratches again tonight.

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 20 Huskies 4 at Mooseheads 6
Game 2 Apr 21 Huskies at Mooseheads
Game 3 Apr 23 Mooseheads at Huskies
Game 4 Apr 25 Mooseheads at Huskies
*Game 5 Apr 27 Huskies at Mooseheads
*Game 6 Apr 29 Mooseheads at Huskies
*Game 7 May 1 Huskies at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN

NEXT GAME
The Mooseheads and Huskies will shift their attention to Rouyn-Noranda after tonight for Game 3 on Tuesday at 8:30pm.

Media'Caps: Huskies 4, Mooseheads 6

Here are some recaps from last night's 6-4 Halifax win over Rouyn-Noranda...

My recapThere is a song that Halifax fans sing and one line is "You just can't stop the Moose!"

The Chronicle Herald's recapThe Halifax Mooseheads nearly met their match for the first time in the playoffs on Saturday.

Metro Halifax's recapIt was far from easy, but the Halifax Mooseheads came through with the victory.

The Canadian Press' recapLinemates Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin combined for five goals and nine points on Saturday as the Halifax Mooseheads downed the visiting Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 6-4 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action.

HalifaxMooseheads.com's recapIt wasn't pretty but the Moose will take it.

MISSING IN ACTION: Brian Lovell, Liam Alcalde, Brennan Bailey, Max Lindsay and Jonathan Lacroix-Courville were healthy scratches for the Mooseheads while Francis Perron and Felix Caron were also healthy scratches.

MACKINNON: Nathan MacKinnon had a hat trick last night to bring his goal total to six during the playoffs. He also had an assist last night. See all his goals below...



DROUIN: Jonathan had a five point night with two goals and 3 assists. He and Nate now have the same amount of goals while Big Jo has one more assist than Nathan. Drouin is now tied for team lead with Fournier at 20 points each.

FRK: After getting 5 goals in the first game of the playoffs, Marty went five games without scoring a goal until last night where he scored and assisted on two others. In those five games, Frk assisted on five goals, getting a assist hat trick in Game One of Round 2.

FUCALE: Zach continues to lead the league in goals against average with a 1.44 GAA after last nights win. The Herd have a 5.78 goals per game average after last night.

POWERPLAY: Halifax is first in the league in penalty kill percentage while Rouyn-Noranda is 8th after last nights game. They both had two goals on the powerplay, Halifax went for 2 for 5 and the Huskies went 2 for 8.

PENALTY SHOT: Jonathan Drouin had the first penalty shot for the Halifax Mooseheads of this year's playoffs while it was the second one of the playoffs. The first one didn't go in while Drouin was able to get it past the Huskies goaltender.

SHOTS: For the first time during the 2013 President's Cup playoffs, Halifax was outshot. It was also the first time that the Moose have let 30+ against their goalie and the first time they have not shot more than 33 pucks on net.

50/50: Last night's fifty-fifty winner won more than $23,500

SCORES
Blainville-Boisbriand 1 - 2 Baie-Comeau

NEXT GAME: Your Mooseheads will once again take on the Huskies tonight at the Metro Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

RECAP: Home Success Continues.

Huskies are much tougher opponent
Halifax Mooseheads vs Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Series: HAL leads 1-0
STARS: 3. Andrighetto (ROU) | 2. MacKinnon (HAL) | 1. Drouin (HAL)
Attendance: 10,595

HALIFAX - There is a song that Halifax fans sing and one line is "You just can't stop the Moose!" Well that seems to be something that the Nova Scotian team is embracing in this year's playoffs and for most of the regular season as the Herd have rattled of fifteen straight wins with the past 9 being in the playoffs. Five of those playoff wins have been at the Metro Centre, the home arena of the Mooseheads. The Huskies proved they were going to be a much tougher and better offensive opponent. For only the second time during the playoffs, fans at the MC were holding there breaths throughout the night as Rouyn-Noranda was able to get within one 3 times before tying it up at 4 apiece. A hat trick by number 22 pushed Halifax to a win however with Zach Fucale having to make more saves in this game than any of the other eight playoff games.

FINAL: Rouyn-Noranda 4 at Halifax 6

Point getters: HAL Drouin 5 (2G & 3A), MacKinnon 4 (3G & 1A), Frk 3 (1G & 2A), Abeltshauser, Fournier and Weegar had 1A each; ROU Dea 4 (1G & 3A), Andrighetto 3 (1G & 2A), Kucherov 2 (2G), Brisebois, Caron and St-Cyr had 1A each

Goaltenders: Fucale HAL | Belanger ROU

Shots 1st: 10-10 tie | 2nd: 9-7 HAL | 3rd: 14-10 ROU

Powerplay HAL 2/5, ROU 2/8

GAME LOG
First period
1:15 Martin Frk (7), PP | A: MacKinnon & Abeltshauser | HAL
10:28 Nathan MacKinnon (4) | A: Fournier & Drouin | HAL
19:31 Nikita Kucherov (8) | A: Andrighetto & Dea | ROU

Penalties: Jean-Sebastien Dea ROU (0:33, Tripping), Allan Caron ROU (1:54, Delay of game), Martin Frk HAL (12:55, Cross-checking), Sven Andrighetto ROU (16:22, Roughing)

Second period
0:38 Nikita Kurcherov (9) | A: Caron & Dea | ROU
7:43 Jonathan Drouin (5), Penalty shot | A: None | HAL
15:46 Nathan MacKinnon (5) | A: Drouin & Frk | HAL
17:18 Jean-Sebastien Dea (11), PP | A: St-Cyr & Andrightetto | ROU

Penalties: Austyn Hardie HAL (4:54, High-sticking), Konrad Abeltshauser HAL (6:51, Interference), Mathieu Brisebois ROU (7:38, Slashing), Justin Guenette ROU (11:22, Holding), Matthew Boudreau HAL (11:22, Slashing), Brent Andrews HAL (16:27, Slashing), Martin Frk HAL (17:44, Roughing), Liam O'Brien ROU (20:00, Roughing), Martin Frk HAL (20:00, Tripping), Austyn Hardie HAL (20:00, Roughing), MacKenzie Weegar HAL (20:00, Roughing)

Third period
1:09 Sven Andrighetto (7), PP | A: Dea & Brisebois | ROU
8:58 Jonathan Drouin (6) | A: Frk & Weegar | HAL
19:30 Nathan MacKinnon (6), EN & PP | A: Fucale & Drouin | HAL

Penalties: Mathieu Brisebois ROU (2:26, Tripping), Jean-Sebastien Dea ROU (12:24, Cross-checking), Darcy Ashley HAL (12:24, Cross-checking), Nathan MacKinnon HAL (13:06, Cross-checking), Rouyn-Noranda (19:01, Too many men), Liam O'Brien ROU (19:01, Unsportsmanlike conduct)

PLAYOFF GAME #9: Rouyn-Noranda

GAMEDAY
2013 Playoffs Round Three, Game One
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at Halifax Mooseheads
Puck drops at 7:00pm
Radio: News 95.7 | TV: Eastlink | Webcast: Telus | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS



SERIES
This is the first game of the best-of-seven series.

PREVIEW - Eight games down, eight games to go and it all continues tonight in Halifax.

The Halifax Mooseheads are once again in the semi-final round for the second straight year, this time against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Last year, the Moose won their quarter final matchup against Quebec 4-3 after being down in the series 0-3. This year the Herd have had an easier time to get to this point in the playoffs and are expected to put away the Huskies almost just as quickly as the other two series.

Halifax ended the season at #1 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a 58-6-3-1 record. Rouyn-Noranda finished the season at 8th in the League with a 40-24-1-3 record.

The Huskies will once again be underdogs as the were outscored in two games 13-5 against the home team.

NOT PLAYING -  No one has been listed but assume there will be healthy scratches

NOTES

SEASON SERIES
Halifax went 2-0-0-0 against the Huskies this season while Gatineau also went 1-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads.

November 16, 2013 - Halifax def. Rouyn-Noranda 8-3
March 1, 2013 - Halifax def. Rouyn-Noranda 5-2

OUT OF TOWN
Armada at Drakkar - 5:00pm/AT

NEXT GAME
Game 2 between the Mooseheads and Huskies will be played tomorrow night at the Metro Centre. Puck drops at 7:00pm.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Around the CHL ~ volume #3 playoff edition #3

Here is the final edition of the playoff "Around the CHL" for the 2013 playoffs. We are down to four teams in each league across the country. Who ever wins these series' will go on to play for their respective league's championship and then a berth in Saskatoon.

President's Cup playoffs
#1 vs #8 Halifax - Rouyn-Noranda {regular season series HAL 2-0-0-0}
#2 vs #11 Baie-Comeau - Blainville-Boisbriand {regular season series BLB  3-0-0-1}

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E5 Belleville - Barrie {regular season series BAR 1-0-0-0}

#W1 vs #W4 London - Plymouth {regular season series LDN  3-1-0-0}

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E3 Edmonton - Calgary {regular season series CAL 4-2-0-0}

#W1 vs #W4 Portland - Kamloops {regular season series POR  3-1-0-0}

Predictions
QMJHL Third Round - Halifax in 6, Baie-Comeau in 6
OHL Third Round - London in 5, Belleville in 6
WHL Third Round - Edmonton in 6, Portland in 5

Tonight's games
Whalers vs. Knights at 8PM
Colts vs. Bulls at 8:05PM
Armada vs. Drakkar at 8:30PM
Hitmen vs. Oil Kings at 10PM
Blazers vs. Winterhawks at 11PM

Saturday's games
Armada vs. Drakkar at 5PM
Huskies vs. Mooseheads at 7PM
Colts vs. Bulls at 8:05PM
Blazers vs. Winterhawks at 11PM

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Round 3 schedule

PLAYOFFS
#1 Halifax Mooseheads vs #8 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
3rd Round

Your Halifax Mooseheads and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies announced their schedule for their third round matchup.

HALIFAX - For the second year in a row, the Halifax Mooseheads are going to the Q league semi-finals but this time around it will be against the 8th seeded Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The third step towards the Cup will start on Saturday night after a 9 day layoff for the Moose. Rouyn-Noranda comes into the series as underdogs but will most likely be a much harder opponent for the Herd as they defeated Drummondville and Quebec in the first two rounds. The #1 ranked team however have not lost in regulation for their last 25 games after two sweeps in the playoffs.

FOURNIER - It will be a battle of the Fournier brothers in this series as our very own Stefan will go up against his younger sibling Dillon who plays for the Huskies.

HEAD-TO-HEAD ~ all-time: 52 games 31-17-2-1-1; this season: 2 games 2-0-0-0; playoffs 4 games 4-0-0-0

LAST GAME - Rouyn-Noranda are coming off a big 6-1 Game 5 win of Round 2 this past Friday. While Halifax won Game 4 against Gatineau on Wednesday by a 5-3 score to sweep another series in Round 2.

Playoffs tickets for game one on Saturday and game two on Sunday will be available on Thursday at 10am at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstores, www.ticketatlantic.com and by calling (902) 451-1221

Game #1
Saturday April 20 @ 7:00om at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #2
Sunday April 21 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #3
Tuesday April 23 @ 8:30pm at Arena Iamgold ~ Rouyn-Noranda, QC
Game #4
Thursday April 25 @ 8:30pm at Arena Iamgold ~ Rouyn-Noranda, QC
Game #5
Saturday April 27 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #6
Monday April 29 @ 8:30pm at Arena Iamgold ~ Rouyn-Noranda, QC
Game #7
Wednesday May 1 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS

Friday, April 12, 2013

Moose second round stats

2013 President's Cup Playoffs Round Two vs. #13 Gatineau Olympiques

Team stats
4-0-0-0 (8-0-0-0 overall)
21 GF/5 GA (46/9 overall)
136 SF/74 SA (336/144 overall)
29.2% on PP (4th)
92.1% on PK (1st)

Team leaders
Points: 19 - Stefan Fournier 8GP-11-8-19 (1st)
Goals: 11 - Stefan Fournier (1st)
Assists: 12 - Nathan MacKinnon (2nd)
Game winning goals: 2 - Stefan Fournier (2nd) & Nathan MacKinnon (2nd)
Penalty minutes: 21 - Trey Lewis (4th)
Faceoffs: 114 - Nathan MacKinnon 114/181
Plus/minus: +11 - Brendan Duke & Konrad Abeltshauser
Shots: 40 - Martin Frk
Wins: 8 - Zach Fucale (1st)
Goals against average: 1.13 - Zach Fucale (1st)
Save percentage: 0.938 - Zach Fucale (2nd)

Results
Game 1 Friday April 5 Gatineau 0 at Halifax 7
Game 2 Saturday April 6 Gatineau 0 at Halifax 5
Game 3 Tuesday April 9 Halifax 4 at Gatineau 2
Game 4 Wednesday April 10 Halifax 5 at Gatineau 3


Other series
#1 Halifax Mooseheads vs #13 Gatineau Olympiques (HAL wins 4-0)
#2 Baie-Comeau Drakkar vs #11 Victoriaville Tigres (BAC wins 4-0)
#3 Blainville-Boisbraind Armada vs #10 Val-d'Or Foreurs (BLB wins 4-0)
#4  Quebec Remparts vs #8 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (ROU leads 3-1)

Tonight's games
Remparts vs Huskies at 7:30pm/ET

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Media'Caps: Mooseheads 5, Olympiques 3

Here are some recaps from the media about Halifax's 5-3 series clinching win over the Olympiques.

My recapAnd we're going to the third round for the second straight year.

The Chronicle Herald's recapMake it two sweeps in a row.

Metro Halifax's recapThe Halifax Mooseheads put the Gatineau Olympiques out of their misery.

HalifaxMooseheads.com's recapStefan Fournier is on fire.

MISSING IN ACTION: Max Lindsay, Brian Lovell, Jonathan Lacroix-Courville, Brennan Bailey and Liam Alcalde were all healthy scratches once again for the Mooseheads.

FOURNIER: Stefan Fournier continued his hot streak during the playoffs as he has recorded at least a point in every game of this year's playoffs so far. Tonight he scored a hat trick in enemy territory and is now tied for league lead in points. He also received the fur coat last night for his efforts.

MACKINNON: Nathan added to his ever growing assists total as he added two more on Wednesday night. He now has 12 assists in 8 games this year with 3 goals, while Jonathan Drouin also has more assists than goals with 11 helpers. Nate and Big Joe are tied for 7th in league scoring with 15 points.

FUCALE: Zach still leads the league in goals against average with a 1.13 GAA now after two shutouts during the home games of this series. He now leads the league in save percentage as well with a 0.938, about a week ago Etienne Marcoux of the Armada was the league leader.

SATURDAY: The first game of the third round will start on Saturday as there was a scheduling conflict at the Metro Centre with Stars on Ice happening Friday night. Game 2 will then be on Sunday with both game starting at 7pm.

SEMIS: Both the semi-finals and finals will be 2-2-1-1-1 game format no matter the distance between teams. This may come in handy for the Herd if their next opponent forces more then four games because Halifax won't be as tired.

SHOTS: Halifax once again outshot their opponents but this time it was a little closer as the pucks to the net ended at 136-74 in four games. Gatineau was able to hold the Mooseheads to 38 or less shots which is something that Saint John could not do.

NOTES: Look for my breakdown of the four game second round series tomorrow... Baie-Comeau and Blainville both advance to the third round after sweeping Victoriaville and Val-d'Or respectively... Portland, Kamloops and Edmonton also swept their series... Tickets for Game 1 and 2 of the Herd's third round series go on sale on Thursday at 10am...

SCORES
Baie-Comeau 2 - 1 Victoriaville
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 - 1 Val-d'Or
Quebec 4 - 5 Rouyn-Noranda OT

NEXT GAME
Your Halifax Mooseheads will now come back home and have to wait to play Game 1 of Round 3 on Saturday night against the Remparts or Huskies. Puck drops at 7:00pm.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

RECAP: Make It 8 Straight

Gatineau wouldn't go away easy
Gatineau Olympiques vs Halifax Mooseheads
Series: HAL wins 4-0
STARS: 3. Kennedy (GAT) | 2. Abeltshauser (HAL) | 1. Fournier (HAL)
Attendance: 3,471

GATINEAU - And we're going to the third round for the second straight year. After two pretty easy shutout games in Halifax, the Olympiques weren't going to go so easy in their own barn. Gatineau was able to tie it twice and then pull within a goal to make it close before Jonathan Drouin put it away with an empty net goal. The Mooseheds let in the most shots in this game during the playoffs allowing 23 pucks get past the defence. Stephen Fournier got his first career playoff hat trick while Konrad Abeltshauser scored the first goal for the Herd.

FINAL: Halifax 5 at Gatineau 3

Point getters: HAL Fournier 3 (3G), Abeltshauser 2 (1G & 1A), Drouin 2 (1G & 1A), MacKinnon 2 (2A), Beauchemin, Duke, MacAulay & Weegar 1 each (1A); GAT Kennedy 2 (1G & 1A), Langlois & Tardif-Richard 1 each (1G), Beauregard, Deslauriers, Poirer, Reway & Sheppard 1 each (1A)

Goaltenders: Steeves GAT | Fucale HAL

Shots 1st: 12-9 HAL | 2nd: 9-7 HAL | 3rd: 13-8 HAL

Powerplay GAT 0/1, HAL 1/3

GAME LOG
1st - 2:56 | PP Beauregard | 2 min Interference | GAT
1st - 3:28 | GOAL Abeltshauser (2), PP | A: Drouin | HAL
1st - 4:15 | PP Sheppard | 2 min  Cross-checking | GAT
1st - 6:30 | GOAL Tardif-Richard (2) | A: Poirer & Reway | GAT
1st - 14:09 | GOAL Fournier (9) | A: Weegar & MacAulay | HAL
1st - 19:11 | PP Lewis | 2 min Roughing | HAL
1st - 19:11 | PP Bourret | 2 min High-sticking | GAT
1st - 19:28 | PP Drouin |  2 min Diving | HAL
1st - 19:28 | PP Poirer | 2 min Hooking | GAT
2nd - 3:44 | PP Frk | 2 min Roughing | HAL
2nd - 3:44 | PP Bourret | 2 min High-sticking | HAL
2nd - 7:59 | PP Frk | 2 min Roughing | HAL
2nd - 7:59 | PP Lewis | 2 min Roughing | HAL
2nd - 7:59 | PP Chapman | 2 min Roughing | GAT
2nd - 11:30 | GOAL Fournier (10) | A: Abeltshauser & Beauchemin | HAL
3rd - 6:02 | GOAL Langlois (1) | A: Sheppard & Kennedy | GAT
3rd - 6:20 | GOAL Fournier (11) | A: MacKinnon & Duke | HAL
3rd - 9:39 | GOAL Kennedy (3) | A: Deslauriers & Beauregard | GAT
3rd - 10:13 | PP Lewis | 2 min Roughing | HAL
3rd - 10:13 | PP Reway | 2 min Roughing | GAT
3rd - 12:42 | PP  Porier | 2 min Slashing | GAT
3rd - 18:27 | PP MacAulay | 2 min Roughing | HAL
3rd - 18:27 | PP Reway | 2 min Roughing | GAT
3rd -  19:33 | GOAL Drouin (4) | A: MacKinnon | HAL

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Barrie moves on

The Barrie Colts are the first team to move on to the third round as they won earlier tonight. They beat the Oshawa Generals 4-2 in Oshawa to sweep their series 4-0. The Colts will now play the winner of Belleville/Sudbury series in the OHL Eastern Conference Finals. They will play for the Booby Orr Trophy. 

Other series:
Baie-Comeau leads 3-0 over Victoriaville
London leads 2-1 over Kitchener
Halifax leads 3-0 over Gatineau
Belleville leads 3-1 over Sudbury
Blainville-Boisbriand leads 3-0 over Val-d'Or
Plymouth leads 2-1 over Owen Sound
Rouyn-Noranda leads 2-1 over Quebec
Edmonton leads 3-0 over Medicine Hat
Calgary leads 2-1 over Red Deer
Portland leads 2-0 over Spokane
Kamloops leads 2-0 over Kelowna

*time of this posting the 4 WHL games for tonight have not finished.

Saturday, April 06, 2013

Hiatus

Hey Moose Country,
I wanted to let you know I won't be doing many blogs for the next 3 weeks starting today (no preview, recap or media'caps for game 2). I have exams that I have to concentrate on. I will probably do Around the CHL and let you know if our Moose continue :)

Have a good couple of weeks and GO MOOSE GO!!

Media'Caps: Olympiques 0, Mooseheads 7

Here is a collection of recaps from last night's 7-0 win over the Olympiques

My recapThe Mooseheads kept showing why they received the Luc Robitaille trophy (most offensive team) after the regular season as they scored four goals in the opening period on Friday night.

The Chronicle Herald's recapThe Halifax Mooseheads gave the Gatineau Olympiques the same treatment they gave the Saint John Sea Dogs in Game 1 of the first round.

TSN.ca's recapIf the Gatineau Olympiques have any chance against the Number-1 ranked Halifax Mooseheads, it starts by cleaning up their special teams.

HalifaxMooseheads.com's recapGame 1 goes to the Mooseheads.

MISSING IN ACTION: Jonathan Lacroix-Courville (healthy), Liam Alcalde (healthy), Brennan Bailey (healthy) Max Lindsay (healthy) and Brian Lovell (healthy) did not play last night for the home team.

FUCALE: Zach Fucale made 20 saves for his first shutout of this year's playoffs.

MACKINNON: Nathan added to his point total last night assisting on 4 of the Mooseheads 7 goals. He now has 12 points in 5 games this year.

50/50: Last night's fifty-fifty winner won $20,500

SCORES
Rouyn-Noranda 6 - 1 Quebec
Val-d'Or 1 - 10 Blainville-Boisbriand
Victoriaville 3 - 5 Baie-Comeau

NEXT GAME: Your Halifax Mooseheads take on Gatineau once again for Game 2 at the Metro Centre. Puck drops at 7:00pm, tonight.

Friday, April 05, 2013

RECAP: Shut Out

Penalties kill Gatineau in game 1
Halifax Mooseheads vs Gatineau Olympiques
Series: HAL leads 1-0
STARS: 3. Fucale (HAL) | 2. Fournier (HAL) | 1. MacKinnon (HAL)
Attendance: 9,895

HALIFAX - The Mooseheads kept showing why they received the Luc Robitaille trophy (most offensive team) after the regular season as they scored four goals in the opening period on Friday night. In Game 1 of the opening round, Halifax had a 2-1 lead over Saint John after 20 minutes then blew it open in the second frame. This time, the Herd opened it up in the first frame after scoring short handed less then two and a half minutes in. Penalties were the dagger in the Olympiques back as the home team scored 5 times with the man advantage and even scored being down a player on the ice.

The Mooseheads had their full team back after Ryan Falkenham returned tonight from suffering a concussion. The rest seemed to help MacKinnon too as he said pre game that he is all healed up now. He added to his assist total tonight, helping 3 players score their goals. Zach Fucale was great in goal once again stopping some pretty nice shots in close to save his shutout bid. It's the first shutout of the playoffs for the number one net minder. He only let one goal in each of the four games against the Sea Dogs in Round 1.

FINAL: Gatineau 0 at Halifax 7

Point getters: HAL MacKinnon 4 (4A), Fournier 3 (2G & 1A), Abeltshauser 2 (1G & 1A), Boudreau 2 (1G & 1A), MacAulay 2 (1G & 1A), Frk 2 (2A), Ashley 1 (1G), Drouin 1 (1G), Ciampini 1 (1A), Duke 1 (1A), Weegar 1 (1A)

Goaltenders: Fucale HAL | Steeves & Brassard GAT

Shots 1st: 15-5 HAL | 2nd: 10-7 HAL | 3rd: 8-6 GAT

Powerplay HAL 5/9, GAT 0/7

GAME LOG
1st - 1:43 | PP Fournier | 2 min Interference | HAL
1st - 2:23 | GOAL MacAulay (4), SH | A: Duke | HAL
1st - 6:20 | PP Poirier | 2 min Slashing | GAT
1st - 7:39 | GOAL Abeltshauser (1), PP | A: MacKinnon & Fournier | HAL
1st - 12:56 | PP Frk | 2 min Cross-checking | HAL
1st - 14:21 | PP Bourret | 5 min Slashing | GAT
1st - 14:21 | PP Bourret | Game misconduct Slashing | GAT
1st - 15:43 | GOAL Fournier (4), PP | A: MacKinnon & Frk | HAL
1st - 19:19 | GOAL Boudreau (3), PP | A: MacAulay & Ciampini | HAL
2nd - 1:32 | GOAL Drouin (3) | A: Frk & MacKinnon | HAL
2nd - 3:14 | PP Courtemanche | 2 min Checking | GAT
2nd - 6:05 | PP Langlois | 2 min Roughing | GAT
2nd - 6:05 | PP Regimbald | 2 min Hooking | GAT
2nd - 11:19 | PP Frk | 2 min Slashing | HAL
2nd - 15:07 | PP Poirier | 2 min Slashing | GAT
2nd - 15:57 | GOAL Fournier (5), PP | A: MacKinnon & Abeltshauser | HAL
2nd - 16:46 | PP Ryan | 2 min Interference | HAL
3rd - 0:14 | PP Weegar | 2 min Holding | HAL
3rd - 9:45 | PP Andrews | 2 min Holding | HAL
3rd - 11:20 | PP Reway | 2 min Slashing | GAT
3rd - 12:50 | GOAL Ashley (2), PP | A: Boudreau & Weegar | HAL
3rd - 17:16 | PP Ashley | 2 min High-sticking | HAL
3rd - 20:00 | PP Sheppard | 2 min Roughing | GAT
3rd - 20:00 | PP Hardie | 2 min Roughing | HAL

PLAYOFF GAME #5: Gatineau

GAMEDAY
2013 Playoffs Round Two, Game One
Gatineau Olympiques at Halifax Mooseheads
Puck drops at 7:00pm
Radio: News 95.7 | TV: Eastlink | Webcast: Telus | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS



SERIES
This is the first game of the best-of-seven series.

PREVIEW - The playoffs continue for your Mooseheads tonight as they take on the Gatineau Olympiques. Halifax is still the heavy favourites to win this series but the team from Quebec could force the Herd to some really tough games.

NOT PLAYING - Ryan Falkenham is most likely going to play tonight.

NOTES

SEASON SERIES
Halifax went 1-1-0-0 against the Olympiques this season while Gatineau also went 1-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads.

September 28, 2012 - Gatineau def. Halifax 6-1
November 9, 2012 - Halifax def. Gatineau 5-1

OUT OF TOWN
Huskies at Remparts - 8:00pm/AT
Foreurs at Armada - 8:30pm/AT
Tigres at Drakkar - 8:30pm/AT

NEXT GAME
Game 2 between the Mooseheads and Olympiques will be played tomorrow night at the Metro Centre. Puck drops at 7:00pm.

Thursday, April 04, 2013

Around the CHL ~ volume #3 playoff edition #2

In this edition I will preview the second round of the 2013 playoffs. There are now only 8 teams left vying for each of the league championships.

President's Cup playoffs
#1 vs #13 Halifax - Gatineau {regular season series tied 1-1-0-0}
#2 vs #11 Baie-Comeau - Victoriaville {regular season series BAC  5-1-0-0}
#3 vs #10 Blainville-Boisbraind - Val-d'Or {regular season series BLB 4-1-0-1}
#5 vs #8 Quebec - Rouyn-Noranda {regular season series tied 2-2-0-0}

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E5 Belleville - Sudbury {regular season series BEL 3-1-0-0}
#E2 vs #E3 Barrie - Oshawa {regular season series BAR 3-1-0-0}

#W1 vs #W4 London - Kitchener {regular season series LDN 4-2-0-0}
#W2 vs #W3 Plymouth - Owen Sound {regular season series PLY 2-1-0-1}

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E7 Edmonton - Medicine Hat {regular season series EDM 5-1-0-0}
#E3 vs #E4 Calgary - Red Deer {regular season series CGY 4-0-2-0}

#W1 vs #W4 Portland - Spokane {regular season series POR  7-1-1-0}
#W2 vs #W3 Kelowna - Kamloops {regular season series KAM 6-4-0-0}

Predictions
QMJHL Second Round - Halifax in  5, Baie-Comeau in 6, Blainville-Boisbraind in 7, Quebec in  7
OHL Second Round - London in 5, Belleville in 5, Barrie in 6, Plymouth in 6
WHL Second  Round - Edmonton in 5, Calgary in 6, Portland in 5, Kelowna in 7

Tonight's games
Rebels vs. Hitmen at 9PM

Friday's games
Olympiques vs. Mooseheads at 7PM
Tigers vs. Oil Kings at 8PM

Huskies vs. Remparts at 8PM
Attack vs. Whalers at 8:05PM
Rangers vs. Knights at 8:30PM
Rebels vs. Hitmen at 8:30PM
Generals vs. Colts at 8:30PM
Tigres vs. Drakkar at 8:30PM
Foreurs vs. Armada at 8:30PM
Wolves vs. Bulls at 9PM

Jo's big night

Team leading scorer Jonathan Drouin was the big winner last night at the annual Golden Puck Awards ceremony in Montreal. The Halifax Mooseheads great season keeps on getting better as Drouin, Konrad Abeltshauser and Dominique Ducharme all won awards during the special evening. After finishing the season with the best record in franchise history and tying a league best 58 wins, the Mooseheads were awarded the Jean Rougeau, Luc Robitaille and Robert Lebel trophies at the beginning of the playoffs.

Jonathan won the Michel Briere Memorial, the Mike Bossy and the Paul Dumont trophies as league MVP, top prospect and personality of the year. He beat teammate Nathan MacKinnon for top prospect and personality of the year. Big Jo was also named to the 1st All-Star team along with Herd goalie Zach Fucale. Konrad was awarded the QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year trophy. He was nominated for best defenceman but lost to Kevin Gagne of the Rimouski Oceanic. Coach Dom meanwhile won the Ron Lapointe trophy as Coach of the Year.

Along with Drouin and Fucale, Abeltshauser, MacKinnon and MacKenzie Weegar were named to the All-Star teams. Konrad was named as a defenceman and Nathan was named the centre for the second team. Weegar was named as one of 2 defenceman for the Rookie team.

For a full list look at the 2012-13 Awards tab.

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Herd Word

ROUND TWO
The second round will finally begin Friday night at 7pm with Halifax hosting Gatineau. All four teams will play Friday.

Gatineau Olympiques vs. Halifax Mooseheads
Victoriaville Tigres vs. Baie-Comeau Drakkar
Val-d'Or Foreurs vs. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. Quebec Remparts
FLYNN
The Moncton Wildcats announced on Monday that they have fired Danny Flynn as their head coach. He will stay as part of the organization however as Director of Hockey Operations.

FRK
Martin Frk is tied for 5th in league playoff scoring after the first round. He scored 10 points in four games which is the second least of the top five. Only Petr Straka has scored more points in the same amount of games. Everyone else has played more games. He is second in goals scored for the Quebec league. Marty also leads the team in total shots.

WEEGAR
MacKenzie Weegar is tied for team lead in plus/minus during the playoffs. Weegar is tied for 4th in the league with a +6 along with teammates Jonathan Drouin and Austyn Hardie. I really do not understand how he was not nominated for an Golden Puck award, hopefully he gets something at the team awards.

MACKINNON
Nate only has two goals so far during this years playoffs but they are both game winners. He leads the team and is second in the league. He does have 8 assists however so he hasn't been totally dismal this year. He is second on the team in total shots with 22 in four games.

QMJHL awards night

The Golden Puck Awards night is tonight in Montreal. There are 5 Halifax Mooseheads nominated for awards; Cam Russell is nominated for GM of the year, Dominique Ducharme for coach of the year, Konrad Abeltshauser, Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon are nominated for player awards.

Look back later tonight after the ceremony for a full list of winners hopefully our boys will pull it out. These awards are for the whole league, each team has their own awards ceremony for team awards after their season is done. For the Mooseheads, a date has not been determined as our season isn't done but hopefully it will be in late May.

For a full list of nominees click here.

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Bye bye Rocket

The Prince Edward Island Rocket played their last game as the Rocket last night. The Maritime team was playing the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the first round of the playoffs. The Foreurs led Game 6 3-1 after two period. However the Rocket were able to score two goals in the third period to tie the game and force overtime. The two teams played an extra 41:03 minutes of hockey so clearly PEI wasn't ready to leave just yet. Cedrick Hanley scored the overtime winner at the 1:03 minute of the 3rd overtime period which eliminated the PEI Rocket from this years playoffs. Val-d'Or won the series 4-2 and will now play Blainville.

With the loss, the PEI Rocket are no more. They aren't disbanding or even moving, they are just changing their nickname. The name was announced earlier in the season and will take affect when they begin the 2013-14 season in August. PEI will now be nicknamed the Islanders after a fan vote took place in September.

The changes to logo, colors, and uniforms have not been announced but keep it plugged in to my blog as I will have a post when the information comes available.

Monday, April 01, 2013

Schedule for Round 2 out

PLAYOFFS
#1 Halifax Mooseheads vs #13 Gatineau Olympiques
2nd round

The Gatineau Olympiques and your Halifax Mooseheads announced their second round battle schedule today.

HALIFAX - We are now less then a week away from round two starting as the Mooseheads announced the schedule for the next step towards a cup. Halifax hasn't played a game in almost a week as they were able to dispose of Saint John very quickly in the opening round. Gatineau comes in to the second round as the lowest seed after defeating the 4th seed Rimouski Oceanic in six games. This series will be a bit tougher for the Mooseheads as barely anybody projected that any teams in the top eight would get ousted. These two teams don't play very often but have some rich history and some pretty interesting playoff history against each other.

DISTANCE - Most playoff series are a 2-2-1-1-1 scenario, however in junior hockey that does not always happen because of the ages the players are on the teams. One would have to drive for approximately 1400 kilometres to get Gatineau from Halifax and because most teams do not fly, this series will be a 2-3-2 scenario.

HEAD-TO-HEAD ~ all-time: 24 games 11-12-1; this season: 2 games 1-1-0-0; playoffs: 16 games 7-7-2-0

LAST GAME - the Olympiques are coming off a 2 to 1 Game 6 win in Round 1 of the President's Cup playoffs on Sunday. Halifax also won their last game in the first round by a score of 6-1 in Game 4to sweep the series.

Playoffs tickets for game one on Friday and game two on Saturday are available on Wednesday at 10am at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstores, www.ticketatlantic.com or by calling (902) 451-1221

Game #1
Friday April 5 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS

Game #2
Saturday April 6 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS

Game #3
Tuesday April 9 @ 8:30pm at Robert Guertin Centre ~ Gatineau, QC

Game #4
Wednesday April 10 @ 8:30pm at Robert Guertin Centre ~ Gatineau, QC

Game #5*
Friday April 12 @ 8:30pm at Robert Guertin Centre ~ Gatineau, QC

Game #6*
Sunday April 14 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS

Game #7* 
Monday April 15 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS


*if necessary

P.S. This is not an April Fool's joke

Nova Scotian proud

Despite having the second least amount of teams in a province, Nova Scotia is second most with the amount of players that are on teams in the Quebec league. Most of the Nova Scotian players hail from the city. Here is a list of players from Nova Scotia who played during the regular season:

Adam Stevens (Acadie-Bathurst Titan, F) Bedford
Alex Hazlehurst (Sherbrooke Phoenix, F) Halifax
Ben Duffy (PEI Rocket, F) Lower Sackville
Brendan Duke (Halifax Mooseheads, D) Halifax
Brandon Whitney (Victoriaville Tigres, G) Halls Harbour
Brennan Bailey (Halifax Mooseheads, D) Luneburg
Brent Turnbull (Quebec Remparts, F) Stellerton
Bronson Beaton (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, F) Springhill
Cameron McDonald (Moncton Wildcats, D) Halifax
Casey Babineau (Rimouski Oceanic, D) Truro
Chris Clarke (Halifax Mooseheds, G) Fall River
Cole Hawes (Drummondville Voltigeurs, F) Halifax
Cole Murphy (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, F) Halifax
Daniel Perigo (PEI Rocket, F) Truro
Devon Oliver-Dares (Saint John Sea Dogs, F) Cole Harbour
Gareth Nicholson (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, D) Kentville
Ian Saab (Saint John Sea Dogs, D) Halifax
Jack Flinn (Sherbrooke Phoenix, G) Halifax
Jacob Brennan (Acadie-Bathurst Titan, G) Halifax
Jamie McIntyre (Quebec Remparts, F) Dartmouth
John-Michael Walsh (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, D) Sydney
Kelly Bent (Gatineau Olympiques, F) Halifax
Kyle Campbell (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, F) Halifax
Kyle Farrell (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, F) Howie Centre
Liam O'Brien (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, F) Halifax
Logan Shaw (Quebec Remparts, F) Glace Bay
Mark Tremaine (Moncton Wildcats, F) Dartmouth
Mason McDonald (Acadie-Bathurst Titan, G) Halifax
Matthew Highmore (Saint John Sea Dogs, F) Halifax
Michael Clarke (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, F) Halifax
Michael Lyle (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, F) Florence
Mitchell Deruelle (Moncton Wildcats, F) Sydney
Nathan MacKinnon (Halifax Mooseheads, F) Cole Harbour
Robert Davis (Acadie-Bathurst Titan, F) Truro
Ryan Falkenham (Halifax Mooseheads, F) Halifax
Ryan Graves (PEI Rocket, D) Yarmouth
Ryan Penny (Moncton Wildcats, F) Fall River
Stephen MacAulay (Halifax Mooseheads, F) Cole Harbour
Stephen Woodworth (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, D) Middleton
Taylor Burke (Gatineau Olympiques, F) Halifax
Zachery Moody (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, F) Margaretsville
Zachary Taylor (Shawinigan Cataractes, D) Halifax