Events

The schedule was released months ago but the Mooseheads are just now announcing their annual events schedule. The 20th season will be kicked off in a special way this year after the Herd won both the President's Cup and Memorial Cup. The banners will be raised on opening night.

HOME OPENER - September 12 vs. Moncton Wildcats
Pink in the Rink 6 - October 18 vs. Val-d'Or Foreurs
DND Appreciation Night - November 8 vs. Moncton Wildcats
Battle of Nova Scotia - December 28 vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
Teddy Bear Toss - January 10 vs. Moncton Wildcats
Fan Appreciation Night/Season finale - March 15 vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles


*Details about the banner raising have not been released but when they are I'll keep you guys up to date.

Coach going to Europe

Head Coach of our Halifax Mooseheads, Dom Ducharme is heading to Europe!

Don't worry he isn't leaving the junior club that we have come to love the last 19 years. He is just on his way to the Czech Republic to help assist Dale Hunter coach Canada's greatest Under-18 players at the Ivan Hlinka tournament. Team Canada leaves today for the European country. The 22 young men who will represent this great nation were anounced yesterday while the coaching staff was announced a month ago. Dale and Dom are joined behind the bench by Oshawa Generals coach DJ Smith.

The tournament runs from August 5th to 10th in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia. Canada will be playing in Breclav with the host country, Sweden and Switzerland. Team Canada is looking for a 6th straight gold medal.

Another Alum signing

Andrew Bodnarchuk has agreed to a 2-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. He spent last season with LA's affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Manchester Monarchs. There he collected 20 points in 69 games. He was drafted in 2006 by the Boston Bruins after playing a year with the Halifax Mooseheads. Andrew spent two more years after being drafted with the Mooseheads collecting 123 points.

Press release.


In other news....

• Goaltender Mason McDonald was the only Nova Scotian to be named to the U18 Ivan Hlinka tournament. He along with 6 other QMJHL players were named to the team which will play in Barclav, Czech Republic starting August 5 and ending August 10. Press release.
• Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks took over the EA Sports NHL twitter account this afternoon.
• Mooseheads hockey school starts in a week and will last all week for kids born between 2001 and 2008.

NOC Tonight!!

Sidney Crosby and Halifax Moosheads Alum Brad Marchand will be meeting, I am assuming, for the first time since Marchand's team, the Boston Bruins, swept Crosby's team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the playoffs this past June. They will be attending the Phoenix Night of Champions (NOC) event tonight. Sid the Kid announced he was coming earlier this month while Brad has been booked in since the beginning.

The NOC will start at 4:30 with the Kids Zone. The big event will start at 5:45. There will be stories from the attending Stanley Cup champions all evening. The event's purpose is to celebrate the NHL Stanley Cup champions that call Nova Scotia their home and to raise money for Phoenix house which helps at-risk and homeless youth break that trend.

Owner of your Mooseheads, Bobby Smith will aslo be in attendance. He was a part of the 1986 Stanley Cup champ Montreal Canadiens team that beat out a Calgary Flames team that had the likes of Lanny McDonald, Brett Hull, Mike Vernon and another Nova Scotian native Al MacInnis. Unfortunately MacInnis is not in attendance. Current champs include Dennis Bonvie and Al MacIssac who are both part of the Chicago Blackhawks behind the scenes team.

For a full list of attendeees click here.
Click here for the website where you can see all the info about the evening and purchase tickets online.
Andrew Rankin had a brief story in today's Metro about the night.

Mooseheads to play in Truro

The Halifax Mooseheads released more information on this year's preseason games. The team will play in the small community of Truro for one preseason game which will be against the Moncton Wildcats. The game will be played at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre at 7pm. Tickets can be bought at the Antlers Store in the Metro Centre, at the RECC box office and online at http://ww3.ticketpro.ca/venue.php?ID=496 starting July 22nd.

*The President's Cup and Memorial Cup will be at the rink for fans to take pictures.*

Tickets for the other two home preseason games go on sale August 1st. The price for those games is $7 per ticket and are able to be bought at the Antlers store. Both games are going to be played at the Halifax Forum which is different from what was originally released.

Here are the home preseason games
August 17th  vs. Cape Breton at 4pm  Halifax Forum   $7 per ticket
August 23rd  vs. Moncton at 7pm  RECC   $8.25 per ticket
August 30th vs. Cape Breton at 7pm  Halifax Forum   $7 per ticket

Nathan vs. Seth

May 28, '13

Both Seth Jones and Nathan MacKinnon have been ranked #1 in the CSS rankings this season. Nate spent the first part of the 2012-13 season as number 1 with Seth taking over in the past couple of months. These two players have been battling it out all year and are always the biggest story when their teams play against each other. Jones is a defenceman from the United States playing for one of the American Western Hockey League teams; the Portland Winterhawks while MacKinnon is a Nova Scotian playing for the province's best team; the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Here's a breakdown of their battles.

Event: 2011 World U-17 Hockey Championship
Teams: RR - Canada Atlantic 1 vs. United States 12
Players stats: MacKinnon 0 pts vs. Jones 0 pts
Medal result: Nathan & Canada Atlantic 5th place, Seth & United States 2nd place
Points (full tournament): Nathan 5G & 3A; Seth 1G & 1A

Event: 2013 U-20 World Junior Hockey Championship
Teams: RR - Canada 2 vs. United States 1, SF - Canada 1 vs. United States 5
Player stats: MacKinnon 0 pts vs. Jones 0 pts
Medal result: Nathan & Canada 4th place, Seth & United States 1st place
Points (full tournament): Nathan 1A; Seth 1G & 6A

Event: 2013 CHL Top Prospects Game
Teams: Team Cherry 0 vs. Team Orr 3
Players stats: MacKinnon 0 pts vs. Jones 1 pt

Event: 2013 Memorial Cup Championship
Teams: RR - Halifax 7 vs. Portland 4, F - Halifax 6 vs. Portland 4
Player stats: MacKinnon 4 pts vs. Jones 1 pt, MacKinnon 5 pts vs. Jones 1 pt
Medal result: Nathan & Halifax CHAMPIONS, Seth & Portland runner ups
Points (full tournament): Nathan 7G & 6A; Seth 2G & 2A

So in the game that really counted in their junior careers, our boy Nate came out the victor. What will happen in their pro careers as they get started on June 30th in New Jersey with the 2013 NHL entry draft? Will Nate go #1 now after this tounament and with Patrick Roy as the new coach of Colorado or will Seth Jones be picked? Will they both make it to the big leagues next season? Who will win the Stanley Cup first? Keep it locked here and I'll let you know. Go Nate Go!


July 11, '13

Well one question that I posed after the Memorial Cup has been answered. I guess the connection that Nathan had with Patrick Roy helped as he is now a Colorado Avalanche. Nate went first overall in the NHL Draft at the end of June while Seth dropped to 4th overall getting picked by the Nashville Predators. It also sounds like both players will get a chance to show that they are ready for the big show as they both signed tryout contracts this past week. MacKinnon was signed on Tuesday while Jones put his name on the dotted line on Wednesday. If they do well in training camp we will most likely see them for at least 8 games in the upcoming season as they try to prove themselves.

Herd at Development Camps

Despite only four Mooseheads players actually getting drafted on June 30 in New Jersey, there are more in development camps than just those four. Here's a breakdown of where the drafted and undrafted Moosehead players are.

Stephen MacAulay - St Louis (2010) - invited to Montreal Canadiens camp July 3-7
MacKenzie Weegar - Florida (2013) - Florida Panthers development camp July 8-12
Andrew Ryan - undrafted - invited to Philadelphia Flyers camp July 8-11
Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado (2013) - Colorado Avalnache development camp July 8-?
Trey Lewis - undrafted - invited to Calgary Flames camp July 10-16
Jonathan Drouin - Tampa Bay (2013) - Tampa Bay Lightning development camp July 6-10
Zach Fucale - Montreal (2013) - Montreal Canadiens development camp July 3-7
Stefan Fournier - undrafted - invtied to Montreal Canadiens camp July 3-7
Martin Frk - Detroit (2012) - Detroit Red Wings development camp July 10-15

MACAULAY
Stephen signed a tryout contract with the Montreal Canadiens on June 23, with PEI Rocket franchise leading scorer Ben Duffy. MacAulay attended the St. Louis Blues camp in 2011 but was not signed by the team. He than was at training camp for the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2012 but was sent back to the Saint John Sea Dogs. As part of the contract signing, he was invited to attend the Montreal Canadiens development camp last week. He then signed a one-year AHL contract with the Habs farm team, the Bulldogs on Monday.

DROUIN
After being drafted third overall on June 30, Jonathan was signed to a 3 year entry level contract by the team who picked him. Tampa Bay started their development camp on Saturday and when the first practice finished, big Jo was greeted by fans who asked for his autograph.

FUCALE
Zach was drafted 36th overall last Sunday in New Jersey by his favourite team growing up, the Montreal Canadiens. He joined the other 2013 Canadien draft picks at development camp last week. There was another scrimmage on the last day, the Red and White game with Fucale playing in net for Team Red. Free agent and former PEI Rocket Ben Duffy scored a hat trick and Zachery stopped 17 of 20 shots he faced as Team Red won 6-3.

FOURNIER
Yet another former Moose player that the Montreal Canadiens invited to their development camp. Free agent Stefan Fournier signed a 3 year entry level contract with the team while at the camp.

MACKINNON
Nathan hasn't been signed yet to a entry level contract but the Avalanche camp just started yesterday so it really isn't surprising. Hopefully after he shows them what he can do, he will get a contract. UPDATE: After I posted the first version, Nate was signed to a 3 year entry level contract by the Avs on July 9.

Herd Word

SIGNINGS

Former Mooseheads player Stefan Fournier, who aged out this last season, was signed to a 3-year tryout contract by the Montreal Canadiens today. This comes a day after his team mate Jonathan Drouin was signed to a 3 year tryout contract by the team who drafted him, the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

DROUIN 

Jonathan Drouin was also invited to the Bolts developmental camp. On the first day he was on the ice for a bit and then greeted fans while giving them autographs.

IMPORT DRAFT

The CHL import draft was on Wednesday. The Mooseheads had three selections, passing on the only original pick that they had in the second round. The Herd picked Nikolaj Ehlers, a Danish centre, with the 6th overall pick and Timo Meier, a Swiss winger, with the 12th overall chose. Both players were born in 1996. Ehlers actually played with Patrick Kane, Tyler Seguin and Marc-Antoine Pouliot on the Beil's Men's Swiss Elite team during the lockout.

CAVENDISH
Seems like a few Halifax players are in Prince Edward island this weekend for the Cavendish music festival. Kenny Chesney was playing tonight. Chris Clarke and Liam Alcalde are just a couple of the players in PEI this weekend.

CHL Import Draft

The last CHL Import Draft that goaltenders can be drafted goes today. It was announced last month that Hockey Canada with the Canadian Hockey League banned European goaltenders from the leagues. They also said that this year's import draft would be the last time these Euro puck stoppers could be drafted.

The Import Draft begins at 12 noon Atlantic time with the Halifax Mooseheads picking three times over the two rounds. This draft includes the 60 CHL teams. Halifax will pick 6th and 12th overall in the first round and 114th overall in the 2nd round. The second round pick is the only one that is originally ours, as Shawinigan gave us the 6th pick and Sherbrooke had the 12th.

The Vancouver Giants will pick 1st overall followed by the Ottawa 67's and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, respectively. The Saint John Sea Dogs are the only other Maritime division team picking in the top 10.

Good luck to all players and teams!

NHL Draft

Here is some notes from the NHL Draft yesterday that was held in New Jersey...

• As I posted yesterday, our very own Nathan MacKinnon was drafted 1st overall by the Colorado Avalanche. This was really no surprise as the Avs had said last week that they would be picking Nate.
• MacKinnon's linemate with the Halifax Mooseheads, Jonathan Drouin got picked 3rd overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• In a turn of events, Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks did not get picked in the top 3 as Florida decided to pick Euro player Aleksander Barkov with their choice. Jones was picked 4th overall by the Nashville Predators.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs picked two QMJHL players, a record for the team apparently; Frederik Gauthier of the Rimouski Oceanic was picked 21st overall and Antoine Bibeau of the PEI Rocket was chosen 172nd overall.
• There was 31 QMJHL players drafted this year.
• Four Mooseheads players were picked in total. Zach Fucale had to wait a little longer than people were expecting him to but he did get picked by his favourite team, the Montreal Canadiens who drafted him in the second round 36th overall. MacKenzie Weegar was selected by the Florida Panthers 206th overall.
• Goaltender Anthony Brodeur was drafted by his father, Martin, 208th overall. Both Brodeur's are now a member of the New Jersey Devils program, the home faithfuls must've been going nuts over this pick.
• The 2014 NHL Draft will be hosted by the Philadelphia Flyers.

My predictions that I made last week were wrong. I predicted that Drouin would be first with Nate (2nd), Jones (3rd) following behind him and Nurse, Barkov and Fucale drafted at 5th, 7th and 14th overall respectively.