Foreurs, Drakkar Battle for QMJHL Title

There were two Game 7s last night. One ended in happiness for the home fans, the other ended in sadness and probably even shock. The first overall Baie-Comeau Drakkar were able to comeback from a 3-2 series deficit and win Game 7 on home ice last night. They defeated the fifth overall Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 2-1 with goals from Alexandre Ranger and Charles Hudon.

In the other semi final, the Halifax Mooseheads cameback from a 2-0 series deficit winning 3 straight games but were unable to make another comeback in the final 2 games. Nikolaj Ehlers and Philippe Gaodury scored for the Mooseheads, who shot 41 pucks at Val-d'Or Foreurs goaltender Antoine Bibeau. The defence was a bit shaky all series long in which the goaltending and penalty calls seemed to be in the Foreurs favour.

The Foreurs and Drakkar will now meet in the President's Cup final which begins on Friday. Here is the full schedule:

Game 1 - Friday May 2 | 7:30PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau
Game 2 - Saturday May 3 | 4:00PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau
Game 3 - Tuesday May 6 | 7:30PM | Baie-Comeau @ Val-d'Or
Game 4 - Wednesday May 7 | 7:30PM | Baie-Comeau @ Val-d'Or
Game 5 - Friday May 9* | 7:30PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau
Game 6 - Sunday May 11* | 4:00PM | Baie-Comeau @ Val-d'Or
Game 7 - Tuesday May 13* | 7:30PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau

Good luck to both teams in the finals. I predict that this series will go 7 games with the Drakkar coming out on top.


In the other two CHL finals it is North Bay and Guelph, which begins Thursday, in the Ontario Hockey League and in the Western Hockey League for the third straight year it is Edmonton versus Portland which starts on Saturday. My predicitions: Guelph and Portland in 6 games.

Season is Done.

Game Seven Recap

Series: VDO wins 4-3

Stars: 3. Brendan Duke HAL | 2. Darcy Ashley HAL | 1. Brent Andrews HAL

Attendance: 10,595

Final salute. Photo: Ashley Hennigar

HALIFAX - Well it was a good season and it has come to end with a 3-2 loss to the Val-d'Or Foreurs in a pivotal Game 7. Despite outshooting the Foreurs 41-16, the Halifax Mooseheads could not figure out how to get the puck past Antoine Bibeau who was once again phenomenal in nets. With the loss, your Mooseheads run for a consecutive President's Cup ended while the Foreurs one has continued. It was an energetic game as the sellout crowd was cheering on the home boys all night including standing for pretty much the last 4 minutes.

FINAL: Foreurs 3 at Mooseheads 2

Point getters: VDO Gelinas, Poudrier & Presseault 1G each, Gazzola, Pietroniro, Gauthier, Aube-Kubel & Sille 1A each; HAL Ehlers & Gadoury 2 each (1G & 1A), Drouin & Weegar 1A each

Goaltenders: Fucale HAL | Bibeau VDO

Shots 1st: 11-9 HAL | 2nd: 13-4 HAL | 3rd: 17-3 HAL

Powerplay HAL 1/5, VDO 0/3

OUT OF TOWN
Blainville 1 - 2 Baie-Comeau

Semifinals extended to Game 7s

Both Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semi final matchups are going to game 7. Val-d'or was able to win on home ice to tie the series with the Halifax Mooseheads at three games a piece. Halifax was unable to overcome another 4 goal game lead like they did in Game 3. Four goals in the first period was just too much for the Mooseheads to comeback from. The game ended with the Foreurs winning 7-5. Antoine Bibeau was as excellent as always stopping 38 shots while Zach Fucale and Kevin Darveau shared stopping 25 shots.

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar also tied their series with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada after winning their Game 6 on the road in overtime. Maxime St-Cyr led the Drakkar with 2 goals during regulation. Philippe Cadorette made 22 saves for the win while Etienne Marcoux had 38 saves for the loss.

Both Game 7s will be played on Tuesday night with the Foreurs visiting Moose Country dropping the puck at 8pm and the Armada visiting the Drakkar dropping the puck at 8:30pm.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #15: at Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

VAL-D'OR FOREURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: HAL leads 3-2

Puck drops at 8:00pm

Air Creebec Centre (3,504) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

PREVIEW - The Halifax Mooseheads will look to continue their small streak of winning when they visit the Air Creebec Centre tonight for a big game six of this semi final series. The Mooseheads ended the little trend of the road team winning when Maxime Fortier scored the overtime winner for the 4-3 game 5 home win. Comebacks has been the story of this series and Val-d'Or will be hoping to continue that tonight in their home rink. If the Foreurs are going to tie this series, Anthony Mantha is going to be at the front of it. He has been quite good for the Foreurs so far and he will have to keep being good if the Foreurs want to continue their season.

NOT PLAYING - Timo Meier (upper) and Brendan Duke (lower) are out with injuries still while healthy scratches will be made before game time

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 18 Foreurs 5 at Mooseheads 2
Game 2 Apr 19 Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 2
Game 3 Apr 22 Mooseheads 6 at Foreurs 5 OT
Game 4 Apr 23 Mooseheads 5 at Foreurs 4
Game 5 Apr 26 Foreurs 3 at Mooseheads 4 OT
Game 6 Apr 28 Mooseheads at Foreurs
*Game 7 Apr 29 Foreurs at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
none

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @HFXMooseheads
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
If Val-d'Or wins tonight Game 7 will be tomorrow night at 8pm in Halifax.

Weekend Roundup

Well it's almost the end of the weekend so I thought I would break down what has happened in the last 48 hours for current and former Mooseheads, as well as some other news.

MACKINNON
Former star Moose player Nathan MacKinnon has been just as much of a star on the Colorado Avalanche as he was here in Halifax. In two games earlier in the week in San Jose, Nathan was held pointless in two Avalanche losses that made their playoff series with the Sharks tied 2-2. Back home on Saturday night, like the Moose were, MacKinnon had an assist on Colorado's second goal and its third which tied the game with less than 2 minutes left. He than scored the overtime winner to give the Avs a 3-2 series lead. He leads the NHL in points with 10 now after his three point night.

ALUM IN AHL
There are a few former Mooseheads playing in the American Hockey League. Alexandre Grenier of the Utica Comets and Konrad Abeltshauser of the Worcester Sharks had a good season for their respective teams but they couldn't help them get into the playoffs. Konrad finished the season with 6 goals and 21 points in 57 games. He was also named the Sharks "Man of the Year". In 68 games, Grenier was 4th in team scoring with 17 goals and 39 points. Andrew Bodnarchuk and the Manchester Monarchs have played two games in the playoffs against the Norfolk Admirals. Andrew is a -1 and has 3 shot on goal through 2 games. He finished the regular season with 8 goals and 32 points in 73 games.

SATURDAY'S MOOSE GAME
When everybody thought they were out, they have come storming back and now lead the series thanks to a 4-3 overtime win last night. Maxime Fortier scored his first ever QMJHL goal to win the game for Halifax. The Mooseheads got out to a 2-0 lead after Andrew Ryan scored 25 seconds into the second period but with the help of Anthony Mantha's two goals and former Moosehead Randy Gazzola's two helpers, Val-d'Or was up 3-2 with 18 minutes left in the game. Austyn Hardie tied it and the goalies took over after that making good saves. With the win, Halifax leads the semi final series 3-2 and Game 6 is Monday night in Val-d'Or.

FORMER HERD VISIT MOOSE COUNTRY
Abeltshauser, Chris Clarke, Trey Lewis and Stephen MacAulay were all in attendance at the electric Metro Centre for Saturday's game. Fans were quite happy and the boys even took pictures with some of them.

QMJHL NEWS
So the Blainville/Baie-Comeau series is getting interesting. The Drakkar were able to tie the game up at 2 with less than 3 minutes left to force overtime and took the game 3-2 with Valentin Zykov scoring the game winner for Baie-Comeau at 8:16 of the first OT. That series is now tied at 3 games a piece. Game 7 goes on Tuesday.

CHL NEWS
The other two leagues' cup finals are set now. The Ontario Hockey League final was determined on Friday after Guelph won Game 5 against the Erie Otters 5-0 to win their series 4-1. The Storm will face the North Bay Battalion for the OHL championship. With the Edmonton Oil Kings defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-3 last night, they will now face the Portland Winterhawks for the WHL championship. This is the third straight year the Hawks and Oil Kings have met in the final series.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #13: at Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

VAL-D'OR FOREURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: VDO leads 2-1

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Air Creebec Centre (3,504) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

PREVIEW - How do you follaw that? A crazy intense come from behind overtime win has the Halifax Mooseheads back in this series. The Mooseheads were down 3-0 four minutes in as Zach Fucale let in 3 goals on 4 shots for the second game in a row but this time it ended his night. Half way through the second period, Halifax found themselves down 5-1 now after Anthony Mantha scored a hat trick. Murphy got two goals in 58 seconds in the middle frame, which made it 5-3, to start the comeback and Jesse Lussier scored the overtime winner to complete it. Halifax will have to continue the momentum and have a much faster start when the two teams meet for Game 4 tonight in Val-d'Or. We may see Kevin Darveau start his first game of these palyoffs.

NOT PLAYING - hasn't been announced

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 18 Foreurs 5 at Mooseheads 2
Game 2 Apr 19 Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 2
Game 3 Apr 22 Mooseheads 6 at Foreurs 5 OT
Game 4 Apr 23 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 5 Apr 26 Foreurs at Mooseheads
*Game 6 Apr 28 Mooseheads at Foreurs
*Game 7 Apr 29 Foreurs at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Drakkar at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @HFXMooseheads, @CH_WillyPalov
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
Since Halifax won last night, there will be for sure a game 5 which will be in Moose Country on Saturday. Puck drops at 7pm.

MacKinnon held pointless, Avs lose in OT

Mooseheads alumni Nathan MacKinnon was held pointless in last night's Colorado Avalanche Game 3 of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Minnesota Wild. In 22 minutes and 8 seconds of ice time last night, MacKinnon had 3 shots and won about 28% of his faceoffs that he took.

He wasn't the only player held without a point in yesterday's game that was played in St. Paul, Minnesota. The two teams played through 60 minutes of scoreless action before Mikael Grunland scored at the 5:08 mark of the first overtime period to win the game for the Wild and put them back in the series with the 1-0 OT win. The Avalanche now lead the first round series 2 games to 1 game. Game 4 will be on Thursday once again in Minnesota.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #12: at Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

VAL-D'OR FOREURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: VDO leads 2-0

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Air Creebec Centre (3,504) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

PREVIEW - Comeback. For the first time in two seasons the Halifax Mooseheads find themselves in a hole down 2 games to none in their semi final series against the Val-d'Or Foreurs. They're going to have to figure out the secret of beating Antoine Bibeau who has been quite good saving 60 of 64 Moosehead shots in the first two games of the series. Halifax will also have to smarten up on defence as they have allowed a few odd man rushes and have spent more time in their own end than they normally do. It's going to be a hard road back for the Herd but if they can clean up their game a bit and get back to the basics this series will get interesting quite quickly. The Foreurs, despite being outshot in both games in Nova Scotia, have quieted Nikolaj Ehlers and Jonathan Drouin to just 3 points between them in the first two games. They will be looking to keep the two forwards off the scoreshort this week while Moose fans will be hoping both will explode in the two road games.

NOT PLAYING - healthy scratches will be made before the game while Ryan Falkenham is of course still out

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 18 Foreurs 5 at Mooseheads 2
Game 2 Apr 19 Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 2
Game 3 Apr 22 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 4 Apr 23 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 5 Apr 26 Foreurs at Mooseheads
Game 6 Apr 28 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 7 Apr 29 Foreurs at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Drakkar at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @HFXMooseheads, @CH_WillyPalov
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
The two teams will meet for Game 4 tomorrow night in Val-d'Or. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

Avs win, Nate scores first playoff goal

Congratulations to former Halifax Moosehead Nathan MacKinnon who has scored his first career playoff goal in the National Hockey League. The rookie scored at 6:20 of the first period to tie the game at ones after another former Q player, Charlie Coyle scored his second playoff goal to give the Minnesota Wild a 1-0 lead. All I got to stay about Nate's goal is it was awesome!

In the second period MacKinnon kept being a big part of the Colorado Avalnche game this year, making two very nice plays to captain Gabriel Landskog who scored twice in the middle frame to make it a 3-1 game after 40 minutes. Both teams would go on to add another goal in the last two minutes of the game for a Game 2 final 4-2 Avalanche. Nate would add an assist to end the night with 4 points. 

He is now tied with Paul Statsny for playoff points lead with 7 points through two games and leads both the playoff assists and the plus/minus stats. He is plus-5 through two games. 

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #10: vs Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. VAL-D'OR FOREURS

Series tied 0-0

Puck drops at 7:00pm

Metro Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

PREVIEW - Three times we've been here, can we make it the second year that we move on in a row? After a big comeback in the second round versus the Quebec Remparts three years ago, the Mooseheads didn't have enough gas for the third round and were defeated 4 games to 2 games. Last year, well we all now what happened last season. Your Halifax Mooseheads look to get back to the Preisdent's Cup finals but they will have to get through a series with the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

This is going to be a very exciting series. These two teams were one two in overall scoring in the regular season and have the past two Most Valuable Players. That's the biggest story line going into this series is Drouin vs. Mantha. Veteran Anthony Mantha of the Foreurs was recording points at a 2.10 points per game average during the regular season to end with 120 points and on top of the QMJHL scoring while after getting sent down by Tampa Bay, Jonathan Drouin of the Herd finished with a 2.34 points per game average finishing third in Q scoring with 108 points.

SEASON SERIES
Halifax went 2-0-0-0 versus the Foreurs this season, while Val-d'Or went 0-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads

October 18, 2013 - Halifax def. Val-d'Or 5-2
November 2, 2013 - Halifax def. Val-d'Or 4-2

NOTES

• Fans who live in the Atlantic provinces will be able to watch 3 of the first four games on Eastlink
• Darcy Ashley will be back in the lineup tonight after missing the second round
• Willy Palov breaks down the final two series' and gives us his predictions

NOT PLAYING - the Mooseheads are healthy now except for Ryan Falkenham still being out so there will be scratches made before puck drop

TONIGHT'S GAMES
Armada at Drakkar - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
Game 2 of this semi final series between the Foreurs and Moose will be tomorrow night. Same place same time.

Around the CHL ~ volume #3 playoff edition #6

We've come to the final four in each of the three leagues in the Canadian Hockey League playoffs. The conference finals are happening now in the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League while it's the semi final round in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

President's Cup playoffs
#1 vs #5 Baie-Comeau - Blainville-Boisbriand {regular season series tied 2-2-0-0}
#2 vs #3 Halifax - Val-d'Or {regular season series 2-0-0-0}

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E2 Oshawa - North Bay {regular season series OSH 2-1-0-0}

#W1 vs #W3 Guelph - Erie {regular season series 4-1-1-0}

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E4 Edmonton - Medicine Hat {regular season series EDM 5-0-0-0}

#W1 vs #W2 Kelowna - Portland {regular season series KEL4-0-0-0}

Predictions
QMJHL Third Round - Baie-Comeau in 6, Halifax in 6
OHL Third Round - Oshawa in 6, Guelph in 5
WHL Third Round - Edmonton in 4, Kelowna in 6

Tonight's games
Mooseheads vs. Foreurs at 7PM
Generals vs. Battalion at 8:05PM
Storm vs. Otters at 8:30PM
Drakkar vs. Armada at 8:30PM
Oil Kings vs. Tigers at 10PM
Rockets vs. Winterhawks at 11:35PM

Saturday's games
Drakkar vs. Armada at 5PM
Mooseheads vs. Foreurs at 7PM
Winterhawks vs. Rockets at 11:05PM

Nate records 3 assists as Avs win

He's got his first career playoff point. He also has his second and third ones too. As the Colorado Avalanche had to comeback from a 4-2 deficit in the third period, the former Halifax Mooseheads player's friends in Denver Jamie McGinn and Ryan O'Reilly made it a one goal game about 7 minutes in. He than set up a nice goal by the veteran Paul Statsny with a behind the net pass to Statsny with 14 seconds left in the third period to send the game to overtime. MacKinnon would go on to finish the night with 3 assists, including a helper on Statsny's game winner in overtime.

That's a pretty good first career playoff game and the people thought so too as Nate was named the third star of the game. His finals stats were 3 assists, a +3 rating, 3 shots and 2 penalty minutes in 22:34 total ice time. Read NHL.com's recap here.

Congrats Nathan on an awesome game! Keep it going.


photo: compiled of pics from wikipedia (cup logo & avs logo) and espn.go.com

Nate, Avs to begin playoffs tonight

While his former team is getting one last opportunity to prepare for their third round playoff series, Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche are getting ready to begin their quest to the Stanley Cup. The Avalanche will take on the Minnesota Wild tonight at the Pepsi Center with a 10:30pm Atlantic time puck drop. You can watch the game on TSN which I think I will be doing, or RDS if your in Quebec. MacKinnon averaged a point per game in Colorado's season series versus the Wild. In five games against Minnesota, he scored two goals and had 3 helpers. Colorado had a 4-0-0-1 record against Minnesota so this series shouldn't take too long to be finished.

Good luck to Nathan, Jean-Sebastian and the rest of the Colorado Avalanche during the playoffs.

Follow my blog as I will have updates on how Nathan MacKinnon and the other former Halifax Mooseheads on the Avalanche are doing throughout the playoffs.


Photo cred: nhl.com

Throwback Thursday: playoff edition

Two years ago today. What an awesome game. Comeback was the theme of the playoffs for the Mooseheads second round series against the Quebec Remparts and it ended with this:

A Game 7 come from behind overtime win to book their tickets to the semi finals. Captain Cameron Critchlow scored all 4 goals in regulation to have an awesome night while Jonathan Drouin scored the nice back hander OT goal. Zach Fucale made an incredible 41 saves during the game while other point leaders were Nathan MacKinnon (3 assists) and Konrad Abeltshauser (2 assists) with Jonathan Drouin adding two assists of his own to his game winning goal. See the game summary here.

Halifax would go on to lose to the Rimouski Oceanic in the semifinals 4 games to 2 games. Both wins against Rimouski came on the road.

Semi Finals Set in Q

The 2014 QMJHL semi final matchups are set.

The closest series all playoffs finished last night in a game 7 overtime match up between the #4 Rimouski Oceanic and the #5 Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. The Ocenaic were able to score 4 quick goal in the last 5 minutes of the first period to go up 4-0 after 20 minutes. The Armada made it a one goal game going into the final period after 5 more goals were scored in the first 12 minutes of the second. The teams than went back and forth to end regulation with a 7-7 tied score. Blainville was able to complete the comeback when Nikita Jevpalovs scored the overtime winner at the 12:59 mark. 

With the incredible win, the fifth seeded team will face the first seeded Baie-Comeau Drakkar in one semi final series. The two teams will play game one on Friday night in Baie-Comeau. In the other semi final series it will be your Halifax Mooseheads hosting the Val-d'Or Foreurs. This series also begins on Friday and should go the distance with the teams being ranked #2 and #3 in the overall standings at the end of the regular season. 

Congrats to the final four teams making it this far. Comment below on how you think both series will go. 

MacKinnon and Avs to continue season

Former Halifax Moosehead player Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League will continue to play hockey this year. The 2013-14 NHL regular season ended last night with a total of 10 games being played. Three former Mooseheads played for the Avalanche this season with two of them playing in the season finale last night. Alex Tanguay had season ending surgery back in February so he won't be back until September if he decides to come back.

MacKinnon played his last regular season rookie game. He finished the season with 24 goals and 39 assists. He was one of two Colorado players to players in all 82 games. Nate was unable to record any more points in his last regular season game. He also finished with a plus-20 rating and five game winning goals. Not a bad season for the 18 year old that also broke some history.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere might have played in his last regular season game last night. In 61:33 minutes of play, Jiggy made 33 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss against the Anaheim Ducks. He finished the season with a 11-6-1 record in 22 games played with a 2.62 goals against average. He had a total of 555 saves and a 0.913 save percentage.

Watch the whole thing or skip to about the 2:10 mark

Both Nate and Jiggy will look to lead the Avalanche in the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild after winning their first division championship in 7 years. The NHL playoffs start on Wednesday while the Avs will play their first game the next night. Congrats to both former Herd players on a good season and if it was in fact Jean-Sebastien's last regular season game, congrats Jiggy on an awesome career.

London eliminated

For the third season in a row, the Memorial Cup hosts have been eliminated before the third round. With a 5-4 loss to the top seeded Guelph Storm, the London Knights are eliminated from the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. The Storm were able to beat the 4th seeded Knights 4 games to 1 game in the second round. The fact that Guelph was able to win in 5 games is kind of surprising in it's self as most people were predicting this series would be one of the most interesting and go 7 games. This is because despite the fact that they were three spots apart in the Western Conference standings, there was only 5 points between them as both had more than 100 points.

London will host the Memorial Cup starting May 16 at the Bud Gardens with the championship game on May 25. The 2013 hosts, the Saskatoon Blades, were eliminated in the first round last season while in the 2012 season the Shawinigan Cataractes lost in the second round. So the Knights will have a month to get back to work before they look to win the national championship on home ice.

Gadoury Powers Series Win.

Game Five Recap

Series: HAL wins 4-1 

Stars: 3. 

Attendance: 3,449

GATINEAU - Well they may want to keep him next year after the year he has had this season and game 5 of the second round might have helped his case a little bit more. 20 year old Philippe Gadoury was a big factor in tonight's series clinching win for the Halifax Mooseheads who were on the road for this fifth game because of the distance between the two cities in the series. Gadoury, who may be one of the Herd's overagers next season, was apart of all four goals in the win recording 3 assists and scoring the last goal of the game. Despite the fact that the Gatineau Olympiques gave the away team 7 powerplay opportunities it really wasn't a as physical game the previous games were, the referees put the whistle away for most of the game unless there were actual rough stuff like fighting or slashing.

FINAL: Halifax 4 at Gatineau 1

Point getters: HAL Gadoury 4 (1G & 3A), Drouin 3 (1G & 2A), Ehlers 2 (1G & 1A), Weegar 2 (2A), Ciampini 1G; GAT Carrier 1G, Tardif-Richard 1A

Goaltenders: Steeves GAT | Fucale HAL

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

Powerplay GAT 0/4, HAL 3/7


OUT OF TOWN
Drummondville 2 - 5 Val-d'Or
Rimouski 4 - 3 Blainville OT

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #9: at Gatineau

IT'S GAMEDAY

GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: HAL leads 3-1

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Robert Guertin Centre (3,717) ~ Gatineau, QC

PREVIEW - Win and you move on, loose and you come back home for another game against the same team. That's the case for the Halifax Mooseheads. For the Gatineau Olympiques it's win and you stay alive, loose and your season is done. This is a huge game for both teams. If Halifax wins than they can prove that they can handle the nosiest of buildings despite The Bob being one of the smallest. If they loose, well than maybe they don't have it in them to go all the way even though they have the scoring power to go all the way again. Though there are different referees tonight don't expect either team to not play the rough game especially Gatineau who will be firing on all cylinders trying to get the Moose off their game by ramping up the home fans with hits, fights, pains and goals.

NOT PLAYING - Darcy Ashley will be a game time decision as will the heatlhy scratches

NOTES

• Brandon Vuic will not be suspended for tonight's game. His agressor penalty, which carries an automatic one game suspension, was overturned by the QMJHL yesterday so good news for the Mooseheads and Vuic

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 4 Olympiques 1 at Mooseheads 4
Game 2 Apr 5 Olympiques 2 at Mooseheads 6
Game 3 Apr 8 Mooseheads 2 at Olympiques 5
Game 4 Apr 9 Mooseheads 4 at Olympiques 2
Game 5 Apr 11 Mooseheads at Olympiques
*Game 6 Apr 14 Olympiques at Mooseheads
*Game 7 Apr 15 Olympiques at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Voltigeurs at Foreurs - 8:30pm
Oceanic at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Sportsnet
Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald, Moose Country blog

NEXT GAME
It depends on weather Gatineau wins, if they can Game 6 will be Monday in Halifax. Puck drops at 7pm.

CHL names Subway Series hosts

The Canadian Hockey League has announced the hosts for the 2014 Subway Series which will be held in 6 cities over ten days in the middle of November.

Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League in association with SUBWAY® Restaurants along with the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League today announced five of the six Canadian host centres for the 2014 SUBWAY® Super Series to be played November 10-20, 2014.

The six-game series, which features regional teams of Canadian National Junior Team candidates competing against the Russian National Junior Team, opens for the first time with two games hosted by the WHL beginning in Saskatoon, SK, home of the Blades, on Monday November 10, with the second WHL host site for Game 2 on Tuesday November 11 still to be determined.  The series shifts to the OHL who will maintain the middle leg of the series with Game 3 to be hosted by the Peterborough Petes on Thursday November 13, followed by Game 4 hosted by the Kingston Frontenacs on Monday November 17.  For the first time next season the competition will end in the QMJHL with Game 5 hosted by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Tuesday November 18, followed by the Game 6 series finale to be hosted by the Rimouski Oceanic on Thursday November 20.

“On behalf of the Canadian Hockey League we look forward to bringing the SUBWAY® Super Series to CHL communities for the 12^th straight season next November,” said CHL President David Branch.  “The CHL would like to thank title sponsor SUBWAY® Restaurants and partner Hockey Canada for their continued support as well as broadcast partners Sportsnet and TVA Sports as we showcase many of the league’s best players to CHL fans across the country in advance of the World Junior Championship hosted by Montreal and Toronto.”

The SUBWAY® Super Series has been an integral part of the identification process for Team Canada for the past 11 years prior to the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.  In each of the last four seasons the series has been decided in the final game with the CHL emerging victorious for the ninth time in 2013 winning by a 10-8 margin in points.  Team Canada also faced Russia for the fourth straight time at the World Junior Championship this season in Malmo, Sweden, with Russia earning the bronze medal with a 2-1 victory over Canada.  Russia’s roster featured 10 players from the 2013 SUBWAY® Super Series along with Mikhail Grigorenko who participated in the event in 2011 and 2012, while Canada’s roster included 21 players from last year’s series along with Mathew Dumba who also played for Team WHL in 2011 and 2012.

“For the sixth year running, SUBWAY® Restaurants  will join hockey fans across Canada in cheering on our country’s top major junior players,” said Kathleen Bell, Director of National Marketing, SUBWAY® Restaurants of Canada. “As the Official Training Restaurant of the CHL, we are delighted to lend our support to the SUBWAY® Super Series and continue to fuel CHL fans and athletes across the country.”

2014 will mark the first time that Kingston and Acadie-Bathurst will host a SUBWAY® Super Series contest.  Rimouski hosted in the first year of competition back in 2003 with Oceanic star Sidney Crosby earning player of the game honours with three assists for Team QMJHL in the 6-3 victory.  Peterborough and Saskatoon both hosted the event in 2005 with a pair of hometown heroes leading their respective leagues to victory.  The Petes’ Liam Reddox scored two goals as player of the game in a 5-1 OHL win, and the Blades’ Devin Setoguchi scored a hat-trick as player of the game for Team WHL in the 9-2 triumph.

All six games of the SUBWAY ® Super Series will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.  The 2014 SUBWAY® Super Series is supported by CHL associate sponsors Bank of Montreal and Old Dutch.

2014 SUBWAY® Super Series Schedule of Games:
Game 1 – Monday November 10 at Saskatoon, SK
Game 2 – Tuesday November 11 at TBD
Game 3 – Thursday November 13 at Peterborough, ON
Game 4 – Monday November 17 at Kingston, ON
Game 5 – Tuesday November 18 at Bathurst, NB
Game 6 – Thursday November 20 at Rimouski, QC

For more information please visit www.subwaysuperseries.ca.


Source: http://www.subwaysuperseries.ca/article/chl-announces-2014-subway-super-series-hosts

Check back here later in the summer and the first few months of next season when more Subway Series news will come your way. Will we see another Moosehead player named to a team for the fourth straight year or will the streak end? Well we will have to wait. Congratulations to all the host cities named especially the Quebec league teams; Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Rimouski Oceanic.

Light Show Blows Up

This is a good thing and really crazy. Before Games 1 & 2 of the second round series that your Halifax Mooseheads are currently still playing in, they had an awesome 3-D light show that was projected on the ice to get the home fans excited. See the full thing here.

The show was put on by Egg Studios and has highlights of the 2013-14 QMJHL Halifax Mooseheads season. Not only have fans who attended either of those two games on the weekend seen it but as is in this day and age of modern technology and social media; so have a lot of other people in Canada and probably the United States.

My cousin, who is originally from Nova Scotia but lives in Edmonton, shared it on Facebook just recently. It's been shared by The Hockey News, Huffington Post, Yahoo, plus others like Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and Total Pro Sports.

Brian Urquhart, Halifax's vice-president of business operations, had this to say to the Chronicle Herald:

The response has been overwhelming as the video is closing in now on 300,000 views in the last 48 hours. We've heard from NHL, CHL, NCAA and NBA teams all looking fr more info on how this was done.

Here are some tweets from some fans that have seen it

photo credit: screen shot of video, screen shots of retweets from Mooseheads

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #7: at Gatineau

IT'S GAMEDAY

 GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: HAL leads 2-0

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Robert Guertin Centre (3,196) ~ Gatineau, QC

PREVIEW - it's on to Gatineau now where your halifax Mooseheads will take on the hometown Olympiques in what could be a possible three games in the Quebec city. If the first two games are any testament to how the rest of this series is going to go, game 5 in Gatineau will not be needed though. The man advantage has been the down fall for the 'Piques as they have gone 53% on the penalty kill. There have only been two even strength goals in the first 2 games of the series, 1 by both teams. If Gatineau has any chance of making this interesting they will have to still play with passion but not the aggressive passion they have been playing with the last two games. Being in front of their home crowd might help that and get them motivated. The home team in both games of the season series won between these two teams. Will we see that trend continue? We will have to wait.

NOT PLAYING - Darcy Ashley is still out with a lower body injury

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 4 Olympiques 1 at Mooseheads 4
Game 2 Apr 5 Olympiques 2 at Mooseheads 6
Game 3 Apr 8 Mooseheads at Olympiques
Game 4 Apr 9 Mooseheads at Olympiques
*Game 5 Apr 11 Mooseheads at Olympiques
*Game 6 Apr 14 Olympiques at Mooseheads
*Game 7 Apr 15 Olympiques at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Foreurs at Voltigeurs - 8:00pm
Drakkar at Huskies - 8:30pm
Oceanic at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: None
Live: @CoolenTQN
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
The fourth game will be played tomorrow night in Gatineau once again. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

Ehlers 13th in final rankings

If he had come over to Canada a year earlier he probably would've been ranked in the top 5 for the final central scouting rankings that were released today. However, being ranked #13 is not bad for the rookie season that Nikolaj Ehlers had this season with your Halifax Mooseheads.

Ehlers is also the highest ranked Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player which is different than last season where half of the top 10 ranked players were from the Q. There is a clear consensus that the Ontario Hockey League is a lot stronger draft eligible wise this year as 6 of the top 10 are from the OHL. Samual Bennett of the Kingston Frontenacs was ranked #1 once again.

Danny Moynihan and Matt Murphy were ranked once again but dropped in their final positions from the mid-term rankings. Moynihan was ranked #77 down from being ranked 66th in January while second year draft eligible Murphy droped from 105th to #128.

The 2014 NHL draft will take place in Philadelphia this year. I will be tweeting and blogging during the weekend, keeping an eye on our boys as they hopefully get drafted. The rankings are to show what the scouts think of how well each player is doing and where the consensus is that teams would take them. As we saw last year, being ranked #1 does not mean that you will be picked first overall nor does it mean you will get picked at all.


Good luck to Matt, Nikolaj and Danny in June. For the full listing of the final CSS rankings click here.

Man Advantaged.

Game One Recap

Series: HAL leads 1-0

STARS: 3. Drouin HAL | 2. Fucale HAL | 1. Ryan HAL

Attendance: 8,927

HALIFAX - Three; the number of goals that your Halifax Mooseheads scored on the powerplay. The man advantage has been good to the Mooseheads during the playoffs this season and it didn't stop tonight. Not only did Halifax get 3 goals on the Booster Juice powerplay but all the goals during the game were scored with the man advantage. For the first 40 minutes it looked like this series was going to be a very low scoring one but like they have done in the previous series, the bad guys let their guard down and Halifax took advantage of it. We also had our first penalty shot when Nikolaj Ehlers took down Vincent Dunn on a partial breakaway chance. Zach Fucale stood strong during the resulting penalty shot and made a big save to keep it a 1-0 game. 

FINAL: Gatineau 1 at Halifax 4

Point getters: GAT Bourcier 1G, Deslauriers & Berube 1A each; HAL Ryan 3 (2G & 1A), Drouin & Ehlers 2A each, Gadoury & Andrews 1G each, Murphy & Weegar 1A each

Goaltenders: Fucale HAL | Steeves GAT

Shots 1st: 14-10 HAL | 2nd: 11-8 GAT | 3rd: 11-5 HAL

Powerplay HAL 3/7, GAT 1/3

OUT OF TOWN
Rouyn-Noranda 1 - 4 Baie-Comeau
Drumonndville 4 - 3 Val-d'Or  OT
Blainville 0 - 3 Rimouski

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #5: vs. Gatineau

IT'S GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES

Series tied 0-0

Puck drops at 7:00pm

Metro Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

PREVIEW - Rematch. It's a little deja vu in the quarter finals this year. These two teams met a year ago in this exact same round. Halifax was able to sweep their second straight series last season but can they do that again? Anything is possible of course but Gatineau is a lot better this season than last year and your Mooseheads aren't steamrolling through opponents either.

After a quick series against Charlottetown that ended over a week ago, Halifax is going to have a tougher road to returning to the Q league finals and this will be their first real test. The Olympiques were able to hold the higher ranked Quebec Remparts to only one win in a high scoring first round series. However, Quebec was out with key players while the 'Piques weren't.

Could we see the first game seven in the 2014 QMJHL playoffs come from this series? We will have to see but it is definitely a possibilty.

SEASON SERIES
Halifax and Gatineau won their home game in this series while each losing the road game

October 30, 2013 - Gatineau def. Halifax 5-2
February 13, 2014 - Halifax def. Gatineau 5-1

NOTES

• Home ice will clearly be a big part of this series which has a 2-3-2 format
• If Game 5 is needed it will be televised on Sportsnet, the team said
• A breakdown of each team as written by Willy Palov of the Chronicle Herald
• The Olympiques head coach says the team is ready to face Halifax

NOT PLAYING - Darcy Ashley is still out with an upper body injury

TONIGHT'S GAMES
Huskies at Drakkar - 8:30pm
Voltigeurs at Foruers - 8:30pm
Aramada at Oceanic - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: None
Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
Halifax and Gatineau will meet again tomorrow night in Moose Country for Game 2 of this series. Puck drops at 7pm.

Around the CHL ~ volume #3 playoff edition #5

Round two of the 2014 playoffs is upon us. In this edition of "Around the CHL" we'll take a look at the matchups and how the two teams in each one fared against each other in the regular season. One series actually begun last night.

President's Cup playoffs
#1 vs #10 Baie-Comeau - Rouyn-Noranda {regular season series BAC 3-0-0-0}
#2 vs #8 Halifax - Gatineau {regular season series tied 1-1-0-0}
#3 vs #6 Val-d'Or - Drummondville {regular season series VAL 3-2-1-0}
#4 vs #5 Rimouski - Blainville-Boisbriand {regular season series tied 2-2-0-0}

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E6 Oshawa - Peterborough {regular season series OSH 5-2-0-1}
#E2 vs #E4 North Bay - Barrie {regular season series NB 3-2-0-1}

#W1 vs #W4 Guelph - London {regular season series GUE 3-2-1-0}
#W2 vs #W3 Sault Ste. Marie - Erie {regular season series tied 1-1-0-1}

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E7 Edmonton - Brandon {regular season series EDM 2-1-0-0}
#E4 vs #E6 Medicine Hat - Kootenay {regular season series tied 3-3-0-0}

#W1 vs #W4 Kelowna - Seattle {regular season series tied 2-1-0-1}
#W2 vs #W3 Portland - Victoria {regular season series VIC 3-1-0-0}

Predictions
QMJHL Second Round - Baie-Comeau in 4, Halifax in 5, Drummondville in 7, Blainville in 6
OHL Second Round - Oshawa in 5, North Bay in 6, Guelph in 6, Erie in 7
WHL Second Round - Edmonton in 6, Medicine Hat in 7, Kelowna in 6, Victoria in 6

Tonight's games
Oceanic vs. Armada at 8:30PM
Oil Kings vs. Wheat Kings at 10PM
Rockets vs. Thunderbirds at 11:05PM

Friday's games
Mooseheads vs. Olympiques at 7PM
Generals vs. Petes at 8:05PM
Greyhounds vs. Otters at 8:07PM
Storm vs. Knights at 8:30PM
Battalion vs. Colts at 8:30PM
Drakkar vs. Huskies at 8:30PM
Foruers vs. Voltigeurs at 8:30PM
Oceanic vs. Armada at 8:30PM
Winterhawks vs. Royals at 11PM

Quebec next Memorial Cup hosts

The 2015 Memorial Cup hosts was announced today. With the Saskatoon Blades (WHL) holding it last season and the London Knights hosting it this coming May, it is time for one of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams to be opening their doors to the four lucky undetermined teams.

From the press conference, the selection committee president Paul Wilson said of the decision

The committee’s decision to select Quebec to host the event is based on the fact that their bid had all the elements from top to bottom to convince us that they would present an excellent 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup: great hockey team, good organizing committee and superior installations. Moreover, we felt that the whole community was behind the bid. Each organization was well-prepared and made very professional presentations.

Congratulations to Quebec City. What kind of talks will be had after this announcement? It's the third straight time that a Quebec province team has been named the host when it was the QMJHL's turn. Of course the Maritimes didn't have a chance after the Moncton Wildcats pulled out of the bidding process back in early November. That only left Quebec and the Chicoutimi Sagueneens to bid for hosting rights.

Breaking tradition in the three year rotation which each league hosts, the QMJHL will also host the Memorial Cup in 2017. Chicoutimi may place a bid for that year while the Saint John Sea Dogs will look to make a bid, hoping to win it at home.

Here is how the rotation will go down for the next 5 seasons:
2014     OHL         London Knights
2015     QMJHL    Quebec Remparts
2016     WHL      
2017     QMJHL
2018     OHL           *100th Memorial Cup

Nik and Zach win awards.

It was a big night for two of the biggest parts of the Halifax Mooseheads team this season at the QMJHL Golden Puck awards that were last night. Rookie sensation Nikolaj Ehlers, who recorded the second highest team rookie points, was named rookie of the year and top professional prospect in the Q at the ceremony. Ehlers wasn't the only Moosehead to win two trophies yesterday. Goaltender Zach Fucale was named personality of the year, an award that Jonathan Drouin won last season. Zach also had the best goals against average for a goalie this season.

Speaking of Drouin, after winning all three awards he was nominated for last season, Jonathan was not given the trophy for MVP again this year. Anthony Mantha of the Val-d'Or Foreurs was named the most valuable player this season. Brent Andrews, Brendan Duke and Mackenzie Weegar did not win the awards they were nominated for.

Ehlers played good enough this season to be named to two all-star teams. He was named to the second and rookie all star teams this season. He is joined by Fucale and Weegar on the second all star team. Drouin was named to the first all star team along with former Moosehead Randy Gazzola who currently plays for the Fourers.

For a full list of winners please direct your attention to the "Awards" tab above.

It's awards night.

Players and personnel of the 18 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League have invaded Montreal tonight for the annual QMJHL Golden Puck Awards gala. Five Halifax Mooseheads were nominated once again this season while two were nominated for awards that are awarded at the beginning of the playoffs. Rookie Nikolaj Ehlers leads the herd of Moose players with nominations in Rookie of the Year and Top Professional Prospect while Zach Fucale, Brendan Duke and MacKenzie Weegar were nominated for other player awards. Jonathan Drouin is looking to match history as he is looking to be the first player since Sidney Crosby to be named Most Valuable Player two seasons in a row.

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.

Halifax round two schedule

PLAYOFFS

#2 Halifax Mooseheads vs. #8 Gatineau Olympiques

Second round

Your Halifax Mooseheads announced their second round schedule in which they play the Gatineau Olympiques.

HALIFAX - The second round is close to arriving. Fans had to wait until the Wildcats/Armada series was over to know who each team in the second would be playing who. Now that we know who the Mooseheads will be playing the Olympiques the schedule has been released. Because the two teams are so far apart, it takes 15 hours to drive to Gatineau, the series will be 2-3-2 which is different than the previous round. Halifax will once again have home ice advantage in this round and will look to take it all the way to the final round of the 2014 playoffs.

HEAD-TO-HEAD ~ all-time: 26 games 12-13-1-0-0; this season 2 games 1-1-0-0; playoffs: 13 games 8-5-0-0

LAST GAME - Gatineau is coming off a big 7-1 win against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Thursday night to sweep their first round series while Halifax swept their series as well against the Charlottetown Islanders romping them 11-3.

Tickets for the second round go on sale to the general public on Wednesday at 10am and fans can get them at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstores, www.ticketatlantic.com or by calling (902) 451-1221

Game #1
Friday April 4 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #2
Saturday April 5 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #3 
Tuesday April 8 @ 8:30pm at Centre Robert-Guertin ~ Gatineau, QC
Game #4
Wednesday April 9 @ 8:30pm at Centre Robert-Guertin ~ Gatineau, QC
Game #5*
Friday April 11 @ 8:30pm at Centre Robert-Guertin ~ Gatineau, QC
Game #6*
Monday April 14 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #7*
Tuesday April 15 @ 7:00pm at Halifax Metro Centre ~ Halifax, NS

*if necessary

April Foolery: Moose Country acquires Titan Nation

It is with great pride that we announce today the acquisition of the Titan Nation independent news site. Effective 12:01a.m. on Tuesday, April 1, Titan Nation has become Moose Nation. A similar announcement has already been made on the former Titan Nation site.

The re-branding comes after a week-long deliberation with the owner of the Moose Country blog Ashley Hennigar who has been looking to expand her sphere of influence. Titan Nation owner Bryan Willett said of the deal, "With 1.2 Million visitors to the Titan Nation website since October, how could I say no to such an offer being made?"

When pressed for details on why he decided to hand over Titan Nation to Miss Hennigar, Mr. Willett added, "I put a season of hard work into this site, and I'm proud of what I have been able to do. I'm someone who has always been a firm believer in supporting independent talent, and Ashley has shown me that she has the desire and capability to take what I've started here, combine it with her Moose Country brand and take things to the next level."

Mr. Willett will be staying on as a content designer while continuing to cover the Acadie-Bathurst Titan hockey club for The Q News.

When contacted, Miss Hennigar said, "I'm excited for this opportunity to expand Moose Country and give a greater awareness of the Mooseheads from a fan's point of view."

While the website will remain under the titannation.ca address for the time being, Mr. Willett is attempting to secure the rights to moosenation.ca for future use. According to the documents acquired by Moose Nation, Mr. Willett does have the ability to opt out of the deal by 4:00p.m. ADT tonight.  



UPDATE April 2, 14
If you notice this article was posted on April 1st which is April Fool's Day. The acquistition of Titan Nation by Moose Country was a practical joke and was just for fun. I hope you enjoyed our little game. It was a great idea by ABTitanLive (aka. Bryan Willett) to do this and I was happy to take a part in it.