Herd Word

DROUIN
Former Halifax Mooseheads player Jonathan Drouin and the Tampa Bay Lightning moved on to the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs with a 2-0 Game 7 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Drouin only played in one game during the first round, collecting no points and going minus-2 in that game. The Lightning are battling the Montreal Canadiens this round, a series that begins tomorrow night in Montreal.

WOLRD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Jakub Voracek
Photo - Philadelphia Flyers website

Moose alumni Nathan MacKinnon will represent his country once again, this time at the Men's World Championships which are set to begin tomorrow in Czech Republic. This will be the second time that MacKinnon has played in this tournament. The Cole Harbour native and Team Canada will play their first game on Friday, against Latvia at 11:15am Atlantic time. Halifax will have another former player in the tournament with Jakub Voracek playing for the Czech Republic. I believe he's even been named an alternate captain but there has been no official word yet.

VORACEK
Talking about Jakub, he had a pretty big year in terms of milestones. On October 25th, he recorded his 300th point in the NHL, while 3 days later recorded his 200th assist in the league. December 13 saw him hit 200 penalty minutes in the NHL. At the end of January, the 26 year old played his 500th career game. Check out more here.

Draft logo
Photo - Wikipedia

DRAFTS
The Halifax Mooseheads will be selecting in the first round of the QMJHL draft for the first time since 2012. GM Cam Russell will be on the podium picking 7th overall in the 2015 version which will be held in Sherbrooke, QC. The Entry draft will be held on June 6th. Halifax will also be drafting a player at the CHL Import Draft this season as Danish forward Nikolaj Ehlers is unlikely to be back on the team come September. The Moose hold the 19th spot on June 30th. The Florida Panthers host the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and the other import player on the Herd, Timo Meier hopes that he will get drafted in the first round on June 26. The Swiss forward is projected to go anywhere's from 10th to 15th with a few even thinking he will go in the top 10. Check out the list of upcoming events on the team website.

Semi Finals Set

After your Halifax Mooseheads were defeated by the Moncton Wildcats on Tuesday night, one semi final matchup was official. The second place Wildcats will take on the fourth place Quebec Remparts. That series will begin on Thursday night in Moncton with Game 2 going on Saturday. The Cats won't get much rest after playing a seven game series that ended last night in New Brunswick against the Mooseheads. Halifax fans will be interested in this series since there are three former Herd players on the team in goaltender Zach Fucale and defencemen Brian Lovell and Matt Murphy. The 3 young men were traded to Quebec during the winter trading period and are playing their last junior season (most likely for Zach). Despite what happens in this series, the Remparts will be in the Memorial Cup tournament but they would like to be going there as QMJHL champions.

In the other semi final matchup, first seed Rimouski Oceanic had to wait a little longer as the Baie Comeau/Val-d'Or series went into overtime during Game 7, also last night. The sixth seeded Foreurs came out on top, winning 4-3, which eliminated former Moose Luca Ciampini and the Drakkar. Val-d'Or are defending President Cup champions and will be looking to get back to the league finals against a very tough powerful Oceanic team. This series will begin on Friday in Rimouski and continue on Saturday.

I will keep the 2015 playoffs page updated until a champion is declared. A big congrats to Moncton on winning the series, it was a fun series to watch. Congratulations to the Mooseheads on a very well fought season and forcing TWO game sevens against tough teams.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 3, Wildcats 6

MC POST-GAME

Here's some stories from last night's 6-3 loss to the Moncton Wildcats

The Q News' recap: It took seven games, but the Moncton Wildcats finally got the better of their Maritime rivals, the Halifax Mooseheads.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads reached the end of the line Tuesday night in Moncton.

Metro Halifax's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads put the final period on their season story Tuesday night at the Moncton Coliseum.

The Canadian Press' recap: Stephen Johnson struck twice and added an assist as the Wildcats advanced to the next round of the playoffs with a Game 7 win over Halifax.

moncton-wildcats.com's recap: The Moncton Wildcats have advanced to the semi-finals of the QMJHL playoffs for the first time since 2009-2010 after with a thrilling 6-3 win in Game Seven over the Halifax Mooseheads in front of 6215 fans at the Moncton Coliseum on Tuesdaynight.

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: Your Halifax Mooseheads fought until the end as they pushed the #2 ranked Wildcats all the way to Game 7 of the QMJHL Quarter-Finals, but the series finale did not turn out the way the #12 Moose had hoped for by dropping a 6-3 decision on Tuesday night at the Coliseum.

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Max Fortier (injured), Domenico Argento (healthy scratch), Makail Parker (healthy scratch), Sam Hunter (injured) and Jordan King (healthy scratch)

SCORES
Baie-Comeau 3 - 4 Val-d'Or OT

NEXT GAME
Not until late August. Check back here for updates

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #14: at Moncton

GAMEDAY

MONCTON WILDCATS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series tied 3-3

Tuesday March 21, 2015 at 7:00pm

TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Moncton Coliseum (6,554) ~ Moncton, NB

Well it's all come down to this. Who's season will be extended tonight; the Mooseheads or the Wildcats? The victor could be either team as the whole series has had momentum changes. After being dominating in the first two games, both on the road, Halifax lost two on home ice and then got a beating of their own on Friday night in Fredericton to go down 3-2 in the series. On Sunday, the Herd played like it could be their last game of the season and they will need to play that way tonight as well, skating away with the home win in the early evening game. Moncton will most likely have the momentum though coming into tonight after scoring the last 3 goals of Game 6 as well as being on home ice. There will be at least 30 Mooseheads fans in attendance, trying to make hell for the Cats. It worked in Games 1 & 2 and the team (and fans) are hoping it will work again. 

NOT PLAYING - Halifax will be without Sam Hunter (upper body) and most likely Domenico Argento and Jordan King as healthy scratches
 

NOTES - The Mooseheads are 6-4-0-0 in Game 7s all time including one versus Moncton in the 2007 playoffs.

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

NEXT GAME
Once again it depends on the outcome of tonight.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #11: vs Moncton

GAMEDAY

HALFIAX MOOSEHEADS vs. MONCTON WILDCATS

April 15, 2015 at 7:00pm

Halifax leads 2-1

TV: Rogers/Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

After winning the first two games on the road, it looked like the Halifax Mooseheads were poised to go up 3-0 in their second round series. But a early third period powerplay goal put the dagger in that scenario and the Mooseheads come into tonight with a 2-1 series lead instead. Halifax will be looking to continue their Cinderella run this evening during game 4 and push the Moncton Wildcats to the breaking point. Penalties killed the home team last night, with the Cats going 3 for 4 on the powerplay after your Herd were able to shut them out on the road. Of course, the Moose still have the best powerplay percentage in the league right now during playoffs at 35.9% while Moncton is 7th with 21.7%.

NOT PLAYING - Phil Gadoury and Sam Hunter will be game time decisions and expect to not see Dom Argento and Jordan King

TONIGHT'S GAMES
Oceanic at Olympiques - 8:30pm
Foreurs at Drakkar - 8:30pm

NEXT GAME
The two teams will meet again for game 5 on Friday in Fredericton. Puck drops at 7pm.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 7, Wildcats 3

MC POST-GAME

Here's some stories from last night's 7-3 game 1 victory over the Moncton Wildcats

The Q News' recap: Nikolaj Ehlers scored four goals and picked up an assist to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to dominating 7-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Game 1 of their best-of-seven, second round series Friday night at Moncton Coliseum. 

The Chronicle Herald's recap: You wouldn't know it by the final score, but the Halifax Mooseheads started Friday night's second-round QMJHL playoff opener looking out of sorts. 

Metro News' recap: Instead of the traditional hat for scoring three, Nikolaj Ehlers wore a retro jean jacket over his equipment after scoring four goals Friday night, after helping the Halifax Mooseheads strike first in second-round QMJHL playoff action with a 7-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats. 

L'acadie Nouvelle's recap: Les partisans des Wildcats de Moncton anticipaient en salivant le debut de la saison de la chasse a l'orignal vendredi soir. 

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads are a confident bunch these days but they may have even surprised themselves after whipping the Wildcats 7-3 to open up Round 2 of the QMJHL President Cup Playoffs on Friday night in Moncton. 

moncton-wildcats.com's recap: It was the Nik Ehlers Show at the Moncton Coliseum on Friday night as the flashy forward scored four times to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to an impressive 7-3 win over the Monton Wildcats in front of 4283 fans. 

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary. 

MISSING IN ACTION: Jordan King (healthy), Sam Leblanc (upper body injury) and Domenico Argento were not playing

SCORES
Charlottetown 2 - 7 Quebec
Gatineau 2 - 1 Rimouski
Baie-Comeau 3 - 2 Val-d'Or 2OT

NEXT GAME
Halifax will take on the Wildcats tonight for game 2 in Moncton. Puck drops at 7pm.

Fucale Breaks Postseason Record

Photo - QMJHL.ca

He may be on a different team but Montreal Canadiens prospect Zach Fucale is still breaking records. Fucale is now first in league playoff wins by a goaltender. With the Quebec Remparts' 7-2 victory over the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday night, the 19 year old got his 39th win the playoffs. He surpasses Roberto Luongo who previously held the record. He made 29 saves in the win that gave the Remparts a 1-0 lead in their second round series. The former Mooseheads player had 35 playoff wins with Halifax and has 4 victories so far in the 2015 President Cup playoffs.

Congrats Zach!!

Three In A Row at Awards

Timo Meier
Photo - QMJHL twitter

For three straight seasons, a Halifax Mooseheads player has been awarded the Paul Dumont Trophy or the Mike Bossy Trophy. Second year forwards Nikolaj Ehlers and Timo Meier were the only current Herd players to be nominated for awards. The two teammates were both nominated for the Paul Dumont Trophy which is Personality of the Year. They were joined by former teammate Zach Fucale as nominees. 19 year old Ehlers ended up winning the award. Nik was also nominated for the Michel Briere Trophy as Most Valuable Player but lost to Conor Garland of the Moncton Wildcats. Garland was also awarded the Jean Beliveau Trophy as the league's top scorer with 129 points.

Timo Meier won the Mike Bossy trophy for Top Professional Prospect. Meier was ranked #10 in the final Central Scouting Services draft rankings. The 18 year old is the highest ranked Quebec league prospect for this year's NHL draft. He is the third Moosehead to win the award, following Jonathan Drouin in 2012-13 and Nikolaj Ehlers in 2013-14. Fucale was the reigning Paul Dumont Trophy winner while Jonathan Drouin won the award in 2012-13.

Former Herd player Luca Ciampini was nominated for the humanitarian and community involvement award but lost to Danick Martel of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

Congrats to Nik and Timo and the other winners. You can find the full list of winners here.

Round 2 schedule released

PLAYOFFS

#2 Moncton Wildcats vs #12 Halifax Mooseheads

2nd round

Halifax Mooseheads and the Moncton Wildcats announced their second round schedule for the 2015 President Cup playoffs.

HALIFAX - If you asked people to predict who would win the round 1 matchup between the Mooseheads and the Shawinigan Cataractes, not many would reply with Halifax but thanks to leading scorer Nikolaj Ehlers the Herd are in the second round. They'll have just as tough a time against their Maritime rival as they did with the Cataractes. It will be just as physical too. There should be lots of scoring too as 2 of the top 5 leading scorers in the regular season are in this series. Conor Garland, who had 129 points in the regular season, has gone dry though as he's not even in the top 40 for playoff scoring.

HEAD-TO-HEAD ~ all-time: 144 games 64-66-4-8-2; this season: 9 games 3-4-2-0; playoffs: 16 games 10-6-0-0

LAST GAME - Halifax is coming off an exciting 3-2 overtime victory to clinch their first round series in 7 games versus Shawinigan while Moncton is coming off a 4-1 series clinching game 5 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Tickets for the second round go on sale to the general public on Friday 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 10 @ 7:00pm at Moncton Coliseum ~ Moncton, NB
Game #2
Saturday April 11 @ 7:00pm at Moncton Coliseum ~ Moncton, NB
Game #3
Tuesday April 14 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #4
Wednesday April 15 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #5*
Friday April 17 @ 7:00pm at Moncton Coliseum ~ Moncton, NB
Game #6*
Sunday April 19 @ 4:00pm at Scotiabank Centre ~ Halifax, NS
Game #7*
Tuesday April 21 @ 7:00pm at Moncton Coliseum ~ Moncton, NB

*if necessary

It's Awards Night

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will announce it's annual award winners tonight in Montreal at their Golden Puck Awards gala. Two current Mooseheads are nominated for awards this season after a rebuilding year. Nikolaj Ehlers is up for Most Valuable Player while Timo Meier is looking to win the Michael Bossy Trophy for Top Professional Prospect. The two players are also nominated for Personality of the Year award. This is the third straight year a Herd player has been nominated for MVP with Jonathan Drouin on the list last season and the year before, winning in 2013. There's also a chance we could have 3 straight winners for top prospect and personality of the year should our boys win.

Two former players, Luca Ciampini and Zach Fucale are also nominated. Fucale joins his former teammates as a nominee for personality of the year. Ciampini has done a lot in his new community and is nominated for Humanitarian of the Year.

Good luck to all players especially our boys and check back here tomorrow for a recap of the victors.

Click here for nominees.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 3, Cataractes 2 OT

MC POST-GAME

Here's some stories from last night's 3-2 game 7 win over the Shawinigan Cataractes

The Chronicle Herald's recap: Nikolaj Ehlers won't soon forget the goal he scored Tuesday night in Shawinigan.

Metro News' recap: Nikolaj Ehlers is officially an overtime hero.

The Canadian Press' recap: Nikolaj Ehlers scored 16:59 into the first overtime as the Halifax Mooseheads beat the Shawinigan Cataractes 3-2 on Tuesday in Game 7 of their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff series.

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads came through in the clutch on Tuesday night in Shawinigan by scoring a gigantic 3-2 overtime victory in Game 7 of their first round President Cup playoff series with Shawinigan.

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Sam Leblanc (upper body injury), Domenico Argento (healthy scratch) and Brandon Vuic (suspended)

SCORES
Cape Breton 3 - 6 Quebec

NEXT GAME
Halifax will travel to Moncton this week to take on the Wildcats on Friday night for game 1 of round 2. Puck drops at 7pm.

Maritime Matchup In Second Round

Nikolaj Ehlers. Who else would be the overtime hero for your Halifax Mooseheads in Game 7 of the 2015 President Cup playoffs first round? After almost being suspended for what possibly could've been Halifax's last game of the season, Ehlers scored at 16:59 in the overtime period to give the Herd a 3-2 victory, and he celebrated accordingly. The goal and the win will set up a second round match-up between your Moose and the Moncton Wildcats.

Moncton made quick work of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, dispersing of the #15 team in 5 games. No surprise as they Wildcats are ranked 2nd overall this season. The Mooseheads were 3-4-2-0 over 9 games against Moncton this season.

Game 1 will probably be Friday or Saturday in Moncton while Game 3 & 4 will be on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively in Halifax. Check back here in the next 48 hours for the full schedule when it is released.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #7: at Shawinigan

GAMEDAY

SHAWINIGAN CATARACTES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

April 7, 2015 at 8:00pm

Series tied 3-3

TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Centre Bionest de Shawinigan (4,125) ~ Shawinigan, QC

It's do or die for both teams tonight. After facing a record breaking 63 shots on Friday night in almost 5 periods, Eric Brassard could not replicate his performance on Sunday letting in 5 goals on 35 shots in a 6-1 loss that tied the series. The biggest story to come out of that game was Nikolaj Ehlers being ejected from the game for abusing the officials. Ehlers will not be suspended and will be in the lineup this evening as your Mooseheads try to take the upset series victory. Nik was upset after taking a double minor spearing penalty in the third period. It was one of 10 powerplays that the Shawinigan Cataractes had during the game. Halifax will need to keep their cool if they wish to win this game and move on to the next round. They will also need to play better defensively and try to limit the amount of shots that Brassard has to face. The 19 year old goalie has faced 250 shots over the course of 6 games, the most during this year's playoffs.

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Mar 27  Mooseheads 3 at Cataractes 2
Game 2 Mar 28  Mooseheads 2 at Cataractes 4
Game 3 Mar 31  Cataractes 3 at Mooseheads 2 OT
Game 4 Apr 1  Cataractes 3 at Mooseheads 4
Game 5 Apr 3  Cataractes 3 at Mooseheads 4 2OT
Game 6 Apr 5  Mooseheads 1 at Cataractes 6
Game 7 Apr 7  Mooseheads at Cataractes

NOT PLAYING - Brandon Vuic is suspended

TONIGHT'S GAMES
Screaming Eagles at Remparts - 8:00pm

NEXT GAME
Should the Herd win they will play game 1 of round 2 either Friday or Saturday

POSTGAME: Cataractes 3, Mooseheads 4 2OT

MC POST-GAME

Here's some stories from last night's 4-3 game 5 win over the Shawinigan Cataractes

The Q News' recap: Timo Meier scored halfway through double overtime to give the Halifax Mooseheads a 4-3 extra-time victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes on Good Friday at the Halifax Forum.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads are one win away from advancing to the second round of the QMJHL playoffs.

Metro News' recap: Timo Meier's time to shine was in double OT on Friday night.

The Canadian Press' recap: Timo Meier scored his second of the game at 12:08 into the second overtime period as the Mooseheads took a 3-2 series lead over Shawinigan.

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: Game 5 of the first round President Cup Playoff series between Halifax and Shawinigan will without a doubt go down in history as one of the most memorable matchups in Mooseheads history.

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Jordan King (healthy), Sam Leblanc (injury), Domenico Argento

SCORES
Quebec 3 - 1 Cape Breton
Sherbrooke 0 - 4 Charlottetown
Gatineau 1 - 0 Blainville-Boisbriand
Rouyn-Noranda 4 - 5 Val-d'Or OT

NEXT GAME
The two teams will meet again on Sunday evening in Shawinigan for game 6. Puck drops at 5pm.