GAMEDAY #36: vs. Cape Breton

GAME PREVIEW
CAPE BRETON SCREAMING EAGLES VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

The Moose look to the home ice advantage to look and get back in the competition of the Hurley cup. In tonight's loss Alex Gravel was pulled when the team went down 4-0 and Blade Mann-Dixon replaced him in nets. In replacing Gravel it seemed to have given the team a spark to get back into the game. The Moose would get the game to a 5-3 game when the Eagles scored into the open net to take game one of the Hurley cup. Don't forget to bring a non perishable food item for Feed Nova Scotia to receive a raffle ticket to win one of the game worn Battle of Nova Scotia Jerseys. There is looking to be a big crowd so lets get behind our team in a home ice win for the Hurley Cup.

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 15-17-1-2 = 33 points (5th in Maritimes division, 15th overall)
Screaming Eagles: 19-15-2-1 = 41 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 8th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
CAP: Giovanni Fiore 41pts (26G & 15A), Massimo Carozza 32pts (15G & 17A), Vasily Glotlov 30pts (5G & 25A)
HAL: Maxime Fortier 56pts (19G & 37A),Nico Hischier 48pts (23G & 25A), Connor Moynihan 29pts (16G & 13A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Halifax is coming off a 6-3 loss in the first half of the Hurley Cup. Alex Gravel was replaced by Blade Mann-Dixon in nets, while Max Fortier, Anthony Sorrentino, and Bradley Kennedy all scored for the Moose.

Cape Breton is coming off a 6-3 win in the first half if the Hurley Cup. Giovanni Fiore lead the Eagles with two goals on the night.

ALUM ON EAGLES – none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 1  Cape Breton 4 at Halifax 6
October 28  Halifax 3 at Cape Breton 1
October 29  Cape Breton 5 at Halifax 1
December 10  Halifax 4 at Cape Breton 5 OT
December 30  Halifax 3 at Cape Breton 6
December 31  Cape Breton at Halifax – 2pm
January 17  Halifax at Cape Breton – 7pm
March 3  Halifax at Cape Breton – 7pm
March 17  Cape Breton at Halifax – 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Islanders at Wildcats    2:00pm
Titan at Sea Dogs    2:00pm
Tigres at Drakkar    3:00pm
Voltigeures at Armada    3:00pm
Oceanic at Sagueneens    3:00pm
Olympiques at Remparts    3:00pm
Foreurs at Huskies    3:00pm
Cataractes at Phoenix    3:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Moose will travel to Moncton to take on the Wildcats for the first part of a home and home. Puck drop is at 7pm.

GAMEDAY #34: at Charlottetown

GAME PREVIEW
CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS VS CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Eastlink Centre (3,717) ~ Charlottetown, PEI

The second half of the QMJHL season gets underway tonight when your Halifax Mooseheads take a trip to Charlottetown for a battle against the Islanders. Halifax is looking to right the ship as the team is coming off 5 straight losses going 0-3-1-1 before the holiday break. They'll be in tough against one of the hottest teams in the league and a division rival. Both teams are without a key player tonight as Nico Hischier for the Moose and Filip Chlapik for the Islanders. How will each team fair? We'll have to wait and see. The big story this game is goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon facing his former team for the first time. The Mooseheads acquired the 19 year old net stopper from Charlottetown last week through a trade and the Antigonish, NS native will get the start this evening. Charlottetown has another former Herd on their roster now after acquiring Jean-Sebastien Taillefer from Gatineau.

This is the fourth game between these two teams this season. Halifax is 2-1-0-0 against the Islanders while Charlottetown has a 1-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last match was November 12 in Moose Country with the home team getting the 7-4 victory. Nico Hischier had first star honours scoring a hat trick and assisting on another goal.

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 15-15-1-2 = 33 points (5th in Maritimes division, 13th overall)
Islanders: 20-12-1-0 = 41 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 5th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
CHA: Filip Chlapik 44pts (20G & 24A), Kameron Kielly 37pts (18G & 19A), Cody Donaghey 34pts (10G & 24A)
HAL: Maxime Fortier 53pts (17G & 36A), Nico Hischier 48pts (23G & 25A), Connor Moynihan 29pts (16G & 13A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Halifax is coming off a disappointing loss 6-4 to last place Moncton on December 17. Otto Somppi scored twice and had an assist to lead the Mooseheads while Jocktan Chainey was named the 1st star with 3 assists despite the defeat to the Wildcats on home ice.

Charlottetown is coming off a 8-2 defeat at the hands of league leading Saint John on the last day before the break. Cody Donaghey and Gregor MacLeod each scored while Matthew Welsh made 31 saves against the host Sea Dogs.

ALUM ON ISLANDERS - Cody Donaghey and Jean-Sebastien Taillefer

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 2  Halifax 2 at Charlottetown 9
October 8  Charlottetown 2 at Halifax 5
November 12  Charlottetown 4 at Halifax 7
December 28  Halifax at Charlottetown - 7pm
January 11  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm
February 10  Halifax at Charlottetown - 7pm
February 18  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm
March 5  Halifax at Charlottetown - 3pm
March 15  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Titan vs. Sea Dogs    7:00pm
Screaming Eagles vs. Wildcats     7:00pm
Armada vs. Remparts     8:00pm
Voltigeurs vs. Phoenix     8:00pm
Cataractes vs. Huskies     8:00pm
Tigres vs. Drakkar     8:00pm
Olympiques vs. Foreurs     8:30pm
Oceanic vs. Sagueneens     8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax and Cape Breton will play a home and home series for the Hurley Cup starting with a game in Sydney on Friday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

TRADE: Moose Acquire Veteran Goalie

Your Halifax Mooseheads announced their first  trade of the 2016 winter period today. The team stated that they have relinquished their 8th round draft pick in 2017 in exchange for Charlottetown's veteran goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon. The 19 year old will join the team next week and could potentially suit up against his former club in his first game for the Mooseheads when the Herd visit the Islanders on Wednesday. Mann-Dixon has a 3.16 goals against average and a 9-4-0-0 record in 16 games played so far this season for the black and gold.

The move to Halifax will be the Antigonish, NS native's fourth team in the Q. Check his career stats below:

Season	Team	GP	W	L	T	Mins	GA	SO	GAA	SH	SAV%	SGA	GAS	SSH	SSA%
2014-15	Saint John	3	2	1	-	156:55	10	-	3.82	82	0.878	31.4	-	-	-
2015-16	Moncton	29	13	12	-	1425:26	84	-	3.54	698	0.880	29.4	1	2	0.500
2016-17	Charlottetown	16	9	4	-	874:47	46	1	3.16	441	0.896	30.3	-	3	1.000
Total		48	24	17	-	2457:08	140	1	3.42	1221	0.885	29.8	1	5	0.800

Welcome to Moose Country Blade, looking forward to watching you play in the red and green. You can follow Mann-Dixon on Twitter at @BladeMannDixon

Herd Word: Fucale To Play in Spengler Cup

HISCHIER
The Canadian Hockey League released the rosters for the CHL/NHL Top Prospects game that will be held on January 30, 2017 in Quebec City. Halifax Mooseheads rookie Nico Hischier was among the players who will participate in the annual showcase of draft eligible players. Hischier leads the league in rookie scoring with 48 points and has been ranked in the top 10 on scouting services listings all season long. Despite not playing in the last few games, Nico still is second on the Moose team.

Congrats to Nico on representing the Mooseheads in the top prospects game.

Photo - Brampton Beast's Facebook

FUCALE
It was announced on Tuesday that Zach Fucale will represent Hockey Canada once again, this time at the Spengler Cup.

The former Halifax Mooseheads goaltender was among the 23 players that were named to Team Canada's roster for the tournament. Fucale is in second year of professional hockey and is playing for the Brampton Beast of the ECHL. He is doing pretty good, recently playing to a shutout in a game against the Adirondack Thunder on Saturday night. Zach and the rest of Team Canada will start the Spengler Cup on Boxing Day in Davos, Switzerland. The tournament will end on December 31 with the gold medal game.

Congrats to Zach and good luck in the tournament. Moose Country will be cheering big time for you!

TAILLEFER
With the holiday break now in full swing, it also brings with it a multitude of trades in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. One of those trades in the first week included a Herd alum. The Gatineau Olympiques announced a big trade on Wednesday with the Charlottetown Islanders. Gatineau traded former Moosehead Jean-Sebastien Taillefer in a 7 player deal.

Moose Country would like to wish good luck to Jean-Sebastien with the Islanders.

WORLD JUNIORS
Another tournament that begins on December 26th is the World Junior Hockey Championships which this year are being held right here in Canada, splitting between Montreal and Toronto. There is no Mooseheads on the host country team but former head coach Dominique Ducharme leads the home nation in a role behind the bench. However, a current player will be in the tourney. The almost 18 year old; Nico Hischier will be on Team Switzerland and will hope to help his country better their 9th place finish at last year's championship.

Good luck to both men next week. Go get em.

LAVOIE
Rookie Raphael Lavoie will be back in the lineup after the holiday break. Halifax announced today that their 2016 second round pick is returning to the team after spending the last 2 and a half months in the Quebec triple A league. The 16 year old began the season with the Moose but after a difficult start made the decision to play for the team he was on last season. Lavoie scored seven goals and recorded 18 points in 15 games played with the College Antoine-Girouard Gaulois.

POSTPONED GAME
The match between the Saint John Sea Dogs and your Halifax Mooseheads on December 16 was postponed until further notice because of bad weather that caused the Herd unable to get out of Nova Scotia. The QMJHL announced the other day a makeup date for the game. The two teams will now play on March 1st at 7pm in Harbour Station.

Meier Gets Game Winner in NHL Debut

Meier with the puck from his 1st NHL goal
Photo - SJ Barracuda twitter

Former Halifax Moosehead Timo Meier has scored his first National Hockey League goal and it turned out to be the game winner.

On Wednesday, the San Jose Sharks announced that they had recalled the 20 year old from their AHL affiliate. Before being called up, Meier led the San Jose Barracuda in goals with 9. He was also third on team in points recording 15 points in 17 games while also being tied for the team lead in plus/minus at a plus-8 rating.

By Thursday evening Timo was in the Sharks lineup for their match against the Montreal Canadiens in the Quebec city. The Swiss native played only 10 minutes in his NHL debut but he made them count as he finished the night with 3 shots, 2 hits and the game winning goal. With less than 7 minutes left in the first period Meier was out front of the net and wrapped a backhander in past Carey Price, one of the best goaltenders in the league right now. It gave the Sharks a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes and eventually the team would win 4-2.

Below is video of the goal by the alumnus of the Herd and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Congratulations to Timo on making his NHL debut last night and a big thumbs up for his first goal.

GAMEDAY #30: vs. Blainville-Boisbriand

GAME PREVIEW
BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND ARMADA VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 7pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

After a three game road trip, your Halifax Mooseheads are back home for Friday night hockey. They will have a tough test tonight as they take on the second place Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. The armada have been on top of the league for most of the season so far but were overtaken this week by the very hot Saint John Sea Dogs. Blainville is still a tough opponent though and Halifax will be looking to prove they can hang with the best teams in the league. The Mooseheads have the 2nd star of the week on their team in goaltender Alexis Gravel. Despite being only 16 years old, the Abestos, QC native is amount the league leaders for goals against average and save percentage. This will be the last game for Nico Hischier for a while and the Herd might really need his offensive power as they host the top goaltender; Samuel Montembeault who will most likely get the start.

This is the second and final game between the two teams this season. Halifax is 0-1-0-0 against the Armada while Blainville-Boisbriand has a 1-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last match was on October 15th in Blainville where the home Armada skated away with a 4-2 victory. Alexis Gravel made 31 saves to take the loss.

OVERALL RECORDS
Armada: 19-7-2-1 = 41 points (1st in West division, 2nd overall)
Mooseheads: 15-12-0-2 = 32 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 9th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 49pts (16G & 33A), Nico Hischier 47pts (22G & 25A), Connor Moynihan 29pts (16G & 13A)
BLB: Alexandre Alain 27pts (15G & 12A), Joel Teasdale 23pts (10G & 13A), TJ Melancon 21pts (9G & 12A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Blainville-Boisbriand is coming off a 5-2 victory on Saturday night in Gatienau. Shaun Miller led the Armada with a goal and an assist while Francis Leclerc picked up the win making 22 saves versus the Olympiques.

Halifax is coming off their second shootout loss of the season, this time to Baie-Comeau on Saturday. Rookie Benoit-Olivier Groulx scored twice to lead the Mooseheads while Kevin Resop was pulled after allowing 4 Drakkar goals on 21 shots.

ALUM ON ARMADA - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 15  Mooseheads 2 at Armada 4
December 9  Armada at Mooseheads - 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Wildcats vs. Tigres    7:00pm
Phoenix vs. Drakkar    8:00pm
Sagueneens vs. Voltigeurs    8:30pm
Oceanic vs. Olympiques    8:30pm
Huskies vs. Islanders    8:30pm
Foreurs vs. Cataractes    8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will travel to Sydney to take on their provincial rivals, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Mooseheads to bid for 2019 Memorial Cup

Photo - Vincent Ethier

Original story from Halifax Mooseheads' Scott MacIntosh

The Halifax Mooseheads are excited to announce their intentions to submit a bid to host the 101st Memorial Cup in Halifax in 2019.

“The Memorial Cup is a tribute to great Canadian heroism. For almost 100 years it has been the symbol of junior hockey supremacy,” said Mooseheads Majority owner Bobby Smith.

“Today we begin our efforts to showcase our hockey team, our organization, our terrific arena and our great city so that our fans can be treated to the 2019 Memorial Cup tournament.”

The 2018-2019 season will celebrate the 25th anniversary season of the Mooseheads. It will also be 20 seasons since the Club hosted its only previous Memorial Cup in 2000 when the hometown team electrified the city of Halifax and garnered national attention for the franchise. The fans were possibly the biggest story of the event in the spring of 2000 as 79,877 packed the Scotiabank Centre (then Metro Centre) for the eight-day tournament which at the time was the second highest total in the history of the Memorial Cup.

“Halifax loves hockey and we love the Moose! Not only would we pack the house for Memorial Cup 2019 like we did in 2000, we can be counted on to mobilize volunteers and create a warm East Coast welcome throughout the city for players and fans. It would be a special week,” said Mayor Mike Savage.

Halifax captured the franchise’s first and only Memorial Cup Championship in 2013 when Nathan MacKinnon scored a hat trick in the final to beat the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 in Saskatoon, SK. The team has since added an impressive young group of players and currently has 12 players on its roster 17-years-old and younger.

“The players that we have added to our roster over the past couple of years will be a solid core to build around,” said Mooseheads General Manager Cam Russell.

The Memorial Cup, one of the most prestigious and coveted trophies in North American sport, has a rich tradition that has shaped the way junior hockey is played in North America. The trophy was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association in March 1919, in remembrance of the many soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice for Canada in The First World War.  In 2010 the Memorial Cup was rededicated to the memory of all fallen Canadian Military Personnel.

The winning bid of the 2019 Memorial Cup is expected to be announced in spring of 2018.

Hosting the Memorial Cup again would be awesome for the fans, the city of Halifax and the Canadian Hockey League. Halifax has always been a great place to watch hockey and the East Coast crazy about the sport. It would be an excellent way to end the Mooseheads 25th season and celebrate is with fans across the country. Good luck to Cam Russell, Bobby Smith and company on the bid, I really hope we get it. There are rumours saying that the Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats are going to bid as well but I have not seen anything for sure. 

Rookie Goalie Gets Rewarded

Photo - The Chronicle Herald

For the fourth time in the past 6 weeks, a Halifax Mooseheads player was named a star of the week in the QMJHL. This week it was rookie goaltender Alexis Gravel who was rewarded for his strong play by being named the 2nd star. The 16 year old started the first two games of the team's Quebec road trip and went 1-1 letting in 3 goals over the two games. On Saturday Gravel came into the match against Baie-Comeau in relief but despite not allowing a goal in the 17 minutes he played, he couldn't pick up the win in the shootout. The Asbestos, QC native had a goals against average of 0.88 last week and a 0.962 save percentage. He was the first rookie goalie to collect 10 wins this season after a 4-1 victory over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Friday.

The 1st star of the week was awarded to Quebec Remparts goalie Callum Booth, who the Herd played on Wednesday evening. Booth stopped 61 of 63 shots last week winning both games he participated in. Meanwhile, Vincent Lanoue of the Victoriaville Tigres was named the third star. The defenseman collected 6 assists and maintained a +6 rating during the week.

Congratulations to Alexis and the other two players on being given the honours on Monday.

STATS SUNDAY: November

Games played: 11
Record: 6-4-0-1, 13pts
Goals for/against: 54/45
Powerplay*: 24.4%
Penalty kill*: 73.1%
Shutouts: one

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Maxime Fortier 26, Nico Hischier 25, Connor Moynihan 15, Bradley Kennedy 10, Benoit-Olivier Groulx 9
Goals: Nico Hischier 14, Maxime Fortier 7, Connor Moynihan 7, Benoit-Olivier Groulx 4, Bradley Kennedy 3
Assists: Maxime Fortier 19, Nico Hischier 11, Connor Moynihan 8, Bradley Kennedy 7, Arnaud Durandeau 6
Penalty minutes: Keigan Goetz 27, Connor Moynihan 24, Mathieu Charlebois 21, Bradley Kennedy 19, Jordan Lepage 17
Plus/minus: Nico Hischier +10, Bradley Kennedy +6, Maxime Fortier +6, Mathieu Charlebois +5, Jared McIsaac +5
Rookie scoring: Nico Hischier 25, Benoit-Olivier Groulx 9, Jared McIsaac 6, Jordan Lepage 6, Ben Higgins 4

Goaltending stats*
Alexis Gravel: 9-6-0-1     2.94 GAA     0.908 SAV%
Kevin Resop: 5-6-0-0     5.10 GAA     0.832 SAV


*overall

QMJHL Names Scholastic POM

Every month, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announces a Scholastic Player of the Month which recognizes a player on each team with his performance on ice and in the classroom. The player is selected based on their school results, their implication, the school-hockey conciliation, their team spirit and their on-ice performances.

For your Halifax Mooseheads, Jordan Lepage was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for November 2016. Lepage had 6 assists in 11 games played in the month of November while also collecting 17 penalty minutes and was a plus-3.

Here's the full list

BAC	Zachary St. Surin	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
BAT	Jerome Gravel	Cégep à distance
BLB	Guillaume Beaudoin	Cégep à distance
CAP	Kyle Jessiman	Sydney Academy
CHA	Matt Welsh	Colonel Gray High School
CHI	Zachary Lavigne	Cégep de Chicoutimi
DRU	Anthony Boucher	Cégep de Drummondville
GAT	Alexandre Landreville	Cégep de l’Outaouais
HAL	Jordan LePage	Prince Andrew High School
MON	Zachary Malatesta	South New Hampshire University
QUE	Jesse Sutton	Memorial University of Newfoundland
RIM	Charle-Edouard D’Astous	Cégep de Rimouski
ROU	Gabriel Fontaine	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
SHA	Zachary Bouthillier	École secondaire des Chutes
SHE	Patrice Demuy	Cégep de Sherbrooke
SNB	Joe Veleno	St. Malachy’s High School
VDO	Olivier Galipeau	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
VIC	Jimmy Huntington	Cégep de Victoriaville

Mooseheads on QMJHL Monthly Stars

Photo - QMJHL website

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced the three stars for the month of November today. Halifax Mooseheads fans will be interested in who was named on the monthly stars this time as two players on the Herd were given a star. Rookie Nico Hischier was named 1st star of the month while veteran Max Fortier follows right after with 2nd star honours.

Hischier was named a star of the week twice so far this season and had a very strong month in terms of scoring. The 17 year old leads the league in rookie scoring by a large margin. He had 14 goals and 25 points in 11 games played in the past 30 days, collecting points in every game in November except for the last match against Quebec last night. The Naters, Switzerland natve maintained a +10 rating during the month and has helped his line of Fortier and Connor Moynihan become one of the most dangerous in the league. Nico is one of the top prospects for the 2017 NHL entry draft.

Fortier has streaked up the leaderboard in November with 7 goals and 26 points this month and is now a top of the league scoring. Twice the almost 19 year old has recorded 6 points during a game, leading to first star honours from the media. The Montreal, QC native has been good when Halifax has been down a man on the ice, scoring 5 shorthanded goals (3 in November) which leads the Q. Max had a +6 rating during the month and was even rewarded with a second stint on Team QMJHL for the Canada/Russia series.

Francois Beachemin of the Val-d'Or Foreurs rounds out the stars of the month being named third star by the league. The 20 year old had 22 points in his team's 11 games.

Congratulations to our boys for being rewarded for their hard work. Hope there is many more to come and many more exciting games for the Mooseheads.

Gravel, Hischier Help Rebound Moose

Photo - Shawn Davidson

Rookie goaltender Alexis Gravel had an interesting night on Sunday but he was able to help his team to a 3-0 victory. The 16 year old didn't have to work very much during the first period, facing only 2 shots in a frame that saw neither team score. Joel Bishop got checked into the board with under 5 minutes to go, after a scrum ensued both teams received incidental penalties. Swiss forward Nico Hischier scored 2:37 into the second period with a one timer off a pass from Max Fortier and it ended up being the game winner. Halifax dominated the middle frame, getting 22 shots on Moncton's recently acquired goaltender Alec MacDonald who found his Wildcats down 2-0 after 40 minutes. In the third however, the away team seemed to find another pace as they got more shots on net during the final period than they did in the first two but Gravel stood strong even after getting run over late in the frame. That was part of the interesting night for the Mooseheads goalie. At the 14:38 mark in the 3rd, 20 year old Manuel Wiederer crashed into Alexis who fell back into his net and was down for a few minutes, long enough that the trainer went out to check on him but the Abestos, QC native stayed in the net. The Herd were given a 5 minute power play but were held off the score sheet though by this time it didn't matter as the home team was up 3-0 after Nico Hishier scored his 2nd of the game (and 22nd of the season) with 7:21 left in the match.

FINAL: Wildcats 0 at Mooseheads 3
Stars: 3. Alexis Gravel HAL | 2. Bradley Kennedy HAL | 1. Nico Hischier
Attendance: 5,845
MC's Top Herd: Alexis Gravel

GAME LOG
First period
None

Second period
2:37 HAL Nico Hischier (21) | A: Fortier & Lepage
5:37 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (7), PP | A: Bishop & Kennedy

Third period
12:39 HAL Nico Hischier (22) | A: Fortier & Moynihan

Powerplay: MON - 0-for-3, HAL - 1-for-4
Shots: 43-22 in favour of the Mooseheads

MISSING IN ACTION: Walter Flower (injury), Arnaud Durandeau (injury) and Brett Crossley (injury)

SCORES
Shawinigan 2 at Cape Breton 6
Chicoutimi 5 at Drummondville 4
Rouyn-Noranda 3 at Rimouski 1
Val-d'Or 5 at Sherbrooke 6
Acadie-Bathurst 7 at Victoriaville 6 OT

UP NEXT: Halifax will now travel to Quebec City for a rematch against the Remparts on Wednesday night. Puck drops at 8pm.

Moose Suffer 1st Extra Time Loss

Photo - Shawn Davidson

A chance to jump over division rival Charlottetown Islanders and tie the Quebec Remparts in the standings disappeared when your Halifax Mooseheads squandered a 5-3 lead in the third period and eventually lost in a shootout. The Mooseheads welcomed the Remparts for the first Thursday night hockey game and didn't take long to get on the board as Connor Moynihan got his 15th of the season 23 seconds into the match. This matchup had a few differences in it with offense versus defense as well as disciplined vs. undisciplined. As I mentioned in my preview, the Herd were the second team to score 100 goals this season while Quebec had the 5th lowest goals against coming into this evening. The Remparts came into the match with the least amount of penalty minutes while Halifax is on the other side of the spectrum but in this game were the more undisciplined team. Halifax took a 3-1 lead in to the middle frame and another four goals were scored in the second period giving the home team a 5-3 lead to the final period. Quebec tied the game, scoring twice by the 10 minute mark of the third and forced overtime. The extra five minutes couldn't solve anything as both goaltenders stood up pretty tall in OT especially Callum Booth as the Moose seemed to be trying to do a lot of odd man rushes. Booth also stood tall during the shootout stopping all three shots he faced while Alexis Gravel could only stop one of two shots he faced. It gave the home team their first extra time loss of the year.

FINAL: Remparts6 at Mooseheads 5 SO
Stars: 3. Ross MacDougall QUE | 2. Jocktan Chainey HAL | 1. Benoit-Olivier Groulx HAL
Attendance: 6,359 
MC's Top Herd: Jocktan Chainey

GAME LOG
First period
0:23 HAL Connor Moynihan (15) | A: Fortier & Lepage
3:58 HAL Cooper Jones (5) | A: Kennedy & Groulx
7:12 QUE Jonathan Bourcier (5), PP | A: MacDougall & Kurashev
13:14 HAL Bradley Kennedy (7), PP | A: Jones & Groulx

Second period
6:11 QUE Philipp Kurashev (8) | A: MacDougall & Buynitskiy
10:12 HAL Jocktan Chainey (3) | A: Hischier & Moynihan
13:32 QUE Jonathan Bourcier (6), PP | A: MacDougall & Boucher
17:52 HAL Nico Hischier (20), PP | A: Chainey & Moynihan

Third period
6:41 QUE Matthew Boucher (11) | A: none
9:53 QUE Olivier Garneau (7) | A: Bourcier & MacDougall

Overtime
None

Shootout
Round 1 - HAL Maxime Fortier (Save)     QUE Jonathan Bourcier (Goal)
Round 2 - HAL Nico Hischier (Save)     QUE Philipp Kurashev (Save)
Round 3 - Jared McIsaac (Save)

Powerplay: QUE - 2-for-3, HAL - 2-for-6
Shots: 47-26 in favour of Halifax

MISSING IN ACTION: Walter Flower (injury), Arnaud Durandeau (injury) and Brett Crossley (injury)

SCORES
Shawinigan 5 at Moncton 1
Val-d'Or 2 at Rimouski 6

UP NEXT: Moose Country will welcome the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.

GAMEDAY #25: vs. Quebec

GAME PREVEW
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS QUEBEC REMPARTS
Pucks drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

For the first (and only) time this season the Quebec Remparts visit the Scotiabank Centre to take on your Halifax Mooseheads. This will also be the first Thursday night hockey game of the year and your Mooseheads will be looking to start another win streak after getting revenge over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Tuesday evening for the previous game. There will be a few extra Nova Scotians on the ice tonight as the Remparts have three NS born players on their team. Halifax is not doing that bad so far this season despite being a very young team. The Mooseheads were the second team to score 100 goals after getting five on Tuesday and are going against the third best goaltender in terms of goals against average; Callum Booth. Should be a battle of goalies tonight.

OVERALL RECORDS
Remparts: 13-9-1-1 = 28 points (2nd in East division, 5th overall)
Mooseheads: 13-11-0-0 = 26 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 7th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 44pts (15G & 29A), Nico Hischier 41pts (19G & 22A), Connor Moynihan 24pts (14G & 10A)
QUE: Philipp Kurashev 19pts (7G & 12A), Matthew Boucher 18pts (10G & 8A), Derek Gentile 16pts (9G & 7A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Quebec is coming off 3-2 overtime victory on Sunday evening over Chicoutimi. Matthew Boucher led the Remparts with 2 goals, including the OT winner, at home while Callum Booth made 28 saves to get the win against the visiting Sagueneens.

Halifax is coming off a 5-3 win on Tuesday in the second match of a home and home series against Acadie-Bathurst. Max Fortier streatched his point streak to 6 games after picking up another two goals to lead the Mooseheads while Alexis Gravel stopped 23 of the Titan's 26 shots to get the road win.

ALUM ON REMPARTS - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
November 24  Remparts at Mooseheads - 7:00pm
November 30  Mooseheads at Remparts - 8:00pm

OUT OF TOWN
Wildcats vs. Cataractes   7:00pm
Oceanic vs. Foreurs   8:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will stay at home and welcome divisional rival the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.

GAMEDAY #23: vs. Acadie-Bathurst

GAME PREVIEW
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN
Puck drops at 2:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

The Halifax Mooseheads have their longest win streak of the season, getting victories in their last four games and on Friday it came with production from all 4 lines. Halifax is going up against another team that is below them in the standings and will look to take the first game of this home and home series between the Herd and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Bathurst on the other hand is coming into this afternoon's game as losers of two straight. Rookie goaltender Alexis Gravel had a solid performance on Friday evening and could start today's match up as Halifax is slowly moving up the standings with this winning streak. The Moose are one of four teams to not have a extra time loss so far this season and it would be surprising if they get their first one today.

This is the third match between these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-1-0-0 against the Titan so far while Acadie-Bathurst has a 1-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two teams last met on October 26 in Moose Country where Nico Hischier broke a franchise record for most points in a game by a rookie with six after scoring a hat trick and assisting on the other 3 goals in a 6-4 victory. Kevin Resop made 29 saves.

OVERALL RECORDS
Titan: 9-11-1-1 = 20 points (5th in Maritimes division, 15th overall)
Mooseheads: 12-10-0-0 = 24 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 8th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Nico Hischier 36pts (17G & 19A), Maxime Fortier 36pts (11G & 25A), Connor Moynihan 22pts (13G & 9A)
BAT: Christophe Boivin 25pts (14G & 11A), Antoine Morand 24pts (9G & 15A), Dawson Theede 19pts (8G & 11A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a 6-3 loss on Friday night at home against Saint John. Felix Boivin was named third star after scoring a goal and recording an assist for the Bathurst while Francis Lavallee picked up the loss stopping 18 of the Sea Dogs 21 shots in the final two periods.

Halifax is coming off a 5-1 victory over the Wildcats on Friday. Truro native Ben Higgins scored his first career hat trick to lead the Mooseheads in Moncton while Alexis Gravel was the busier of the two goaltenders, stopping 35 shots to get the win.

ALUM ON TITAN - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 12  Mooseheads 0 at Titan 3
October 26  Titan 4 at Mooseheads 6
November 20  Titan at Mooseheads – 2pm
November 22  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm
December 14  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
February 2  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
February 17  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm
February 24  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
March 10  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Wildcats vs. Sea Dogs   4:00pm
Remparts vs. Sagueneens   4:00pm
Voltigeurs vs. Olympiques   5:00pm
Tigres vs. Cataractes   5:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will travel to Bathurst to take on the Titan on Tuesday evening in the second match of the home and home series. Puck drops at 7pm.

Nico Given Star/Player of the Week

Photo - CHL twitter

With a nine point week, Halifax Mooseheads rookie forward Nico Hischier was named by the Canadian Hockey League as the player of the week for the week ending November 13, the league announced today. Hischier helped the Mooseheads to two high scoring victories over the weekend recording 4 goals and 5 assists while being a plus-4. The 17 year old scored twice and record 3 assists on Friday night as the Herd defeated the Sherbrooke Phoenix 9-5 on home ice. He than scored a hat trick and got a helper on another goal in Halifax's 7-4 win over the Charlottetown Islanders the next evening. It was his second hat trick of the season in his young career, bringing his points total to 34 in 21 games which is third in the league.

On Monday, Nico was also named the QMJHL's first star of the week. He was joined by Alex Dostie of the Gatineau Olympiques who was announced as the second star with 4 goals and 6 points in 3 games as well as Chicoutimi Sagueneens' Nicolas Roy who had 4 goals and 7 points in 2 games.

Congratulations to Nico on receiving both honours, very well deserved for the young man.

QMJHL Namee Scholastic POM

Every month, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announces a Scholastic Player of the Month which recognizes a player on each team with his performance on ice and in the classroom. The player is selected based on their school results, their implication, the school-hockey conciliation, their team spirit and their on-ice performances.

For your Halifax Mooseheads, Arnaud Durandeau was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for October 2016. Durandeau had two goals and 2 assists in 13 games played in the month of October while also collecting 8 penalty minutes and was a plus-2.

Here's the full list:

BAC	D’Artagnan Joly	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
BAT	Jonathan Bourcier	Cégep à distance
BLB	Alexandre Alain	Cégep de Saint-Jérôme
CAP	Phélix Martineau	Cégep à distance
CHA	Carl Gervais	Éducation des adultes
CHI	Mark Bzowey	Athabasca University
DRU	Frédéric Aubé	Cégep de Drummondville
GAT	Mark Grametbauer	Nova Scotia Online Education
HAL	Arnaud Durandeau	Prince Andrew High School
MON	Cameron Askew	Harrison Trimble High School
QUE	Alexandre Drapeau	Cégep de Limoilou
RIM	Justin Paré	Cégep de Rimouski
ROU	Samuel Harvey	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
SHA	Samuel Blier	Collège de Shawinigan & Cégep à distance
SHE	Nicolas Roy	Cégep de Sherbrooke
SNB	Samuel Dove-McFalls	Cégep à distance
VDO	Dereck Baribeau	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
VIC	James Poval	Cégep de Rosemont

GAMEDAY #21: vs. Charlottetown

GAME PREVIEW
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

What will they do next? The line of Connor Moynihan, Nico Hischier and Max Fortier have 23 points over the last two games helping the Halifax Mooseheads to back to back victories in the past week. Halifax will be looking for a third straight win as they host the Charlottetown Islanders this evening. For the Isles this will be their 3rd game in 3 nights. Another question on a lot of people's minds is who will coach Andre Tourigney start in goal tonight. Veteran goalie Kevin Resop began last night's game and let in a goal on the first shot but finished the period before getting pulled in favour of rookie Alexis Gravel after Sherbrooke scored 3 times on 11 shots. Should be an exciting game as this match features the top 3 leading scorers in the league (Filip Chlapik, Hischier and Fortier) and 8 of the top 31 overall.

This is the third matchup between these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-1-0-0 against the Islanders so far while Charlottetown has a 1-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two teams last met on October 8 in Moose Country where Connor Moynihan scored twice to lead the home team to a 5-2 victory while Alexis Gravel picked up first star honours making 35 saves. 

OVERALL RECORDS
Islanders: 12-8-1-0 = 25 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)
Mooseheads: 10-10-0-0 = 20 points (4th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 31pts (9G & 22A), Nico Hischier 30pts (14G & 16A), Connor Moynihan 21pts (12G & 9A)
CHA: Filip Chlapik 31pts (18G & 13A), Kameron Kielly 26pts (11G & 15A), Mitchell Balmas 24pts (8G & 16A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Charlottetown is coming off a 7-3 loss at the hands of division leader Saint John on Friday evening. Pierre-Olivier Joseph led the team with 3 assists while the Islanders got goals from three different players. Matthew Welsh picked up the defeat stopping 23 of the Sea Dogs 27 shots in relief on home ice.

Halifax is coming off a big 9-5 victory over the visiting Phoenix last night. Maxime Fortier led the Mooseheads with a franchise record 6 assists while the team was led in goals by Connor Moynihan who scored his first career hat trick. Alexis Gravel picked up the win versus Sherbrooke making 14 saves on 16 shots.

ALUM ON ISLANDERS - Cody Donaghey

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 2  Halifax 2at Charlottetown 9
October 8  Charlottetown 2 at Halifax 5
November 12  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm
December 28  Halifax at Charlottetown - 7pm
January 11  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm
February 10  Halifax at Charlottetown - 7pm
February 18  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm
March 5  Halifax at Charlottetown - 3pm
March 15  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Drakkar vs. Screaming Eagles   5:00pm
Armada vs. Huskies   5:00pm
Sagueneens vs. Titan   5:00pm
Olympiques vs. Foreurs   5:00pm
Sea Dogs vs. Phoenix   7:00pm
Voltigeurs vs. Wildcats   8:00pm
Remparts vs. Oceanic   8:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will travel to Moncton to take on the Wildcats on Friday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Big Night for Mooseheads Forwards

It was a big night for a few Halifax Mooseheads forwards as the team skated away with a 9-5 win after scoring four goals in the third period. The Mooseheads hosted the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Friday night and got multi goal contests from three different players. Rookies Nico Hischier and Benoit-Olivier Groulx each scored twice in the high scoring game while veteran Connor Moynihan recorded his first career hat trick. The game started off rough for the home team as the Phoenix took a 1-0 on their first shot. Five minutes later the Moose scored on their first shot as well to tie the game with Hischier's 1st of the period, shortly after it looked like Groulx had tied the game but it was waved off for incidental contact with the goalie. The last five minutes of the period were quite entertaining as the away team took a 2-1 lead that last only 14 seconds when Connor Moynihan scored his first of the game. At the 17:52 mark, Nico Hischier tipped one in behind Evan Fitzpatrick and the Phoenix did not like how close he was to their goaltender, resulting in a few roughing penalties. With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, Keigan Goetz scored to give the Herd a 4-3 lead going into the middle frame. The second period saw rookie goalie Alexis Gravel come in to replace Kevin Resop and not as many goals as the game was tied 5-5 after 40 minutes. Groulx, Moynihan and Gravel helped the good guys take control of the game in the final frame. Hischier ended the night with 5 points while 18 year old Maxime Fortier recorded a franchise high 6 assists.

FINAL: Phoenix 5 at Mooseheads 9
Stars: 3. Connor Moynihan HAL | 2. Maxime Fortier HAL | 1. Nico Hischier HAL
Attendance: 6,977
MC's Top Herd: Maxime Fortier

GAME LOG
First period
1:06 SHE Anderson MacDonald (10) | A: Kilgour & Zachar
6:34 HAL Nico Hischier (13) | A: Moynihan & Fortier
15:54 SHE Marek Zachar (6) | A: MacDonald & Schingh-Gomez
16:08 HAL Connor Moynihan (10) | A: Hischier & Fortier
17:52 HAL Nico Hischier (14) | A: Fortier
19:23 SHE Julien Pelletier (12), PP | A: Gregoire & Roy
19:59 HAL Keigan Goetz (3) | A: Kennedy & Hischier

Second period
9:23 HAL Connor Moynihan (11), PP | A: Fortier & Durandeau
19:03 SHE Marek Zachar (7) | A: Kilgour
19:16 SHE Jason Imbeault (1) | A: Roy

Third period
4:09 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (4) | A: Lepage & Bishop
10:45 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (5) | A: McIsaac & Goetz
13:20 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (5), PP | A: Fortier & Hischier
16:44 HAL Connor Moynihan (12), PP | A: Fortier & McIsaac

Powerplay: SHE - 1-for-4, HAL - 3-for-4
Shots: 36-27 in favour of Halifax

MISSING IN ACTION: Otto Somppi (injury), Caleb Rich (healthy) & Jocktan Chainey (injury)

SCORES
Saint John 7 at Charlottetown 3
Rouyn-Noranda 3 at Quebec 4 OT
Blainville-Boisbriand 7 at Victoriaville 0
Acadie-Bathurst 3 at Baie-Comeau 2
Cape Breton 4 at Chicoutimi 7
Drummondville 4 at Gatineau 8
Shawinigan 2 at Rimouski 3

UP NEXT: Halifax will stay at home and welcome the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Alumni Update: Where Are They Now?

Another season has gotten underway and there are even more former Halifax Mooseheads that have continued their hockey careers in professional leagues or at universities. I thought that once again we could look at where these alumni are playing for this season. (Note: Teams listed are as of November 5)

National Hockey League (5)
Boston Bruins - Brad Marchand
Colorado Avalanche - Nathan MacKinnon
Philadelphia Flyers - Jakub Voracek
Tampa Bay Lightning - Jonathan Drouin
Winnipeg Jets - Nikolaj Ehlers

American Hockey League (7)
Andrew Bodnarchuk - Texas Stars (DAL)
Stefan Fournier - Tucson Roadrunners (ARI)
Martin Frk - Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)
Alexandre Grenier - Utica Comets (VAN)
Stephen MacAulay - Springfield Thunderbirds (FLA)
Timo Meier - San Jose Barracuda (SJ)
Mackenzie Weegar - Springfield Thunderbirds (FLA)

ECHL (6)
Brampton Beast (MTL) - Garrett Clarke & Zach Fucale
Fort Wayne Komets - Gabriel Desjardins
Wichita Thunder - Garrad Grant
Alaska Aces - Daniel Moynihan
Cincinnati Cyclones - Shawn O'Donnell

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (4)
Cody Donaghey - Charlottetown Islanders
Morgan Nauss - Chicoutimi Sagueneens
Jean-Sebastien Taillefer - Gatineau Olympiques
Cavan Fitzgerald - Shawinigan Cataractes

Canadian Interuniversity Sport (20)
Liam Alcalde - Lakehead Thunderwolves
Brent Andrews - UPEI Panthers
Darcy Ashley - UPEI Panthers
Dominic Beauchemin - Concordia Stingers
Kelly Bent - Dalhousie Tigers
Matthew Boudreau - Concordia Stingers
Eric Brassard - Saint Mary's Huskies
Alexandre Cote - Dalhousie Tigers
Cameron Critchlow - UNB Varsity Reds
Philippe Gadoury - Dalhousie Tigers
Randy Gazzola - UNB Varsity Reds
Stephen Gillard - Saint Mary's Huskies
Austyn Hardie - Saint Mary's Huskies
Samuel Leblanc - Moncton Aigles Bleus
Max Lindsay - Toronto Varsity Blues
Jesse Lussier - Dalhousie Tigers
Bradley MacDonald - Laurentian Voyageurs
Matt Murphy - UNB Varsity Reds
Zachary Taylor - Dalhousie Tigers
Vincent Watt - Concordia Stingers

European leagues (23)
Giulio Scandella - Asiago, AlpsHL
Tomas Knotek - HK Hradec Kralove, Czech
Jan Stransky - Bill Tygri Liberec, Czech
Petr Vrana - HC Sparta Praha, Czech
Konrad Abeltshauser - EHC Munchen, DEL
Jonathan Boutin - Augsburger Panther, DEL
Milan Jurcina - Numberg Ice Tigers, DEL
Joey MacDonald - Schwenninger Wild Wings, DEL
Jimmy Sharrow - Grizzlys Wolfsburg, DEL
Daniel Sparre - Adler Mannheim, DEL
Frederik Cabana - Bietigheim Steelers, DEL2
Brandon Benedict - Belfast Giants, EIHL
David Brine - Cardiff Devils, EIHL
Logan MacMillan - Nottingham Panthers, EIHL
Marc-Andre Bernier - Gap, France
Francois-Pierre Guenette - Rouen, France
Jessyko Bernard - Brest, France2
Gabriel O'Connor - Caen, France2
Andrei Shefer - Severstal Cherepovets, KHL
Alexandre Picard - HC Fribourg-Gotteron, NLA
Jan Steber - Stocznlowiec 2014 Gdansk, Poland
Mathieu Corbeil - MHC Martin, Slovakia
Ladislav Nagy - HC Kosice, Slovakia

Maritime Junior A (4)
Josh Fitzgerald - South Shore Lumberjacks
Jordan King - Amherst Ramblers
Ilya Putintsev - Valley Wildcats
Andrew Shewfelt - Amherst Ramblers

Central West (Newfoundland) Senior A (2)
Clarenville Caribous - Jason Churchill
Grand Falls-Windsor Cataractes - Travis Randell

Quebec Senior (LNAH) (10)
Trois-Rivieres Blizzard CNS - Pierre-Olivier Beaulieu
Sorel-Tracy Eperviers - Peter-James Corsi
Saint-Georges COOL-FM - SImon Desmarais
Trois-Rivieres Blizzard CNS - Carl Gelinas
Riviere-du-Loup 3L - Sawyer Hannay
Laval Predateurs - Eric Laplante
Laval Predateurs - Eric Laplante
Saint-Georges COOL-FM - Pier-Oliivier Pelletier
Jonquiere Marquis - Frederic Piche
Riviere-du-Loup 3L - Bryce Swan

Southern Professional Hockey League (2)
Brad Cuzner - Evansville Thunderbolts
Spencer Metcalfe - Mississippi RiverKings

Other
Domenico Argento - Aurora Tigers (OJHL)
Charles Bety - Lotbiniere Mercenaires (LHBBF)
Dominik Blain-Dupuis - Gatineau Flames (QJAAAHL)
Marc-Olivier Daigle - Grant MacEwan College Griffins (CCAA)
Samuel Hunter - London Nationals (GOJHL)
Jacob Jacques - Chambly Fonts (QJAAAHL)
Louis-Philippe Lessard - Lotbiniere Mercenaires (LHBBF)
Trey Lewis - Elsipogtog Hawks (NESHL)
Ben MacAskill - Thorold Athletics (ACH)
Francis Turbide - Cap-de-la-Madeleine CloutierClim (LHSAM)

Hischier Named to 3 Stars

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced their three starsfor the week of October 24, 2016. For the first time this season, a Halifax Mooseheads player is among the 3 on the list that was put out today. Nico Hischier, a 17 year old rookie for the Herd, was named the second star of the week ending October 30. Hischier had seven points in the three games played this past week for Halifax. The Naters, Switzerland native had a big night on October 26 versus the Acadie-Bathurst Titan where he set a franchise record for most points in a single game for a rookie with 6 points. He was named the first star of the game on Wednesday after scoring a hat trick and assisting on 3 others helping the Moose to a 6-4 win.

QMJHL named Alexandre Goulet of the Victoriaville Tigres first star while Guilluame Beaudoin of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada received third star honours.

Congratulations to Nico on being named the QMJHL's 2nd star of the week. Keep up the strong play this season.

STATS SUNDAY: October

Games played: 16
Record: 8-8-0-0, 16pts
Goals for/against: 58/66
Powerplay: 17.5%
Penalty kill: 76.7%
Shutouts: none

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Maxime Fortier 21, Nico Hischier 20, Connor Moynihan 13, Otto Somppi 11, Bradley Kennedy 10
Goals: Maxime Fortier 8, Nico Hischier 8, Connor Moynihan 8, Otto Somppi 5, Bradley Kennedy 4
Assists: Maxime Fortier 13, Nico Hischier 12, Mathieu Charlebois 8, Otto Somppi 6, Bradley Kennedy 6
Penalty minutes: Keigan Goetz 39, Connor Moynihan 30, Bradley Kennedy 24, Mathieu Charlebois 23, Cooper Jones 21
Plus/minus: Mathieu Charlebois +7, Jordan Lepage +4, Taylor Ford +3, Brett Crossley +2, Benoit-Olivier Groulx +2
Rookie scoring: Nico Hischier 20, Mathieu Charlebois 8, Benoit-Oliver Groulx 6, Ben Higgins 4, Jared McIsaac 4

Goaltending stats
Alexis Gravel: 4-3-0-0     2.73 GAA     0.920 SAV%
Kevin Resop: 4-5-0-0     4.69 GAA     0.844 SAV%

Note: stats include two games played in September

Herd Word: Former Captain To Make Pro Debut Friday

Photo - Barracuda's Facebook page

MEIER
According to the San Jose Barracuda, former Halifax Mooseheads captain Timo Meier is set to make his professional debut on Friday night for the Barracuda. Meier's pro debut was pushed back a couple of weeks because the 20 year old was diagnosed with monocleosis at the end of September forcing him out of the lineup for at least 4 weeks. The San Jose Sharks, who drafted Timo 9th overall in the 2015 NHL draft, reassigned the forward to the AHL a couple of weeks ago to get some conditioning after he felt better. Meier had this to say on Tuesday after his first full practice since his diagnosis; “I feel great, and I can’t wait to get out there. I feel like we have a really good team, I think we can really achieve a lot.” According to the article, the Herisau, Switzerland native lost 10 pounds in the month that he was sick but has gained it back. In two and a half seasons with the Herd, Meier had 160 points which included 72 goals in 150 games played. Halifax traded Timo to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on January 6 where he scored 23 goals and 51 points in 29 games to help the team get 1st overall in the league. During the playoffs, the forward was second in team scoring and helped lead the Huskies to their first President's Cup win. He was also the captain of the 2016 Switzerland World Junior team where he finished with 5 points in 6 games. Good luck to Timo in your debut and this season with the Barracuda.

LOCAL NIGHT
Saturday evening's game versus the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles has been designated as Celebrate Local Night at Scotiabank Centre. The Moose will host Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Eagles in the second game of a home-and-home series. The team has stated that about 800 prizes will be handed out from local businesses. There will also be a few Nova Scotian Olympians and Paralympians who participated in the Rio Olympics in August, according to the release.

Photo - Team Canada twitter

U17 CHALLENGE
On Tuesday, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jared McIsaac, two rookies for the Mooseheads who have played quite well so far this season, left Halifax to head to Saint Ste. Marie to participate in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge hosted by Hockey Canada. The Canadian teams announced their leadership group on Thursday and both boys are apart of their respective team's leaders. Groulx was named captain of Canada Red while McIsaac was given an A for Canada White. The tournament runs from October 28-November 5. Congratulations to Jared and Benoit-Olivier and good luck guys.

Photo - Team Canada twitter

SPORTSNET
It was announced on Friday that the January 7th game vs. the Saint John Sea Dogs will be broadcasted nationally across Canada on Sportsnet. Because the channel now shows NHL hockey on Saturday nights, the start of the Mooseheads game has been moved to 4:00pm Atlantic time instead of the normal 7pm to allow for the TV slot.

MACKINNON
Former Halifax Mooseheads star player Nathan MacKinnon had a little fun on Thursday to celebrate the Denver Nuggets basketball season getting underway. Dressed in a Nuggets jersey, Kid Mack tried some trick shots and made a nice basket while facing the opposite direction. Check it out here.

NEW SIGNEE
The Herd announced that they had signed a 17 year old Ontario free agent on Tuesday. Moose Country would like to welcome Caleb Rich to the team. Rich played 15 games in the Northern Ontario Hockey League this season for the French River Rapids before being signed by the Herd. In 68 career games with the Rapids, the Callander, ON native had 27 goals and 64 points. He was in the lineup for Halifax on Wednesday night even though he wasn't expected to be. General Manager Cam Russell feels "that he could be a top-six player since he was a point per game player as a 16-year-old." Russell also had this to say; “There’s lots to like there he’s got great size, good speed and he seems to play well in traffic.”

GAMEDAY #15: at Cape Breton

GAME PREVIEW
CAPE BRETON SCREAMING EAGLES VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Centre 200 (5,000) ~ Sydney, NS

What will Nico Hischier do now? The 17 year old broke a franchise record on Wednesday evening and will be looking to continue his point streak to seven games tonight when the Halifax Mooseheads travel to Sydney to take on provincial rivals, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tonight. Hischier scored his first career hat trick two days ago and assisted on 3 others to break the Mooseheads record for most points in a single game by a rookie. He now leads the team in scoring and is fifth in the league. For the fourth time this month, Halifax will be a part of a breast cancer awareness game as the Screaming Eagles are hosting their Pink in the Rink event today. This game is also a part of the QMJHL's rivalry week so the two teams will play a home and home series this weekend. Halifax and Cape Breton have the same record going into this weekend's series so both teams could get some space from the other if one wins both games. Goaltending will once again play a factor just as it has all season. The Eagles have the 7th best goalie on their team in terms of goals against average with Kyle Jessiman boasting a 2.56 GAA. The Moose will put Kevin Resop in nets who is coming off one of his best performances I would say but the defense played well in front of him on Wednesday night which hasn't happened much this year.

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 7-7-0-0 = 14 points (5th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)
Screaming Eagles: 7-7-0-0 = 14 points (4th in Maritimes division, 11th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
CAP: Jordan Ty Fournier 12pts (6G & 6A), Vasily Glotov 12pts (3G & 9A), Olivier LeBlanc 12pts (3G & 9A)
HAL: Nico Hischier 19pts (8G & 11A), Maxime Fortier 18pts (8G & 10A), Connor Moynihan 12pts (7G & 5A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Halifax is coming off a 6-4 victory on Wednesday at the Scotiabank Centre against the Titan. Nico Hischier led the team with a three goals and six points while Kevin Resop stopped 29 of Acadie-Bathurst's 33 shots to pick up the win.

Cape Breton is coming off a 5-2 win over Moncton on home ice also on Wednesday. Three different players had a goal and assist each while new goalie Colten Ellis stopped 23 shots against the Wildcats.

ALUM ON EAGLES - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 1  Cape Breton 4 at Halifax 6
October 28  Halifax at Cape Breton – 7pm
October 29  Cape Breton at Halifax – 7pm
December 10  Halifax at Cape Breton – 7pm
December 30  Halifax at Cape Breton – 7pm
December 31  Cape Breton at Halifax – 2pm
January 17  Halifax at Cape Breton – 7pm
March 3  Halifax at Cape Breton – 7pm
March 17  Cape Breton at Halifax – 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Titan vs. Islanders   7:00pm
Sea Dogs vs. Wildcats   7:00pm
Remparts vs. Oceanic   8:00pm
Drakkar vs. Sagueneens   8:30pm
Armada vs. Olympiques   8:30pm
Voltigeurs vs. Phoenix   8:30pm
Foreurs vs. Huskies   8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
The two provincial rivals will meet again tomorrow night in Halifax. Puck drops at 7pm.

Hischier Has Career Night

It was a big night for rookie Nico Hischier on Wednesday evening and Moose Country was present to witness it. The Naters, Switzerland native set a franchise record for most points in a game by a rookie after scoring a hat trick and 3 assists to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to a big 6-4 win in front of the Scotiabank Centre crowd. Halifax got off to a fast start with Barrett Dachyshyn scoring just 90 seconds into the game and the Herd never let go of the lead. Hischier's big evening started with a helper on defenseman Jocktan Chainey's first period power play goal with under six to go in the frame. Chainey would also score the insurance goal (on the PP) for the home team 8:04 into the third, giving him his first multi goal game of his career. Nico scored his sixth of the season 8:36 in to the second period to give his team a 3-0 lead. Seconds later, 20 year old Bradley Kennedy and Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel dropped the gloves for a lengthy fight with both players getting some nice punches in. The in-game boxing match would wake up Acadie-Bathurst who scored consecutive goals within the next two minutes to close the gap to 3-2. Acadie-Bathurst and Halifax would trade goals in the later part of the middle frame and the shots were tied at 26 a piece after the Titan outshot the Moose 18-9 in the period. Hischier would record his hat trick goal on the power play less than five minutes in to the final period.

FINAL: Titan4 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Dawson Theede BAT | 2. Jocktan Chainey HAL | 1. Nico Hischier HAL
Attendance: 4,724
MC's Top Herd: Nico Hischier

GAME LOG
First period
1:30 HAL Barrett Dachyshyn (2) | A: Ford & Hischier
14:19 HAL Jocktan Chainey (1), PP | A: Moynihan & Hischier

Second period
8:36 HAL Nico Hischier (6) | A: Moynihan & Charlebois
9:25 BAT Dawson Theede (5) | A: Deschenes & Thibeault
10:27 BAT Daniil Miromanov (2) | A: L'Italien & Theede
13:06 HAL Nico Hischier (7) | A: Bishop
16:49 BAT Antoine Morand (6) | A: Desjardins

Third period
4:58 HAL Nico Hischier (8), PP | A: Kennedy & Fortier
8:04 HAL Jocktan Chainey (2), PP | A: Hischier & Moynihan
11:13 BAT Cole Rafuse (1) | A: Theede & Lemay-Champagne

Powerplay: BAT - 0-for-2, HAL 3-for-5
Shots: 33-32 in favour of Halifax

MISSING IN ACTION: Benoit-Olivier Groulx (U17 Challenge), Cooper Jones (healthy) & Jared McIsaac (U17 Challenge)

SCORES
Moncton 2 at Cape Breton 5
Charlottetown 2 at Saint John 5
Drummondville 3 at Blainville-Boisbriand 4
Victoriaville 3 at Val-d'Or 2 OT

UP NEXT: Halifax will now travel up north to take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Friday night in Sydney. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY #14: vs. Acadie-Bathurst

GAME PREVIEW
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Your Halifax Mooseheads will have a little different look tonight when they host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for some Wednesday night hockey. Rookies Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jared McIsaac will miss the next 6 games as they are in Sault Ste. Marie for the U17 World Hockey Challenge and it's also been reported that Brett Crossley could be in the lineup after missing a few games with an injury. After a couple of losses on home ice, it's possible that lines might be changed as well. This will be the Mooseheads second Wednesday evening game of the season after visiting Bathurst two weeks ago (more on that below). Halifax will be looking to get back in the win column at home after losing to the 3rd CHL ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and a comeback victory by the Val-d'Or Foreurs over the weekend. They'll have to play a full 60 minutes and get some strong goaltending to defeat the Titan who have won three in a row. Acadie-Bathurst will be without rookie defenenceman Noah Dobson who is also at the U17 Hockey Challenge.

This is the second meeting between the two teams this season. Halifax is 0-1-0-0 against the Titan this year while Acadie-Bathurst has a 1-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two teams met 2 weeks ago on October 12 in Bathurst where the home team won 3-0 on the back of Reilly Pickard who made 26 saves. Samuel L'Italien scored twice for the Titan while Alexis Gravel made 32 saves for the Herd in the loss.

OVERALL RECORDS
Titan:7-4-1-1 = 16 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)
Mooseheads: 6-7-0-0 = 12 points (5th in Maritimes division, 13th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 17pts (8G & 9A), Nico Hischier 13pts (5G & 8A), Connor Moynihan 9pts (7G & 2A)
BAT: Christophe Boivin 18pts (8G & 10A), Antoine Morand 15pts (5G & 10A), Jeffrey Truchon-Viel 10pts (5G & 5A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a 5-3 victory at the KC Irving Regional Centre over the Huskies. Jeffrey Truchon-Viel had two goals and an assist on Sunday afternoon to lead the Titan while Reilly Pickard stopped 28 of Rouyn-Noranda's 31 shots.

Halifax is coming off a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Val-d'Or on home ice on Sunday. Ben Higgins and Max Fortier scored for the Mooseheads who had a 2-0 lead after the first period, while Alexis Gravel made 16 saves against the Foreurs to pick up the loss.

ALUM ON TITAN - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 12  Mooseheads 0 at Titan 3
October 26  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
November 20  Titan at Mooseheads – 2pm
November 22  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm
December 14  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
February 2  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
February 17  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm
February 24  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
March 10  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Screaming Eagles vs. Wildcats   7:00pm
Sea Dogs vs. Islanders   7:00pm
Armada vs. Voltigeurs   8:00pm
Foreurs vs. Tigres   8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will finish the month with a home and home series against their provinicial rivals this weekend, starting with a visit to Sydney on Friday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Streaks Are Over

Well the streaks are over. The Halifax Mooseheads are no longer undefeated on home ice this season after a visit from the 3rd ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who skated away with a 4-2 victory on Friday night. It was also the annual Pink in the Rink event at the Scotiabank Centre, which the Herd had won the last four years but they had no such luck tonight. There was a lot of back and forth action, mostly in the middle of the rink in the first 7 minutes of the game with both teams only having two shots each. Rouyn-Noranda got on the board first with a goal from Peter Abbandonato 9:17 minutes into the game. Abbandonato was parked right in front of the net and chipped in the behind the net pass. Less than two minutes later, Antoine Waked made it 2-0 Huskies with a shot that Kevin Resop looked like he might've had but it went off his glove and trickled into the net. When the Mooseheads play the Quebec teams, sometimes it's hard to believe that they only play two times a season with all the physical stuff that happens. That was the case tonight, there were quite a few penalties (a couple that probably shouldn't have counted) with Keigan Goetz having to sit in the box 4 times himself. In the third period there were a number of scrums between the two teams.

FINAL: Huskies 4 at Mooseheads 2
Stars: 3. Jocktan Chainey HAL | 2. Mathieu Boucher ROU | 1. Peter Abbandonato ROU
Attendance: 7,410
MC's Top Herd: Kevin Resop

GAME LOG
First period
9:17 ROU Peter Abbandonato (4) | A: Dzierkals & Boucher
11:05 ROU Antoine Waked (6) | A: none

Second period
3:09 ROU Peter Abbandonato (5), PP | A: Fontaine & Boucher
6:24 HAL Connor Moynihan (7) | A: Charlesbois & Hischier

Third period
18:11 ROU Philippe Myers (3), EN/SH | A: Fontaine & Harvey
18:29 HAL Ben Higgins (3), PP | A: Dachyshyn & Groulx

Powerplay: ROU - 1-for-7, HAL - 1-for-6
Shots: tied at 24 a piece

MISSING IN ACTION- Brett Crossley, Anthony Sorrentino

SCORES
Acadie-Bathurst 4 at Moncton 1
Val-d'Or 1 at Saint John 4
Blainville-Boisbriand 8 at Sherbrooke 2
Cape Breton 2 at Gatineau 4
Victoriaville 4 at Rimouski 5 OT
Charlottetown 3 at Baie--Comeau 6
Quebec 2 at Drummondville 2
Shawinigan 2 at Chicoutimi 0

UP NEXT: Halifax will welcome the Val-d'Or Foreurs to the Scotiabank Centre on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.

GAMEDAY #12: vs. Rouyn-Noranda

GAME PREVIEW
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

It's Pink in the Rink night at the Scotiabank Centre in support of breast cancer research. The annual event was started by the Mooseheads and this will be the 9th edition in Halifax. Over the past eight years, Halifax Mooseheads fans have raised over $120,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Atlantic Region. Going into tonight's game, two streaks are at stake for the guys that will be wearing pink. The Moose have won four straight PITR events and will be looking to get over .500 in the annual event. Halifax is also still undefeated at home after 5 games and hope to continue that this evening but they'll have a harder time as they welcome the Canadian Hockey League 3rd ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. This will be the first time that head coach Andre Tourigny faces his former team. Rouyn-Noranda has not shown any slowing down after winning a championship like some teams have previously done. The Huskies are an outstanding 7-1-0-1 to start the season and have one of the best goaltenders in the league. If Halifax can get a few goals past the Huskies goaltender (who I'm guessing will be Samuel Harvey) in the first period and whoever the Mooseheads start in net is strong, this should be an exciting game. Don't forget to buy raffle tickets for a chance to win a game worn pink jersey.

This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. Last year, Halifax was 0-2-0-0 against the Huskies while Rouyn-Noranda had a 2-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup in the 2015-16 season was January 21. Maxime Fortier had two goals and an assist in a 8-4 defeat in Rouyn-Noranda while Eric Brassard made 45 saves to take the loss. Timo Meier was named first star scoring a hat trick and picking up 2 assists for the Huskies.

OVERALL RECORDS
Huskies: 7-1-0-1 = 15 points (1st in West division, 2nd overall)
Mooseheads: 6-5-0-0 = 12 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 8th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 16pts (7G & 9A), Nico Hischier 11pts (5G & ^A), Otto Somppi 9pts (4G & 5A)
ROU: Martins Dzierkals 12pts (6G & 6A), Antoine Waked 11pts (5G & 6A), Peter Abbandonato 10pts (3G & 7A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Rouyn-Noranda is coming off a 6-2 victory on home ice against Drummondville on Saturday evening. The Huskies got multi point nights from 5 different players while Samuel Harvey made 25 saves to pick up the win against the Voltigeurs.

Halifax is coming off their first road win of the season, a big 7-3 victory in Victoriaville on Sunday afternoon. Nico Hischier scored two goals and picked up an assist as well to lead the Mooseheads while Alexis Gravel made his second straight start and stopped 20 of the Tigres 23 shots.

ALUM ON HUSKIES - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 19  Rouyn-Noranda at Halifax - 7pm
November 4  Halifax at Rouyn-Noranda - 8:30pm

OUT OF TOWN
Wildcats vs. Titan   7:00pm
Sea Dogs vs. Foreurs   7:00pm
Phoenix vs. Armada   8:00pm
Drakkar vs. Islanders   8:30pm
Sagueneens vs. Cataractes   8:30pm
Voltigeurs vs. Remparts   8:30pm
Olympiques vs. Screaming Eagles   8:30pm
Oceanic vs. Tigres   8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will stay in Moose Country to host the Val-d'Or Foreurs on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.