Top Herd

The regular season is over, I will be awarding my overall Top herd player award. This season I asked you, my readers to vote who you thought should get the award and the poll has closed. Thanks for make this the most voted poll. 

 

And the winner is....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eric Brassard

In his final junior season, Eric Brassard was a standout in almost every game he played for a very young Herd team and gave the boys in front of him a chance to win practically every night. Brassard finished the season 13th in the league with a 0.892 save percentage allowing 155 goals and getting 3 shutouts. 

 

 

Here is the list of my Top Herd that I have done this season. I didn't name one every game.
Sept 20   Saint John - Maxime Fortier
Sept 25   Moncton - Eric Brassard
Sept 27   Cape Breton - Kevin Resop
Oct 8       Blainville - Timo Meier
Oct 17     Acadie-Bathurst - Danny Moynihan
Oct 22     Moncton - Eric Brassard
Nov 7      Baie-Comeau - Danny Moynihan
Nov 14    Saint John - Cavan Fitzgerald
Nov 24    Cape Breton - Maxime Fortier
Dec 31    Cape Breton - Connor Moynihan
Jan 5      Charlottetown - Otto Somppi
Jan 14    Quebec - Eric Brassard
Feb 4      Shawinigan - Eric Brassard
Feb 21    Sherbrooke - Ilya Putintsev
Feb 27    Saint John - Arnaud Durandeau
Mar 2      Acadie-Bathurst - Jocktan Chainey
Mar 11    Moncton - Ilya Putintsev
Mar 12    Charlottetown - Kelly Bent

Here are the final poll results
Eric Brassard - 49%, Maxime Fortier - 37%, Ilya Putintsev - 12%, Other - 2%

QMJHL Playoff Matches Set for Round 1

The 2015-2016 QMJHL regular season is over and the playoffs are beginning on Friday night but without your Halifax Mooseheads in it for the first time since the 2009-2010 season. Despite that, there are a few former Mooseheads that are on teams that are favourites to win the President's Cup. Even though our boys aren't competing for the championships I thought I would keep you up to date on who is playing who in each round. The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies were regular season champions, followed by division leaders Shawiningan Cataractes and Saint John Sea Dogs. There is only one Maritime division matchup in the first round this year.

#1 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs #16
#2 Shawinigan Cataractes vs. Sherbrooke Phoenix #15
#3 Saint John Sea Dogs vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan #14
#4 Val-d'Or Foreurs vs. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada #13
#5 Gatineau Olympiques vs. Quebec Remparts #12
#6 Moncton Wildcats vs. Victoriaville Tigres #11
#7 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles vs. Chicoutimi Sagueneens #10
#8 Rimouski Oceanic vs. Charlottetown Islanders #9

My predictions for round 1
Huskies in 4, Cataractes in 4, Sea Dogs in 6, Foreurs in 5, Olympiques in 5, Wildcats in 6, Eagles in 6, Oceanic in 7

Alumni Update: National Champs, Final CIS/QMJHL Stats

In this update, I thought I would get you guys up to date with how former players are doing in university and in the QMJHL. The Canadian Interunversity Sport hockey season is over after the University Cup was played in Halifax this past weekend. Two former Mooseheads were victorious in becoming national champions on Sunday when the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds defeated the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in the gold medal game. The medal teams turned out to be all Atlantic University Sport schools after the Saint Mary's Huskies won bronze earlier in the day against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. 10 Herd alumni participated in the tournament held March 17-20 with eight receiving some colour of a medal.


After making a few trades in December and January this season, the Moose now have 5 alumni on teams that will be battling it out for the President's Cup in the next 2 months. Danny Moynihan and Cavan Fitzgerald play for the second place Shawinigan Cataractes, Matt Murphy defends for the Maritime division winning Saint John Sea Dogs, Cody Donaghey skates on the Moncton Wildcats back end and former Herd captain Timo Meier hopes to win with the regular season champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Below find the final regular season stats for the Halifax alumni playing on university teams and junior hockey teams.

Name	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Brent Andrews	UPEI Panthers	28	13	12	25	18
Darcy Ashley	UPEI Panthers	11	4	10	14	14
Dominic Beachemin	Concordia Stingers	17	6	9	15	24
Jessyko Bernard	Concordia Stingers	24	11	14	25	25
Matthew Boudreau	Concordia Stingers	22	5	11	16	2
Luca Ciampini	Concordia Stingers	25	6	7	13	4
Alexandre Cote	Dalhousie Tigers	22	0	5	5	4
Cameron Critchlow	UNB Varsity Reds	25	4	5	9	33
Brad Cuzner	St. FX X-Men	27	4	5	9	12
Cody Donaghey	Halifax Mooseheads	21	4	7	11	33
	Moncton Wildcats	30	7	19	26	30
Brendan Duke	Dalhousie Tigers	23	0	1	1	36
Cavan Fitzgerald	Halifax Mooseheads	32	10	16	26	25
	Shawinigan Cataractes	28	5	14	19	21
Philippe Gadoury	Dalhousie Tigers	25	17	6	23	36
Randy Gazzola	UNB Varsity Reds	26	2	13	25	18
Stephen Gillard	Saint Mary's Huskies	24	4	7	11	22
Gerrad Grant	Saint Mary's Huskies	25	4	11	15	34
Sawyer Hannay	St. Thomas Tommies	25	0	3	3	118
Austyn Hardie	Saint Mary's Huskies	24	2	2	4	34
Trey Lewis	St. FX X-Men	27	3	3	6	46
Max Lindsay	Toronto Varsity Blues	26	6	7	13	20
Eric Louis-Seize	RMC Paladins	27	8	11	19	14
Jesse Lussier	Dalhousie Tigers	24	1	5	6	50
Stephen MacAulay	Saint Mary's Huskies	28	13	21	34	22
Alex MacDonald	Concordia Stingers	12	0	3	3	4
Bradley MacDonald	Laurentien Voyageurs	23	2	4	6	8
Timo Meier	Halifax Mooseheads	23	11	25	36	22
	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	29	23	28	51	24
Spencer Metcalfe	UPEI Panthers	25	1	2	3	44
Daniel Moynihan	Halifax Mooseheads	38	24	25	49	40
	Shawinigan Cataractes	29	12	9	21	26
Matt Murphy	Quebec Remparts	31	3	19	22	26
	Saint John Sea Dogs	37	8	21	29	19
Travis Randell	Acadia Axemen	28	5	1	6	2

Next month, I will recap those players in the North American professional and senior leagues.

Poll #13: Top Herd

Well another season is over for your Halifax Mooseheads which means so are my picks for the Top Herd during each regular season game. Just like last year, I have decided to let you vote on who should get the overall award. I have normally determined each game's top herd by their overall play not just how many points they had that game which is why you have seen some defence and goaltenders (even when we loose) on the list.

So cast your vote. You have until the end of March to do so.

Choices
1. Eric Brassard
2. Ilya Putintsev
3. Maxime Fotier
4. Other

Mar 19: Islanders vs. Mooseheads preview

GAMEDAY
CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 4:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Eastlink Centre (3,717) ~ Charlottetown, PEI

After getting an outburst of scoring last night in Moncton, your Halifax Mooseheads will look to pick up a second straight win and playing spoiler to the Islanders when they visit Charlottetown this evening. It's the last game of the regular season for both teams, with one looking to get a better position for the playoffs and the other hoping to end a rebuilding year on a high note. With losses last weekend on home ice, Halifax was officially eliminated from competing for the President's Cup and was put into a coin toss scenario with Baie-Comeau. Charlottetown can still have home ice advantage in the playoffs but it will depend on what happens tonight on the island and elsewhere in the league. The early afternoon game will be interesting with the Herd and Isles playing last night against different teams and both coming off victories. Games between these division rivals have been pretty tight all season with 4 going to extra time.

The last game between the two was a week ago today, with the Islanders erasing a 0-2 deficit and skated away with the overtime win. Kelly Bent and Otto Somppi scored for Halifax in the Mooseheads home finale.

Overall Records
Mooseheads: 21-38-7-1 = 50 points (6th in Maritimes division, 17th overall)
Islanders: 34-26-5-2 = 75 points (4th in Maritimes division, 9th overall)

Leading Scorers
CHA: Samuel Blais 81pts (33G & 48A), Bradley Kennedy 55pts (24G & 31A), Filip Chlapik 53pts (12G & 41A)
HFX: Maxime Fortier 76pts (31G & 45A), Otto Somppi 45pts (13G & 32A), Anthony Sorrentino 34pts (22G & 12A)

Last Games
Halifax is coming off a big 7-4 win on the road in Moncton last night. Vincent Watt had two goals and Otto Somppi led the team with 4 points for the Mooseheads while Kevin Resop stopped 26 of the Wildcats 30 shots.

Charlottetown barely defeated the Titan on home ice on Friday evening as 3 different players scored in a 3-2 victory while Mason McDonald of the Islanders made 34 saves against Acadie-Bathurst.

Season Series
Head to Head: 2-3-2-1 = 7 points
September 11  Halifax 3 at Charlottetown 4 SO
November 29  Halifax 4 at Charlottetown 2
January 3  Halifax 5 at Charlottetown 6 OT
January 5  Charlottetown 5 at Halifax 6 OT
January 17  Halifax 0 at Charlottetown 6
February 6  Charlottetown 6 at Halifax 4
February 20  Charlottetown 5 at Halifax 2
March 12  Charlottetown 3 at Halifax 2 OT
March 19  Halifax at Charlottetown – 4pm

Out of Town
Screaming Eagles vs Sea Dogs 4:00pm
Voltiguers vs Foreurs 4:00pm
Wildcats vs Titan 4:00pm
Drakkar vs Sagueneens 5:00pm
Olympiques vs Huskies 5:00pm
Remparts vs Oceanic 5:00pm
Cataractes vs Armada 5:00pm
Phoenix vs Tigres 5:00pm

After the Buzzer
The Mooseheads will have the first or second overall pick in the 2016 QMJHL draft in June.

University Commitments Start with Dal

A couple of Halifax native Moosehead players, one former and one current, have made their commitment to play university hockey at home. Ryan Falkenham and Zack Taylor have decided to continue their careers with the Dalhousie Tigers.

Ryan Falkenham
Photo - Mooseheads website

20 year old Falkenham played 4 seasons with the Herd after being drafted by his hometown team in 2011. Unfortunately, surgeries on his hips ended his junior career early forcing him to focus more on school and healing during the 2015-16 season than playing hockey. In 161 games with Halifax, the former captain collected 54 points.

"I’m extremely happy and excited to have committed to the Tigers,”says Falkenham.“Being a student here at Dalhousie this year I was able to familiarize myself with the hockey program which made the decision an easy one. I’m looking forward to reuniting with some junior teammates."

Zachary Taylor
Photo - Mooseheads website

Taylor was traded to the Moose in January from the Shawinigan Cataractes. With four games left this season, the 21 year old has a goal and 5 points as well as 15 penalty minutes.

“We continue to build our program from the net out and the addition of Zach Taylor has made our defensive group that much better,”says Donnelly.  “He is a very good puck moving defenseman who has played against the other team’s top players in the Quebec Major League, since he joined the Shawinigan Cataractes."

The two will join alumni Brendan Duke, Jesse Lussier and Philippe Gadoury on the team.

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, Cooper Jones was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for February 2016. Jones had a goal in 5 games played in the month of February while being plus 2.

Team	Player	Educational Institution
BAC	Mikael Sabourin	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
BAT	Antoine Morand	Académie Les Estacades
BLB	Anthony Boucher	Cégep de St-Jérôme
CAP	Alexandre Gosselin	Cégep à distance
CHA	Oliver Cooper	UPEI
CHI	Landon Schiller	Athabaska University
DRU	Philippe Pelletier-Leblanc	Cégep de Drummondville
GAT	Samuel Tremblay	Cégep de l’Outaouais
HAL	Cooper Jones	Prince Andrew High School
MON	Zack MacEwen	Crandall University
QUE	Alexandre Sills	Cégep de Limoilou
RIM	Jérémie Beaudin	Cégep de Rimouski
ROU	Nikolas Brouillard	Cégep à distance
SHA	Samuel Blier	Collège de Shawinigan
SHE	Carl Neill	Collège Champlain Lennoxville
SNB	Spencer Smallman	UNBSJ
VDO	Tyler Higgins	Online High School
VIC	Carl Marois	Cégep de Victoriaville

Powerplay Dominance

In a game where I personally thought we would get smoked consider the last couple of games between these two clubs, Kevin Resop and the powerplay had major roles in your Halifax Mooseheads getting a victory on Wednesday night. The Herd had 6 man advantage opportunities and capitalized on four of them leading to a 4-1 victory over the 14th place Acadie-Bathurst Titan. After a few first crazy minutes where no one seemed to really keep control of the puck long, the Titan broke the ice also on the PP. It looked like it might be a long night but in the middle frame the whole home team calmed down and were given multiple opportunities with the extra attacker and were able to put pressure on Titan goaltender Reilly Pickard with screens in front of the net, capitalizing twice in the beginning 4 minutes of the period. Resop was rock solid after letting in the 1st goal and earned third star honours. Not only did the powerplay emerge this game but so did a few rookies. Jocktan Chainey and Ilya Putintsev had a goal and an assist each while Walter Flower had 2 helpers. With the win, Halifax is now 7 points out of a playoff spot although Blainville is currently still playing and 9 points behind Bathurst.

FINAL: Titan 1at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Kevin Resop HAL | 2. Ilya Putintsev HAL | 1. Jocktan Chainey HAL
Attendance: 5,348
MC's Top Herd: Jocktan Chainey

GAME LOG
First period
15:54 BAT Guilluame Brisbois (8), PP | A: Maher & Johnston

Second period
1:11 HAL Jocktan Chainey (5), PP | A: Watt & Durandeau
3:33 HAL Maxime Fortier (9), PP | A: Watt Chainey

Third period
2:59 HAL Connor Moynihan (11), PP | A: Putintsev & Flower
11:23 HAL Ilya Putintsev (4), PP | A: Flower & Nauss

Powerplay: BAT - 1-for-6; HAL - 4-for-6
Shots: 35-27 in favour of Halifax

SCORES
Still playing

UP NEXT: The Mooseheads will travel to Cape Breton on Saturday and take on their provincial rivals, the Screaming Eagles. Puck drops at 7pm.