Marchand Scores for Canada in WCH Victory

Former Halifax Mooseheads forward Brad Marchand scored the game winner on Thursday night to give Team Canada the trophy at the World Cup of Hockey.

As no surprise to anyone, the Canadians won the tournament but it wasn't as easy as people thought they would win. The team, packed with many stars including Sidney Crosby, Carey Price, Steven Stamkos and Brent Burns, swept the preliminary round to win their group and secure a spot in the semi-finals. In the semis Canada took on the Russians where Marchand scored twice during the match (both being assisted by fellow Scotian Sidney Crosby and fellow Bruin Patrice Bergeron) on to a 5-3 victory. The win moved the Canadians to the finals against Team Europe.

Team Europe was made of players from the other European countries that weren't already in the tournament. The countries included in this team were Latvia, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. Many were surprised that Team Europe made it to the finals. Their lone loss during the preliminaries was to Canada. In the semis they defeated Sweden in overtime on the back of Tomas Tatar's two goals.

The final was a best of 3 games, meaning a team had to win two out of three games in the last round to win the trophy. Canada came out pretty good with Marchand scoring less than 3 minutes into the first game. The 28 year old than assisted on the last goal of the game on Tuesday night as the red and white won 3-1. On Thursday night Canada got out to a somewhat slow start letting in the first goal of the game and were held scoreless until the last 3 minutes of the game. That's when Bergeron scored to tie the game and the Air Canada Centre erupted with joy. With 44 seconds left in the game Marchand scored a nice wrister in the slot to put Canada up 2-1.

Congratulations to Brad Marchand and Team Canada for proving that hockey is Canada's game and winning the World Cup of Hockey 2016 trophy. Below is a team photo.

Photo - NHL

Moose Win Home Opener

For the first time since 2011, your Halifax Mooseheads have won a home opener. With 7 players out of the lineup the Saint John Sea Dogs just didn't have the fire power to get their first win of the season. The Mooseheads on the other hand got scoring from one of their youngest players as rookie and top overall pick Benoit-Olivier Groulx recorded his first two goals of the season. The night began with the usual home opening pre-game ceremony stuff with the team announcement and a nice moment of silence to remember former captain Dean Stock who passed on Friday. Despite both teams being without their agitators (Kelly Bent for Halifax as aged out while Bokondji Imama is at NHL camp), there was still hatred between the two Maritimes division rivals. Halifax got off to a fast start, scoring a goal 53 seconds into the game, and than with 9 minutes gone a fight broke out that shortened the bench by a few players. The last 40 minutes were less penalized and quicker with a flurry of shots in the last 3 minutes by Saint John. Overall it was an interesting game and gave fans a good look at what is to come.

FINAL: Sea Dogs 3 at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Matthew Highmore SNB | 2. Nico Hischier HAL | 1. Benoit-Olivier Groulx HAL
Attendance: 7,010
MC’s Top Herd: Benoit-Olivier Groulx

GAME LOG
First period
0:53 HAL Cooper Jones (1) | A: Moynihan & Sorrentino
12:51  SNB John Warren (1), PP | A: Veleno & Del Paggio
13:10 SNB Gabriel Bettez (1), PP | A: M. Green & Stewart
14:02 HAL Benoit-Oliver Groulx (1), PP | A: Hischer & Fortier

Second period
11:33 HAL Arnaud Duranuad (2) | A: Ford & Flower

Third period13:53 HAL Benoit-Oliver Groulx (2) | A: Bishop
16:58 SNB Matthew Highmore (2), PP | A: Del Paggio & Bernier

Powerplay: SNB - 3-for-9, HAL - 1-for-7
Shots: 36-27 in favour of the Sea Dogs

SCORESDrakkar 1 at Oceanic 2
Cataracts 2 at Sagueneens 3
Screaming Eagles 1 at Titan 3
Foreurs 5 at Phoenix 4

UP NEXT: Halifax will welcome the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles a week from now at the Scotiabank Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY #2: vs. Saint John

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

The countdown to the home opener has no more days, it's just hours. There's been more than 6 months between home games which is the longest off season in team history. But the wait is over Moose Country, your Halifax Mooseheads are back at the Scotiabank Centre this evening for their 2016-17 home opener. The team's rookies played well in their first regular season game but how will they perform in front of the crowd in Halifax? We'll find out tonight and over the next couple weeks as the Moose play the next 5 of 6 matches at home. Saint John is a team that everyone is pegging once again to make it to the President's Cup final but they're starting the season without 7 of their big guns who are at NHL main camps. With back to back games I expect we'll see rookie goaltender Alexis Gravel get his first start at the Scotiabank Centre.

This is the first matchup between the two teams this season. Last year, Halifax was 2-5-1-0 against the Sea Dogs while Saint John had a 6-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup in the 2015-16 season was on February 27, the second game of a home and home series with Saint John taking a 5-1 victory in Halifax. Arnaud Durandeau scored the lone goal for the Mooseheads while Eric Brassard picked up the defeat but made 33 saves. 

OVERALL RECORDS
Sea Dogs: 0-1-0-0 = 0 points (6th in Maritimes division,  17th overall)
Mooseheads: 0-1-0-0 = 0 points (4th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)

LEADING SCORERSHAL: Max Fortier 3pts (2G & 1A), Arnaud Durandau 1pt (1G), Joel Bishop 1pt (1A)
SNB: Matthew Highmore 1pt (1G), Samuel Leblanc 1pt (1G), Daniel Delpagio 1pt (1A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Saint John is coming off a 6-2 loss to the Islanders in their season opener last night. Veteran Matthew Highmore got the Sea Dogs first goal of the year while Alex Bishop picked up the defeat making 19 saves on 24 shots in Charlottetown's home opener.

Halifax is coming off a 4-3 defeat to the Wildcats on Friday evening. Max Fortier had 2 goals and an assist to lead the Mooseheads in scoring while Kevin Resop was credited with the loss, making 29 saves in Moncton.

NOT DRESSED - Jocktan Chainey (injury), Otto Somppi (NHL camp) & Jordan Lepage (suspension)

ALUM ON SEA DOGS- none

HEAD-TO-HEADSeptember 24  Saint John at Halifax - 7pm
December 16  Halifax at Saint John - 7pm
January 7  Saint John at Halifax - 7pm
January 8  Halifax at Saint John - 3pm
February 3  Saint John at Halifax - 7pm
February 26  Halifax at Saint John - 3pm
March 11  Halifax at Saint John - 7pm
March 18  Saint John at Halifax - 4pm

OUT OF TOWNDrakkar vs. Oceanic   5:00pm
Cataractes vs. Sagueneens   5:00pm
Screaming Eagles vs. Titan   7:00pm
Foreurs vs. Phoenix   8:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZERThe Mooseheads have a week off when on October 1st they welcome their provincial rivals the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to town. Puck drops at 7pm

GAMEDAY #1: at Moncton

GAME PREVIEW
MONCTON WILDCATS VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Moncton Coliseum (6,554) ~ Moncton, NB

Welcome to the 2016-17 season Moose Country! Another season is upon us and after a last place finish last year, the Halifax Mooseheads will have some new faces that should make this season very exciting for fans and a better finish than the previous season. The Herd ended the year in 18th place and were able to nab the 1st and 2nd overall picks at the 2016 draft while also selecting the top goalie prospect. Though Halifax might not have the same scoring power as they did during the 2011-12 season (the last time Halifax had a top 2 pick on the team), production should be more spread out with entertaining rookies and sophomores that have the ability to put pucks in the back of the net. Halifax also has a new coach so tonight's matchup will be the first real test of how the new team will work out. They'll be going against a team in the Moncton Wildcats that looks different too, the main departure being Conor Garland who was a thorn in the side of many players. Garland's scoring won't be entirely missed but I'm sure his ability to get under the other team's skin will. Moncton is also without their starting goaltender, Keven Bouchard, who is in Edmonton Oilers camp so rookie Matthew Waite will get the call tonight. Speaking of goalies, it will be interesting to see who Coach Andre Tourigny chooses to start the season with, especially where the Mooseheads will be playing back-to-back games this weekend.

This is the first matchup between the two teams this season. Last year, Halifax was 3-5-1-0 against the Wildcats while Moncton had a 6-3-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup in the regular season between Halifax and Moncton was March 18 where Max Fortier and Otto Somppi each had a goal and 2 assists to help the Mooseheads pick up a 7-4 victory in Wildcats territory. 

OVERALL RECORDSMooseheads: 0-0-0-0, 0pts (T-1st in Maritimes division, T-2nd in league)
Wildcats: 0-0-0-0, 0pts (T-1st in Maritimes division, T-2nd in league)

LEADING SCORERSMON: n/a
HAL: n/a

PREVIOUS GAMES
Halifax is coming off a 5-1 defeat to Cape Breton in the team's last game of the preseason last Friday night. Newcomer Bradley Kennedy scored the lone goal for the Mooseheads while Kevin Resop allowed 4 goals on 11 Screaming Eagles shots before being pulled in the later part of the first period.

Moncton is coming off a 10-2 loss to the Titan in their preseason finale on September 16. Cameron Askew led the Wildcats with 2 points while Matthew Waite and Dominik Tmej split the goaltending duties on home ice against Acadie-Bathurst.

NOT DRESSED - Jocktan Chainey (injury), Otto Somppi (NHL camp) & Jordan Lepage (suspension)

ALUM ON WILDCATS - forward Ilya Putintsev

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 23  Halifax at Moncton - 7pm
November 18  Halifax at Moncton - 7pm
November 27  Moncton at Halifax - 3pm
December 17  Moncton at Halifax - 7pm
January 3  Halifax at Moncton - 7pm
January 6  Moncton at Halifax - 7pm
February 5  Halifax at Moncton - 4pm
February 20  Moncton at Halifax - 2pm
February 23  Halifax at Moncton - 7pm

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

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Mooseheads will head to Halifax for the team's home opener and will welcome the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

STATS SUNDAY: Preseason

The Herd have finished their pre-season schedule after playing provincial rivals Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Friday night.

Team stats
Games played: 9
Scores*: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 0-4, 1-6, 6-1, 7-2, 5-3, 1-5
Record: 6-3-0-0, 12pts
Goals for/against: 32 / 27
Powerplay: 13.6%
Penalty kill: 81.2%

Team leaders
Points: Cooper Jones (7pts), Arnaud Durandeau (6pts), Walter Flower (6pts)
Goals: Raphael Lavoie (4), Arnaud Durandeau (3), Barrett Dachyshyn (3)
Assists: Cooper Jones (7), Walter Flower (4), Otto Somppi (3)
Penalty minutes: Jordan Lepage (20), Mathieu Charlebois (17), Dominik Blain-Dupuis (14)
Plus/minus: Jared McIsaac (+9), Raphael Lavoie (+5), Morgan Nauss (+4)

Goaltending stats
Kevin Resop    2-1-0-0    3.15 GAA    0.883 SAV%
Alexis Gravel    3-2-0-0    3.26 GAA    0.866 SAV%


*Mooseheads score is firstNote: Moncton rookie tournament results are included.

Former Moose at NHL Rookie Camps

There's a few former Halifax Mooseheads that have been invited to National Hockey League rookie camps that begin this week.

Below is a list of all the former Herd who are on rookie camp rosters:
Zach Fucale - Montreal Canadiens - Sept 15-21
Matt Murphy - Winnipeg Jets - Sept 15-19
Cody Donaghey - Ottawa Senators - Sept 15-18
Timo Meier - San Jose Sharks - Sept 15-21
Danny Moynihan - Vancouver Canucks - Sept 15-19
Cavan Fitzgerald - San Jose Sharks - Sept 15-21

Former star Mooseheads goaltender Zach Fucale is participating in his third rookie camp with the Montreal Canadiens and will try to make the Habs this season as back up for Carey Price. The 21 year old will have to beat two other rookie goalies to get a chance to prove himself in main camp which begins next week. Montreal is apart of the Toronto Maple Leafs Rookie Tournament held in London, ON each year. Fucale and the Canadiens will play games against the Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend. Herd alumni Cody Donaghey will also participate in the tournament with the Sens. Donaghey was originally drafted by the Leafs but his rights were traded to Ottawa last season. This will be the 19 year old's second rookie camp.

Two other alum will be battling against each other out west this weekend. Matt Murphy was invited to Winnipeg Jets rookie camp after participating in the Anaheim Ducks development camp back in July. The 21 year old went undrafted but has played on good teams and has been invited to multiple NHL camps trying to make the pros. The Jets will play in the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, BC and will have games against the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oliers and host Vancouver Canucks. Recently graduated junior forward Danny Moynihan got the call from the Canucks to participate in their rookie camp and will try to get an invite to main camp while helping bring some victories to the host team.

The San Jose Sharks have a couple of Moose alum in their camp. Timo Meier, who the Sharks drafted in 2015, will look to make the team this season after being sent down to junior last year. Meier is just one of many promising prospect that San Jose has so the 19 year old will have to make a big impression to stay in the NHL. San Jose will play a pair of games against the Anaheim Ducks and Colorado Avalanche in Westminster, CO. Cavan Fitzgerald will also be there after signing with the team back in October. The 20 year old s looking to make the next step in his career and like every hockey player is hoping to become a pro in the National Hockey League this season.

Good luck to all the Mooseheads alumni.

Moose on Eastlink TV 13 Times

Eastlink TV has announced what games your Halifax Mooseheads will be apart of this season. Thirteen regular season Moose matches will be broadcasted by the Atlantic television channel during their Friday Night Hockey schedule.

The Herd's first game on Eastlink this season will be a special Saturday night edition when the team host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at 7pm.

Below is the full list (all game times are 7pm)
October 1   vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
October 21   vs. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
October 28   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
December 9   vs. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
December 30   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
January 6   vs. Moncton Wildcats
January 13   vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs
January 20   vs. Baie-Comeau Drakkar
February 10   at Charlottetown Islanders
February 18   vs. Charlottetown Islanders
February 24   vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan
March 3   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
March 17   vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

You can find the full schedule here.

Season Opening Roster Announced

YOUR 2016-17 HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

1  Alexis Gravel  G  (Mississauga, ON)*
2  Cooper Jones  D  (Bridgewater, MA, USA)
3  Walter Flower  D  (Lunenburg, NS)
4  Mathieu Charlebois  D  (Blainville, QC) 
5  Jordan Lepage  D  (Rimouski, QC)*
7  Bradley Kennedy  RW  (Antigonish, NS)
13  Nico Hischier  C  (Naters, Switzerland)* 
14  Jared McIsaac  D  (Truro, NS)*
17  Brett Crossley  C  (Dartmouth, NS)
19  Benoit-Olivier Groulx  LW  (Gatineau, QC)*
21  Arnaud Durandeau  LW  (Beaconsfield, QC)
26  Taylor Ford  D  (Lasalle, QC)
28  Ben Higgins  C  (Truro, NS)*
36  Anthony Sorrentino  RW  (Woodbridge, ON)
40  Kevin Resop  G  (St. Petersburg, FL, USA)
41  Maxime Fortier  RW  (Montreal, QC)
50  Raphael Lavoie  C  (Chambly, QC)* 
51  Barrett Dachyshyn  C  (Halifax, NS)
61  Joel Bishop  C  (St. John's, NL)
71  Connor Moynihan  LW  (Boston, MA, USA)
79  Jocktan Chainey  D  (Asbestos, QC)
89  Otto Somppi  C  (Helsinki, Finland)

*indicates rookie

CAMP: Last cut made?

Photo - Metro News

The Halifax Mooseheads announced today the possible last cut of the 2016 training camp. I say possible last cut because we have already seen one change on the roster with a new coach in Andre Tourigny only keeping 7 defenseman instead of the normal 8 and this announcement leaves the Herd with 14 forwards "vying for a spot on the opening night roster" according to the team release.

Halifax released veteran Andrew Shewfelt  Monday afternoon. Shewfelt played three years with the Moose recording 27 goals and 58 points in 177 regular season games.

Good luck to Andrew in the next stage of his career and thank you for your service to the Mooseheads. Moose Country will miss you Shewy.

Kid Mack Helps Team NA Win

Former Halifax Mooseheads star player Nathan MacKinnon helped Team North America to a 4-0 exhibition victory in the World Cup of Hockey on Thursday night.

The 21 year old got the first goal of the game and the last one. Nathan put Team North America on the board shortly after the beginning of the second period, shooting a rebound into the net past Team Europe goaltender Jaroslav Halak on the powerplay. The North Americans, which is made up of players 23 and under from Canada and the United States, potted two more goals by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers) and Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames) in the next 4:43 of the game. In the third period, MacKinnon skated in on a breakaway but was tripped by Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins) which led to a penalty shot. The Cole Harbour, NS native didn't waste his opportunity to put Team NA up by 4 goals as he deked out Halak and backhanded the puck into the back of the net with 8:08 left in the game.

This was the first exhibition match for both teams at the WCH and was held in Quebec City's year old Videotron Arena. The two will meet again over the weekend in Montreal before the 2016 version of the World Cup of Hockey begins for real next Saturday (September 17) at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.

CAMP: Moose going with 7 D

Photo - David Chan (Mooseheads website)

The Halifax Mooseheads announced another cut on Wednesday afternoon, releasing defenseman Adam Nolan from camp.

Nolan, 18, was a free agent invite trying to crack a somewhat young d core. The Mount Pearl, NL native is property of the Valley Wildcats in the Maritime Hockey League and will most likely join the Cats for this season.

The cut left 25 players in camp with the defenseman and goaltending positions looking to be set now. With a new coach brings a new team look, as the Moose will go with 7 blue-liners this year compared to the 8 they have been the last few seasons.


Wednesday also brought the rumor that forward Dominik Blain was put on waivers. Halifax confirmed today (Thursday) that he was in fact put on waives and has been claimed by the Gatineau Olympiques. Blain will now have the chance to play for his hometown team in 2016-17.

Good luck to both players with their teams this seasons.

With this news there is currently 2 goalies, 7 defenseman and 15 forwards remaining in camp. The team has the next 5 days off before shifting their attention to practicing at the Forum next week.