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.”