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.