STATS SUNDAY: January

Games played: 13
Record: 8-4-0-1, 17pts
Goals for/against: 45/37
Powerplay*: 21.6%
Penalty kill*: 74.4%
Shutouts: none

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Nico Hischier 20, Maxime Fortier 15, Arnaud Durandeau 11, Frederic Aube 9, Jared McIsaac 8
Goals: Nico Hischier 10, Maxime Fortier 8, Jake Coughler 6, Frederic Aube 4, Otto Somppi 4
Assists: Nico Hischier 10, Arnaud Durandeau 9, Jared McIsaac 8, Maxime Fortier 7, Frederic Aube 5
Penalty minutes: Arnaud Durandeau 28, Keigan Goetz 27, Jordan Lepage 25, Jared McIsaac 18, Joel Bishop 13
Plus/minus: Arnaud Durandeau +10, Nico Hischier +10, Frederic Aube +9, Maxime Fortier +7, Jared McIsaac +5
Rookie scoring: Nico Hischier 20pts, Jared McIsaac 8pts, Jordan Lepage 5pts, Ben Higgins 4pts, Benoit-Olivier Groulx 3pts

Goaltending stats*
Blade Mann-Dixon: 13-9-0-0     2.92 GAA     0.908 SAV%
Alexis Gravel: 14-11-1-3     3.18 GAA     0.902 SAV%



*overall

GAMEDAY #49: at Rimouski

GAME PREVIEW
RIMOUSKI OCEANIC VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 4:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Colisee Financiere Sun Life (4,285) ~ Rimouski, QC

It's the final game for your Halifax Mooseheads of a 3-in-3 road trip through the province of Quebec. Today also marks the last road game against a Quebecois team this season. Four points separate the two teams playing this afternoon so fans in Rimouski are in for a big hard fought match I'm guessing. Halifax will be without star rookie Nico Hischier for the second straight game as he gets ready to participate in the Top Prospects game on Monday. The Mooseheads will be hoping to have a gritty performance like they did yesterday as the team is missing more than just Nico this weekend. They played with 3 full lines last night and are most likely going to be doing something similar today but Jared McIsaac should be back on the ice. Rimouski on the other hand, despite being 14th in the league, has the league's top scorer in Tyler Boland who is now 8 points ahead of the Herd's Max Fortier. The Oceanic are 2-0-1-0 in their last 3 games and will be looking to continue collecting points.

This is the second and last meeting between these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Oceanic while Rimouski has a 0-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was October 7 in Moose Country where the home Mooseheads picked up the 6-5 victory. Bradley Kennedy, Max Fortier & Otto Somppi had a goal and an assist each to lead the team.

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 23-21-1-3 = 50 points (5th in Maritimes division, 11th overall)
Oceanic: 21-24-4-0 = 46 points (5th in East division, 14th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
RIM: Tyler Boland 79pts (36G & 43A), Dylan Montcalm 60pts (13G & 47A), Samuel Laberge 38pts (15G & 23A)
HAL: Maxime Fortier 71pts (26G & 45A), Nico Hischier 68pts (33G & 35A), Jake Coughler 39pts (25G & 14A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Halifax is coming off a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Phoenix on Saturday night. Joel Bishop and Otto Somppi scored for the Mooseheads while Blade Mann-Dixon made 29 saves in Sherbrooke to pick up the win.

Rimouski is coming off a big 9-3 win on home ice over Drummondville. Three different players had a goal and 3 assists each to lead the Oceanic while Alexandre Lagace stopped 23 of the Voltigeurs' 26 shots on Saturday.

ALUM ON OCEANIC - Sam Hunter

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 7  Rimouski 5 at Halifax 6
January 29  Halifax at Rimouski - 4pm

OUT OF TOWN
Islanders vs. Sea Dogs     3:00pm
Sagueneens vs. Olympiques     5:00pm
Cataractes vs. Drakkar     5:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will head back home after the game and host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Thursday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Hischier Named to Three Stars

Photo - Mooseheads twitter

The QMJHL announced the three stars on Monday. Rookie Swiss forward Nico Hischier was named third star of the week for the week ending January 22nd, 2017. Nico had a goal and two assists Tuesday night in the shoot out win against Cape Breton. He had a goal in the shoot out loss to Chicoutimi on Thursday night. On Friday night he had a goal and two assists in the 7-4 loss to Baie Comeau on DND appreciation night.

First star honours went to Alexis D'Aoust of the Shawinigan Cataractes who had 7 points on the week and a plus six rating on the week. Second star honours went to Matthew Welsh of the Charlottetown Islanders who went 2-0 on the weekend.

Congratulations to Nico who was named third star of the week. Keep up the strong play to finish out the season!

DND Night Results in Defeat

On a night when the Halifax Mooseheads appreciated the Department of National Defense, the team on the ice couldn't get a win for the over 7,600 fans in attendance. The Herd were going up against rival Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Friday evening and despite outshooting the Drakkar all game, it just wasn't a good night for the Halifax goaltenders. With veteran goalie Blade Mann-Dixon still not feeling 100% after being sick the last few days, rookie Alexis Gravel started his second game in a row. Unfortunately for the Moose, Gravel had an off night and allowed three goals on 4 shots as Baie-Comeau led 4-2 after 20 minutes. One of the stories coming into the game was the battle of the Fortier brothers and while Max had the upper hand in points, little bro Gabriel received the team victory. Max ended the evening with 2 goals, the second of which was an odd bounce. Swiss star Nico Hischier kept his strong play going with a goal and two assists but he was unable to help his team pick up a W. After the Drakkar made it 3-1 less than 7 minutes into the game, coach Andre Tourigny decided to pull the rookie and put in Mann-Dixon.

FINAL: Drakkar 7 at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Nico Hischier HAL | 2. Xavier Bouchard BAC | 1. Jordan Martel BAC
Attendance: 7,680
MC's Top Herd: Nico Hischier

GAME LOG
First period
1:39 BAC Simon Chevrier (12) | A: Thibault & Deslauriers
3:38 HAL Maxime Fortier (25) | A: Hischier & Charlebois
5:04 BAC D'Artagnan Joly (13) | A: Corson & Chekhovich
6:48 BAC Jean-Simon Belanger (2) | A: Bouchard & St-Laurent
8:12 HAL Nico Hischier (33) | A: Lepage
10:37 BAC Jordan Martel (14), PP | A: Chekhovich & Bouchard

Second period
6:37 BAC Jordan Martel (15) | A: Bouchard & Deslauriers
6:56 HAL Jake Coughler (24) | A: Somppi & Mann-Dixon

Third period
6:01 BAC Christopher Benoit (4) | A: Girard
6:47 BAC Ivan Chekhovich (17) | A: Corson & Aucoin
17:46 HAL Maxime Fortier (26) | A: Hischier & Durandeau

Powerplay: BAC - 1-for-4, HAL - 0-for-7
Shots: 40-31 in favour of the Mooseheads

MISSING IN ACTION: Caleb Rich, Brett Crossley and Barrett Dachyshyn

SCORES
Chicoutimi 0 at Saint John 1
Rouyn-Noradna 5 at Shebrooke 4
Drummondville 1 at Victoriaville 7
Shawinigan 5 at Blainville-Boisbriand 4
Charlottetown 5 at Gatineau 4 OT
Val-d'Or 4 at Rimouski 3

UP NEXT: Halifax will go on a road trip through Quebec starting with a visit to Drummondville for a match against the Voltigeurs on Friday night. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

Hischier Leads Herd on CSS List

The Central Scouting Services revealed it's mid-term rankings for the upcoming NHL draft today.

Brandon Wheat Kings centre Nolan Patrick is still ranked number 1 among North American skaters despite missing the first half of the season with an injury. Patrick has played the last 2 seasons in the WHL though so the scouts have seen him quite a bit.

Photo - NHL.com

Halifax Mooseheads fans will have a vested interest in who was ranked number two on the CSS list. Rookie Nico Hischier has climbed to the 2nd spot with his strong performance so far this season, scoring 31 goals and 63 points in 37 games played. He also played really well in the World Junior Championships after Christmas recording 7 points (4 goals & 3 assists) helping Team Switzerland to a 7th place finish. Hischier and Patrick will be going head to head for the rest of the season for that top spot now that Nolan has returned from his injury. Their first meeting against each other will be January 30 in Quebec City for the Top Prospects game with both players acting as captains of their respective team. Nico is the highest ranked Mooseheads player since Nathan MacKinnon in 2013.

There is also a few other Mooseheads on the list. Sophomore defensemen Jocktan Chainey and Walter Flower are ranked at #95 and #126 respectively while team leading scorer Maxime Fortier is 136th on the rankings. Rounding out the Herd players on the list is rookie Mathieu Charlebois at #214.

Congratulations to all the players and hopefully we'll hear these guys go in the 2017 NHL draft. Especially Max who I believe is in his 3rd entry draft.

CHL Names Top Prospects Game Captains

Nico Hischier is having a good season and it just got a little greater.

Photo - CHL.ca

The Canadian Hockey League announced the captains and alternate captains for the 2017 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects game on Tuesday afternoon and the lone Halifax Moosehead player that will be participating in this year's match was among the players given the honour. Hischier was named the captain of Team Orr for the game. The 18 year old joins Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings who will captain Team Cherry. Assisting Nico on Team Orr are the Mississauga Steelheads Nicolas Hauge and Michael Rasmussen of the Tri-City Americans.

Congratulations to Nico on being named captain of on of the teams. Moose Country will be cheering you on during the game. The Naters, Switzerland native had this to say; "It feels really good (to be named captain) because it’s an honour for me and I’m really excited about it,” said Hischier. “It’s a good experience and a chance to meet new friends so it should be fun.”

You can watch the Top Prospects game on Sportsnet on January 30. The match pits the top 40 NHL draft eligible players that are playing in the CHL. This year's version will be hosted by the city of Quebec and the Quebec Remparts.

Herd Get 1st Shootout Win

Photo - Christian Laforce (Local Xpress)

Five out of six. That is an excellent way to start the new year! In a game that saw a couple of players going against their old team and the return of former coaches, the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Drummondville Voltigeurs in a shootout. Dominique Ducharme, who coached the Moose for the last 5 seasons and won a Memorial Cup with the team, was back in Moose Country on Friday night but he couldn't coach his new team to a victory. On the bench was his assistant coach in Halifax for a few of those seasons; Steve Hartley. For the Herd it was their first shootout victory of the season and it has given the team 5 wins in their last six games to begin 2017. The new recruits have been very good so far but tonight it was a couple of rookies who helped get the win. After a uneventful first period, Drummondville got out to a 1-0 lead over 7 minutes into the middle frame. Halifax had a few powerplays in the second half of the period but despite some pressure could not get a puck past Olivier Rodrigue. Not until that is the 3:27 minute mark of the third period where Max Fotier scored in tight to tie the game. Rodrique and Alexis Gravel kept it a tight game especially in the final minutes. In overtime, the home team took a penalty but Gravel was their to stop all 10 shots he faced in the extra 5 minutes as Drummondville outshot Halifax 10-2. Rookie defenseman Jared McIsaac scored the lone goal in the shootout to propel the Mooseheads.

FINAL: Voltigeurs 1 at Mooseheads 2 SO
Stars: 3. Jared McIsaac HAL | 2. Olivier Rodrigue DRU | 1. Alexis Gravel HAL
Attendance: 6,777
MC's Top Herd: Alexis Gravel

GAME LOG
First period
None

Second period
7:33 DRU Nicolas Beaudin (2) | A: none

Third period
3:27 HAL Maxime Fortier (24) | A: Lepage & Somppi

Overtime
None

Shootout
Round 1 – HAL Maxime Fortier (Save)     DRU Pavel Koltygin (Save)
Round 2 – HAL Jared McIsaac (Save)     DRU Nicolas Guay (Save)
Round 3 – HAL Nico Hischier (Save)     DRU Nicolas Beaudin (Save)

Powerplay: DRU - 0-for-5, HAL - 0-for-4
Shots: 38-32 in favour of Drummondville

MISSING IN ACTION: Mathieu Charlebois, Caleb Rich, Barrett Dachyshyn

SCORES
Victoriaville 1 at Acadie-Bathurst 5
Saint John 4 at Cape Breton 1
Moncton 3 at Charlottetown 8
Blainville-Boisbriand 3 at Chicoutimi 1
Rimouski 3 at Gatineau 6
Sherbrooke 3 at Rouyn-Noranda 6

UP NEXT: Halifax will welcome the Victoriaville Tigres for some Sunday afternoon hockey. Puck drops at 3pm.

GAMEDAY #41: vs. Charlottetown

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

Halifax will welcome another division rival to the Scotiabank Centre tonight when they take on the Charlottetown Islanders for a mid-week matchup. The Mooseheads will be looking to start another win streak after losing to the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday afternoon which halted a 3 game win streak. They will be in tough again as Charlottetown comes in as the 5th place team in the QMJHL. Charlottetown is also going to look very different to Moose Country as the Islanders have revamped their roster with 9 newly acquired players through trades and the recently returned Daniel Sprong. Halifax meanwhile will get a big boost with the return of forward Connor Moynihan who has been out for the last month. The Islanders clearly want to make a run for the President's Cup with so many big name trades during the winter trade period and now have 7 NHL prospects on their team.

This is the fifth meeting between these two teams this season. Charlottetown is 2-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads while Halifax has a 2-2-0-0 record versus the Islanders. The last matchup was December 28 on the island where Maxime Fortier scored the lone goal in a 2-1 defeat and Blade Mann-Dixon made his debut for the Moose with a 40 save performance.

OVERALL RECORDS
Islanders: 24-13-2-0 = 50 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 5th overall)
Mooseheads: 18-19-1-2 = 39 points (5th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 63pts (22G & 41A), Nico Hischier 54pts (26G & 28A), Jake Coughler 32pts (20G & 12A)
CHA: Francois Beauchemin 57pts (28G & 29A), Carl Neill 46pts (10G & 36A), Filip Chlapik 45pts (20G & 25A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Charlottetown is coming off a 4-3 overtime home defeat at the hands of the Screaming Eagles on Saturday. Adam Marsh led the Islanders with 2 goals while Matthew Welsh made 37 saves on 41 Cape Breton shots to take the loss.

As mentioned above, Halifax is coming off a 2-1 loss to the Sea Dogs on Sunday afternoon. Max Foriter scored the only goal for the Mooseheads while rookie Alexis Gravel made 32 saves to take the defeat in Saint John.

ALUM ON ISLANDERS - 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 1 at Charlottetown 2
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 TOWNScreaming Eagles vs. Voltigeurs    7:00pm
Wildcats vs. Titan    7:00pm
Olympiques vs. Phoenix    8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Mooseheads will stay in Halifax and welcome the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Friday evening with the return of former coach Dom Ducharme. Puck drops at 7pm.

Alumni Named to NHL All-Star Rosters

A couple of former Halifax Mooseheads have been named to NHL all star team rosters today. For full rosters click here.

Star centre Nathan MacKinnon will be apart of the Central Division team which is captained by PK Subban. MacKinnon, in his fourth season with the Colorado Avalanche, has 10 goals and 27 points in 39 games played this season. This is the first time that Kid MacK has been named to an all star game. Nathan leads a last place Colorado team in scoring. The 21 year old played for the Mooseheads between 2011 and 2013, winning a Memorial Cup in his second and last season with the team.

During the 2008-09 season, Brad Marchand was apart of the Herd. The 28 year old alum will also play in the 2017 all star game. Marchand is in his eighth year as a Boston Bruin, scoring 13 goals and recording 35 points in 43 games. As the scoring leader of his team it's no surprise that the Halifax, NS native was put on the Atlantic Division roster which is captained Carey Price.

Congratulations to both men on being named all stars for this year. Good luck during the game!! You can check out the 2017 NHL All Star game on January 27 and it will be held in Los Angeles, California.

Aube Named to 3 Stars

The QMJHL announced the 3 stars of the week today. Newly acquired Mooseheads defenseman Frederic Aube has been named the third star for the week ending January 8, 2017. The 20 year old had 2 assists in his last game with the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Tuesday. Aube showed the Herd faithful that the brass made the right decision in acquiring him, scoring 2 goals and recording 4 points on Friday night helping Halifax secure a 6-2 victory over the Moncton Wildcats. He added another assist on Saturday evening in another win by a score of 4-1 against Saint John.

First star honours went to goaltender Francis Leclerc of the Boisbraind Armada who had back to back shutouts while Voltigeurs' forward Mathieu Sevigny, who recorded 8 points in 3 games, was named second star.

Congratulations to Frederic on being named a star of the week. Keep up the strong play the rest of the season.

QMJHLNames 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, Brett Crossley was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for December 2016. Crossley had a goal in 9 games played in the month of December while also being a minus-5.

Here is the full list:

BAC	Mikael Sabourin	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
BAT	Jordan Maher	Acadia University
BLB	Yvan Mongo	Cégep de Saint-Jérôme
CAP	Marcus Tesink	Cape Breton University
CHA	Keith Getson	UPEI
CHI	Antoine Marcoux	Cégep de Chicoutimi
DRU	Xavier Bernard	Collège Saint-Bernard
GAT	Tristan Bérubé	Cégep à distance
HAL	Brett Crossley	St. Mary’s University
MON	Kevin Klima	Harrison Trimble High School
QUE	Olivier Garneau	Cégep de Limoilou
RIM	Alexandre Grisé	Cégep de Rimouski
ROU	Chris McQuaid	Blyth Academy
SHA	Antoine Demers	Collège de Shawinigan
SHE	Benjamin Tardif	École secondaire Du Triolet
SNB	Kyle Ward	UNBSJ
VDO	Yohan Plamondon	Polyvalente Le Carrefour
VIC	Maxime Comtois	Cégep de Victoriaville

GAMEDAY #40: at Saint John

GAME PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS VS. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 3:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Harbour Station (6,200) ~ Saint John, NB

Your Halifax Mooseheads are finishing a home and home series against the Saint John Sea Dogs when they visit the New Brunswick city this afternoon. Today's game is also the last match during a 3 games in 3 days series for both teams. Halifax has welcomed the fact that Nico Hischier has returned from the World Juniors scoring three goals in the last two games but they'll have to deal without him in Saint John as he is a healthy scratch. The Sea Dogs will still be without Thomas Chabot, Mathieu Joseph and newly acquired Julien Gauthier after returning from playing for Team Canada in the WJC the last couple of weeks. With the Mooseheads playing so many games this week, fans can probably expect rookie goalie Alexis Gravel to start in nets for Halifax as veteran Blade Mann-Dixon has played all 3 games so far. Mann-Dixon was a big reason why the lower seed Herd defeated the division leading Dogs yesterday.

This is the third game between these two teams this season. Halifax is 2-0-0-0 against the Sea Dogs while Saint John has a 0-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last match was yesterday in Moose Country where the home team won 4-1 on the back of Blade Mann-Dixon's 46 saves. Nico Hischier and Max Fortier each had a goal and an assist.

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 18-18-1-2 = 39 points (5th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)
Sea Dogs: 24-11-3-1 = 52 points (1st in Maritimes division, 2nd overall)

LEADING SCORERS
SNB: Matthew Highmore 59pts (23G & 36A), Mathieu Joseph 45pts (25G & 20A), Spencer Smallman 43pts (15G & 28A)
HAL: Maxime Fortier 62pts (21G & 41A), Nico Hischier 54pts (26G & 28A), Jake Coughler 32pts (20G & 12A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
See above.

ALUM ON SEA DOGS - None

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 24  Saint John 3 at Halifax 4
December 16  Halifax at Saint John POSTPONED
January 7  Saint John 1 at Halifax 4
January 8  Halifax at Saint John – 3pm
February 3  Saint John at Halifax – 7pm
February 26  Halifax at Saint John – 3pm
March 1  Halifax at Saint John - 7pm
March 11  Halifax at Saint John – 7pm
March 18  Saint John at Halifax – 4pm

OUT OF TOWN
Titan vs. Screaming Eagles    3:00pm
Armada vs. Oceanic    4:00pm
Voltigeurs vs. Drakkar    4:00pm
Sagueneens vs. Tigres    5:00pm
Olympiques vs. Huskies    5:00pm
Foreurs vs. Remparts    5:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Mooseheads will be back home for Wednesday night hockey against the Charlottetown Islanders. Puck drops at 7pm.

Moose Sweep Home & Home Series

Photo - Shawn Davidson

Newly acquired Frederic Aube helped his new team to a big victory over last place Moncton Wildcats on Friday evening at the Scotiabank Centre. Aube scored the first goal of the game around the eight minute mark which prompted the fans in attendance to throw their stuffed animals onto the ice. Tonight's match against the Cats was the Mooseheads annual Teddy Bear Toss game and because of it, Eastlink TV decided to come to town and broadcast it. Halifax got out to a fast start against their divisional rivals, leading 3-0 after 20 minutes. The team had 22 shots in the first. Aube also helped Max Fortier get his 20th goal of the season during the period while Raphael Lavoie scored his second goal since returning to the team. Moncton made it interesting in the middle frame scoring twice in 21 seconds more than half way into the period. Nico Hischier scored shortly after to clinch the deal for the home team, he also recorded a shorthanded goal in the third period. It was Hischier's first game since returning from the World Juniors, his participation of which was recognized before puck drop. 

FINAL: Wildcats 2 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Arnaud Durandeau HAL | 2. Nico Hischier HAL | 1. Frédéric Aubé HAL
Attendance: 7,059
MC’s Top Herd: Frederic Aube

GAME LOG
First period
8:17 HAL Frédéric Aubé (5) | A: Fortier & Hischier
8:48 HAL Maxime Fortier (20) | A: Durandeau & Aubé
16:00 HAL Raphaël Lavoie (2) | A: McIssac

Second period
12:00 MON Julien Tessier (2) | A: Cyr & McKenna
12:21 MON  Alexandre Renaud (3) | A: Tessier & Blackmore
13:06 HAL Nico Hischier (24) | Aubé & Durandeau

Third period
14:52 HAL Frédéric Aubé (6) | A: Durandeau & Hischier
15:51 HAL Nico Hischier (25), SH | A: Fortier

Powerplay: MON – 0-for-4, HAL – 0-for-5
Shots: 46-26 in favour of the Mooseheads

MISSING IN ACTION: Walter Flower (injury), Connor Moynihan (injury), Barrett Dachyshyn (injury), Jocktan Chainey (suspension), Jake Coughler

SCORES
Cape Breton 4 at Charlottetown 2
Acadie Bathurst 1 at Saint John 5
Gatineau 2 at Victoriaville 6
Chicoutimi 0 at Blainville 3
Quebec 1 at Rouyn Noranda 6
Sherbrooke 2 at Shawinigan 4

UP NEXT: Halifax will welcome the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday to town as they battle on Sportsnet. Puck drops at 4pm.

TRADE: More Overage Movement

Photo - Islanders website

With the addition of Frederic Aube, the Halifax Mooseheads had four overage players on the team. They announced this morning that they released Anthony Sorrentino who the Moose claimed off waivers last season. I'm not sure where he'll end up but good luck to Tino and thank you for your time in Moose Country.

Halifax decided to pick up yet another 20 year old in a trade with the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday afternoon before the winter deadline ended. The Mooseheads traded their 5th round 2017 draft pick to Charlottetown in return for Jake Coughler. The now former Islander hails from St. Catherines, ON and has split his 3 and a half seasons in the QMJHL between the Gatineau Olympiques and Isles. Coughler has 20 goals and 32 points this season in 34 games played.

Welcome to Moose Country Jake, excited to see you play.

Photo - Moose website

If you are doing the math, you'll notice that that's again 4 overagers. The Herd later announced that they traded Bradley Kennedy to the team they are playing this evening; the Moncton Wildcats. Halifax acquired Kennedy over the summer from the Islanders. In return, the Mooseheads received a 9th rounder in 2018. The Antigonish, NS native has been 4th in team scoring pretty much all year with 10 goals and 29 points.

Good luck to Brad with his new club and the rest of his career, than you for your time in Halifax.

So the Mooseheads will have a new look when they hit the ice tonight for their annual Teddy Bear Toss game.

TRADE: Herd Say Goodbye to Captain Again

Photo - Moose website

The Halifax Mooseheads made some big moves this afternoon, just a day before the trade deadline.

Cam Russell and the team staff traded prospect Frederik Theoret and a 9th round draft pick in 2017 to Drummondville for veteran Frederic Aube. The move should add some stability to the Mooseheads backend, which is very young and inexperienced. Aube, 20, has 4 goals and 20 points so far this season to go along with 49 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating. The Sherbrooke, QC native will most likely be in the top 4 on defence when he joins the team from the Voltigeurs.

Photo - Ford's twitter

Halifax also announced that they have acquired a 1st rounder in 2018 from Rouyn-Noranda in exchange for captain Taylor Ford. This is the second year that the Herd have said goodbye to their captain after trading alum Timo Meier around the same time last season to the Huskies as well. Ford will surely be missed by the team and city but picking up another pick in the first round in 2018 will hopefully help the Moose go on a long run during the playoffs that season.

I want to wish Taylor good luck for the rest of the season and during his career. Welcome to Moose Country Frederic Aube, hope you enjoy your time here.

Herd Word

Welcome to the new year. As it's been the holidays, I've been busy so instead of writing individual stories about news that has happened the last few days, I thought I would do a Herd Word.

FUCALE
Former Halifax Mooseheads goaltender Zach Fucale led Team Canada to a championship once again. Fucale was playing in the Spengler Cup last week and went into the tournament as a backup. However after Drew MacIntyre struggled in the first game, the 21 year old started the second preliminary game and had a 33 save performance as the Canadians won 4-3 over host HC Davos. He was than the starter for the rest of the tournament. The Rosemere, QC native performed quite well the rest of the week to help Hockey Canada back to the gold medal game. Team Canada played HC Lugano for the Spengler Cup and Zach stopped 40 shots en route to a 5-2 victory.

HISCHIER
Switzerland has improved on their 9th place finish from last year's World Junior championship and in part it's because of the great tournament Mooseheads rookie Nico Hischier had over the past week. Hischier, who turns 18 tomorrow, led the Swiss in scoring during the tourney with 4 goals and 7 points. One of his goals was an overtime winner last Tuesday against the Czech Republic. He scored again on Friday in regulation versus Denmark which also ended in extra time. The 4 points Team Switzerland picked up gave them a quarter-final berth where they would play the United States on Monday. The rookie had two really great goals but his performance wasn't enough to get his team to the semis because of a great save by the American goaltender in the last 5 minutes of the game which prevented Nico scoring a hat trick. Hischier was named player of the game as well as one of Switzerland's 3 best players of the tournament.

https://twitter.com/mikemorrealeNHL/status/816096671016898560

RESOP
According to the Miramichi Timberwolves, they have acquired the MHL rights of Herd goaltender Kevin Resop from the St. Stephen's Aces. The Mooseheads have not said anything about a trade or demotion of Resop but it's assumed that he will not be back with Halifax as the Moose traded for goalie Blade Mann-Dixon. Will be interesting to see what happens now for Kevin. Wherever he ends up, Moose Country would like to say good luck!

SATURDAY
As you may know, the game this coming Saturday versus the Saint John Sea Dogs is going to be broadcasted on Sportsnet. Because the match up is on national television, the puck drop for it has been changed to 4:00pm. So come out and support the boys against one of the best teams in the QMJHL this weekend. It should be an exciting game.

CHAINEY
It was announced on Monday that defenseman Jocktan Chainey has been suspended for 4 games after a hit that occurred during the December 30th game in Cape Breton. He will be eligible to return on Sunday afternoon when the Mooseheads visit Saint John. For video and full explanation, click here.

Photo - Eagles website

HURLEY CUP
Talking about the Screaming Eagles, they swept your Mooseheads in the home and home series late last week which gave them the first ever Hurley Cup. For a number of years now, the two provincial rivals have had back to back games against each other after the holiday break and wear special blue jerseys that get raffled off for Feed Nova Scotia normally. This season, the teams decided to add another aspect to the series in which the team with the most goals over the two games wins the Hurley Cup. For more info on how it worked, click here. Cape Breton won both games and had a 11-5 goal advantage.

UP NEXT
Your Halifax Mooseheads start 2017 by taking a trip to New Brunswick today to visit the Moncton Wildcats. Game time is 7pm and it's Camo Night at the Moncton Coliseum. The two teams will play again on Friday evening in Halifax. Friday's match will be shown on Eastlink TV and it's Teddy Bear Toss night at the Scotiabank Centre. Don't forget to bring a stuffed animal to the game so you can throw it on the ice when the Herd score their first goal of the game.

STATS SUNDAY: December

Games played: 9
Record: 1-6-1-1, 4pts
Goals for/against: 25/38
Powerplay*: 23.2%
Penalty kill*: 72.4%
Shutouts: none

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Maxime Fortier 10, Bradley Kennedy 9, Benoit-Olivier Groulx 8, Otto Somppi 6, Jocktan Chainey 5
Goals: Benoit-Olivier Groulx 5, Maxime Fortier 4, Bradley Kennedy 3, Arnaud Durandeau 2, Otto Somppi 2
Assists: Maxime Fortier 6, Bradley Kennedy 6, Jocktan Chainey 5, Otto Somppi 4, Jared McIsaac 4
Penalty minutes: Jordan Lepage 22, Joel Bishop 17, Anthony Sorrentino 14, Barrett Dachyshyn 13, Cooper Jones 12
Plus/minus: Cooper Jones +2, Raphael Lavoie +1, Nico Hischier +1, Keigan Goetz E, Bradley Kennedy E
Rookie scoring: Benoit-Olivier Groulx 8pts, Jared McIsaac 4pts, Nico Hischier 3pts, Ben Higgins 2pts, Raphael Lavoie 1pts

Goaltending stats*
Blade Mann-Dixon: 9-6-0-0     3.09 GAA     0.901 SAV%
Alexis Gravel: 11-10-1-2     3.18 GAA     0.899 SAV%
Kevin Resop: 5-6-0-0     5.10 GAA     0.831 SAV%



*overall