GAMEDAY #59: vs. Acadie-Bathurst

GAME PREVIEW
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

We're certainly getting to know our division again. I say again because there were a number of moves with the trade deadline. Your Halifax Mooseheads played their last game against a Quebec team back on February 12 and as such have all Maritime area matches left. The Herd will be hosting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan this evening on Eastlink for some Friday night hockey. Halifax has been struggling lately, going 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 games and are looking to right the ship. They'll be in tough to get a third win this week when they go up against a Bathurst team that has victories in 6 straight and a 8-2-0-0 record in their last 10 games coming into tonight. Matches between these two teams have generally been entertaining and close however the Titan can score big time. They are second in the league behind Charlottetown for the highest goals for with 247. It's a time for the Mooseheads to show that they can make some noise in the playoffs as they go up against strong teams down the stretch. The Herd will also want to make a good impression on their home fans as this is the last game at the Scotiabank Centre until March 15. Will the home team be able to put an end to the Titan's win streak and continue their own? Come out to cheer on the boys and find out.

This is the eighth match between these two teams this season. Halifax is 2-4-1-0 against the Titan so far while Acadie-Bathurst has a 5-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two teams last met on February 17 in Bathurst where the home team crushed the away team by a score of 9-0. Alex Gravel made 10 saves on 15 shots before being pulled in favour of backup Cole McLaren who stopped 19 of 23 shots. 

OVERALL RECORDS
Titan: 33-20-3-2 = 71 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)
Mooseheads: 26-27-2-3 = 57 points (5th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 80pts (29G & 51A), Nico Hischier 78pts (37G & 41A), Jake Coughler 45pts (27G & 18A)
BAT: Christophe Boivin 78pts (38G & 40A), Antoine Morand 62pts (21G & 41A), Vladimir Kuznetsov 59pts (25G & 34A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a big 8-7 overtime victory in Saint John on Wednesday night. Danill Miromanov led the Titan with a goal and 3 assists while Anthony Dumont-Bouchard stopped 23 of the Sea Dogs 30 shots.

Halifax is coming off a 5-3 win over rival Moncton on Thursday evening. Rookie Mathieu Charlebois had a big night on enemy soil scoring his first 2 careers goals and assisting on 2 others to lead the Mooseheads while Alex Gravel made 22 saves.

ALUM ON TITAN - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 12  Mooseheads 0 at Titan 3
October 26  Titan 4 at Mooseheads 6
November 20  Titan 11 at Mooseheads 10
November 22  Mooseheads 5 at Titan 3
December 14  Titan 5 at Mooseheads 3
February 2  Titan 4 at Mooseheads 3 OT
February 17  Mooseheads 0 at Titan 9
February 24  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
March 10  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm

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

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Mooseheads will have back to back games against the league leading Saint John Sea Dogs on the road starting with Sunday. Puck drops at 3pm.

Regina To Host 100th Memorial Cup

The Canadian Hockey League announced this week the host for the 100th Memorial Cup that will take place at the end of the 2017-18 season. On January 25, 2017 three clubs presented their bids to host the national championship with the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats being named the host team in the city of Regina. Not only is it the centennial year of the Memorial Cup but it is also the century season for the Pats.

“The 2018 Mastercard Memorial Cup and the celebrations around this centennial event will truly capture, preserve, and enhance the legacy of one of the most prestigious trophies in all of sport while honouring the brave men and women who served and continue to serve our country,” said CHL President David Branch.

This is the first time since 2001 that the city of Regina has hosted the prestigious tournament. The Pats have been national champs three times in their history and have been to a record 12 championships.

Congratulations to the Regina Pats on being named host for the 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup!

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, Raphael Lavoie was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for January 2017. Lavoie had two goals and nine penalty minutes in 4 games played in the month of January while also being a minus-1.

Here is the full list:

Team	Player	Educational Institution
BAC	Xavier Bouchard	École secondaire Serge Bouchard
BAT	Noah Dobson	Bathurst High School
BLB	Alexandre Alain	Cégep de Saint-Jérôme
CAP	Olivier Bourret	Cégep à distance
CHA	Pierre-Olivier Joseph	Académie les Estacades
CHI	Keenan MacIsaac	Blyth Academy London
DRU	Marc-Olivier Duquette	Cégep de Drummondville
GAT	Ryan O’Bonsawin	High School
HAL	Raphaël Lavoie	Prince Andrew High School
MON	Duncan McIntyre	Athabasca University
QUE	Étienne Verrette	Cégep de Limoilou
RIM	Nick Gosse	Harrison Trimble High School
ROU	Zachary Lauzon	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
SHA	Cavan Fitzgerald	Acadia University
SHE	Julien Bahl	Cégep de Sherbrooke / Université Laval
SNB	Alex D’Orio	Centre scolaire Samuel de Champlain
VDO	Yan Dion	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
VIC	Vincent Lanoue	Cégep de Victoriaville

Mooseheads Name New Captain

Before hitting the ice on Thursday evening, the Halifax Mooseheads named their new leadership group that will remain for the rest of the season.

They have announced that 20 year old Keigan Goetz will serve as captain, a spot that was left vacant after Taylor Ford got traded to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at the deadline in January.

After going all season with out players with A's on their jerseys, head coach Andre Tourigny and his staff have given a few good players letters as well. Rookie Nico Hischier will serve as a full time alternate captain, while Otto Somppi and Max Fortier will wear the A for home games but during road matches Jake Coughler and Frederic Aube will have the honour on their sweaters.

All the best to Keigan and the rest of the team as they push towards the end of the season and the playoffs.