Events

The Halifax Mooseheads released their schedule for the upcoming season earlier this month and have announced the events happening during the 2017-18 season. Check out below for the dates of the yearly special games.

Annual events
HOME OPENER - September 30 vs. Acadie Bathurst Titan
Pink in the Rink 10 - October 14 vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
DND Appreciation Night - November 11 vs. Sherbrooke Phoenix
Battle of Nova Scotia/Hurley Cup - December 30 vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
Teddy Bear Toss - January 27 vs. Saint John Sea Dogs
Fan Appreciation Night - March 16 vs. Moncton Wildcats & March 17 vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan

NHL Draft

The 2017 National Hockey League entry draft was held this weekend in Chicago, Illinois.

• For the first time in a few years, no one really knew absolutely who was going to get drafted first overall except for the team who won the lottery and was selecting in that top spot; the New Jersey Devils who picked Halifax Mooseheads rookie sensation Nico Hischier.
• The expansion Vegas Golden Knights made their first selection in franchise history when they drafted Cody Glass of the Portland Winterhawks 6th overall. They picked 3 players in the 1st round and a total of 12 over the weekend.
• It was a pretty quiet draft as most of the trades involved draft picks.
• Two more Mooseheads heard their names called when defenseman Jocktan Chainey was picked by the Devils 191st overall while forward Arnaud Durandeau went to the New York Islanders 165th overall. A total of 14 QMJHL players were drafted.
• Somehow, Halifax's leading scorer Max Fortier was passed over for the second year while d-man Walter Flower also didn't get selected.

Hischier Number One

The highest drafted Switzerland hockey player honour now belongs to Nico Hischier of your Halifax Mooseheads.

Nico was selected first overall at the 2017 NHL entry draft on Friday evening by the New Jersey Devils. With getting drafted at number 1 Hischier makes history for his home country in becoming the highest ever Swiss player to be selected, beating out Nino Niederreiter who was picked 5th overall back in 2010. The 18 year old also joins former Herd Nathan MacKinnon as the only Mooseheads to be drafted in the top spot.

Congratulations to Nico and his family on the accomplishment.

We'll most likely see Hischier in the Devils green and red sometime during next week when New Jersey hosts their development camp.

Herd Players, Prospects Invited to Summer Showcase

Photo - Hockey Canada website

There will be lots of Halifax Mooseheads flavour during the Hockey Canada summer showcase next month in Calgary. Hockey Canada announced on Tuesday the players that have been invited to it's annual development and selection camps.

Four current Herd players got an invitation to the under-18 camp and are among the 44 young men who are vying for a spot on the Canadian Ivan Hlinka Team. Newly turned sophomores goaltender Alexis Gravel, forward Raphael Lavoie, defenseman Jared McIsaac and forward Benoit-Olivier Groulx were named to the roster. The 4 players will be in Calgary for five days at the end of July. Full U18 camp roster which is formed of all 2018 draft eligible players from all three CHL leagues as well as two players from the Ontario Junior A Hockey League and the Central Canada Hockey League.

Halifax will also have four prospects participating in the under-17 camp that will see 111 midget players in on- and off-ice sessions at the Markin MacPhail Centre. Defenseman Justin Barron as well as forwards Arlo Merritt, Alex Newhook and Xavier Parent will look to use the development camp as a way to get on the World U17 Championship team. This camp begins on July 22. The roster, which you can view here, is formed of players from many different minor leagues including the Greater Toronto Hockey League, the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League and Alberta Midget Hockey League plus others.

Per the Hockey Canada press release: Ryan Jankowski, director of player personnel for Hockey Canada, was responsible for all player selections, with assistance from regional scouts Carl Bouchard (Quebec), Barclay Branch (Ontario), Barclay Parneta (West), Kevin Mitchell (Atlantic), and Darrell Woodley (Ontario), Canadian Hockey League general managers and branch representatives for the under-17 roster, and with input from coaches and general managers from across the CHL for the under-18 and under-20 rosters.

With such a young team, the Moose do not have any players who were invited to the World Junior camp. In fact only two players from the QMJHL are on the roster; Samuel Girard of the Shawinigan Cataractes and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada's Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Good luck to all 8 young men next month in Calgary! Moose Country will be cheering you on.

Mooseheads Name New Head Coach

Photo - Mooseheads website

For a second straight year, the Halifax Mooseheads will have a new coach than the year before. The team announced yesterday that they have named Jim Midgley as head coach.

The position is a promotion for Midgley from his previous job. The 39 year old had been an assistant coach for your Herd since 2011. He helped coach Dom Ducharme lead the team to the franchise's first President's Cup in 2013. Before coming to the Mooseheads, the Townsend, ON native was an assistant coach for the Saint John Sea Dogs from 2007 to 2009. He's also helped with Hockey Nova Scotia and Hockey Canada.

“I am honoured and excited to take over behind the bench of the Mooseheads franchise. I can’t wait to get started in August,” noted Midgley in a press release.

The move was necessary since Andre Tourginy, who signed a 5 year contract with Halifax last May, stepped down to take a position with the Ottawa 67's as their head coach and VP of hockey operations. Tourigny took the new job to be closer to his family who live in Rouyn-Noranda.

Your Mooseheads open up their pre-season schedule with the rookie tournament in Moncton against the Saint John Sea Dogs on August 18.

Alum On Protected & Unprotected NHL Lists

In 2017-18 there will be a 31st team in the National Hockey League. The NHL added the Las Vegas Golden Knights as an expansion team and as such Las Vegas needs players. On Wednesday night the league will have an expansion draft before the annual NHL Awards ceremony and the Golden Knights have received a list of players they can select from.

There are a handful of former Halifax Mooseheads that have been left unprotected.

Here's a list of who is available to Las Vegas via NHL:
Andrew Bodnarchuk - Dallas Stars
Martin Frk - Detroit Red Wings
MacKenzie Weegar - Florida Panthers
Stefan Fournier - Tampa Bay Lightning
Alexandre Grenier - Vancouver Canucks



Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Jonathan Drouin (Montreal Canadiens) and Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia Flyers) were all protected by their respective clubs.

Las Vegas will host the festivities on Wednesday evening with the expansion draft beginning at 9 p.m. The NHL Entry Draft is set to play out on Friday and Saturday in Chicago, IL.

Drouin Heading Home

Photo - USA Today

Not because he's retiring but because he has been traded to the Montreal Canadiens.

The former Halifax Mooseheads forward was moved by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team that drafted the 22 year old back in 2013, this afternoon to the Habs along with a sixth round conditional pick in 2018 for Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional second-round pick also in 2018. Drouin will become a restricted free agent on July 1st after finishing his entry level contract at the end of the 2016-17 NHL season. Montreal will have to put him on their protected list now if they do not want the Vegas Golden Knights to pick him in the expansion draft on June 21.

Jonathan had 21 goals and 53 points in 73 games played this past season for the Lightning. He finishes his stint with the Bolts scoring 29 goals and helping on 66 others over 164 games played. The Saint-Agathe, Quebec native also had two stints in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch.

Good luck to Jonathan in Montreal, I know there is a lot of Habs fans in Moose Country.

Alum Scores Championship Winner

Martin Frk is a Calder Cup champion!

The Grand Rapids Griffins are the American Hockey League playoff champs after winning Game 6 at home against the Syracuse Crunch. It was a tight match on Tuesday night but the Griffs came out on top with Frk scoring the last goal of the series with just over 7 minutes left in the game. Check out his goal below.

The 23 year old had an interesting season. Frk began the year with the Grand Rapids Griffins but was waived in mid-October by the teams parent club. He was than picked up the Carolina Hurricanes and played 2 games for them. The Pelhrimov, Czech Republic native was put on waivers again and picked up by the Detroit Red Wings.

Photo - TSN twitter

He found himself back in the AHL with Grand Rapids where he led the team in goals during the regular season. Marty missed some time in the playoffs but came back just the same. The former Halifax Moosehead forward recorded 5 goals and 15 points in 16 playoff games after finishing the regular season with 27 pucks in the net and 50 points.


Congratulations to Marty and the Griffins on winning the Calder Cup. Moose Country is proud of you.

Schedule for Pre-Season Released

HALIFAX - The Halifax Mooseheads have announced their schedule for the pre-season.

The organization will once again invite their prospects to a pre-camp tournament held in Moncton where the boys will play 3 games from August 18-20 in hopes of getting an invite to main camp. Halifax will join the Wildcats, Saint John Sea Dogs, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Charlottetown Islanders and Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the Hub City Showcase.

Halifax will than play 6 pre-season games, each in a different arena. The Herd will have their first home game on August 23 in Lantz, NS against their provincial rivals. Since the QMJHL has decided to keep the beginning of the regular season later in September, there will be about a 2 week break between the first few matches and the last few.

Here is the 2017-18 pre-season schedule:
August 18 at 4pm - at Saint John Sea Dogs (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 19 at 1pm - vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 20 at TBD - at to be determined (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 23 at 7pm - vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (East Hants Sportsplex - Lantz, NS)
August 25 at 7pm - at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (Membertou Sport & Wellness Centre)
August 27 at 2pm - at Saint John Sea Dogs (QPLEX - Quispamsis, NB)
September 8 at 7pm - vs. Moncton Wildcats (Halifax Forum)
September 9 at 7pm - at Moncton Wildcats (Dr Carson/Marion Murray Community Center – Springhill, NS)
September 15 at 7pm - vs. Saint John Sea Dogs (Scotiabank Centre)


Check back in August when I’ll have more information on ticket prices and camp news.

Q Draft: Moose Trade to Get Another First Rounder

Photo - Moose twitter

Your Halifax Mooseheads added some key pieces at the 2017 QMJHL Draft in Saint John, NB that will hopefully fill a few voids left for next season.

Cam Russell and the management team made yet another trade in the first round to move them up to the 13th overall pick. The Herd moved their 2nd and 4th rounds picks of this year's draft to Moncton for the Wildcats first round pick that they received from Acadie-Bathurst on Friday. Halifax also moved a 1999-born player in defenceman Mathieu Charlebois to Gatineau for the Olympiques 3rd round pick at #48. We may also see another set of brothers on the team as the Mooseheads selected current d-man Cooper Jones' younger sibling Zack in the thirteenth round.

Here is who the Moose selected today:
RD 1, #4 - C Xavier Parent - College Esther-Blondin Phenix, QMAAA
RD 1, $13 - D Justin Barron - Halifax McDonald's, NSMMHL
RD 3, #41 - C Alex Newhook - York-Simcoe Express, Minor
RD 3, #48 - C Cole Stewart - Moncton Flyers, NBPEIMMHL
RD 6, #95 - F Kyle Petten - Tri-Pen Ospreys, NLMMHL
RD 7, #113 - D Felix Gascon - College Esther-Blondin Phenix, QMAAA
RD 7, #127 - LW Arlo Merritt - Kimball Union Academy PS
RD 10, #167 - G Maxime Emery - Pionniers de Lanaudiere, Espoir
RD 11, #185 - F Miguel Duchaine - Les Cantonniers de Magog, QMAA
RD 12, #203 - F Gavin Hart - Pictou Weeks Major Midgets, NSMMHL
RD 13, #221 - C Zack Jones - Boston Bandits 16U, MSHL16
RD 14, #237 - C Matthew Boldy - Dexter PS

Congratulations to all the young men who were drafted today by the 18 teams and welcome to the new Herd players to the team.

Click here for the full list of players drafted.

Mooseheads Add Forward in First Round

Xavier Parent showing off his jersey
Photo.- LHJMQ Facebook page

After finishing 15th overall in the league, your Halifax Mooseheads were picking 4th in the QMJHL draft today in Saint John, New Brunswick. With that selection the Herd drafted forward Xavier Parent.

Parent played the 2016-17 season in the QMAAA with the College Esther-Blondin Phenix. The 16 year old is projected to be a top offensive guy in the Q. Hailing from Blainville, QC Xavier had 24 goals and 55 points in 34 games for the Phenix. He made headlines when he recorded 113 points in 30 games at the Peewee level. His size may be an issue in making it to the junior level his first year but "he is not afraid to go to the dirty areas of the ice" according to the Mooseheads draft preview. Parent checks in at 5-foot-7 and 164 pounds.

Congrats to Xavier Parent on being selected 4th and welcome to Moose Country.

Halifax has the 23rd overall pick as well.

QMJHL Draft Day Info

Here is some info to get you ready for the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft.

When: Saturday June 3 at 10 a.m.

Where: Harbour Station in Saint John, NB

Follow: TVA Sports is broadcasting the draft on TV, Rogers tv channel 10 in New Brunswick will be streaming the first round of the draft. For those who don’t have those channels you can see the picks selected on the Q website while junior hockey personnel will be using Twitter to update their followers during the day. This blog will also be updated through out the day. The draft will also be on Facebook live through Rogers TV New Brunswick as well as Across the Line New Brunswick.

Halifax’s picks:
Round 1 – 4th overall
Round 2 – 23rd overall
Round 3 – 41st overall
Round 4 – 59th overall
Round 6 – 95th overall
Round 7 – 113th overall
Round 7 - 127th overall
Round 10 – 167th overall
Round 11 – 185th overall
Round 12 – 203rd overall
Round 13 – 221st overall
Round 14 – 239th overall

Good luck to all the players who are eligible to be drafted.