Zadina Gets 2 in Home Opener

What a way to introduce yourself to the Halifax faithful! Rookie Euro Filip Zadina scored two goals in the Mooseheads home opener on Saturday night to help lead the team to a 4-3 victory over division rivals; Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The Herd were able to rebound from a loss to the Titan just 3 days prior and started their home-stead on a high note. Halifax got out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of the game with two of those coming on the powerplay. In the early goings of this new season, special teams are working out pretty well for the Moose as they see themselves on the top of the standings in PP% at 40% after tonight's game and third on the penalty kill. Acadie-Bathurst used a Connor Moynihan holding penalty as an opportunity to get back in the game and the Titan scored 3 unanswered goals to tie the match with over 11 minutes to go in the third period. A little more than a minute later, it looked like Halifax native Justin Barron had his first career goal but it was ultimately awarded to Arnaud Durandeau, giving the home team the lead. In the middle frame, Cole Rafuse hip checked goaltender Alexis Gravel in the head as he trying to cover up a puck and the 17 year old stayed down on the ice for a few minutes. However he did finish the game pick up his second win of 2017-18.

FINAL: Titan 3 at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Jocktan Chainey HAL | 2. Justin Ducharme BAT | 1. Filip Zadina HAL
Attendance: 7,784
MC's Top Herd: Filip Zadina

GAME LOG
First period
5:02 HAL Filip Zadina (2), PP | A: Fortier & Groulx
8:46 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (2), PP | A: McIsaac
13:47 HAL Filip Zadina (3) | A: Durandeau & Lavoie
15:46 BAT Samuel L'Italien (5), PP | A: MacIsaac & Holwell
19:10 BAT Jeffrey Truchon-Viel (3) | A: Rafuse

Second period
None

Third period
8:26 BAT Justin Ducharme (5) | A: Truchon-Viel & Malatesta
9:32 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (2) | A: Barron

Powerplay: BAT - 1-for-6, HAL - 2-for-5
Shots: 33-25 in favour of Halifax

MISSING IN ACTION - Walter Flower (injured), Otto Somppi (injured), Jordan Lepage (injured)

UP NEXT: Halifax will host the Charlottetown Islanders on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.

GAMEDAY #4: vs. Acadie-Bathurst

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

IT'S HOME OPENER GAMEDAY! The day we have been waiting six months for has finally come as we get to welcome our Halifax Mooseheads back home. Halifax began the season with 3 road games and will get the chance to play in front of the Moose Country faithful this evening at Scotiabank Centre. What I thought was a home and home series actually is not as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan played a game against Cape Breton last night. Either way your Mooseheads are looking to get revenge on the Titan after a disappointing loss in their last match against each other. In the early season, both teams have looked exciting and should be all year long. Matchups between Halifax and Bathurst will be good games this season with the two no doubt battling for the division crown. Come out and support your Herd as they open the home portion of 2017-18 while also looking for their third win.

This is the second game this season between the two teams. Halifax is 0-1-0-0 against the Titan so far while Acadie-Bathurst has a 1-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two teams met on Wednesday which saw Bathurst pick up the victory with a 5-3 win at the KC Irving Centre. Maxime Fortier scored a goal & had an assist for the Herd in the loss while shots were tied at 28.

OVERALL RECORDS
Titan: 2-0-1-1 = 6 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 5th overall)
Mooseheads: 2-1-0-0 = 4 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 6pts (4G & 2A), Filip Zadina 5pts (1G & 4A), Arnaud Durandeau 2pts (1G & 1A)
BAT: Liam Murphy 7pts (1G & 6A), Noah Dobson 7pts (7A), Antoine Moranda 5pts (2G & 3A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss in Sydney against the Screaming Eagles on Friday night. Antoine Moranda recorded a goal and an assist to lead the Titan in scoring during the game while Dominik Tmej stopped 38 of Cape Breton's 42 shots.

See above for Halifax.

NOT DRESSED- Walter Flower, Jordan Lepage and Otto Somppi are out with injuries while Kyle Petten is day to day

ALUM ON TITAN
None

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 27  Halifax 3 at Acadie-Bathurst 5
September 30  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax – 7pm
November 26  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst – 3pm
December 15  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax – 7pm
January 7  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst – 3pm
January 20  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst – 7pm
February 3  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax – 7pm
March 10  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst – 7pm
March 17  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax – 4pm

OUT OF TOWN
Armada vs. Foreurs   5:00pm
Remparts vs. Olympiques   5:00pm
Phoenix vs. Saguneens   5:00pm
Wildcats vs. Islanders   7:00pm
Voltigeurs vs. Drakkar   8:00pm
Tigres vs. Huskies   8:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Mooseheads will stay home and welcome the Charlottetown Islanders tomorrow afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.

Halifax jumps to #8

Last week the Halifax Mooseheads were among the 3 honourable mentions in the Canadian Hockey League BMO Top 10 rankings for the pre-season. With 2 victories to start the season, the Herd jumped in to the number rankings this week. The CHL announced the rankings earlier Wednesday evening with five QMJHL on the list. Check it out below.

Week 1's CHL Top 10

1. Regina Pats (1-1-0-0) last week: 1 
2. Victoriaville Tigres (2-0-0-0) last week: 3 
3. Owen Sound Attack (0-0-0-1) last week: 2 
4. Portland Winterhawks (1-0-0-0) last week: 5 
5. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (1-0-0-0) last week: 6 
6. Oshawa Generals (2-0-0-0) last week: -  
7. Kelowna Rockets (2-0-0-0) last week: -  
8. Halifax Mooseheads (2-0-0-0) last week: -
9. Acadie-Bathurst Titan (1-0-0-1) last week: 9
10. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (1-1-0-0) last week: 10Honourable mention
    Windsor Spitfires (3-0-0-0)
    Moose Jaw Warriors (2-0-0-0)
    Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (2-0-0-0)

Poll #18

I should've asked this before the season but time got away from me. You've seen the predictions, you've seen the first few games but now I ask you the fans of Moose Country where you see the Mooseheads finishing at the end of the season. What rank in the Maritimes division will Halifax be at in March?

A. Division winner
B. 2nd place
C. 3rd place
D. 4th place
E. 5th place
F. 6th place

GAMEDAY #3: at Acadie-Bathurst

GAME PREVIEW
ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
K.C. Irving Regional Centre (3,162) ~ Bathurst, NB

It's a mid-week matchup against a team that the Mooseheads are projected to fight for the division crown with. Halifax heads to northern New Brunswick today to take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tonight at 7pm. This is the first game of a home and home series between the two teams. The Herd will try to come home with 6 points on this season beginning road trip while Bathurst will try to give the away team it's first loss of the year. With it being almost the end of September, NHL teams have been sending players back in the last week and both teams find themselves with practically full rosters now. The Moose have 4 players out with injuries but have one coming back as Jared McIsaac has returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's match.

This is the first meeting between the two teams. Last year, Halifax was 2-6-1-0 against the Titan while Acadie-Bathurst had a 7-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup between the two teams saw the Titan come out on top with a 3-1 victory on March 10 where Raphael Lavoie scored the lone goal Halifax and Alexis Gravel made 38 saves.

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 2-0-0-0 = 4 points (1st in Maritimes division, 3rd overall)
Titan: 1-0-0-1 = 3 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
BAT: Liam Murphy 3pts (1G & 2A), Noah Dobson 3pts (3A), Keegan MacIsaac 3pts (3A)
HAL: Maxime Fortier 4pts (3G & 1A), Filip Zadina 3pts (1G & 2A), Connor Moynihan 2pts (1G & 1A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Halifax is coming off a close 3-2 victory over the Islanders in Charlottetown on Saturday. Connor Moynihan led the Mooseheads with a goal and an assist while Blade Mann-Dixon made 31 saves in his first game of the season.

Bathurst is coming off a big 7-4 win on home ice in a Sunday afternoon game against Moncton. Liam Murphy scored a goal and had two helpers to lead the Titan while Reilly Pickard stopped 21 of the Wildcats' 25 shots

NOT DRESSED - Walter Flower, Jordan Lepage, Otto Somppi and Kyle Petten are out with injuries

ALUM ON TITAN
None

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 27  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7pm
September 30  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 7pm
November 26  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 3pm
December 15  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 7pm
January 7  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 3pm
January 20  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7pm
February 3  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 7pm
March 10  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7pm
March 17  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 4pm

OUT OF TOWN
Cataractes vs. Phoenix   8:00pm
Sagueneens vs. Drakkar   8:30pm
Foreurs vs. Huskies   8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
The two teams will head to Moose Country for Halifax's home opener on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Mooseheads Make Pre-season CHL Rankings

Before the season begins, the Canadian Hockey League announces it's BMO Top 10 Rankings and after 3 years of not being on them at all, your Halifax Mooseheads were among the three honourable mentions on the list. The news came out this past Wednesday. I have a feeling we will be seeing the Herd ranked quite a bit this year so check back as I'll be keeping you informed.

Top 10 Rankings - pre-season
1. Regina Pats
2. Owen Sound Attack
3. Victoriaville Tigres
4. Mississauga Steelheads
5. Portland Winterhawks
6. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
7. London Knights
8. Tri-City Americans
9. Acadie-Bathurst Titan
10. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

Honourable mentions- Kelowna Rockets, Halifax Mooseheads, Peterborough Petes

Eastlink Showing 12 Herd Games

Today, Eastlink TV announced their broadcast schedule for QMJHL games during the 2017-18 season. Cape Breton, Charlottetown and Halifax all have select matches that are shown on Friday Night Hockey broadcasts.

Your Halifax Mooseheads will be on Eastlink twelve times this season. The first broadcast involving the Herd will be October 6 when the Quebec Remparts come to town for t-shirt night. There will also be 3 special Saturday evening matches.

Below is the full schedule (all games 7pm unless noted):

FRI October 6   vs. Quebec Remparts
FRI October 13   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
SAT October 28   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
FRI November 17   vs. Saint John Sea Dogs
FRI November 24   at Charlottetown Islanders
FRI December 1   vs. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
SAT December 30   vs. Cape Breton Screaming (2pm)
FRI January 12   at Charlottetown Islanders
FRI January 19   vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
FRI February 16   vs. Moncton Wildcats
SAT February 24   vs. Gatineau Olympiques
FRI March 16   vs. Moncton Wildcats

You can view the full schedule here.

Moose Spoil Dogs Championship Homecoming

Well there you have it. The 2017-18 QMJHL regular season is officially underway and it begun pretty much how people assumed it would. Your Halifax Mooseheads spoiled a special night for the Saint John Sea Dogs and their fans as the Herd picked up a 4-1 victory after the Dogs raised their championship banner on Thursday night. Two rookies scored their first career goals this evening while newly named captain Maxime Fortier led the team with 2 goals.

The match started as I said with Saint John pulling another President's Cup banner up to the Harbour Station rafters after a dominant 2016-17 season saw them win the league championship. About half of the players in that final have now moved on past the junior level and now the Sea Dogs are in a rebuild season. Saint John also announced their leadership group with seventeen year old forward Joe Veleno named captain. In the first period, Halifax looked like they were being outplayed however sophomore goaltender Alexis Gravel was strong in net to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes. The Mooseheads took advantage of the home team's penalty troubles going 3-for-3 with an extra attacker while not allowing much on their own penalty kills. 18 year old Filip Zadina scored 5:23 into the second period to record the first marker of the Q season. 2017 4th overall draft pick Xavier Parent scored the eventual game winner a little less than 7 minutes later picking up career goal #1 as well.

FINAL: Mooseheads 4 at Sea Dogs 1
Stars: 3: Ostap Safin SNB | 2. Max Fortier HAL | 1. Alexis Gravel HAL
Attendance: 5,349
MC's Top Herd: n/a

GAME LOG
First period
None

Second period
5:23 HAL Filip Zadina (1), PP | A: Fortier & Lavoie
12:16 HAL Xavier Parent (1), PP | A: Kyte & Barron
17:25 HAL Maxime Fortier (1) | A: none

Third period
2:28 HAL Maxime Fortier (2), PP | A: Chainey & Gravel
4:41 SNB Daniel Hardie (1), PP | A: Safin & Veleno

Powerplay: HAL - 3-for-3, SNB - 1-for-7
Shots: 32-28 in favour of Saint John

MISSING IN ACTION - Arnaud Durandeau (NHL camp), Walter Flower (injury), Otto Somppi (NHL camp), Connor Moynihan (suspension) & Jordan Lepage (injury)

UP NEXT: Halifax will travel to PEI now to play the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday afternoon Puck drops at 3pm.

GAMEDAY #1: at Saint John

GAME PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Rogers | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Harbour Station (6,308) ~ Saint John, NB

Zadina vs. Veleno. Banner raising. New coaches. The first game of the QMJHL regular season promises to be a good one with lots of story lines as your Halifax Mooseheads visit the Saint John Sea Dogs tonight. Depending on who you ask, rookie Filip Zadina of your Mooseheads and the Sea Dogs' Joseph Veleno are likely to be the top Q league players to be selected in the 2018 NHL draft next June. While Halifax is on the rise, Saint John is coming over a championship year in 2016-17 and have lost the services of many key veteran players so they are projected to be at the bottom of the standings. The Mooseheads meanwhile are hoping to fight for the top of the division this season with Bathurst. Since it is the opening match, the Sea Dogs will be raising their President's Cup banner to the rafters of Harbour Station in a pre-game ceremony. Another story going into this evening is that both teams are starting the season with new head coaches. After the departure of Andre Tourigney, who went to coach the Ottawa 67's, the Herd promoted Jim Midgley to the top coaching position. Saint John found themselves needing to find a new bench boss after Danny Flynn stepped down and are now under the eye of Josh Dixon, who served as an assistant coach of the Regina Pats for 3 years. The Moose will also have the services of Maxime Fortier and Jocktan Chainey back after their pro teams decided to reassign both players to junior for the year. The return of the two vets will sure make the red and green even more of a threat out of the gate.

This is the first matchup between the two teams this season. Last year, Halifax was 2-6-0-0 against the Sea Dogs while Saint John had a 6-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup in the regular season between Halifax and Saint John was March 18 where Max Fortier had the lone goal for the Herd in a 2-1 loss on home ice. 

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 0-0-0-0 = 0 points (T-1st in Maritimes division, T-1st overall)
Sea Dogs: 0-0-0-0 = 0 points (T-1st in Maritimes division, T-1st overall)

LEADING SCORERS
SNB: n/a
HAL: n/a

PREVIOUS GAMES
The two teams met on Friday evening in both teams last pre-season match. Halifax came out on top on home ice beating the Sea Dogs 4-3 where rookies Filip Zadina and Xavier Parent led the Mooseheads with a goal and assist each. Saint John's Joel Goguen made 19 saves to take the loss while Alexis Gravel had 39 saves in the win.

NOT DRESSED- Walter Flower (injury), Otto Somppi (NHL camp), Arnaud Durandeau (NHL camp) and Jordan Lepage (injury)

ALUM ON SEA DOGS
None

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 21  Halifax at Saint John - 7pm
November 17  Saint John at Halifax - 7pm
November 25  Halifax at Saint John - 7pm
January 6  Halifax at Saint John - 7pm
January 27  Saint John at Halifax - 7pm
January 28  Saint John at Halifax - 3pm
February 9  Halifax at Saint John - 7pm
March 14  Saint John at Halifax - 7pm

Around the CHL ~ volume #1 preview edition #6

The Canadian Hockey League regular season begins in two days so to get you ready I thought I would recap how last season went. Check back all year long for more stories about the CHL and your Mooseheads. 

here are last year's leaders:
Division champions 2016-17
WHL - Regina Pats (East) 72 games played, 52-12-7-1 record, 112 points, 353 goals for/211 goals against; Medicine Hat Tigers (Central) 72 games played, 51-20-1-0 record, 103 points, 350 goals for/248 goals against; Everett Silvertips (U.S.) 72 games played, 44-16-9-3 record, 100 points, 229 goals for/169 goals against; Prince George Cougars (B.C.) 72 games played, 45-21-3-3 record, 96 points, 253 goals for/201 goals against
OHL - Erie Otters (Midwest) 68 games played, 50-15-2-1 record, 103 points, 319 goals for/182 goals against; Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (West) 68 games played, 48-16-3-1 record, 100 points, 287 goals for/208 goals against; Peterborough Petes (East) 68 games played, 89 points, 42-21-2-3 record, 239 goals for/221 goals against; Mississauga Steelheads (Central) 68 games played, 81 points, 34-21-6-7 record, 240 goals for/219 goals against
QMJHL - Saint John Sea Dogs (Maritimes) 68 games played, 48-14-5-1 record, 102 points, 287 goals for/180 goals against; Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (West) 68 games played, 43-18-2-5 record, 93 points, 272 goals for/181 goals against; Shawinigan Cataractes (East) 68 games played, 42-20-4-2 record, 90 points, 258 goals for/184 goals against

League championships 2017
President's Cup - Saint John Sea Dogs vs. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (Sea Dogs won series 4 games to 0 games)
J. Ross Robertson Cup - Erie Otters vs. Mississauga Steelheads (Otters won series 4 games to 1 game)
Ed Chynoweth Cup - Regina Pats vs. Seattle Thunderbirds (Thunderbirds won series 4 games to 2 games)

Memorial Cup 2017
Teams - Erie (OHL champion), Saint John (QMJHL champion), Seattle (WHL champion), Windsor (hosts)

Final May 28, 2017 Windsor vs. Erie 4-3

WINDSOR SPITFIRES WIN 2017 MEMORIAL CUP!!!


Windsor will look to repeat as Memorial Cup champions. The Regina Pats will be hosting the 100th version of the national championship tournament next May. The 2018 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects game will be hosted by the Guelph Storm on January 25.

Moose Win Preseason Finale

For the first time in preseason play,  it saw your Halifax Mooseheads take on the Saint John Sea Dogs at the Scotiabank Centre tonight. You could tell that there is quite the rivalry already between the two teams, there were two fights in the span of two minutes. In the second fight, it saw veteran Connor Moynihan go to the room and have his night finished when he received an aggressor penalty. Nine minutes into the first period it saw Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Filip Zadina with a give and go play to get Halifax on the board. In the second period, Filip Zadina and Xavier Parent connected on a short-handed goal to see the home team with a two-goal lead which did not last long when Anthony Boucher scored on a short-handed breakaway, but before the end of the second Xavier Parent scored with one second left on the powerplay. In the third Saint John pushed back to one goal down before rookie Kyle Petten scored the game-winner, but it did not come without a scare when the Sea Dogs scored with 26 seconds left on the clock to come within one. Goalie Alex Gravel came up big for his team with some big saves on the Sea Dog forwards.

A taste of things to come in Moose Country. @filip_zadinagets a short handed goal vs Saint John. 2pts for Zadina tonight. #GoMooseGopic.twitter.com/G9r0U9wSKn

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) September 15, 2017

 

Game at a Glance
FINAL: Saint John 3 at Halifax 4
Halifax scorers: Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Filip Zadina, Xavier Parent, and Kyle Petten
Saint John scorers: Anthony Boucher, Alexandre Lafrenière, and William Poirier
Powerplay: HFX – 1/4, SNB – 0/6
Shots: Mooseheads – 23, Sea Dogs – 42

Pre-season Game vs Saint John

Opponent: Saint John Sea Dogs
Where: Scotiabank Centre
When: September 15, 2017
Time: 7:00pm
Tickets: $10.00

Saint John Sea Dogs
Preseason record: 1-5-1-0, 3pts
Goals for: 21
Goals against: 33
Head coach: Josh Dixon
Scoring leader: Isiah Campbell (1G & 4A)
Leading goaltender: Alex D'Orio (0.933 SAV%)

Halifax Mooseheads
Preseason record: 5-3-0-0, 10pts
Goals for: 27
Goals against: 25
Head coach: Jon Greenwood
Scoring leader: Justin Barron & Caleb Rich (3G & 3A)
Leading goaltender: Blade Mann-Dixon (0.945 SAV%)

Notes

• This is the first pre-season game since the 1990's that has been played at the Mooseheads's true home.
• Saint John has changed quite a bit from their President's Cup winning team including a new coach.
• Both teams are done their pre-season schedule after tonight.
• The next game between these two teams will be the Sea Dogs home opener in 6 days.

Plenty of Moose in NHL Main Camps

There are plenty of young men on NHL teams main camp rosters that have suited up for the Halifax Mooseheads sometime in their career. Many of the players are Herd alumni but there are a few who are currently on the Mooseheads' opening night roster.

A lot of camps began on Tuesday or Wednesday after teams had their rookies participate in tournaments over the weekend.

Below you'll find a list of all the current and former Moose players on NHL teams main camp rosters:
Andrew Bodnarchuk - Dallas Stars
Jocktan Chainey - New Jersey Devils
Cody Donaghey - Ottawa Senators
Jonathan Drouin - Montreal Canadiens
Cavan Fitzgerald - San Jose Sharks
Maxime Fortier - Montreal Canadiens
Martin Frk - Detroit Red Wings
Zach Fucale - Montreal Canadiens
Alexandre Grenier - Florida Panthers
Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils
Stephen MacAulay - Vegas Golden Knights
Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche
Brad Marchand - Boston Bruins
Timo Meier - San Jose Sharks
Otto Somppi - Tampa Bay Lightning
Jakub Voracek - Philadelphia Flyers
Mackenzie Weegar - Florida Panthers

Though Boston and Philadelphia have not released their training camp rosters I am assuming that both Marchand and Voracek are participating in them. The Vancouver Canucks announced their main camp participants however names were not released of the players who made it through the rookie tournament so I don't know if Danny Moynihan is still with the big club or has been sent down to Utica.

Max Fortier has since been sent down to the Habs new minor league affiliate Laval Rocket and will be looking for an AHL contract.

Pre-season Game vs Moncton

Opponent: Moncton Wildcats
Where: Halifax Forum
When: September 8, 2017
Time: 7:00pm
Tickets: $10.00

Moncton Wildcats
Preseason record: 5-0-1-0, 11pts
Goals for: 28
Goals against: 13
Head coach: Darren Rumble
Scoring leader: Daniil Kuzmin (4G & 6A)
Leading goaltender: Mark Grametbauer (1.000 SAV%)

Halifax Mooseheads
Preseason record: 4-2-0-0, 8pts
Goals for: 23
Goals against: 20
Head coach: Jon Greenwood
Scoring leader: Justin Barron & Caleb Rich (3G & 3A)
Leading goaltender: Raphael Blais (0.923 SAV%)

Notes

• This is the first game for import draft pick and top NHL draft prospect Filip Zadina with the Mooseheads.
• Otto Somppi, Maxime Fortier, Arnaud Durandeau and Jocktan Chainey will not be playing tonight as they are at NHL camps. Halifax has called 3 players up because of this.
• Moose Country will get it's first look at 3rd overall pick Jakub Pelletier who is looking to help the Moncton Wildcats out of the basement.
• Below are the rosters for each team for tonight's game.

Fortier, Donaghey Participate in Rookie Tournament

Some current Mooseheads are headed out of Nova Scotia today to attend rookie camps. Otto Somppi, Maxime Fortier, Jocktan Chainey and Arnaud Durandeau were all invited to participate in camps.

Photo - Leafs site

Maxime Fortier will join 22 other players at the Montreal Canadiens camp. The Habs will start their camp in Toronto, ON as they are participating in the 2017 Rookie Tournament hosted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, which will be held September 8-10. Fortier goes into camp as a try-out player after not getting selected in either of the last two NHL drafts. The 19 year old I am sure is looking forward to suiting up for his hometown team and after the season he had this past year will be looking to crack the main camp roster and possibly get signed by the Canadiens. Toronto and Montreal are joined this weekend by the Ottawa Senators who have a former Mooseheads listed on their roster. Cody Donaghey, who played for Halifax during the 2015-16 season, will be among 23 prospects suiting up for Ottawa. Donaghey, 21 years old, had his NHL rights traded to the nation's capital in early 2016 by the Leafs. As 2016-17 was the last season he was eligible to play junior hockey, the St. John's, NL native will most likely play for the Sens American Hockey League team the Belleville Senators this year. The two players will see each other on Saturday when their teams go head-to-head.

Below is the schedule for the Leafs tourney held at Ricoh Coliseum:
Friday Sept 8   7pm   Montreal vs. Toronto
Saturday Sept 9    7pm   Ottawa vs. Montreal
Sunday Sept 10    4pm   Toronto vs. Ottawa

Another team hosting a tournament this weekend are the Buffalo Sabres who will welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins September 8-11. The Devils have two Mooseheads on their roster in defenseman Jocktan Chainey, who no doubt will lead a still some what young back end in Halifax this season, and #1 overall draft pick Nico Hischier, who many believe will make the NHL in 2017-18. New Jersey will play a game against each team and you can find more info here for the Prospect Tournament.

Photo - Canucks site

Former Moose forward Danny Moynihan has been invited to the Vancouver Canucks rookie camp and is among the players listed for the Young Stars Classic which is held in Penticton, BC from September 8-11. The tournament includes prospects from the Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. After spending last season in Alaska with Vancouver's ECHL team this is a chance for Moynihan to prove he has improved and deserves to be in a higher league.

The tournament schedule is below:
Friday Sept 8     4pm    Edmonton vs. Calgary
7:30pm    Vancouver vs. Winnipeg
Saturday Sept 9    7:30pm    Winnipeg vs. Edmonton
Sunday Sept 10    2pm   Calgary vs. Vancouver
Monday Sept 11    10:30am    Winnipeg vs. Calgary
2pm    Vancouver vs. Edmonton

18 year old Arnaud Durandeau will participate in New York Islanders rookie camp from September 8-13 which includes a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. Full roster can be found here. Otto Somppi, who was drafted in 2016 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, was supposed to participate in the Florida Panthers Rookie Tournament this weekend but with Hurricane Irma projected to hit the state of Florida, the Panthers decided to cancel it. I'm sure Somppi and the other prospects will still have plenty of opportunities to prove themselves next week.



Good luck to all 7 young men at their respective camps. Moose Country will be cheering you on loud and proud.

Poll #17 results

Last month I asked you Moose Country who would be the Halifax Mooseheads captain for this season. While we don't know for sure yet who Jim Midgley, Cam Russell and company will choose to lead the team, we do know who the majority of fans think it should be. Below you will find the results of Poll 17.

Max Fortier   - 44.72%
Otto Somppi   - 0.8%
Connor Moynihan   - 50.41%
Jocktan Chainey   - 1.63%
Other   - 2.44%



As you can see about half of the people who voted believe that Connor Moynihan should be given the C for 2017-18.

Connor comes into the year as one of the Herd's 20 year olds and was 4th on the team last season in scoring with 41 points in 55 games. While I agree whole-heartedly that he should be captain, the fact that he has not been given a letter before will possibly mean that he won't be chosen to lead the team but maybe he will get an A finally this year.

Thank you very much for voting on this poll. I'm sure I will have more in the future.

4 Herd on Craig's List

With the regular season around the corner, a few websites have announced their draft rankings over the past month and a half for the upcoming 2018 NHL entry draft. The Mooseheads have four players who are eligible to be selected in June when the pro teams meet in Dallas, TX. Craig Button, a TSN analyst, released his preliminary draft rankings list early on Tuesday. He named his Top 62 players which includes the first 5 being from outside of Canada. The first Canadian young gun named to Button's list is Herd defenseman Jared McIsaac at number 6. Below you'll find how the 4 17 year olds have been ranked.

Jared McIsaac
Craig's list: #6
Future Considerations: #5
Hockeyprospect.com: #11

Benoit-Olivier Groulx
Craig's list: #15
Future Considerations: #13
Hockeyprospect.com: #28

Alexis Gravel
Craig's list: #53
Future Considerations: #60

Filip Zadina
Craig's list: #10
Future Considerations: #3
Hockeyprospect.com: #7
Also among the Top 10 prospects according The Hockey News.

We'll see lots of scouts around the Scotiabank Centre this season with 3 top prospects on the team and one trying to show he can be an asset to a pro team at some point. It's an exciting time in Moose Country so you'll want to get your tickets to see these guys. This is the most players Halifax has had ranked in an entry draft since 2013 and I believe the highest amount ever projected to go in the first two rounds.

Check back throughout the season as I post recaps, previews, stats and updates on how our boys are doing in the rankings. Go Moose Go.