Stats Sunday: January

Games played: 11
Record: 7-3-1-0, 15pts
Goals for/against: 45/30
Powerplay*: 25.7%
Penalty kill*: 88.0%
Shutouts: none

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Benoit-Olivier Groulx 12, Antoine Morand 12, Samuel Asselin 11, Arnaud Durandeau 11, Jared McIsaac 11
Goals: Samuel Asselin 5, Arnaud Durandeau 5, Justin Barron 4, Joel Bishop 4, Benoit-Olivier Groulx 4
Assists: Antoine Morand 10, Jared McIsaac 9, Benoit-Olivier Groulx 8, Arnaud Durandeau 6, Denis Toner 6
Penalty minutes: Joel Bishop 13, Ben Higgins 13, Justin Barron 12, Jared McIsaac 11, Patrick Kyte 11
Plus/minus: Denis Toner +10, Benoit-Olivier Groulx +9, Justin Barron +7, Arnaud Durandeau +7, Joel Bishop +4
Rookie scoring: Denis Toner 6pts, Samuel Dube 2pts, Cole Stewart 2pts

Goaltending stats*
Cole McLaren: 10-2-0-0    1.72 GAA    0.931 SAV%
Alexis Gravel: 23-10-2-0    2.65 GAA    0.913 SAV%

*overall

Groulx Scores Two In Rough Contest

Eight or nine games a season and a 3 hour drive between cities has kept the rivalry between the Halifax Mooseheads and Moncton Wildcats alive even with the changes that happen every year in junior hockey. That rivalry really showed this evening as non-calls and frustrations caused a fight and a line brawl in the second period. Once again, the Mooseheads got on the board first after Benoit-Olivier Groulx scored his 21st of the season 3:36 into the game. More than 10 minutes later number 19 scored his second of the game to give the home team a 2-0 lead on a power play. Moncton were able to get one past Alex Gravel before the first period ended as Jakob Pelletier recorded his 25th of the year but that would be all Gravel would give up on Saturday night, making 24 saves. The always smiling Samuel Asselin scored to extend Halifax’s lead just 19 seconds into the middle frame. A little over 14 minutes later, Justin Barron would get hit behind the net and Patrick Kyte would stick up for his teammate, dropping the gloves with the Wildcats’ Dylan Seitz in a very good tilt. Both would get 5 minute majors. Just 63 seconds after that, more roughness happened by the Herd net and everyone on the ice grabbed a partner which filled the penalty boxes after the referees figured out what disciple should be handed out. A couple of goals in the third finished the scoring and gave the good guys their 32nd victory of the year.

FINAL: Wildcats 1 at Mooseheads 5
Stars: 3. Samuel Asselin HAL | 2. Jared McIsaac HAL | 1. Benoit-Olivier Groulx HAL
Attendance: 9,717
MC’s Top Herd: n/a

GAME LOG
First period
3:36 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (21) | A: Sansfacon & Dube
14:29 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (22), PP | A: Asselin & Morand
17:39 MON Jakob Pelletier (25), PP | A: McKenna & Khovanov

Second period
0:19 HAL Samuel Asselin (32) | A: None

Third period
2:22 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (22) | A: McIsaac
11:29 HAL Raphael Lavoie (21) | A: McIsaac & Parent

Shots: 29-25 in favour for Halifax
Powerplay: MON – 1-for-5; HAL – 1-for-3

NOT DRESSED – Jake Ryczek, Ostap Safin, Maxim Trepanier and Jocktan Chainey were out with injuries

SCORES
Voltigeurs 6 at Phoenix 1
Cataractes 1 at Drakkar 5
Sagueneens 2 at Remparts 1
Sea Dogs 2 at Foreurs 4
Islanders 1 at Huskies 8
Oceanic 4 at Olympiques 1

UP NEXT – The two clubs will meet again in a week to finish this home and home series in Moncton on January 26. Puck drops at 7pm.

Halifax Win 11th PITR Event

Your Halifax Mooseheads are now 6-5 in their Pink in the Rink events after a close 5-3 victory over the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The boys in pink had it in the bag but seemed to stop pushing late in the third and Bathurst was able to make it interesting scoring two goals in the final 2 minutes of the game. Samuel Asselin got the party started, recording his 30th of the season 5 minutes into the match. Keith Getson doubled the lead with 46 seconds remaining in the first period as the Mooseheads took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Despite outshooting the Titan 12-3 in the opening frame, it felt like a pretty back and forth game and in the second Bathurst got some life when Marc-Andre LeCouffe scored at the 4:54 mark to break Cole McLaren’s shutout. LeCouffe’s goal made it a 3-1 game. Asselin scored his 2nd of the night later in the second, which turned out to be the game winner. Halifax has had the best penalty kill pretty much all season but the boys didn’t do too well tonight as all three Acadie-Bathurst goals were scored with the man advantage. The Titan were 3-for-5 on the power play Friday evening.

FINAL: Titan 3 at Mooseheads 5
Stars: 3. Xavier Parent HAL | 2. Samuel Asselin HAL | 1. Arnaud Durandeau HAL
Attendance: 7,781
MC’s Top Herd: Samuel Asselin

GAME LOG
First period
5:01 HAL Samuel Asselin (30) | A: Durandeau & Kyte
19:14 HAL Keith Getson (17) | A: Higgins & Bishop

Second period
2:50 HAL Xavier Parent (11) | A: Toner & McLeod
4:54 BAT Marc-Andre LeCouffe (10), PP | A: Sutton & Tucker
15:52 HAL Samuel Asselin (31) | A: Durandeau & Groulx

Third period
2:30 HAL Raphael Lavoie (20) | A: Flower & McIsaac
18:18 BAT Jesse Sutton (14), PP | A: Tucker & MacKinnon
19:50 BAT Liam Leonard (5), PP | A: MacKinnon & Sutton

Shots: 34-13 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: BAT – 3-for-5; HAL – 0-for-1

NOT DRESSED – Jocktan Chainey, Ostap Safin, Maxim Trepanier and Jake Ryczek were all injured

SCORES
Wildcats 2 at Screaming Eagles 3 SO
Phoenix 1 at Tigres 2
Cataractes 0 at Drakkar 5
Oceanic 5 at Armada 2

UP NEXT – Halifax will welcome the Moncton Wildcats tomorrow evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Jan 18: Mooseheads vs. Titan preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ACADIE-BATHRST TITAN
January 18, 2019 at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

It’s Pink in the Rink night! The game, which helps raises money for breast cancer research, is normally hosted in October but since our Halifax Mooseheads’ home opener wasn’t until October 27 the club had to move it to a later date. This evening is the 11th annual match of this event and it will see the Herd take on the last place Acadie-Bathurst Titan. It will be the second game of a home and home series between these two teams this week. Halifax will be looking to add to their 30 wins on the season and have even more distance between them and the Moncton Wildcats, who they play tomorrow. Bathurst mean while is just looking for a victory as they have only 1 win in their last 10 games and seven on the season. The Titan gave the Mooseheads a scare last week when each time Halifax were able to take a lead, Bathurst was able to tie the game up shortly after but ultimately a coast to coast goal by Justin Barron with under 3 minutes to go gave the Herd a 5-4 win. The first game in this home and home series was a bit easier with our boys winning 4-1. Fans can buy raffle tickets at the Scotiabank Centre for a chance to win a special game worn pink jersey from a Moosehead player with all money going to the Atlantic region of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

This is the seventh meeting between these two teams this season. Halifax is 6-0-0-0 against the Titan while Acadie-Bathurst has a 0-6-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was on Wednesday evening in Bathurst where the Mooseheads took a 4-1 victory. Benoit-Olivier Groulx led Halifax with a goal and two assists while the Titan were outshot 39-17.

Overall Records
Titan: 7-34-1-1 = 16pts (18th overall, 6th in Maritimes division)
Mooseheads 30-10-2-1 = 63pts (4th overall, 1st in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Samuel Asselin 51pts (29G & 22A), Benoit-Olivier Groulx 44pts (20G & 24A), Raphael Lavoie 43pts (19G & 24A)
BAT: Jesse Sutton 27pts (13G & 14A), Marc-Andre LeCouffe 21pts (9G & 12A), Evan MacKinnon 21pts (6G & 15A)

Previous Games
See above.

Head-to-Head
October 14  Mooseheads 5 at Titan 0
November 7  Mooseheads 8 at Titan 2
November 10  Titan 0 at Mooseheads 9
December 8  Titan 0 at Mooseheads 6
January 8  Mooseheads 5 at Titan 4
January 16  Mooseheads 4 at Titan 1
January 18  7pm  Titan at Mooseheads
February 8  7pm  Titan at Mooseheads
February 27  7pm  Titan at Mooseheads

Out of Town
Cape Breton vs. Moncton – 7:00pm
Victoriaville vs. Sherbrooke – 8:00pm
Baie-Comeau vs. Shawinigan – 8:30pm
Blainville-Boisbriand vs. Rimouski – 8:30pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will stick at home and host the Moncton Wildcats on Saturday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Jan 13: Mooseheads vs. Huskies preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES
January 13, 2019 at 3:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Our Halifax Mooseheads will face their biggest test of the season this afternoon as they welcome the league leading Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to the Scotiabank Centre. The Huskies lead the QMJHL with 34 wins and 69 points so far in 2018-19. Halifax is no slouch either though, the Mooseheads have 29 victories in 41 games and are second in their conference. Surprisingly, Rouyn-Noranda only has one player in the league's top 5 scorers but they do have the best goaltender in Samuel Harvey who leads all eligible goalies in goals against average and save percentage. The team as a whole have let in the least amount of goals with only 90. It should be a low scoring tight match up as Halifax has let in only 13 more goals than the Huskies and Alex Gravel is third in the Q in save percentage. Hopefully we'll be in for a good game with the home team picking up their 30th win.

This is the first game between these teams this year. Last season, Halifax was 1-1-0-0 against the Huskies while Rouyn-Noranda had a 1-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was on December 9 where Filip Zadina and Jared McIsaac had a goal and an assist each in a 7-2 loss in Rouyn-Noranda.

Overall Records
Huskies: 34-7-0-1 = 69pts (1st overall, 1st in West division)
Mooseheads: 29-9-2-1 = 61pts (4th overall, 1st in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Samuel Asselin 49pts (29G & 20A), Raphael Lavoie 43pts (19G & 24A), Antoine Morand 41pts (14G & 27A)
ROU: Peter Abbandonato 70pts (20G & 50A), Alex Beaucage 48pts (22G & 26A), Rafael Harvey-Pinard 45pts (19G & 26A)

Previous Games
Rouyn-Noranda is coming off a 5-4 shootout victory in Charlottetown on Saturday evening. Alex Beaucage led the Huskies with two goals and an assist while Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored the overtime winner against the Islanders.

Halifax is coming off a 3-0 defeat to the Screaming Eagles on Friday. Alex Gravel took the loss in Cape Breton and made 20 saves for the Mooseheads who were shutout for the first time this season.

Head-to-Head
January 13  3pm  Huskies at Mooseheads
March 2  8pm  Mooseheads at Huskies

Out of Town
Drummondville vs. Quebec - 4:00pm
Sherbrooke vs. Blainville-Boisbriand - 4:00pm
Moncton vs. Charlottetown - 4:00pm
Chicoutimi vs. Val-d'Or - 5:00pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will head to Bathurst for a mid-week game against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the first match up of a home and home series. Puck drops at 7pm.

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, Cole McLaren was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for December 2018. McLaren had a 2-0 record in two starts in the month of December while posting a 0.959 save percentage and a 0.96 goals against average.

Here's the list:

Team	Player	Educational Institution	Program
BAC	Gabriel Fortier	Cégep de Baie-Comeau	Business
BAT	Antoine Leblanc	Cégep à distance	Natural Sciences
BLB	Luke Henman	Nova Scotia Education & Early Childhood Development	Grade 12
CAP	Kyle Havlena	Cape Breton University	Business
CHA	Will Sirman	Queens University	Business
CHI	Justin Ducharme	Cégep de Chicoutimi	Economy & Management
DRU	Félix Lauzon	Algonquin College	Criminology
GAT	William Basque	Athabasca University	History
HAL	Cole McLaren	Saint Mary’s University	Bachelor of Science
MON	Elliot Desnoyers	Académie Les Estacades	Secondary 5
QUE	Félix-Olivier Chouinard	Cégep de Limoilou	Natural Sciences
RIM	Frédéryck Janvier	Académie Les Estacades	Secondary 5
ROU	Tyler Hinam	Acadia University
SHA	Simon Dubois-Tiberghien	Collège de Shawinigan	Natural Sciences
SHE	Samuel Poulin	Northern Pre-University	Grade 12
SNB	Michael Campoli	UNBSJ
VDO	Jonathan Lemieux	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue	Human Sciences
VIC	Jérôme Gravel	Cégep de Victoriaville	Human Sciences

Mooseheads Dominate Shawinigan

It's another victory for Cole McLaren and your Halifax Mooseheads. The Herd picked up their 29th win of the season in dominating fashion as they displaced the visiting Shawinigan Cataractes 7-1 on Thursday evening. Halifax forced coach Daniel Renaud to change his goaltenders twice during the game after both gave up 3 goals before Justin Blanchette returned to the match early in the second. Patty Kyte started the on slaught just over 4 minutes into the contest while defencemen Justin Barron and Jared McIsaac joined the party later in the period to chase Blanchette from the net. In the first period, despite the score, Shawinigan seemed like a team that wasn't going to be pushed around and were battling pretty hard. In the second, Jared McIsaac picked up his 2nd goal of the game while Xavier Parent's goal at the 5:30 mark chased rookie goaltender Antoine Coulombe. Arnaud Durandeau was the only one to get a puck past Blanchette after he returned and the Cataractes broke McLaren's shutout with about 13 minutes remaining in the game.

FINAL: Cataractes 1 at Mooseheads 7
Stars: 3. Ben Higgins HAL | 2. Jared McIsaac HAL | 1. Antoine Morand HAL
Attendance: 6,944
MC’s Top Herd: Antoine Morand

GAME LOG
First period4:02 HAL Patrick Kyte (6) | A: Getson & Morand
11:39 HAL Jared McIsaac (8), PP | A: Morand & Groulx
16:18 HAL Justin Barron (6) | A: McLeod & Stewart

Second period2:12 HAL Jared McIssac (9) | A: Durandeau & Bishop
3:30 HAL Ben Higgins (6) | A: none
5:30 HAL Xavier Parent (8) | A: Asselin & Toner

Third period
1:46 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (20), PP | A: Morand & McIsaac
6:38 SHA Xavier Cormier (3) |A: Nussbaumer

Shots: 40-27 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: SHA – 0-for-3; HAL – 2-for-2

NOT DRESSED – Ostap Safin (injured), Samuel Dube (illness), Jocktan Chainey (injured), Walter Flower (injured) and Marcel Barinka (healthy)

SCORESOlympique 1 at Saguenéens 2
Foreurs 1 at Drakkar 4

UP NEXT – The Moose will travel to Cape Breton to take on their provincial rivals in Sydney. Puck drops at 7pm.

Moose Lose Thriller to Remparts

It was an entertaining but frustrating game on Saturday evening as your Halifax Mooseheads hosted the Quebec Remparts and were defeated 4-3 in overtime. Halifax was looking for their second win in as many days but the hockey gods weren't shinning on them tonight as the referees missed a number of penalties and the Mooseheads hit a few posts as well. Keith Getson scored his first goal in a Mooseheads uniform to put the home team up 1-0. Recently acquired Maxim Trepanier was hauled down on a semi breakaway but there was no call and the Remparts skated the other way which ended in Quebec tying the game at 1. It seemed like there was a parade to the penalty box in the first, however there were actually only three and the Herd were able to take advantage of one of them retaking the lead with just over 5 minutes left to go in the frame. The lead was short-lived as the two clubs headed to the dressing rooms tied at 2 after 20 minutes. Rookie goaltender Cole McLaren got the start this evening and played quite well, keeping his team in the match a few times but unfortunately he picked up his second loss of the season. Halifax really pushed in the late part of the third, trying to take back the lead and get the victory however some nice saves by replacement goalie Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo in the final minutes kept it tied 3-3 and forced overtime. In 3 on 3 overtime, it was the dreaded 2 vs. 1 break that gave Quebec the edge and the victory as Etienne Verrette scored his first goal of the season.

FINAL: Remparts 4 at Mooseheads 3 OT
Stars: 3. Keith Getson HAL | 2. Brandon Frattaroli QUE | 1. Antoine Morand HAL
Attendance: 8,416
MC’s Top Herd: Keith Getson

GAME LOG
First period5:43 HAL Keith Getson (14) | A: Kyte & Morand
8:48 QUE Nicolas Savoie (1) | A: Frattaroli & Laframboise
14:58 HAL Justin Barron (4), PP | A: Lavoie & Ryczek
18:30 QUE Adam Gaudreau (2) | A: Cormier

Second period4:13 HAL Antoine Morand (14), PP | A: McIsaac & Groulx

Third period
6:06 QUE Samuel Dickner (1) | A: Frattaroli & Laframboise

Overtime
3:06 QUE Etienne Verrette (1) | A: Caron & Laframboise

Shots: 35-30 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: QUE - 0-for-4; HAL - 2-for-4

NOT DRESSED – Ostap Safin (injured), Jocktan Chainey (injured), Kyle Petten (healthy), Marcel Barinka (injured) and Brock McLeod (healthy)

SCORESVoltigeurs 8 at Cataractes 5
Screaming Eagles 1 at Islanders 3
Oceanic 4 at Sea Dogs 3
Phoenix 6 at Foreurs 5 OT
Titan 4 at Olympique 1
Drakkar 4 at Tigres 1

UP NEXT – The Moose will travel to Bathurst on Tuesday evening to take on the Titan. Puck drops at 7pm.

Moose Double Up Oceanic to Start 2019

Your Halifax Mooseheads started the new year just like they ended the last, with a victory. For the first game in 2019, the Herd doubled up the visiting Rimouski Oceanic to pick up a 6-3 win on home ice. The Mooseheads didn't take long to get the fans at the Scotiabank Centre out of their feet as defenceman Justin Barron got his team on the board just 13 seconds in to the game. Draft eligible forward Raphael Lavoie extended the lead to 2 a little more than 9 minutes later and that's how the first period would end with Halifax up 2-0. Lavoie had his second straight two goal game when he gave the Moose a 3-0 lead 5:42 into the middle frame, chasing starting goalie Tristan Berube. Veteran goaltender Alexis Gravel had to be strong the whole game, especially in the first and third periods when the Oceanic outshot the boys, including 12-4 in the final frame. It has looked like Gravel worked on his puck control during the Christmas break as it seems like he hasn't been giving up as many rebounds as he did before the break even though he still faced a number of shots. The home team look like they sit back in the second period some games but on Friday night, they didn't at all. They scored three times in the middle frame and outshot Rimouski 15-8. The Oceanic got on the board at the 17:03 minute mark in the second and got two before in the final 5 minutes after Arnaud Durandeau made it 6-1 early in the third.

FINAL: Oceanic 3 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Justin Barron HAL | 2. Alex Gravel HAL | 1. Raphaël Lavoie HAL
Attendance: 7,840
MC’s Top Herd: Alex Gravel

GAME LOG
First period0:13 HAL Justin Barron (3) | A: Groulx & Durandeau
9:21 HAL Raphael Lavoie (18), PP | A: Barron & Groulx

Second period5:42 HAL Raphael Lavoie (19), PP | A: Morand & McIsaac
8:40 HAL Antoine Morand (13) | A: Getson & Barron
9:06 HAL Joel Bishop (4) | A: Higgins & Toner
17:03 RIM Olivier Garneau (21), PP | A: Huntington & Lafreniere

Third period
1:37 HAL Arnaud Durnandeau (19) | A: Dube & Kyte
15:47 RIM Nathan Ouellet (4) | A: Pare & D'Astous
19:31 RIM Zachary Massicotte (1) | A: Bowman

Shots: 27-34 in favour of Rimouski

NOT DRESSED – Ostap Safin (injured), Jocktan Chainey (injured), Kyle Petten (healthy), Marcel Barinka (injured), Cole Stewart (healthy)

SCORESScreaming Eagles 5 at Sea Dogs 1
Remparts 4 at Wildcats 3 OT
Armada 2 at Foreurs 3
Drakkar 5 at Tigres 3

UP NEXT – The Moose will stay on home ice tomorrow evening to welcome Patrick Roy and the Quebec Remparts. Puck drops at 7pm.