Herd Word

Photo - Mariners Twitter

FRED PAGE CUP
A couple of former Halifax Mooseheads forwards will be hoping to represent eastern Canada at the Royal Bank Cup by winning the Fred Page Cup later this week. Brett Crossley, who played for the Herd from 2014 to 2018, helped his Yarmouth Mariners win the MJAHL playoff championship earlier in April. Crossley had 4 goals and 16 points in 14 games. The Mariners will join the Princeville Titan (LHJQ champions) and Ottawa Jr. A Senators (CCHL champions) as well as host Amherst Ramblers in the tournament. Amherst has another Moose alum in Caleb Rich who played for Halifax during the 2016-17 season. This is Rich's second season with the Ramblers. The Fred Page Cup is played from May 1-5, 2019.

Congrats to Brett and the Mariners on winning the Kent Cup. Good luck to all the teams and players,

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Mooseheads goaltender Alexis Gravel was named the QMJHL's player of the week for the week ending May 29. The Asbestos, QC native had a 3-1 record over the past week in the playoffs with a 0.938 save percentage to help Halifax advance to the President Cup finals. In the three home games during their series with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, Gravel was named the first star after facing 35, 35 and 34 shots respectively in Game 3, 4 and 6. He was also named the CHL goaltender of the week today.

HOSTS
The Canadian Hockey League announced on April 19 the 6 host cities for the upcoming Canada/Russia series. Both QMJHL arenas are in the province of New Brunswick. For the 2nd time in the last three years, the Moncton Wildcats will be hosting a game. Below is the full schedule

Game 1 - Monday November 4 at Saint John, NB
Game 2 - Tuesday November 5 at Moncton, NB
Game 3 - Thursday November 7 at Kitchener, ON
Game 4 - Monday November 11 at London, ON
Game 5 - Wednesday November 13 at Saskatoon, SK
Game 6 - Thursday November 14 at Prince Albert, SK

QMJHL DRAFT
On the same day the Canada/Russia series hosts were announced, the QMJHL had their draft lottery and the winner ended up being the Saint John Sea Dogs. Even though they finished 17th in the league, Saint John had just a 4.8% chance to get the first overall pick because of trades that happened during the season. Val-d'Or received the Sea Dogs original pick while the pick Saint John won on was originally Blainville-Boisbriand's. For full story, click here.

MacKinnon getting interviewed on Sportsnet after Game 2
Photo - Avalanche Twitter

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs has finished and the final 8 teams have started to battle each other. There are three alumnus still in the running for the ultimate trophy, two of them are battling each other. Nathan MacKinnon helped the Colorado Avalanche advance to the second round for the first time since the 2007-08 season. MacKinnon had 3 goals and 8 points in 5 games versus the Calgary Flames and the Avalanche are now taking on the San Jose Sharks. Nathan has been getting a lot of praise from his peers and fans a like.

The Sharks include former Herd Timo Meier who had a goal and 4 points in their opening series against the Vegas Golden Knights. In the Eastern conference, Brad Marchand, who played 26 games with Halifax, and the Boston Bruins are taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round. Marchand scored all 9 of his points in the 1st round.