Central Scouting Release Final Draft Rankings

The NHL Central Scouting Services released its final draft rankings on Wednesday afternoon and two current Halifax Mooseheads players were listed. The announcement comes on the day the Stanley Cup playoffs were supposed to begin had the season not been paused.

Photo - Herd website

Defenceman Justin Barron is 16th among North American skaters. Barron, who missed three months mid-season, picked up four goals and 19 points in 34 games. Despite being gone for almost half the year, the Halifax, NS native played a good defensive game and was well needed on the backend this past season. Justin was named the Mooseheads MVP earlier this month and received two other team awards.

Joining him on the final draft rankings is Senna Peeters who was ranked #101. Peeters had a pretty good rookie year where he scored 23 goals, which was second on a low scoring Halifax team. The 17-year-old recorded 33 points in total in 57 games played.

In total, there are 32 players from the QMJHL who will be hoping to hear their name be called. The 2020 NHL draft was originally scheduled to be hosted by Montreal on June 26-27 but it was announced in March that it will be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around the CHL ~ volume #2 season edition #11

With no playoffs to speak of for this season, this post comes a little later than normal. As a way to wrap up 2019-20, I wanted to share who led the three leagues during the season. 

League leaders
Goals - Nick Robertson 55 goals (OHL Peterborough Petes), Adam Beckman 48 goals (WHL Spokane Chiefs), Egor Sokolov 46 goals (QMJHL Cape Breton Eagles)
Assists - Marco Rossi 81 points (OHL Ottawa 67's), Alexis Lafreniere 77 assists (QMJHL Rimouski Oceanic), Eli Zummack 64 assists (WHL Spokane Chiefs) 
Points - Marco Rossi 120 points (OHL Ottawa 67's),  Alexis Lafreniere 112 points (QMJHL Rimouski Oceanic), Adam Beckman 107 points (WHL Spokane Chiefs)
Defenceman points - Noel Hoefenmayer 82 points (OHL Ottawa 67's), Alex Cotton 67 points (WHL Lethbridge Hurricanes), William Villeneuve 58 points (QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs)
Rookie points - Shane Wright 66 points (OHL Kingston Frontenacs), Michal Teply 63 points (WHL Winnipeg ICE), Zachary L'Heureux 53 points (QMJHL Moncton Wildcats)
Goalie wins - Alexis Shank 36 wins (QMJHL Chicoutimi Sagueneens), Dustin Wolf 34 wins (WHL Everett Silvertips), Jacob Ingham 33 wins (OHL Kitchener Rangers)
Save percentage - Dustin Wolf 0.935 SAV% (WHL Everett Silvertips), Kevin Mandolese 0.925 SAV% (QMJHL Cape Breton Eagles), Nico Daws 0.924 SAV% (OHL Guelph Storm)
Goals against average - Dustin Wolf 1.88 GAA (WHL Everett Silvertips), Samuel Hlavaj 2.25 GAA (QMJHL Sherbrooke Phoenix), Brett Brochu 2.40 GAA (OHL London Knights)

Division leaders
WHL - Portland Winterhawks 97 points/45 wins (U.S. division), Edmonton Oil Kings 94 points/42 wins (Central division), Kamloops Blazers 86 points/41 wins (B.C. division), Prince Albert Raiders 82 points/36 wins (East division)
OHL - Ottawa 67's 101 points/50 wins (East division), London Knights 92 points/45 wins (Midwest division), Saginaw Spirit 87 points/41 wins (West division), Sudbury Wolves 70 points/34 wins (Central division)
QMJHL - Sherbrooke Phoenix 106 points/51 wins (Central division), Moncton Wildcats 101 points/50 wins (Maritimes division), Chicoutimi Sagueneens 96 points/45 wins (East division), Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 68 points/32 wins (West division)

BMO CHL top ten ~ week 25
1. Sherbrooke Phoenix {51-8-3-1} week 24 #1
2. Ottawa 67's {50-11-0-1} week 24 #2
3. Moncton Wildcats {50-13-1-0} week 24 #3
4. Portland Winterhawks {45-11-3-4} week 24 #6
5. Everett Silvertips {46-13-3-1} week 24 #4
6. London Knights (45-15-1-1} week 24 #7
7. Chicoutimi Sagueneens {45-12-5-1} week 24 #8
8. Edmonton Oil Kings {42-12-6-4} week 24 #5
9. Saginaw Spirit {41-16-3-2} week 24 #10
10. Spokane Chiefs {41-18-4-1} week 24 HM
Honorable mentions: Kitchener Rangers {40-16-5-2 #9}, Kamloops Blazers {41-18-3-1 n/a}, Cape Breton Eagles {40-20-2-1 n/a}

Top Herd

An early ending to a disappointing season but there were still some good things that happened in 2019-20 including a total of eight rookies scoring their first career goals. With the season over, I gave you guys the chance to vote for this season's Top Herd player award. Thank you for voting once again.

And the winner is....










Cole McLaren

Halifax drafted the goaltender in 2016 and even in losses was one of the best players on the ice for the Mooseheads. Cole finished the season with an 8-16-0 record, one shutout and a 0.888 save percentage.

Here is the list of my Top Herd that I have done this season. I didn't name one every game.
Sep 27   Charlottetown - Zack Jones
Oct 10   Saint John - Senna Peeters
Oct 13   Val-d'Or - Benoit-Olivier Groulx
Oct 19   Cape Breton - Jordan McKenna
Nov 8    Drummondville - Maxim Trepanier
Nov 21  Baie-Comeau - Alexis Gravel
Nov 30  Blainville - Benoit-Olivier Groulx
Dec 13  Charlottetown - Walter Flower
Dec 31  Saint John - D'Artagnan Joly
Jan 4     Acadie-Bathurst - Jason Horvath
Jan 10   Chictoutimi - Denis Toner
Jan 23   Gatineau - Kevin Gursoy
Feb 1    Shawinigan - Cole McLaren
Feb 9    Sherbrooke - Alexis Gravel
Feb 20  Rimouski - Cole McLaren
Feb 22  Rouyn-Noranda - Ozzie King
Mar 6   Quebec - Cole McLaren


Here are the final poll results
Cole McLaren - 46.7%, Alex Gravel - 23.4%, Kevin Gursoy - 19.5%, Senna Peeters - 10.4%

Team Awards Presented by Mooseheads

For the last couple of weeks, our Halifax Mooseheads have been announcing their team awards for the 2019-20 season on social media with video clips of each recipient. The biggest winner was Justin Barron despite missing almost three months because of a blood clot. Below are the winners of the team awards.

Eastlink Trophy: Kevin Gursoy
Arthur J Gallagher Insurance Trophy: Senna Peeters
Tim Hortons Award: Denis Toner
Scotia Fuels Award: Cameron Whynot
Steele Subaru Award: Justin Barron
Avis Trophy: Zack Jones
Mooseheads Best Sportsmanship Trophy: Jordan McKenna
Sarah Morris Memorial Trophy: Alexis Gravel
Scotiabank Centre Trophy: Justin Barron & Cole McLaren
Sue Moore Memorial Fans' Choice Award: Alexis Gravel
Steele Auto Group MVP: Justin Barron