Stats Sunday: November

Games played: 10
Record: 6-4-0-0, 12pts
Goals for/against: 37/34
Powerplay*: 21.4%
Penalty kill*: 74.7%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Elliot Desnoyers 16, Jordan Dumais 12, Robert Orr 11, Zachary L'Heureux 9, Markus Vidicek 7
Goals: Robert Orr 8, Elliot Desnoyers 6, Zachary L'Heureux 4, Jordan Dumais 3, Mathieu Cataford 2
Assists: Elliot Desnoyers 10, Jordan Dumais 9, Markus Vidicek 6, Cameron Whynot 6, Zachary L'Heureux 5
Penalty minutes: Zachary Beauregard 23, Cameron Whynot 20, Dylan MacKinnon 15, Zachary L'Heureux 11, Stephen Davis 11
Plus/minus: Stephen Davis +9, Zachary L'Heureux +5, Attilio Biasca +5, Markus Vidicek +5, Alexandre Tessier +4
Rookie scoring: Brady Schultz 4pts, Attilio Biasca 3pts, Mathieu Cataford 2pts, Vincent Gauthier 2pts, Logan Crosby 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau: 4-4-0-0     2.88 GAA     0.911 SAV%
Brady James: 8-4-0-0     3.05 GAA     0.905 SAV%

*overall

Game Day 21: vs. Blainville-Boisbriand

PREVIEW - Our Halifax Mooseheads are back at it and will welcome the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada this evening as the club hosts 90's night. The Herd for one game will turn into the Halifax Citadels, who were an American Hockey League team from 1988-1993, and will wear throwback jerseys to celebrate the former professional team. Both Halifax and Blainville have the exact same record coming into tonight's match while they each have three players on the Central Scouting's November Players to Watch list so we should be in for a good game. The Armada are coming off a victory on Friday night as well and will be hoping to continue their three game win streak going. Goaltending is the biggest difference between these two clubs as the Mooseheads have Mathis Rousseau and Brady James in the top 10 for save percentage while the Armada's Charles-Edward Gravel is 31st in the league. 

Game coverage
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads | Post-game: Halifax Mooseheads

Overall records
Armada: 11-8-0-1 = 23 points (2nd in West division, 10th overall)
Mooseheads: 11-8-0-1 = 23 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 9th overall)

Leading scorers
HAL: Elliot Desnoyers 32pts (13G & 19A), Jordan Dumais 30pts (9G & 21A), Zachary L'Heureux 19pts (8G & 11A)
BLB: Miguel Tourigny 30pts (14G & 16A), Simon Pinard 28pts (13G & 15A), Zachary Roy 26pts (8G & 18A)

Head-to-head
This is the first game between these two teams this season. The last game they played was a 3-0 victory for Halifax on November 30, 2019. Goals came from 3 different players and Alex Gravel picked up the 32-save shutout for the Mooseheads while Emile Samson stopped 43 of 46 shots for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. 

Last games
Blainville is coming off a 7-1 win in Cape Breton on Friday evening. Anaheim Ducks prospect Miguel Tourigny led the Armada with 2 goals and an assist while Charles-Edward Gravel stopped 26 of the Eagles shots for the victory. 

Halifax picked up a 5-2 victory last night on home ice against the Huskies. Zachary L'Heureux scored twice for the Mooseheads and Brady James got the win as Rouyn-Noranda was outshot 38-22. 

Not playing - Mathieu Cataford, Logan Crosby and Dylan MacKinnon are all away at the Capital City Challenge

Out of town 
Titan vs. Remparts - 4:00 p.m.
Oceanic vs. Olympiques - 5:00 p.m.
Sea Dogs vs. Drakkar - 7:00 p.m.

After the buzzer
Halifax will finish the month of November with a visit to Saint John to take on the Sea Dogs on Tuesday night. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

L'Heureux Leads Halifax Past Huskies

Our Halifax Mooseheads were able to get some payback on the visiting Rouyn-Noranda Huskies after the Huskies won the first meeting between these two teams last week. The Mooseheads skated to a 5-2 victory tonight on the back of Zachary L'Heureux who had two goals. It didn't take long for L'Heureux to get on the home team on the board as he scored his 7th of the season just 1:54 into the first period. Sophomore Jordan Dumais had an unassisted goal 49 seconds later to give Halifax the 2-0 lead. Rouyn-Noranda pushed back a bit in the second half of the opening period and made it a 2-1 game after 20 minutes. Even though Halifax dominating in shots during the middle frame it seemed to me that they played below the level of the Huskies in that 20 minutes. Zach's second of the night extended the Herd's lead as they outshot Rouyn 18-4 in the second period but the clubs went to the dressing room with the boys in green up 3-2. Robert Orr picked up the insurance goal at the 3:54 mark of the third and Rouyn-Noranda took their second loss in as many nights. 

FINAL: Huskies 2 at Mooseheads 5
Stars: 3. Samuel Johnson ROU | 2. Jordan Dumais HAL | 1. Zachary L'Heureux HAL
Attendance: 5,928
MC's Top Herd: Zachary L'Heureux 

Game Log
First period 
1:54 HAL Zachary L'Heureux (7) | A: Desnoyers & Davis 
2:43 HAL Jordan Dumais (9) | A: None
14:48 ROU Daniil Bourash (5) | A: Johnson

Second period 
5:07 HAL Zachary L'Heureux (8), PP | A: Vidicek & Whynot 
8:19 ROU Samuel Johnson (6) | A: Gagnon & Gill 

Third period 
3:54 HAL Robert Orr (8) | A: Dumais
19:00 HAL Elliot Desnoyers (13), EN | A: None

Shots: 38-22 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: ROU - 0-for-2, HAL - 1-for-4

SCORES
Baie-Comeau 3 at Moncton 2
Blainville-Boisbriand 7 at Cape Breton 1
Quebec 4 at Charlottetown 1
Victoriaville 4 at Sherbrooke 6
Shawinigan 5 at Chicoutimi 2
Val-d'Or 1 at Drummondville 4
Gatineau 4 at Rimouski 2

Missing in action: Senna Peeters (illness), Logan Crosby, Dylan MacKinnon and Mathieu Cataford at U17 Capital City Challenge 

Up next: Halifax will welcome the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for 90's night tomorrow. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

Fucale Makes NHL Debut

Former Halifax Mooseheads goaltender Zach Fucale made his National Hockey League debut on Thursday night for the Washington Capitals and it went really well.

Not only did Zach make his debut but he also picked up his first career win which ended in a 2-0 score. Fucale made 21 saves for the shutout victory on the road with his family in the crowd to witness it. 

Originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 2013, Fucale has been bounced around in NHL teams systems over the last 6 years but hadn't played in an actual game until last night. He did suit up for the Canadiens a few times but was a backup and did not see any action. The 26-year-old played for the Herd from 2011-2014 before being traded at the 2015 Christmas deadline to the Quebec Remparts. He made his professional debut for the St. John's IceCaps of the AHL in October 2015. 

The Laval, QC native said in his post-game interview that he was speechless and it was one of the best moments of his life. 

What a way to celebrate your NHL debut. Moose Country is super proud of you Zach and congratulations on picking up your first win. 

Photos - Capitals & NHL Twitter accounts

Halifax Picks Up Big Thursday Night Win

Our Halifax Mooseheads took two of the three games this week that they had against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan as they skated to a 6-4 victory on Thursday night. The game started out a little slowly and despite being outshot 18-9 in the first period, Bathurst had a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. Enfield, NS native Riley Kidney scored the first goal of the game short-handed before Bennett MacArthur gave the Titan a 2-0 lead. With 39 seconds remaining in the period, Senna Peeters picked up his second of the season. The middle frame was a lot more exciting with five goals ending in a 4-4 tie after 40 minutes. The Titan scored on the power play early in the period to push their lead to 3-1 but 41 seconds later Robert Orr got on the board for Halifax to close the gap to one. Some net crashing led to Zachary Beauregard roofing a rebound for his first of the season to tie the game up at 3. Orr picked up another one in the third period that ended up being the game winning goal. Captain Elliot Desnoyers sealed the win with an empty net marker with under a minute left in regulation. 

FINAL: Titan 4 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Brady James HAL | 2. Bennett MacArthur BAT | 1. Robert Orr HAL
Attendance: 6,188
MC's Top Herd: Bobby Orr

Game Log
First period
15:24 BAT Riley Kidney (10), SH | A: None
17:11 BAT Bennett MacArthur (3), PP | A: Kidney & Brants
19:21 HAL Senna Peeters (2) | A: Jones & Davis

Second period 
5:12 BAT Jaxon Bellamy (5), PP | A: Huckins
5:53 HAL Robert Orr (2) | A: Dumais & Desnoyers
7:12 HAL Zachary Beauregard (1) | A: Peeters
7:44 HAL Zachary L'Heureux (6), PP | A: Dumais & Vidicek 
7:51 BAT Bennett MacArthur (4) | A: Andrews & Biggar

Third period
6:53 HAL Robert Orr (3) | A: Dumais & Desnoyers
19:09 HAL Elliot Desnoyers (10), EN | A: Beauregard & L'Heureux 

Powerplay: BAT - 2-for-7; HAL - 1-for-7
Shots: 44-38 in favour for Halifax

SCORES
Victoriaville 6 at Gatineau 3
Sherbrooke 5 at Val-d'Or 1

Missing in action: Landon Miron (healthy), James Swan (injured) and Alexandre Tessier (healthy)

Up next: Halifax will travel up north to take on the Cape Breton Eagles tomorrow night. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

Photo - Shawn Davidson

3 Herd Named to U17 Roster

There will be three Halifax Mooseheads rookies heading to Ottawa later this month as Hockey Canada has named 66 players to their Under-17 roster for the Capital City Challenge on Friday. The players will be divided into three teams - Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red and Team Canada White - and will take on Canada's National Women's Team. 

Defenceman Dylan MacKinnon along with forwards Logan Crosby and Mathieu Cataford will wear the maple leaf from November 26-December 1. The black, red and white rosters will be announced at a later date.

The Capital City Challenge opens on Nov. 26 at TD Place Arena, home of the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League. Canada's centralization roster will face Team Canada White in the tournament opener at 12 p.m. ET, followed by Team Canada Black taking on Team Canada Red at 7 p.m. ET according to the press release.  

To see the full U-17 roster that includes 19 QMJHLers, click here. 

Congrats to our 3 young guys who will be participating in this challenge. 

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 you Halifax Mooseheads, Elliot Desnoyers was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for October 2021. Desnoyers had 8 goals and 10 assists for 18 points in 8 games and was a plus-9 during the month. 

Team	Player	Program	Institution
BAT	Marc-André Gaudet	Independant Studies	Acadia University
BAC	Félix Gagnon	Social Sciences	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
BLB	Mikaël Denis	Social Sciences	Cégep de Terrebonne
CAP	Logan Camp	Business	Cape Breton University
CHA	Brett Budgell	Business	UPEI
CHI	Jacob Newcombe	Grade 12	Northern Pre University
DRU	Édouard Charron	Social Sciences	Cégep de Drummondville
GAT	Vincent Maisonneuve	Natural Sciences	Cégep de l’Outaouais
HAL	Elliot Desnoyers	Commerce	Saint Mary’s University
MON	Nicolas Pavan	Business	Concordia University
QUE	Mathieu Wener	Secondary 5	École secondaire Cardinal-Roy
RIM	Frédéric Brunet	Social Sciences	Cégep de Rimouski
ROU	Dyllan Gill	Grade 12	Riverview High School
SNB	Peter Reynolds	Independant Studies	UNB
SHA	Angus Booth	Social Sciences	Cégep Shawinigan
SHE	Joshua Roy	Management	Athabasca University
VDO	Justin Robidas	Grade 12	Northern Pre University
VIC	Justin Larose	Secondary 5	École secondaire Sainte-Marie

Alumni Update: Where Are They Now?

We are now into November which means that a new hockey season is well underway across the world at all levels and there are plenty of former Halifax Mooseheads players so I thought I would share where they are playing this year. While I had previously done a post about alumni playing in European leagues back in September, I've decided to remove it and put them in this post. So this list includes players in professional leagues in North America and overseas plus those on university teams, senior and junior leagues. 

Nico Hischier (Photo - NHL.com)

National Hockey League
Jonathan Drouin - Montreal Canadiens
Nikolaj Ehlers - Winnipeg Jets
Benoit-Olivier Groulx - Anaheim Ducks

Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils
Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche

Brad Marchand - Boston Bruins 

Timo Meier - San Jose Sharks 

Jakub Voracek - Columbus Blue Jackets

MacKenzie Weegar - Florida Panthers

Filip Zadina - Detroit Red Wings

American Hockey League
Antoine Morand - Syracuse Crunch
Arnaud Durandeau - Bridgeport Islanders
Cavan Fitzgerald - Chicago Wolves

Jared McIsaac - Grand Rapids Griffins
Justin Barron - Colorado Eagles
Martin Frk - Ontario Reign
Matt Murphy - Belleville Senators
Ostap Safin - Bakersfield Condors
Otto Somppi - Syracuse Crunch
Raphael Lavoie - Bakersfield Condors
Samuel Asselin - Providence Bruins
Zach Fucale - Hershey Bears

ECHL
Andrew Shewfelt - Wichita Thunder
Randy Gazzola - Toledo Walleye
Kelly Bent - Allen Americans
Samuel Hunter - Cincinnati Cyclones
Jake Ryczek - Adirondack Thunder

Jason Horvath - Maine Mariners
Cooper Jones - Jacksonville Icemen 

Xavier Parent (Photo - TVA Sports)

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Xavier Parent - Sherbrooke Phoenix
Cole Foston - Saint John Sea Dogs 

U Sports
Patrick Kyte - St. Francis Xavier X-Men
Joel Bishop - Saint Mary's Huskies
Keith Getson - Saint Mary's Huskies
Brad Kennedy - Mount Royal Cougars
Liam Peyton - Dalhousie Tigers

Anthony Sorrentino - Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Caleb Rich - Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Jordan Maher - UPEI Panthers
Brett Crossley - Dalhousie Tigers
Walter Flower - Saint Mary's Huskies
D'Artagnan Joly - Brock Badgers
Denis Toner - U de Moncton Aigles Bleus
Cole Stewart - Nipissing Lakers
Maxim Trepanier - Concordia Stingers
Taylor Ford - McGill Redbirds
Ryan Barbosa - Windsor Lancers
Jordan King - Lakehead Thunderwolves
Morgan Nauss - Acadia Axemen
Olivier Desroches - Brock Badgers
Jordan Lepage - UQTR Patriotes
Kevin Gursoy - Ryerson Rams
Brock McLeod - York Lions
Ben Higgins - Saint Mary's Huskies
Jordan McKenna - York Lions

Maritime Junior A Hockey League
Alexandre David - Campbellton Tigers 
Sonny Kabatay - Truro Bearcats
Gavin Hart - Truro Bearcats
Keegan Hunt - Grand Falls Rapids

Tomas Knotek (Photo - hokej.cz)

Overseas 
Petr Vrana - HC Ocelari Trinec (Czech)
Jan Stransky - BK Mlada Boleslav (Czech)
Cody Donaghey - Rytiri Kladno (Czech)
Milan Jurcina - HC Sparta Praha (Czech)
Tomas Knotek - HC Slavia Praha (Czech2)

Stephen MacAulay - Dusseldorfer EG (DEL)
Marcel Barinka - Kolner Hale (DEL)
Konrad Abeltshauser - EHC Munchen (DEL)
Andrew Bodnarchuk - Nurnberg Ice Tigers (DEL)
Samuel Dube - ERC Ingolstadt (DEL)
Frederik Cabana - Bayreuth Tigers (DEL2)
Shawn O'Donnell - SonderjyskE (Denmark)
Jake Coughler - Odense Bulldogs (Denmark)
Cameron Critchlow - Manchester Storm (EIHL)
Gabriel Desjardins - Dundee Stars (EIHL)

Alexis Sansfacon - Tours (France2)

Alexandre Grenier - SCL Tigers (NL)
Maxime Fortier - HC Ajoie (NL)
Stefan Fournier - HK Dukla Michalovce (Slovakia)

Ben MacAskill - South China Sharks (CIHL HK)
Jesse Lussier - Macau Aces (CIHL HK)

Senior
Chad Earle - Clarenville Caribous (AESHL)
Adam Nolan - Conception Bay Blues (AESHL)
Curtis Heffernan - St. John's Sr. Caps (AESHL)

Eddie Banville - St. Quentin Castors (CRL)
Guillaume Pelletier - Haut-Madawaska Pantheres (CRL)
Peter-James Corsi - Waterloo Maroons (LHSR)
Jean-Sebastien Taillefer - Soulanges Hockey Experts (LHSR)
Garrett Clarke - Jonquiere Marquis (LNAH)
Domenico Argento - Petroliers du Nord (LNAH)
Simon Desmarais - Saint-Georges-de-Beauce COOL-FM (LNAH)

Other
Jeff Burridge - London Nationals (GOJHL)
Brendan Tomilson - Pickering Panthers (OJHL)
Lucas Robinson - Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL)
Said Abi-Faycal - Montreal-Est Rangers (QJHL)
William Robitaille - Cote-du-Sud Everest (QJHL)
Kyle Petten - CBN Stars (SJJHL)

According to Elite Prospects as of Nov. 7/21

Moose Get Split In Bathurst

Photo - Herd Twitter

The Halifax Mooseheads attempt at getting 4 points in Bathurst didn't go well on Saturday evening as the team lost 3-2 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Halifax found themselves down 2-0 after the first period with Riley Kidney and Jacob Melanson both scoring their 8th goal of the season late in the frame for the home team. Bathurst clearly carried over their momentum from last night's third period into today and picked up the victory after losing Friday 3-1. Rookie Mathieu Cataford scored his 4th of the year in the second while Elliot Desnoyers tied the game up about halfway through the third period on the power play. The score didn't stay tied for long as 3 minutes later, Kidney gave the Titan the lead which ended up being the game winner. This was the second of three straight games that will be against Acadie-Bathurst for our Mooseheads. 

FINAL: Mooseheads 2 at Titan 3
Stars: 3. David Doucet BAT | 2. Jacob Melanson BAT | 1. Riley Kidney BAT
Attendance: 1,566

Game Log
First period
15:05 BAT Riley Kidney (8) | A: Larkin & Brants
17:49 BAT Jacob Melanson (8), PP | A: Kidney & Bednar

Second period 
7:17 HAL Mathieu Cataford (4) | A: Crosby & Schultz

Third period 
9:48 HAL Elliot Desnoyers (9), PP | A: Vidicek & Whynot
12:46 BAT Riley Kidney (9) | A: Chisholm

Powerplay: HAL - 1-for-6; BAT - 1-for-5

Shots: 35-31 in favour of Bathurst

SCORES
Saint John 3 at Drummondville 4
Charlottetown 4 at Blainville-Boisbriand 3
Quebec 6 at Chicoutimi 2
Baie-Comeau 6 at Gatineau 7
Cape Breton 2 at Shawinigan 5
Rouyn-Noranda 3 at Val-d'Or 4 SO
Moncton 2 at Victoriaville 0

Rimouski at Sherbrooke (still playing)

Missing in action: Landon Miron (healthy), James Swan (injured) and Vincent Gauthier (healthy)

Up next: The two teams will head back to Moose Country for a Remembrance Day matchup with puck dropping at 7 p.m.