Stats Sunday: December

Games played: 11
Record: 4-5-1-1, 10pts
Goals for/against: 30/39
Powerplay*: 22.9%
Penalty kill*: 82.8%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Mathieu Cataford 17, Markus Vidicek 12, Liam Kilfoil 8, Brady Schultz 6, Jordan Dumais 6
Goals: Mathieu Cataford 9, Markus Vidicek 7, Liam Kilfoil 4, Jordan Dumais 2, Owen Phillips 2
Assists: Mathieu Cataford 8, Markus Vidicek 5, Brady Schultz 5, Liam Kilfoil 4, Jordan Dumais 4
Penalty minutes: David Moravec 8, Ethan Larmand 8, Jake Todd 8, Jake Furlong 6, Braeden MacPhee 6
Plus/minus: David Moravec +4, Jake Furlong +3, Liam Kilfoil +3, Mathieu Cataford +2, Markus Vidicek +1
Rookie scoring: Liam Kilfoil 8pts, Cade Moser 1pt, Dominic MacKenzie 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau     16-3-2-0     2.07 GAA     0.934 SAV%
Jack Milner     7-6-2-1     3.27 GAA     0.889 SAV%

*overall

Herd Make Trades With Moncton & Saint John

The Halifax Mooseheads announced a couple of trades on Friday afternoon. 

Up first was an exchange of draft picks with the Moncton Wildcats. Halifax received a 2nd rounder in 2024 and a 2025 1st round pick plus a 3rd rounder that was originally Victoriaville's in exchange for three picks all in 2026. Considering there will be a number of players leaving once again at the end of this season, having these early picks for the next two drafts should be helpful. 

In addition, Cam Russell moved overager Brody Fournier and the 2025 1st round pick they got from the Wildcats earlier in the day to the Saint John Sea Dogs. Coming back is 20-year-old Peter Reynolds. 

Fournier leaves the Mooseheads with 26 points over 35 games played so far this season, which is one more than he had during the whole 2022-23 year. Reynolds suited up for Saint John in 166 games while collecting 158 points, 44 of which have come this season. The Fredericton, NB native was drafted by the Sea Dogs 21st overall at the 2019 QMJHL draft. 

Good luck to Brody in Saint John, we'll miss watching you battle it out for the red and green. Welcome to Moose Country Peter. 

Photos - Mooseheads Twitter

Holiday break is upon us

STATS

Last night's home game was the final match for our Halifax Mooseheads before the holiday break and unfortunately, it did not end well as the Saint John Sea Dogs won in overtime 3-2. As we are at the half-way point of the season, I thought I would give you an update on the team's stats at this time. 

Halifax has been without their star players so they have limped into the break but it has been a good chance for the second tier players some playing time and put up some points. Forward Mathieu Cataford has been stellar lately picking up 13 points (8G & 5A) in the last five games and he now leads the QMJHL in scoring with 51. The Mooseheads are 4-4-2-0 in their last 10 games, however they still sit on top of the Maritimes division. 

First half stats

Record overall: 22-9-4-0 = 48 points 

Goals for: 124
Goals against: 97

Power play: 22.6%

Penalty kill: 82.8%

Top 5 scorers: Mathieu Cataford 51pts (22G & 29A), Jordan Dumais 47pts (16G & 31A), Markus Vidicek 45pts (23G & 22A), Brady Schultz 27pts (3G & 24A), Brody Fournier 26pts (13G & 13A)

Goalies: Mathis Rousseau 16-3-2-0 record, 3 shutouts, 2.07 GAA, 0.934 SAV%; Jack Milner 6-6-2-0 record, 0 shutouts, 3.62 GAA, 0.876 SAV%

TRADE PERIOD OPENS TODAY

The holiday break also begins the trading period for the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. There hasn't been as many rumours as in previous years and I've only seen one related to the Mooseheads. According to some sources, Israel Mianscum will be traded to Halifax. Moves have already been made today and more will be made official over the next couple of weeks. Trades that involve players at the World Juniors won't be announced until January 6 when they come back. 

NEXT UP

When the team returns from the break, they will host the Charlottetown Islanders on December 28 before playing in a home-and-home series against provincial rivals, Cape Breton Eagles during the last weekend of 2023. 

Photo - Vecteezy

THANK YOU

Lastly, I just wanted to a big Thank You to all of you who have read my blog, followed me on social media and liked/commented on my posts this year. I also would like to say I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season. 

TBT: MacKinnon Jersey Retirement

The Halifax Mooseheads are celebrating their 30th anniversary this season and the club kicked it off in style with the retirement of Nathan MacKinnon's #22 jersey in a pre-game ceremony during the home opener on September 22. Since it is Throwback Thursday, I thought I would share some media from the ceremony. 

"I've never experienced anything like this before... being from here, I spent my summers back home in Halifax. Definitely a close connection to the city, a lot of family and friends here tonight," MacKinnon said to press before the event. "It's cool to share it with people, not just myself. I think the best part is having everyone around me." 

Among the 10,198 fans in attendance were Nathan's parents, sister and girlfriend plus the new Mooseheads owners; Sam and Peter Simon who all joined him on the ice for the ceremony. Before MacKinnon stepped up to the podium, a video was played that showed prominent members of the hockey and Halifax community saying congratulations to the 28-year-old. 

Here are a couple of photos from the night as well. 

Photo - AMH Photography

Photo - Global News

It was a very nice speech that Nate shared. I hope I wasn't the only one but the clips and speech made me emotional. The Halifax, NS native of course spent only two seasons with the Herd, collecting 153 points in 102 games played. He then went on to be drafted 1st overall by the Colorado Avalanche at the 2013 NHL draft. Check out the full ceremony below. 

What a great way to start this anniversary season, unfortunately the current team went on to lose the home opener game 3-1 against the Charlottetown Islanders. 

Nathan MacKinnon is having a pretty good 2023, helping the Avalanche win a Stanley Cup back in June and just picked up his 800th career NHL point on Wednesday evening. He is 3rd in league scoring this season with 41 points. 

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, Lou Levesque was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for November. Levesque scored two goals and five points in the month over 6 games before getting injured. 

Team	Player	Program	Institution
BAT	Colby Huggan	Business	Acadia University
BAC	Anthony Lavoie	Social Sciences	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
BLB	Eliot L’Italien	Grade 12	Northern Pre University
CAP	William Shields	Grade 12	Sydney Academy
CHA	Anthony Flanagan	Secondary 5	Académie Les Estacades
CHI	Samuel Vachon	Management and Accounting	Cégep de Chicoutimi
DRU	Tristan Roy	Social Sciences	Cégep de Drummondville
GAT	Charles Boutin	Social Sciences	Cégep de l’Outaouais
HAL	Lou Lévesque	Grade 12	Woodlawn High School
MON	Vincent Collard	Business	Université de Moncton
QUE	Carl-Anthony Massé	Social Sciences	Cégep de Limoilou
RIM	Cédric Massé	Natural Sciences	Cégep de Rimouski
ROU	Antonin Verreault	Introduction to Management	Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue
SNB	Jacob Beaulieu	Grade 12	Saint John High School
SHA	Kody Dupuis	Grade 12	NPU
SHE	Mathys Routhier	Natural Sciences	Cégep de Sherbrooke
VDO	Alexis Tanguay	Social Sciences	Cégep de Val-d’Or
VIC	Lucas Fortin	Natural Sciences	Cégep de Victoriaville

Cataford Scores Hat Trick in Win

It was another close game on Friday night but this time against a team that should not have been in the game really at all. Veteran forward Mathieu Cataford had a great night, factoring in all of the Mooseheads goals as Halifax won 5-4 in overtime over the Gatineau Olypiques. The away team got on the board pretty early on with rookie Matthew Eric scoring at the 1:55 mark in the first period. Leading scorer Jordan Dumais looked to score the tying goal, however the referees called it back as it was determined there was an offside earlier in the play after review. As soon as the puck went in though, many of the 8,015 fans in attendance threw on the ice toques, socks and gloves in support of the team's inaugural toque toss game. With just over a minute left in the opening period, Markus Vidicek scored the official tying goal and the clubs went into their locker rooms for the first intermission tied at 1. There was a bit more scoring in the middle frame with the score being 3-3 after 40 minutes. The Olympiques took a 4-3 lead 5:47 into the third period but Cataford scored again less than five minutes later on the power play and the game headed to overtime. Halifax got the 2 points when Cataford got his third goal of the night (and 5th point) just 1:06 into the extra frame. The win meant that the Mooseheads got back to back victories in their anniversary jerseys. 

FINAL: Olympiques 4 at Mooseheads 5 OT
Stars: 3. Jeremie Minville GAT | 2. Jordan Dumais HAL | 1. Mathieu Cataford HAL
Attendance: 8,015 
MC's Top Herd: Mathieu Cataford

GAME LOG
First period
1:55 GAT Matthew Eric (2) | A: Kaine
18:56 HAL Markus Vidicek (23) | A: Cataford & Dumais

Second period
4:56 GAT Thomas Chafe (6) | A: Wold
5:13 GAT Alexander Gaudio (4) | A: Eric & Blais
10:49 HAL Mathieu Cataford (15), PP | A: Dumais & Vidicek
16:40 HAL Jordan Dumais (16) | A: Cataford & Furlong

Third period 
5:47 GAT Jeremie Minville (20) | A: Ling & Golicic
10:31 HAL Mathieu Cataford (16), PP | A: Fournier & Dumais

Overtime 
1:06 HAL Mathieu Cataford (17) | A: Moravec & Vidicek

Powerplay: GAT - 0-for-2; HAL - 2-for-5
Shots: 34-24 in favour of Halifax 

Next game
The Halifax Mooseheads will head to Saint John to take on the Sea Dogs tomorrow night to wrap up a 3-in-3. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

Game Day 30: vs. Drummondville

PREVIEW - For its 30th game of the season, our Halifax Mooseheads are introducing what I assume is their 30th anniversary jersey as they welcome the Drummondville Voltigeurs tonight. The Mooseheads announced today that they will be wearing jerseys called The 94's inspired by the original ones and will be returning to the red colour. Hopefully they can bring the team some good luck as Halifax has been on a bit of a slump the last couple of weeks, going 1-3-2-0 in their last six games after winning 10 straight. They'll be in tough against a streaking Voltigeurs team that have won five in a row and are just 1 point behind the Herd in the standings. This will be a hard month for Halifax with the team playing three games in three days this week then they will lose the services of four of their best players to the World Juniors for at least a bit. What kind of squad will we see tonight during the CHL's Game of the Week matchup? You can watch it on TSN+ and CHL TV. Drummondville is led in points by Bridgewater, NS native Luke Woodworth and is yet another club that are expected to be a playoff contender this season with a handful of NHL drafted players.

Overall records
Voltigeurs: 18-8-3-1 = 40 points (1st in Central division, 3rd overall)
Mooseheads: 19-7-3-0 = 41 points (1st in Maritimes division, 2nd overall)

Top 3 scorers
HAL: Jordan Dumais 42pts (15G & 27A), Mathieu Cataford 38pts (14G & 24A), Markus Vidicek 37pts (19& 18A)
DRU: Luke Woodworth 34pts (15G & 19A), Peter Repcik 33pts (16G & 17A), Justin Cote 28pts (14G & 14A)

Head-to-head 
This is the first game of the season between these two teams. Last year, Halifax had a 1-1-0-0 record versus the Voltigeurs while Drummondville was 1-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads. Drummondville won the last matchup back on February 10, 2023 by a score of 6-4 with Alex Doucet leading Halifax with 3 points. 

Last games
Drummondville is coming off a 6-1 victory over the Sea Dogs on the road last night. Justin Cote had a first star performance with a goal and 2 assists for the Voltigeurs while Louis-Felix Charrois made 17 saves to get the win in Saint John.

Halifax is coming off a 2-0 loss to Rouyn-Noranda on December 2nd. Mathis Rousseau stopped 38 of the Huskies 40 shots as the Mooseheads were shutout on the road for the second time during their road trip. 

Not playing - Logan Crosby and Lou Levesque are out with injuries

Out of town
Islanders vs. Olympiques - 7:00 p.m.
Oceanic vs. Cataractes - 8:00 p.m.
Phoenix vs. Wildcats - 8:00 p.m.

Herd Word

Below is another collection of stories that have happened recently in regards to our Halifax Mooseheads. A few of them are old news but I didn't share much in November as I wanted to because I did not feel good for most of the month. There are probably stories I am missing but I try my hardest to include what I can. Hope you enjoy this post. 

MOOSE TRACKS
The Halifax Mooseheads have brought back a behind the scenes look at the team with a new season of the Moose Tracks feature. The first episode is titled 'Legacy' and shows from training camp until the Mathis Rousseau goal. Check out the video below.

I got to say that it is nice to see these back and the video is very well done. Always good to see the behind the scenes stuff. I'm not sure when the next episode will be shared but I'm looking forward to it as the first one finished on a bit of a cliffhanger. 

Photo - Herd Twitter

FRANCHISE RECORD
We knew it was going to happen this season but we just didn't know when. Forward Jordan Dumais made more history last month when he set a new franchise record for points with 304 which was an assist on a first period goal during a game against the Cape Breton Eagles on November 12. Over 9,000 fans witnessed the milestone be accomplished that afternoon with the previous holder Brandon Benedict and his family in attendance as well. The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect recorded three assists in total in a 4-0 victory and was named first star of the game. 

Benedict played for the Mooseheads from 1998 to 2003 and recorded 303 regular season points during his five seasons over 343 games in the QMJHL. He is now the head coach of the MHL's Valley Wildcats. The 41-year-old had a special moment with Dumais in the Herd dressing room post game. 

Dumais has continued to rack up points since and as of this post, has 320 through 191 games played. His total puts him at 146th overall in the Q. 

LARMAND
Cam Russell and the Mooseheads staff made a move a couple of weeks ago, adding 20-year-old forward Ethan Larmand to the roster from the Sudbury Wolves. The native of Midland, ON was placed on waivers by the Wolves after playing 169 games for the team, collecting 62 points. Larmand fills the vacant overage roster position and will wear #55.

"We're very happy to add Ethan to our lineup. He is a character guy who plays well at both ends of the ice and will give us some extra veteran leadership in the dressing room," said GM Russell. 

A late welcome to the team Ethan. 

Photo - QMJHL website

PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
The players of the month for November were announced last week and our leading scorer, Jordan Dumais was named the Forward of the Month. He scored 8 goals and 26 points in 12 games played. 

Baie-Comeau's Alexis Bernier was named the top defenseman, while the goaltender of the month was Nathan Darveau of Victoriaville. Raoul Bollard of the Drakkar was named the best rookie in November. 

TEAM OF THE WEEK
Herd defenseman Brady Schultz was named to the Q Team of the Week for the period ranging from November 27 to December 3, 2023. 

Photo - QMJHL website

CHL TOP 10
After a three loss week, all on the road against Quebec teams, our Mooseheads fell down to #7 on the CHL's top 10 rankings on Tuesday. 

1. Baie-Comeau Drakkar (25-3-2-0)   last week: 2
2. Prince George Cougars (21-7-0-0)   last week: 1 
3. Kitchener Rangers (20-7-1-0)   last week: 4
4. Saginaw Spirit (16-8-0-1)   last week: 8
5. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (17-8-2-0)   last week: 9
6. Saskatoon Blades (19-8-1-0)   last week: 10

7. Halifax Mooseheads (19-7-3-0)   last week: 3

8. Wenatchee Wild (19-8-3-0)   last week: n/a
9. Moncton Wildcats (18-7-1-1)   last week: 6
10. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (16-7-1-3)   last week: n/a

DURANDEAU
Former Herd forward Arnaud Durandeau has new colours after the New Jersey Devils acquired the 24-year-old from the New York Islanders last week. Durandeau will report to the AHL's Utica Comets. He had one goal and three assists in 12 games played with the Bridgeport Islanders before being traded. Since he left Halifax after the 2018-19 season, the Montreal, QC native has played 201 professional games most of them in the American Hockey League. 

Photo - Devils website

He joins a Devils organization that has a few other Mooseheads alumni in it, with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier playing in New Jersey while Xavier Parent is now Durandeau's teammate in Utica. 

NEXT GAMES
Our Moose will hope to turn things around this week after a disappointing road trip that saw the team go 1-3-1-0 over the five games. Halifax will have back to back home games in which the fans can cheer on a few players before they go off to World Junior camp. Thursday will see the Western conference leading Drummondville Voltigeurs come to town meanwhile the inaugural Toque Toss game is on Friday against the Gatineau Olympiques. 

Moose On Canada Selection Camp Roster

Hockey Canada announced the roster for their selection camp that will determine the final team who will participate in the 2024 World Juniors. Out of the thirty players named, 4 of them come from your Halifax Mooseheads. 

To (I think) no one's surprise, 19-year-old forward Jordan Dumais was invited to the camp and will be joined by goaltender Mathis Rousseau, defenceman Jake Furlong and forward Markus Vidicek. The selection camp will take place December 10-13 in Oakville, ON and includes practices and a pair of games against a team of U-Sports all-stars. 

"We are excited to name the 30 players who will embark on the journey through camp and eventually on to the World Juniors," said Peter Anholt. "Canada has an incredible talent pool of players, and there are always difficult decisions to narrow it down. We are expecting a highly competitive camp, and we look forward to naming our final roster that will wear the Maple Leaf with pride starting on Boxing Day." 

A total of 8 players from the QMJHL will participate in the camp while the roster consists of four goaltenders, 10 defenceman and 16 forwards. The 2024 World Junior Championship will take place from December 26-January 5, 2024 in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

Congratulations and good luck at camp to our four guys as well as everyone battling it out for a roster spot. 

Stats Sunday: November (on Wednesday)

Games played: 12
Record: 9-1-2-0, 20pts
Goals for/against: 43/26
Powerplay*: 22.8%
Penalty kill*: 88.7%
Shutouts: Two

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Jordan Dumais 27, Markus Vidicek 18, Mathieu Cataford 17, Jake Furlong 9, Brady Schultz 9
Goals: Markus Vidicek 11, Jordan Dumais 8, Mathieu Cataford 8, Brody Fournier 4, Lou Levesque 2
Assists: Jordan Dumais 19, Mathieu Cataford 9, Jake Furlong 8, Brady Schultz 8, Markus Vidicek 7
Penalty minutes: Braeden MacPhee 18, Jake Furlong 8, Jake Todd 6, Dylan MacKinnon 6, Ethan Larmand 6
Plus/minus: Markus Vidicek +14, Mathieu Cataford +14,  Jordan Dumais +13, Jake Furlong +9, Owen Phillips +5
Rookie scoring: Lou Levesque 5pts, Yannik Ponzetto 2pts, Cade Moser 2pts, Dominic MacKenzie 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau     16-2-2-0     2.07 GAA     0.933 SAV%
Jack Milner     3-3-1-0     3.16 GAA     0.890 SAV%

*overall

RECAP: Victory On 90's Night

Photo - AMH Photography

Your Halifax Mooseheads have won seven in a row now after picking up a 4-1 victory over the struggling Shawinigan Cataractes on Saturday night. The home team got off to a bit of a slow start, being outshot 7-3 in the first five or so minutes but goaltender Jack Milner stood strong allowing Halifax to get on the board first with a goal by Mathieu Cataford at the 13:29 mark. That would be the score after twenty minutes in a game where the Cataractes seemed to have known that Jordan Dumais could make history tonight. Shawinigan was all over Dumais including at one point early in the third, after Halifax had made it 3-1, defenceman Angus Booth would not allow Jordan to skate away and brought him down to the ice. The 19-year-old clinched the win for the Mooseheads at the 16:08 mark with his 12th goal of the season which was his 303rd career regular season point. That number ties the franchise record for total points that is currently held by Brandon Benedict. Saturday's 90's night event also happened to be the 2000th regular season game in Herd history. 

FINAL: Cataractes 1 to Mooseheads 4

Stars: 3. Jordan Dumais HAL | 2. David Moravec HAL | 1. Jack Milner HAL 

Attendance: 8,541

MC's Top Herd: Jack Milner

GAME LOG
First period

13:29 HAL Mathieu Cataford (10) | A: Moravec & Vidicek

Second period
9:14 SHA Lou-Felix Denis (10), SH | A: Bonefon

Third period

1:10 HAL Lou Levesque (9) | A: Fournier & Schultz
2:04 HAL Logan Crosby (4) | A: Furlong & Moravec
16:08 HAL Jordan Dumais (12) | A: Moravec

Powerplay: SHA - 0-for-4; HAL - 0-for-6

Shots: 25-23 in favour of Shawinigan

Next game
Halifax will finish a 3-in-3 weekend on Sunday afternoon when they welcome the Cape Breton Eagles. Puck drops at 3 p.m.

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, Owen Phillips was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for October. Phillips had a goal and three points in the month over 12 games. 

Team	Player	Program	Institution
BAT	Joshua Fleming	Business	Athabasca University
BAC	Kirill Evstigneev	Grade 12	Northern Pre University
BLB	Alexandre Carbonneau	Social Sciences	Cégep de Terrebonne
CAP	Thomas Bégin	Social Sciences	Cégep à distance
CHA	Brett Arsenault	Business	UPEI
CHI	Colby Train	Grade 12	St. Malachy’s Memorial High School
DRU	Luke Woodworth	Management	Athabasca University
GAT	Matthew Eric	Natural Sciences	College Heritage
HAL	Owen Phillips	Grade 12	Woodlawn High School
MON	Olivier Boutin	Psychology	TÉLUQ
QUE	Zachary M.-Laflamme	Social Sciences	Cégep de Limoilou
RIM	Julien Béland	Natural Sciences	Cégep de Rimouski
ROU	Kyle Hagen	Grade 12	Northern Pre University
SNB	Nicola Laforge	Bachelor of Arts	UNB
SHA	Angus Booth	Social Sciences	Cégep de Shawinigan
SHE	Jean-Félix Lapointe	Natural Sciences	Cégep de Sherbrooke
VDO	Émile Desjardins	Natural Sciences	Cégep de Val-d’Or
VIC	Samuel Kingsley	Natural Sciences	Cégep de Victoriaville

Game Day 18: vs. Sherbrooke

PREVIEW - Our Halifax Mooseheads are hosting their Hockey Fights Cancer night this evening as they welcome the Sherbrooke Phoenix at the Scotiabank Centre. The Mooseheads will be looking for their fifth win in a row. The event was previously known as Pink in the Rink before the pandemic hit but now matches what the NHL has been doing in raising money for research and awareness for all types of cancers. Halifax will be wearing special purple jerseys during the game which will most likely be auctioned off afterwards. Sherbrooke is coming into the match on their own win streak, having been victorious in their last three games. We could see another netminder battle tonight as these two teams have the top goalies in goals against average. Let's fill up the arena for some Saturday hockey. 

Overall records
Phoenix: 9-5-0-1 = 19 games (3rd in Central division, 7th overall)
Mooseheads: 12-4-1-0 = 25 points (T-2nd in Maritimes division, 5th overall)

Top 3 scorers
HAL: Mathieu Cataford 23pts (7G & 16A), Markus Vidicek 22pts (10G & 12A), Jordan Dumais 18pts (7G & 11A)
SHE: Israel Mianscum 20pts (7G & 13A), Lewis Gendron 12pts (5G & 7A), Olivier Dubois 12pts (5G & 7A)

Head-to-Head
This is the first game of the season between these two clubs. Halifax had a 1-1-0-0 against the Phoenix in 2022-23 with their last match being a 3-0 loss on February 25. Three players scored for Sherbrooke including Nova Scotian Jacob Melanson while Mooseheads' Mathis Rousseau made 36 saves in a third star performance. 

Last games
Sherbrooke is coming off a 1-0 victory against the Eagles to start their Maritime division trip on Thursday. Hugo Primeau scored the lone goal for the Phoenix while Samuel St. Hilaire had a 22-save shutout in Cape Breton. 

Halifax is coming off a 3-2 overtime win last night versus the Oceanic. Forward Jordan Dumais scored the winner in extra time and added an assist to lead the Mooseheads and Mathis Rousseau stopped 31 of Rimouski's 33 shots on Friday evening. 

Not playing - Logan Crosby (injury) and Liam Kilfoil (U17 hockey challenge)

Out of town
Titan vs. Sea Dogs - 4:00 p.m.
Sagueneens vs. Tigres - 5:00 p.m.
Olympiques vs. Wildcats - 5:00 p.m.
Foreurs vs. Islanders - 5:00 p.m.
Armada vs. Drakkar - 5:00 p.m.
Cataractes vs. Voltigeurs - 5:00 p.m.

RECAP: Comeback Win In Shootout

Our Halifax Mooseheads swept a home-and-home series with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan after a comeback 5-4 shootout victory on Wednesday night. Despite outshooting the away team 14-6, Halifax found themselves down 1-0 after twenty minutes as overager Igor Mburanumwe scored his first goal of the season. Acadie-Bathurst continued to make Mathis Rousseau look human in the middle frame as they got three more goals past the Mooseheads goaltender on 10 shots. The Herd looked like they were still not feeling very good as most of the guys seemed to be skating not as fast as they normally do. Whatever the coaches said during the second intermission, it seemed to work as Mathieu Cataford scored a power-play goal to start the comeback. Jordan Dumais' assist on Jake Furlong's first goal of the season marked another franchise record for the 19-year-old, who now leads the team in regular season assists with 185 helpers. Markus Vidicek scored at the 16:45 mark of the third period to tie the game up so we headed to overtime with the score 4-4. The extra frame solved nothing, leading to a shootout where Cataford scored the game winner. 

FINAL: Titan 4 at Mooseheads 5 SO
Stars: 3. Mathieu Cataford HAL | 2. Colby Huggan BAT | 1. Markus Vidicek HAL
Attendance: 5,606
MC's Top Herd: n/a

GAME LOG
First period
15:35 BAT Igor Mburanumwe (1) | A: Roelens & Pilgrim-Edwards

Second period
2:10 BAT Donovan Arsenault (7) | A: Huggan
13:53 BAT Colby Huggan (5) | A: Arsenault
16:40 BAT Joseph Henneberry (6) | A: Orr & Huggan

Third period
6:59 HAL Mathieu Cataford (7), PP | A: Dumais & Vidicek
9:41 HAL Jake Furlong (1) | A: Fournier & Dumais
12:36 HAL Jack Martin (1) | A: Levesque & Todd
16:45 HAL Markus Vidicek (9) | A: Levesque & MacKinnon

Overtime
None

Shootout 
Donovan Arsenault - Miss      Jordan Dumais - Miss
Colby Huggan - Miss             Markus Vidicek - Goal
Robert Orr - Goal                   Owen Phillips - Miss
Milo Roelens - Miss               Mathieu Cataford - Goal

Powerplay: BAT - 0-for-1; HAL - 1-for-2
Shots: 48-28 in favour of Halifax

Next game
Our Mooseheads are back at home on Friday night against the Rimouski Oceanic. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

Herd Word

This week has started off quite well for players associated with our Halifax Mooseheads. Here are some stories to end the month of October. 

LAVOIE

Former Herd forward Raphael Lavoie was named the AHL Player of the Week on Monday. The 23-year-old record four goals and six points in 3 games for the period ending October 29, 2023. His great week helped the Bakersfield Condors to three straight victories. According to the release; 'he recorded a game-high eight shots on goal and assisted on the winning goal early in the third period of the Condors' 4-1 victory at Tucson' on Friday evening. Lavoie leads Bakersfield in scoring with seven points through five games so far this season. 

Photo - AHL website

Congrats to Raphael and keep it going for the rest of the year. 

Photo - QMJHL website

TEAM OF THE WEEK
Veterans Markus Vidicek and Jordan Dumais were named to the QMJHL's Team of the Week yesterday. Vidicek recorded 4 goals and nine points while recording a +4 in the Mooseheads three games last week. Dumais continued to be hot as he collected 8 more points and was a +7 during the week. 

Vidicek's performance also landed him on the CHL's Team of the Week. 

EHLERS
Halifax Mooseheads alumni Nikolaj Ehlers hit a milestone during the Winnipeg Jets game against the NY Rangers last night. The 27-year-old scored a goal in the match which was his 400th NHL career point. Ehlers has played 532 regular season games recording 178 goals and 222 assists now. Congrats to Nikolaj on the accomplishment. 

CHL TOP 10
On Tuesday, the Canadian Hockey League announced the top 10 rankings and our Mooseheads found themselves in the #1 spot after going 2-1 during the week. You can find the full Top 10 below

1. Halifax Mooseheads (10-4-1-0)   last week: 2
2. Moose Jaw Warriors (10-6-0-0)   last week: 7 
3. Prince George Cougars (10-4-0-0   last week: 4
4. Portland Winterhawks (8-4-0-0)   last week: 1
5. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (8-3-1-3)   last week: 6
6. London Knights (7-4-0-1)   last week: 5

7. Saskatoon Blades (8-5-0-0)   last week: 3

8. Baie-Comeau Drakkar (12-2-2-0)   last week: 10
9. Mississauga Steelheads (10-3-0-0)   last week: 8
10. Moncton Wildcats (11-3-1-0)   last week: n/a

Photo - AMH Photography

ROUSSEAU GOAL
In case you missed it, Halifax net-minder Mathis Rousseau scored the first goalie goal in franchise history on October 20 in a 6-4 victory over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at home. The goal made it onto TSN's The Best feature the next morning and was shown on Sportsnet Central too I believe. It was a very exciting event and as someone who has missed many of them by our Mooseheads, I was super excited to be in the audience for the historic moment. I loved seeing how happy all the boys were for him and the big smile Mathis had on his face. 

Video of the goal below

THIS WEEK

It should be quite a week in Moose Country as the Mooseheads will play three games at the Scotiabank Centre. Halifax will host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Wednesday, the Rimouski Oceanic on Friday and the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Saturday. All games are 7pm puck drops. Saturday's match will be the annual Mooseheads Fight Cancer event so the team should be wearing special purple jerseys. 

Stats Sunday: Sept/Oct

Games played: 15
Record: 10-4-1-0, 21pts
Goals for/against: 57/39
Powerplay*: 26.1%
Penalty kill*: 83.8%
Shutouts: One

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Mathieu Cataford 21, Markus Vidicek 19, Brody Fournier 14, Lou Levesque 14, Jordan Dumais 14
Goals: Markus Vidicek 8, Brody Fournier 8, Lou Levesque 7, Mathieu Cataford 6, Jordan Dumais 6
Assists: Mathieu Cataford 15, Brady Fournier 12, Markus Vidicek 11, Jake Furlong 9, Jordan Dumais 8
Penalty minutes: Braeden MacPhee 18, Dylan MacKinnon 14, Markus Vidicek 13, Jake Furlong 10, Brady Shultz 8
Plus/minus: Mathieu Cataford +17, Markus Vidicek +11, Jordan Dumais +11, David Moravec +9, Logan Crosby +9
Rookie scoring: Lou Levesque 14pts, Liam Kilfoil 5pts, Yannik Ponzetto 4pts, Cade Moser 2pts, Dominic MacKenzie 2pts

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau     9-1-0-0     1.80 GAA     0.942 SAV%
Jack Milner     1-3-1-0     4.02 GAA     0.862 SAV%

*overall
includes 3 games played in September

RECAP: Dumais, Rousseau Lead Herd to Win

Photo - AMH Photography

Where to start? The Moose Country faithful were treated to a great game in what ended up being Jordan Dumais' return to Halifax on Friday night as he led the team to a 6-4 victory over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Dumais was sent back to the Mooseheads this afternoon and did not take long to make the most of his first game of the season, scoring at the 10:48 mark of the opening period. The away team tied it up shortly after with a power play goal and the teams went to their locker rooms with the score 1-1 after twenty minutes. Both clubs traded goals early in the second period before Dumais put in another one. Halifax was lucky to be up 4-2 after 40 minutes as they were being outshot 38-13 at that point but Mathis Rousseau stood on his head and that strong play continued in the final frame as well. It was a tense final five minutes, however the crowd got into the match quite a bit when Dumais scored his third goal and even more after goaltender Mathis Rousseau put the puck into the empty net to seal the win for the Herd. 

FINAL: Huskies 4 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Mathis Rousseau HAL | 2. Jake Furlong HAL | 1. Jordan Dumais HAL
Attendance: 7,562
MC's Top Herd: Jordan Dumais

GAME LOG 
First period 
10:48 HAL Jordan Dumais (1) | A: Martin & Vidicek
12:55 ROU Louis-Philippe Fontaine (7), PP | A: None

Second period
0:32 HAL Markus Vidicek (3), PP | A: Dumais & Schultz
1:14 ROU Antonin Verreault (5) | A: Perron & Bourash
10:41 HAL Jordan Dumais (2) | A: Furlong & Cataford
13:13 HAL Reece Peitzsche (4), PP | Dumais & Furlong

Third period 
15:14 HAL Jordan Dumais (3), PP | A: Schultz & Vidicek 
16:01 ROU Jeremy Langlois (2) | A: Verreault & Gill
16:38 HAL Mathis Rousseau (1), EN | A: None
19:49 ROU Thomas Verdon (4) | A: Fillion & Perron

Powerplay: ROU - 1-for-5; HAL - 3-for-5
Shots: 42-18 in favour of Rouyn-Noranda

Next game
Halifax will welcome the Val-d'Or Foreurs on Saturday evening for t-shirt giveaway night. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

Game Day 11: vs. Rouyn-Noranda

PREVIEW - After going 1-1-1-0 on their first Quebec road trip of the season, our Halifax Mooseheads are back home tonight to take on the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. These two teams are projected to be contenders for the Gilles Courteau Trophy once again this year so it should be another good contest. Overager Brody Fournier has had a very good start to begin his last year in junior hockey and he'll look to keep providing the offence. Halifax hasn't had the same goal scoring prowess as it did in 2022-23 but that was too be expected though I think the fact that Markus Vidicek (who was fourth in team scoring last year) has been quiet may be of some concern. We could possibly see a goaltending battle tonight as Mathis Rousseau has been basically lights out so far and Huskies netminder William Rousseau is third in the league for save percentage. William of course was the one who led the Quebec Remparts to a championship against the Herd back in May. If you can't get to the game this evening to see this exciting contest, it will be broadcasted on Eastlink's Friday Night Hockey. 

Overall records
Huskies: 6-2-1-2 = 15 points (1st in West division, 3rd overall)
Mooseheads: 6-3-1-0 = 13 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)

Top 3 scorers
HAL: Mathieu Cataford 13pts (4G & 9A), Brody Fournier 11pts (6G & 5A), Lou Levesque 9pts (5G & 4A)
ROU: Antonin Verreault 13pts (4G & 9A), Louis-Philippe Fontaine 12pts (6G & 6A), Daniil Bourash 10pts (3G & 7A)

Head-to-Head 
This is the first game between these clubs this season. Halifax had a 0-0-1-1 record versus the Huskies in 2022-23. Rouyn-Noranda took the last meeting 3-2 in overtime with Mathieu Cataford and Logan Crosby scoring for the Mooseheads in the loss.

Last games
Rouyn-Noranda is coming off a 4-2 victory last night in Charlottetown. William Rousseau was named the game's first star as he stopped 33 of the Islanders 35 shots while Benjamin Brunelle has a goal and an assist to lead the Huskies. 

Halifax is coming off a 3-2 road loss on Sunday afternoon against the Oceanic. The Mooseheads scoring came from Liam Kilfoil and Mathieu Cataford while Mathis Rousseau made 28 saves in the defeat in Rimouski. 

Not playing - Jordan Dumais is still at NHL camp (injured)

Out of town
Eagles vs. Foreurs - 7:00 p.m.
Remparts vs. Oceanic - 8:00 p.m.
Drakkar vs. Cataractes - 8:00 p.m.
Olympiques vs. Phoenix - 8:00 p.m.
Voltigeurs vs. Armada - 8:00 p.m.

Herd Word

Photo - Mooseheads website

FURLONG SIGNS

A few days after being named captain of our Halifax Mooseheads, defenceman Jake Furlong signed a 3-year entry level contract with the San Jose Sharks. Despite being sent back by the Sharks and I believe not playing a pre-season game in the NHL, Furlong clearly made enough of an impression for San Jose to sign him on October 5. The 19-year-old was selected in the fifth round, 140th overall in the 2022 NHL draft by the Californian team. 

"I'm super excited and humbled to be signing with the Sharks. It's a dream come true and I'm happy to be able to share this moment with my teammates, coaches and especially my family who helped me get here," Furlong said. 

CHL TOP 10 

The Canadian Hockey League has announced the top 10 rankings for week 2 on Tuesday. Your Mooseheads find themselves #2 after going 3-0-0-0 in the past 7 days. Halifax has the longest active winning streak in the CHL currently at 5 following opening the season with two straight losses. Full top 10 is below

1. Portland Winterhawks (4-1-0-0)   last week: 2
2. Halifax Mooseheads (5-2-0-0)   last week: 6
3. London Knights (3-1-0-1)   last week: 1
4. Saginaw Spirit (2-1-0-0)   last week: 5
5. Moose Jaw Warriors (4-3-0-0)   last week: 4
6. Saskatoon Blades (4-2-0-0)   last week: 9
7. Prince George Cougars (6-2-0-0)   last week: n/a
8. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (3-2-1-2)   last week: 3
9. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (5-1-0-0)   last week: n/a
10. North Bay Battalion (3-1-1-1)   last week: n/a

Photo - QMJHL website

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Veteran goaltender Mathis Rousseau was named the QMJHL's player of the week ending October 9. The 19-year-old started all three games that Halifax had this past week, recording a 1.33 goals against average and a 0.944% save percentage. On Wednesday, Rousseau had a shutout after stopping all 26 shots against the Cape Breton Eagles. 

The Boisbriand, QC native was also named to the team of the week because of the above honour. The Mooseheads had two players on the team of the week ending October 2 in rookie Lou Levesque and Rousseau. Levesque had two goals and 5 points in two games played between September 25 and October 1. Congrats to these guys on being recognized for their play. 

DUMAIS
Last year's leading scorer for the Herd, Jordan Dumais still has not been returned to the team by the Columbus Blue Jackets and some people weren't sure why but with NHL's opening night rosters being submitted on Monday, the reason why has become clearer. Dumais played only one pre-season game for Columbus which was confusing. However, the Jackets announced their 2023-24 roster and the Montreal, QC native was placed on the injured/non-roster list with an upper body injury. It is thought that once he is is cleared to play, Dumais will be assigned to the Mooseheads. 

Hopefully Jordan will heal up quickly and be back to Halifax soon. 

NHL OPENING WEEK

The National Hockey League 2023-24 regular season began on Tuesday with three games and Halifax have 10 alumni on opening night rosters. Below you will find the players who have cracked their respective teams. 

Photo - Flames Twitter

Justin Barron - Montreal Canadiens
Jonathan Drouin - Colorado Avalanche
Nikolaj Ehlers - Winnipeg Jets

Benoit-Olivier Groulx - Anaheim Ducks
Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils
Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche
Brad Marchand - Boston Bruins
Timo Meier - New Jersey Devils
MacKenzie Weegar - Calgary Flames
Filip Zadina - San Jose Sharks

As you will notice, a couple of guys have a new team this year compared to last season with Jonathan Drouin reuniting with Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado and Filip Zadina looking for a fresh start in San Jose. Jakub Voracek, who has been in the NHL since 2008, was traded to the Arizona Coyotes last year but has not played a game for them yet as he is injured with a concussion. Another note, BO Groulx has decided to change his number to #24 it was announced yesterday by Anaheim. Hopefully, he will stick with the big club this time and not get sent down to the AHL. 

I will have a full list of where alumni are playing later this month once all the leagues have begun playing. 

NAUSS

Congratulations are in order for Morgan Nauss who was given the Captaincy of the Acadia Axemen for this season. The Hammonds Plains native is a 4th year defenceman and had played 63 regular season games with Acadia, recording 8 points in his AUS career before the 2023-24 season began. He will be joined by Nick Deakin-Poot, Peyton Hoyt, Hudson Wilson, Perrick Rippon and Reilly Webb all of whom will serve as alternate captains. 

Photo - Axemen Twitter

"It is an honour to be named Captain of the Acadia Axemen. I plan to lead by example on and off the ice, along with many other leaders we have on our team," Nauss said.