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. 

Game Day 6: vs Victoriaville

PREVIEW - For the first time this season, a Quebec based team will be in Moose Country as the Victoriaville Tigres are in town tonight to take on our Halifax Mooseheads. After starting the season off rocky, the Herd have won three straight since getting the services of their four NHL drafted players back last week. Veteran goaltender Mathis Rousseau was named to the QMJHL team of the week on Monday and followed that up with his first shutout of the year on Wednesday. Rookie Lou Levesque was also named to the team after posting two goals and 5 points in two games played. The 17-year-old has played well proving that the club made the right choice in keeping him on the regular roster. The Tigres are one of the top scoring teams to begin the season and as such they boast having the league leading scorers in Tommy Cormier and Justin Larose. We should have a good contest on our hands this evening for Eastlink's Friday night hockey. 

Overall records
Tigres: 3-2-0-0 = 6 points (3rd in Central division, 10th overall)
Mooseheads: 3-2-0-0 = 6 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 9th overall) 

Top 3 scorers

HAL: Logan Crosby 7pts (3G & 4A), Lou Levesque 6pts (2G & 4A), Mathieu Cataford 6pts (1G & 5A)
VIC: Tommy Cormier 10pts (1G & 9A), Justin Larose 9pts (5G & 4A), Maxime Pellerin 6pts (1G & 5A)

Head-to-head
This is the first matchup of the season between these two teams. Last year, Halifax had a 1-0-1-0 record against the Tigres. The Mooseheads won the last game 5-2 in Victoriaville with Jordan Dumais scoring two goals and 3 points. 

Last games

Victoriaville is coming off a 5-3 win on Thursday night in Moncton to start their Maritime road trip. The Tigres' Tommy Cormier led the team with a goal and four points while Gabriel D'Aigle made 32 saves against the Wildcats to pick up the victory. 

Halifax is coming off a 2-0 win against their provincial rivals the Eagles. Logan Crosby and Markus Vidicek scored for the Mooseheads as Mathis Rousseau picked up the 26 save shutout in Cape Breton on Wednesday night. 

Not playing - Jordan Dumais is still at NHL training camp

Out of town

Titan vs. Sea Dogs - 7:00 p.m.
Eagles vs. Armada - 7:00 p.m.
Drakkar vs. Islanders - 8:00 p.m.
Voltigeurs vs. Olympiques - 8:00 p.m.
Remparts vs. Foreurs - 8:00 p.m.
Oceanic vs. Phoenix - 8:00 p.m.
Cataractes vs. Sagueneens - 8:00 p.m.