CHL Playoffs Have Begun

It's the end of March which means that the best time of the hockey season is underway across the Canadian Hockey League. Normally, I would do an Around the CHL post but I thought I would do things a little different to set up the first round of the playoffs this year. I'm not going to give predictions as I haven't been paying attention to any other team but the Mooseheads. Five series began on Thursday night, one being in the WHL and the other 4 in the OHL.

Below you will find the Round 1 series matchups in the three regional leagues. 

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs
E1 Saskatoon Blades vs. E8 Prince Albert Raiders

E2 Swift Current Broncos vs. E7 Lethbridge Hurricanes
E3 Moose Jaw Warriors vs. E6 Brandon Wheat Kings
E4 Medicine Hat Tigers vs. E5 Red Deer Rebels

W1 Prince George Cougars vs. W8 Spokane Chiefs
W2 Portland Winterhawks vs. W7 Victoria Royals
W3 Everett Silvertips vs. W6 Vancouver Giants
W4 Wenatchee Wild vs. W5 Kelowna Rockets

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
E1 Oshawa Generals vs. E8 Barrie Colts
E2 North Bay Battalion vs. E7 Kingston Frontenacs
E3 Brantford Bulldogs vs. E6 Ottawa 67's
E4 Mississauga Steelheads vs. E5 Sudbury Wolves

W1 London Knights vs. W8 Flint Firebirds
W2 Saginaw Spirit vs. W7 Owen Sound Attack
W3 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. W6 Guelph Storm

W4 Kitchener Rangers vs. W5 Erie Otters

Gilles Courteau Trophy playoffs
E1 Baie-Comeau Drakkar vs. E8 Charlottetown Islanders
E2 Halifax Mooseheads vs. E7 Acadie-Bathurst Titan
E3 Moncton Wildcats vs. E6 Chicoutimi Sagueneens 
E4 Cape Breton Eagles vs. E5 Rimouski Oceanic

W1 Drummondville Voltigeurs vs. W8 Saint John Sea Dogs
W2 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. W7 Gatineau Olympiques 
W3 Victoriaville Tigres vs. W6 Shawinigan Cataractes
W4 Sherbrooke Phoenix vs. W5 Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

Good luck to all the teams in this year's playoffs. Will we see a fifth straight QMJHL team win the Memorial Cup in May? 

Season series versus each team

Below you will find the records of your Halifax Mooseheads versus each of the other seventeen teams in the Q plus the monthly records for the team this season. (note: Halifax's score is listed first)

West division
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 games 1-0-1-0 {3-1, 4-5OT}
Gatineau 2 games 2-0-0-0 {5-4OT, 5-4OT}
Rouyn-Noranda 2 games 1-1-0-0 {6-4, 0-2}
Val-d'Or 2 games 1-1-0-0 {5-1, 2-5}

Central division
Drummondville 2 games 2-0-0-0 {4-3, 4-3}
Shawinigan 2 games 1-1-0-0 {4-1, 0-1}
Sherbrooke 2 games 2-0-0-0 {5-1, 5-2}
Victoriaville 2 games 2-0-0-0 {5-3, 4-2}

East division
Baie-Comeau 2 games 1-0-1-0 {3-2OT, 3-4OT}
Chicoutimi 2 games 1-0-1-0 {2-3OT, 3-2}
Quebec 2 games 1-0-1-0 {2-3OT, 3-2}
Rimouski 2 games 1-1-0-0 {2-3, 3-2OT}

Maritimes division
Acadie-Bathurst 9 games 5-3-1-0 {9-1, 5-4, 5-4SO, 3-1, 4-8, 4-3, 1-2OT, 0-2, 1-3}
Cape Breton 9 games 5-3-1-0 {2-0, 4-0, 0-3, 3-1, 2-4, 2-1, 4-5OT, 3-5, 2-1}
Charlottetown 9 games 6-2-1-0 {1-3, 1-6, 6-2, 4-3SO, 1-2SO, 3-2SO, 4-0, 7-0, 4-2}
Moncton 9 games 5-4-0-0 {3-1, 4-5, 4-0, 1-4, 4-3OT, 2-8, 5-4OT, 3-1, 2-3}
Saint John 8 games 5-2-1-0 {4-2, 2-3, 5-4OT, 2-3OT, 3-2, 7-1, 2-5, 7-4}

Monthly records
September 3 games ~ 1-2-0-0 record overall, 0-1-0-0 home, 2-0-0-0 away
October 12 games ~ 9-2-1-0 record overall, 4-1-0-0 home, 5-1-1-0 away
November 12 games ~ 9-1-2-0 record overall, 5-0-1-0 home, 4-1-1-0 away
December 11 games ~ 4-5-1-1 record overall, 3-2-1-1 home, 1-3-0-0 away
January 10 games ~ 6-1-3-0 record overall, 2-1-3-0 home, 4-0-0-0 away
February 13 games ~ 9-4-0-0 record overall, 3-2-0-0 home, 6-2-0-0 away
March 7 games ~ 4-3-0-0 record overall, 3-1-0-0 home, 1-2-0-0 away

Overtime/shootout records
OT ~ eight overtime win, seven overtime loss
SO ~ two shootout win, one shootout loss

Playoffs Begin Friday

Photo - QMJHL wesbite

The road to the 2024 Gilles Courteau Trophy begins on Friday as our Halifax Mooseheads take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Round 1. 

Find the schedule of the Titan-Mooseheads series below:
Game 1   Friday March 29 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
Game 2   Saturday March 30 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
Game 3   Tuesday April 2 @ 7:00pm at KC Irving Regional Centre
Game 4   Wednesday April 3 @ 7:00pm at KC Irving Regional Centre
*Game 5  Friday April 5 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 6  Sunday April 7 @ 3:00pm at KC Irving Regional Centre
*Game 7  Tuesday April 9 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre

*if necessary

Single game tickets for Games 1 and 2 are on sale already and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or at the Scotiabank Centre box office. 

Stats Sunday: March

Games played: 7
Record: 4-3-0-0, 8pts
Goals for/against: 26/19
Powerplay*: 24.6%
Penalty kill*: 81.1%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Markus Vidicek 11, Mathieu Cataford 9, Jan Sprynar 7, Lou-Felix Denis 6, Brady Schultz 4
Goals: Markus Vidicek 6, Jan Sprynar 5, Mathieu Cataford 3, Logan Crosby 3, Jack Martin 2
Assists: Mathieu Cataford 6, Markus Vidicek 5, Lou-Felix Denis 5, Brady Schultz 3, Lou Levesque 3
Penalty minutes: Jack Martin 8, Brady Schultz 8, Mathieu Cataford 8, Lou-Felix Denis 8, Jake Furlong 4
Plus/minus: Dominic MacKenzie +4, Jack Martin +3, Lou Levesque +2, Liam Welsh +2, David Moravec +2
Rookie scoring: Lou Levesque 3pts, Dominic MacKenzie 2pts, Liam Kilfoil 2pts

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau     31-8-4-0     2.27 GAA     0.925 SAV%
Jack Milner     11-10-3-1     3.19 GAA     0.894 SAV%

*overall

Round One Matchup Official

Photo - AMH Photography

With just over a week to go in the regular season, the Halifax Mooseheads' first round playoff opponent is now official after Saturday's games. The Mooseheads will take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the 2024 post-season. 

These two teams met in the opening round two years ago when Bathurst won the five game series 3-2 coming back from losing the first two games at home. This time, Halifax will have home ice advantage after winning the Maritimes division and finishing the regular season as the #2 in the Eastern conference. The Titan ended the year as the 7th place team. 

Halifax won the season series against Acadie-Bathurst 5-3-1-0. The Titan picked up wins in the last three matchups between the two clubs however including a 3-1 game on March 8. Game 1 will be played on Good Friday, March 29, in Moose Country with puck drop at 7 p.m Atlantic time. a

Individual tickets for Games 1 and 2 will go on sale on March 22 at 11am and you should be able to buy them on ticketmaster.com, at the Scotiabank Centre box office or by phone. 

Stay tuned to Moose Country for more playoff details and game previews. 

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, Jack Milner was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for February. Milner had a 1-1-0-0 record with an additional game a no decision and a 2.85 goals against average. 

Team	Player	Program	Academic Establishment
Acadie-Bathurst Titan	Robert Orr	Business	Athabasca University
Baie-Comeau Drakkar	Jules Boilard	Sciences de la nature	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
Blainville-Boisbriand Armada	Eliot Ogonowski	Sciences de la nature	Cégep de Terrebonne
Cape Breton Eagles	Émile Ricard	Secondaire 4	Académie les Estacades
Charlottetown Islanders	Carl-Étienne Michel	Sciences humaines	Cégep à distance
Chicoutimi Saguenéens	Loïc Usereau	Sciences humaines	Cégep de Chicoutimi
Drummondville Voltigeurs	Kassim Gaudet	Techniques policières	Collège Ellis
Gatineau Olympiques	Jan Golicic	Grade 12	Northern Pre University
Halifax Mooseheads	Jack Milner	Commerce	Saint Mary’s University
Moncton Wildcats	Shawn Carrier	Secondaire 5	Académie les Estacades
Quebec Remparts	Nathan Plouffe	Sciences humaines	Cégep Limoilou
Rimouski Océanic	Maël St-Denis	Gestion de commerce	Cégep de Rimouski
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	François-James Buteau	Independant studies	Athabasca University
Saint John Sea Dogs	Jacob Beaulieu	Grade 12	Saint John High School
Shawinigan Cataractes	Félix Plamondon	Administration	Cégep de Shawinigan
Sherbrooke Phoenix	Olivier Dubois	Sciences humaines	Cégep de Sherbrooke
Val-d’Or Foreurs	Antoine Lagacé	Sciences de la nature	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Victoriaville Tigres	Joseph Henneberry	Bachelor of science	Acadia University

Game Day 65: vs. Charlottetown

PREVIEW - It's the final home game of the regular season tonight as our Halifax Mooseheads welcome divisional rival Charlottetown Islanders at the Scotiabank Centre for a Thursday evening matchup. If I have calculated correctly, a victory by the home team will allow the Mooseheads to clinch the Maritimes division title for the second year in a row. So far this season, Halifax has played well against the Islanders and they will be looking to end this six game home-stand on a high note. The Herd have gone 3-2-0-0 during the stretch in Moose Country with both losses coming against the team that they are probably going to go against in the playoffs; the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Charlottetown has not had a good season and will go into the post-season as the Eastern Conference's 8th place team. The Islanders are 3-5-2-0 in their last 10 games but winless in the past six. Though the Mooseheads had their 'fan appreciation' game on Sunday (it didn't feel like it really), the team will have a special pre-game ceremony tonight to say thank you to the 20-year-olds who are Lou-Felix Denis, Peter Reynolds and David Moravec. 

Overall records
Islanders: 24-31-5-2 = 55 points (5th in Maritimes division, 15th overall)
Mooseheads: 40-16-7-1 = 88 points (1st in Maritimes division, 4th overall)

Top 3 scorers
HAL: Mathieu Cataford 84pts (39G & 45A), Markus Vidicek 81pts (41G & 40A), Peter Reynolds 62pts (27G & 35A)
CHA: Michael Horth 48pts (31G & 17A), Marcus Kearsey 46pts (7G & 39A), Cole Huckins 41pts (17G & 24A)

Head-to-head
This is the final matchup between these two teams. Halifax has a 5-2-0-1 record versus the Islanders so far this season while Charlottetown is 3-3-1-1 against the Mooseheads. Their last game was on February 10 with the Mooseheads getting a 7-0 blowout victory as Halifax got goals from seven different players. 

Last games
Charlottetown is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Titan on Sunday. Kyle Powers scored both goals for the Islanders on the road while Carter Bickle stopped 29 of the Bathurst's 33 shots in the defeat. 

Halifax is coming off a 3-1 home win over Moncton. Brady Schultz led the Mooseheads with 3 assists as they also got goals from three different players against the Wildcats on Sunday. 

Not playing - Jordan Dumais and Braeden MacPhee out with injuries

Out of town
Wildcats vs. Eagles - 7:00 p.m.
Sea Dogs vs. Titan - 7:00 p.m.
Cataractes vs. Huskies - 8:00 p.m. 
Phoenix vs. Tigres - 8:00 p.m. 

Moose Win 40th in Front of Sellout Crowd

Photo - AMH Photography

Something that I don't remember experiencing before is fan appreciation night on a Sunday afternoon but that's how the schedule worked out this season and the sell out crowd that was in attendance was treated to a really good game. Our Halifax Mooseheads put their last game behind them and skated to a 3-1 victory today over the Moncton Wildcats. The away team got on the board first with under 6 minutes to go in the first period as Etienne Morin scored on the power play. Before the end of the frame, Mathieu Cataford got his 39th goal of the season on the man advantage at the 17:35 mark. A strong second period plus a four minute power play put Halifax up for good as Lou-Felix Denis and Jan Sprynar scored in the middle frame to make it 3-1 for the home team. Moncton wasn't going to go away lightly, outshooting the Herd 12-7 in the third period and got close to scoring a few times. 

FINAL: Wildcats 1 at Mooseheads 3
Stars: 3. Mathis Rousseau HAL | 2. Brady Schultz HAL | 1. Lou-Felix Denis HAL
Attendance: 10,595 
MC's Top Herd: Lou-Felix Denis 

GAME LOG
First period
14:38 MON Etienne Morin (11), PP | A: Loshing & Desnoyers
17:35 HAL Mathieu Cataford (39), PP | A: Vidicek & Schultz

Second period 
12:16 HAL Lou-Felix Denis (28), PP | A: Schultz
17:06 HAL Jan Sprynar (13) | A: Schultz & Dylan MacKinnon

Third period
No scoring

Powerplay: MON - 1-for-2; HAL - 2-for-3
Shots: 29-28 in favour of Moncton

Next game
The Halifax Mooseheads will play their final home game of the regular season on Thursday night against the Charlottetown Islanders. Puck drops at 7pm. 

Stats Sunday: February

Games played: 13
Record: 9-4-0-0, 18pts
Goals for/against: 43/36
Powerplay*: 23.0%
Penalty kill*: 80.4%
Shutouts: One

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Brady Schultz 17, Markus Vidicek 15, Mathieu Cataford 11, Logan Crosby 10, Lou-Felix Denis 10
Goals: Markus Vidicek 7, Mathieu Cataford 6, Peter Reynolds 6, Brady Schultz 4, Lou-Felix Denis 4
Assists: Brady Schultz 13, Markus Vidicek 8, Logan Crosby 8, Owen Phillips 7, Lou-Felix Denis 6
Penalty minutes: Lou-Felix Denis 18, Jake Furlong 16, Jake Todd 16, Mathieu Cataford 13, Dylan MacKinnon 12
Plus/minus: Lou Levesque +5, Brady Schultz +4, Logan Crosby +4, Dylan MacKinnon +3, Cade Moser +2
Rookie scoring: Lou Levesque 6pts, Cade Moser 3pts, Liam Kilfoil 3pts, Antoine Fontaine 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau     29-6-4-0     2.23 GAA     0.926 SAV%
Jack Milner     10-9-3-1     3.12 GAA     0.897 SAV%

*overall - includes Mar 2 game