Game Day 33: at Cape Breton

Well we are officially in the second half of the regular season as game 33 will see our Halifax Mooseheads visit their provincial rivals, the Cape Breton Eagles on a rare Monday evening. Halifax didn't start the post-holiday break portion on a good foot being defeated by Bathurst on Saturday night and will hope to get back in the win column this evening. The Mooseheads have scored the least amount of goals this season with only 74 but the Eagles haven't hit triple digits either as they sit at 97 goals. Cape Breton is led in scoring by Sambro, NS native Jacob Newcombe who missed the first half of the 2023-24 season after being diagnosed with cancer and was named captain of the Eagles in September. It's retro night in Sydney in front of a sold out crowd. 

Game coverage
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Overall records
Mooseheads: 11-16-5-0 = 27 points (5th in Maritimes division, 14th overall)
Eagles: 14-14-3-1 = 32 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 11th overall)

Leading scorers
CAP: Jacob Newcombe 29pts (14G & 15A), Lewis Gendron 27pts (11G & 16A), Cam Squires 27pts (13G & 14A)
HAL: Liam Kilfoil 22pts (10G & 12A), Quinn Kennedy 17pts (12G & 5A), Shawn Carrier 16pts (6G & 10A)

Head-to-head
Halifax is 1-1-1-0 against the Eagles this season while Cape Breton has a 2-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two clubs met on November 22 with the home Eagles winning 7-3, Antoine Fontaine led the Herd in the loss recording a goal & an assist. 

Out of town
Armada vs. Remparts - 8:00 p.m.

Next game
These two provincial rivals will meet again tomorrow to close out 2024 in Halifax. Puck drops at 2 p.m. 

Herd Word

Photo - Wikipedia

WORLD JUNIORS
There isn't officially a Halifax Mooseheads representative that will be playing at the 2025 World Juniors but alum forward Mathieu Cataford was named last week to Team Canada's roster for the annual holiday tournament. He is one of only two QMJHL players on the team. It is the first time that the 19-year-old will wear the red and white in his career. Meanwhile, Herd rookie defenceman Carlos Handel was invited to Germany's selection camp and will be hoping to prove himself that he deserves to be on the final team. 

Teams don't have to submit their final roster until late Christmas Eve. Congrats to Cataford on making Team Canada and good luck to Handel at the selection camp with Team Germany. 

SPRYNAR
Forward Jan Sprynar has made the decision to not return to the Mooseheads after the Christmas break and has signed a contract with HC Verva Litvinov in Czechia to continue his career. The 19-year-old will play professionally in his home country after recovering from an upper-body injury that he sustained on December 6th. He had 9 points for Halifax this season and a total of 29 points in 47 games for the club since being acquired by the Herd at last year's trade deadline. 

Thank you Jan for your contributions in Moose Country and good luck with your new team. 

MOOSE TRACKS
Episode 4 of the second season of Moose Tracks has been released on the team's YouTube channel but you can find it below. This one includes scenes from Liam Kilfoil's billet house, captain Brady Schultz on a ride to the game and Shawn Carrier discussing his move to Halifax. 

BARRON
Former Herd defenceman Justin Barron is on the move again. The 23-year-old was traded to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday by the Montreal Canadiens and will be back with former teammate Zach L'Heureux. After being drafted by Colorado 25th overall in the 2020 NHL draft, the Halifax, NS native has played 111 games in the top professional league so far with all but two of those for Montreal. Barron has scored 1 goal only in 17 games played in 2024-25 but has 13 goals and 31 points in his career. 

Good luck to Justin in Nashville. 

Photo - LeNouvelliste.ch

POINT LEADERS
There are a few Moose alumni who sit on top of some different leagues at the time of this writing. James Swan (2020-2022) leads all former Herd players in points so far this season with a total of 56 points but is third in the QJHL in 28 games suiting up for the Valleyfield Braves. Star Nathan MacKinnon (2011-2013) became the first NHL player to hit 50 points in 2024-25 and he actually recorded his 600th career assist on December 10 against Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old has 13 goals and 37 assists in 33 games. Forward Peter Reynolds is tied for the AUS league lead at the Christmas break with 29 points (16G & 13A) for the top-ranked UNB Reds. He and teammate Benjamin Corbeil actually lead all of the U-Sports players and this is only his first year of university hockey. 

Another forward that is tied for a league lead is Samuel Asselin (2018-2019), who decided to move to Europe to play pro hockey in the summer and seems like it was the right choice. The 26-year-old has 44 points (19G & 25A) for HC Sierre in the SL. His current teammate Josh Lawrence (2022-2023) is third in scoring with 36 points in 30 games played. Meanwhile, Randy Gazzola is the defensive leader of the ICEHL while suiting up for Asiago. 

PODCAST
The third episode of the new podcast "This is Moose Country" was released today and includes guest appearances by newcomer Quinn Kennedy and veteran Owen Phillips. 

MURPHY
There might be more stories like this one regarding alum but its the only one I have seen recently. Former Herd d-man Matt Murphy has been acquired by the Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters in the ECHL from the Cincinnati Cyclones. Murphy skated in 20 games for the Cyclones in 2024-25, scoring two goals and adding six assists. The 29-year-old has suited up for multiple teams since spending five years at UNB and was able to win a professional title with the Fort Wayne Komets in 2021. 

UP NEXT
The QMJHL is on Christmas break and the winter trade period opened on Monday. Our Halifax Mooseheads will be back on the ice on December 28 visiting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7pm. The Herd will be looking to end a losing streak against the Titan as they are 0-2-2-0 versus Bathurst this season. Halifax will then head to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Eagles on December 30 before the two clubs battle each other again in Moose Country the following afternoon to finish 2024. Puck drops at 2:00 p.m., tickets are still available. 

Mooseheads Make Trade with Rimouski

Photo - Journal Le Soir

The Halifax Mooseheads moved two players on the opening day of the winter trade period. Forward Lou Levesque and defenceman Jack Martin were traded to the Rimouski Oceanic yesterday and in return the Herd received right winger Quinn Kennedy plus a 2026 second round pick. 

Although it might not have been the most expected trade by the fans, it is a good move for the players as Levesque and Kennedy will be closer to home. Kennedy is a native of Upper Tantallon, NS and was selected by Rimouski 9th overall in the 2022 QMJHL draft. The 18-year-old scored 21 goals and recorded 45 points last season and has 16 points already in 2024-25. He is known for his offensive abilities. 

Photo - CHL website

Levesque meanwhile, requested to be closer to his family and Cam Russell was able to accommodate that request. The 18-year-old had 12 goals and 33 points in 2023-24 during his rookie season. He become a fan favourite in Moose Country over the last year and a half. Martin was drafted by Halifax 55th overall in 2021 and played 152 games for the Herd. The Upper Covedale, NB native had a career-high 13 points in the 2022-23 season and was on his way to pass that total as he recorded 12 points in 30 games this year. 

"We're excited to get a player of Quinn's calibre. He was a high draft pick who has an excellent skill set. Quinn's abilities will be a nice addition on our power play unit. I know he's also very excited to play for his hometown team," said GM Russell.

Good luck to Lou and Jack with the Oceanic as they battle for the Memorial Cup and thank you boys for playing your hearts out while in Halifax. Welcome to Moose Country Quinn, we look forward to watching you continue your career here. 

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, Shawn Carrier was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for November. 

Team	Player	Program	Academic establishment
Baie-Comeau Drakkar	Anthony Lavoie	Sciences humaines	CÉGEP de Baie-Comeau
Acadie-Bathurst Titan	Blake Pilgrim-Edwards	Business	Acadia University
Blainville-Boisbriand Armada	Olivier Metcalfe	Sciences humaines	Collège Lionel-Groulx
Cape Breton Eagles	Aiden McCullough	High School	Sydney Academy
Charlottetown Islanders	Logan Biser	High School	Ontario Virtuel School
Chicoutimi Saguenéens	Colby Train	Independant	UNB – University of New Brunswick
Drummondville Voltigeurs	Vincent Tremblay	Sciences de la nature	CÉGEP de Drummondville
Gatineau Olympiques	Simon-Xavier Cyr	Secondaire 5	Académie Les Estacades
Halifax Mooseheads	Shawn Carrier	Grade 12	Woodlawn High School
Moncton Wildcats	Simon Mullen	Golf Management	McMaster University
Québec Remparts	Charlie Morrison	Grade 12	NPU – Northern Pre-University
Rimouski Océanic	William Lacelle	Secondaire 5	Collège Sainte-Anne
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	Harijs Cjunskis	Grade 11 – 12	NPU – Northern Pre-University
Shawinigan Cataractes	Noah McKinnon	Secondaire 5	Académie Les Estacades
Sherbrooke Phoenix	Thomas Rousseau	Secondaire 5	Académie Les Estacades
Saint John Sea Dogs	Nate Tivey	Independant	UNB – University of New Brunswick
Val-d’Or Foreurs	Benjamin Olivier	Secondaire 5	Académie Les Estacades
Victoriaville Tigres	Justin Gendron	Indépendant	UNB – University of New Brunswick

Stats Sunday: November

Games played: 10
Record: 3-6-1-0, 7pts
Goals for/against: 20/36
Powerplay*: 14.4%
Penalty kill*: 81.1%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Liam Kilfoil 7, Logan Crosby 5, Owen Phillips 5, Antoine Fontaine 4, Lou Levesque 4 
Goals: Liam Kilfoil 4, Logan Crosby 3, Jan Sprynar 3, Daniel Walters 1, Owen Phillips 1
Assists: Owen Phillips 4, Liam Kilfoil 3, Antoine Fontaine 3, Lou Levesque 3, Shawn Carrier 3
Penalty minutes: Logan Crosby 12, Braeden MacPhee 7, Jack Martin 6, Jan Sprynar 6, Daniel Walters 6
Plus/minus: Eddy Doyle +2, Justin Breton +1, Lou Levesque E, Braeden MacPhee -1, Lincoln Waugh -1
Rookie scoring: Daniel Walters 2pts, Amelio Santini 2pts, Eddy Doyle 1pt, Patrick McNab 1pt, Carlos Handel 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau     8-11-3-0     3.05 GAA     0.908 SAV%
Jack Milner     2-2-0-0     4.23 GAA     0.881 SAV%

*overall