Stats Sunday: March

Games played: 8
Record: 5-3-0-0, 10pts
Goals for/against: 28/32
Powerplay*: 22.4%
Penalty kill*: 77.0%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Quinn Kennedy 13, Oleg Kulebiakin 11, Samuel Rousseau 8, Shawn Carrier 8, Liam Kilfoil 8
Goals: Quinn Kennedy 7, Samuel Rousseau 6, Shawn Carrier 4, Liam Kilfoil 3, Oleg Kulebiakin 2
Assists: Oleg Kulebiakin 9, Quinn Kennedy 6, Liam Kilfoil 5, Malik L'Italian 5, Shawn Carrier 4
Penalty minutes: Daniel Walters 12, Shawn Carrier 11, Carlos Handel 8, Caylen Blake 8, Lincoln Waugh 7
Plus/minus: Shawn Carrier +3, Liam Kilfoil +2, Oleg Kulebiakin +1, Quinn Kennedy +1, Lincoln Waugh E
Rookie scoring: Oleg Kulebiakin 11pts, Malik L'Italien 5pts, Cameron Minella 1pt, Brenden Espenell 1pt, Jasu Mensonen 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Owen Bresson     18-17-2-2    3.66 GAA     0.887 SAV%
Nicolas Cirka     11-12-1-1     4.00 GAA     0.873 SAV%

*overall

Round 1 battle against Chicoutimi

Photo - Herd website

The playoffs are set to begin next week and on the last day of the regular season, our Halifax Mooseheads finally know who they will play in Round 1. Being the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference, the Herd will battle against the 2nd seed Chicoutimi Sagueneens. 

Halifax lost their last two games this weekend against Newfoundland on the road to finish with a 29-29-3-3 record. The Mooseheads went 0-1-1-0 against the Sagueneens in during the regular season but as we know anything can happen in the playoffs. Chicoutimi battled it out with Moncton for the last couple of months for the top spot in the QMJHL but they didn't get any help and finished with a 49-10-3-2 record, good enough for 103 points, just behind the Wildcats. The Sags have the top scorer in both points and goals in Maxim Masse who recorded 51 goals and 102 points. 

Full schedule below. With the distance between teams, this series will be 2-3-2 instead of the normal 2-2-1-1-1 format. 

Game 1    Friday March 27 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina
Game 2    Saturday March 28 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina
Game 3    Tuesday March 31 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
Game 4    Wednesday April 1 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 5  Friday April 3 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 6  Monday April 6 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina
*Game 7  Tuesday April 7 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina

*if necessary

Single game tickets for Games 3 and 4 are on sale now, you can purchase them at ticketmaster.ca or by phone 902-451-1221. 

Game Day 68: at Regiment

PREVIEW - After 6 months of playing tough hockey and battling it out, we have come to the final regular season game of 2025-26 and our Halifax Mooseheads are visiting the Newfoundland Regiment. The two teams met last night with the home Regiment winning quite handedly 6-1. Quinn Kennedy picked up his 31st goal of the season in the loss, which also locked up 7th place in the standings for the Mooseheads. Halifax's playoff opponent is still to be determined but it would be nice for the boys to go in to it with a victory. They're in a tough spot though as number 1 goaltender Owen Bresson is serving the 3rd of his 5 game suspension this afternoon, meaning that Nicolas Cirka will be in net. Newfoundland is led by overage forward Justin Larose who has 88 points this season which is good enough for 4th in the league. Meanwhile, rookie Oleg Kulebiakin still has the most points for the Herd with 73. 

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

Overall records
Mooseheads: 29-28-3-3 = 64 points (5th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)
Regiment: 37-22-3-1 = 78 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)

Leading scorers
NFL: Justin Larose 88pts (32G & 56A), Marek Danicek 72pts (33G & 39A), Dawson Sharkey 60pts (31G & 29A)
HAL: Oleg Kulebiakin 73pts (29G & 44A), Shawn Carrier 61pts (36G & 25A), Quinn Kennedy 54pts (31G & 23A)

Head-to-head
Halifax is 2-5-0-0 against the Regiment this season while Newfoundland has a 5-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. For their previous meeting, see above. 

Out of town
Eagles vs. Sea Dogs - 3:00 p.m.
Wildcats vs. Islanders - 4:00 p.m.
Sagueneens vs. Remparts - 5:00 p.m.
Drakkar vs. Oceanic - 5:00 p.m.
Olympiques vs. Voltigeurs - 5:00 p.m.
Cataractes vs. Tigres - 5:00 p.m.
Foreurs vs. Huskies - 5:00 p.m.
Phoenix vs. Armada - 5:00 p.m.

After the buzzer 
Halifax will continue on the road with the first two games of the post-season but opponent and time to be determined. 

Lots to be determined in final weekend

Photo - Herd website

The regular season is nearing its completion with the final two games for all eighteen teams this weekend. The 16 playoff spots have been clinched but our Halifax Mooseheads don't know yet who their first round opponent will be. 

Halifax could still technically move up to 6th place in the Eastern Conference, however the club needs to win both their games and have the Cape Breton Eagles lose theirs. So assuming the Mooseheads finish the season in the No. 7 seed, they will take on the second place team which could either be the Chicoutimi Sagueneens or Moncton Wildcats. 

The Wildcats will play the Charlottetown Islanders in a home-and-home series, while the Sagueneens take on the Quebec Remparts. 

Over in the Western Conference; Drummondville, Rouyn-Noranda and Blainville-Boisbriand are in the mix to win the #1 spot. Meanwhile, at the other end positions 6-8 are locked up. The Shawinigan Cataractes and Sherbrooke Phoenix are the lone playoff series officially determined, however the team with home advantage is still up in the air as the two teams are separated by one point and are the 4th and 5th seeds respectively. 

A few other notes...

• Every team in the league will be on the ice on both Friday and Saturday. Once again, Saturday matches will be afternoon starts. 
• Our Mooseheads, who have won four straight for the first time this season, are set to visit the Newfoundland Regiment this weekend for two road games. 
• At the bottom of the standings are the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (34 points) and Rimouski Oceanic (37 points) who will play each other twice to end the regular season. Both will miss the playoffs. 
• For the draft, scheduled to take place in Halifax, the Mooseheads will have a chance to win the lottery despite being 12th in the league right now. This is because Cam Russell and co. hold Rimouski's first round pick. 

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 February. 

The QMJHL changed how they share the players in the article they post, so here's the picture of them. This is also the latest I believe the league have announced the student-athletes. 

Photo - QMJHL website

Bresson suspended for goalie fight

Photo - L'Express de Drummondville

Friday's road match against the Saint John Sea Dogs was an interesting game as the fans at TD Station got to see a goaltending fight midway through. Halifax Mooseheads netminder Owen Bresson took on Montreal Canadiens' prospect Arseni Radkov at the 12:07 mark of the second period after the latter challenged the former. The fight was a result of Bresson punching Sea Dogs forward Alexis Gauthier with his blocker after Gauthier gave an extra slap at the puck. 

Both Bresson and Radkov were given 5 minute major penalties for fighting along with two game misconducts each, meaning that they did not suit up for the rematch on Saturday afternoon between the two teams. Sophomore Nicolas Gilham-Cirka took over the crease on Friday after the fight and allowed one goal on 11 shots in relief, picking up the 5-4 victory. 

The QMJHL announced this morning that the goaltenders have been suspended five games as a result, which means that Owen, 19, will miss the rest of the regular season and the first two playoff games. 

Halifax will end the regular season with a couple of games in St. John's against the Newfoundland Regiment on March 21 & 22. 

Reds win AUS Championship

Some congratulations are in order for a few former Halifax Mooseheads players. Herd alum Braeden MacPhee, 21, was in the lineup for the UNB Reds as the school won its eighth consecutive Atlantic University Sport hockey championship title on Thursday evening. The Reds picked up a 4-1 victory in Game 3 of the final series against the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus to win the series 2-1. MacPhee recorded an assist in six playoff games after picking up 20 points in 29 regular season games during his first season at university. Despite having an up and down regular season, UNB still found a way to lift the trophy last week. 

Photo - AUS Facebook page

Peter Reynolds, in his second year, has not played a game since mid-January. For the Aigles Bleus and veteran defenceman Denis Toner, who suited up for the Moose between 2018-2020, it is the third straight year that they have come up short in the championship series against UNB. 

In the OUA playoffs, alum Ethan Larmand scored for the Queen's Gaels in the Bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon to help them to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Metropolitan Bold. Larmand, 22, had three points in 8 total playoff games. 

UNB, U de M and Queen's will all participate now in the 2026 University Cup tournament being held in Halifax March 19-22, hosted by the Saint Mary's Huskies. 

U-Sports alumni stats

Olympics: 5 Moose alum to participate

There are 26 former QMJHL players who will participate in the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy this month. The Olympics began officially on Friday February 6 and will go to February 22. Our Halifax Mooseheads will have five alumni in the tournament that starts on February 12th. 

Photo - Devils Facebook

Canada will have three Q alum on their roster with forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand all wearing the maple leaf later this week. Marchand split his junior career between the Moncton Wildcats, Val-d'Or Foreurs and our Halifax Mooseheads. MacKinnon, of course, spent two seasons with the Herd before being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche first overall in 2013. Brad, 37, has recorded 50 points in 46 games played before the break while 30-year-old Nathan is currently second in the league with 93 points. Team Canada is among four teams in Group A with their first game being against Czechia on Thursday. 

New Jersey Devils teammates Nico Hischier and Timo Meier will be sitting on the same bench during the Olympics in both of their debuts in the international tournament as they suit up for Team Switzerland. The country hasn't seemed to announce their captains yet but I'm sure we will see Hischier wear a letter. 29-year-old Meier has 14 goals and 28 points in 52 games played so far this season. Nico not only leads the team being the captain but he also has the most points on the Devils at the break with 42. Switzerland will join Canada in Group A and take on France on Thursday. 

Photo - Jets Whiteout website

Former Herd Nikolaj Ehlers was a big contributor to Denmark qualifying for the 2026 Olympics and will hope to help his country improve on their 7th place finish from four years ago. The 29-year-old, who will celebrate his birthday at the games on Saturday, has 43 points for the Carolina Hurricanes in 57 games. Denmark is playing in Group C and is set to kick off the tournament on Thursday against Germany.

Canada and Switzerland will meet each other on February 13 at 4:10pm Atlantic time. Each group winner and the best second-place team advance to the quarterfinals while the other eight teams play a qualification round. 

Good luck to all the players in the tournament and congrats to the Mooseheads alumni who are participating. The gold medal game is scheduled for February 22. 

Alumni Update: Pro league stats

Photo - Sportsnet

Well I did the statistics for the North American junior, senior and university leagues back in late December but now that the National Hockey League are on their Olympic break, I thought I would give you finally the stats for professional leagues in North America, Europe and Asia. 

Looks like Nathan MacKinnon will once again be going back and forth as the league leader this season but against Connor McDavid this time. The 30-year-old leads all former Mooseheads players at this point of the season in points and takes that offence to Italy. He also recently recorded his 700th career assist earlier this week. 

Note: some players have played for more than one team in different leagues 
*Stats as of February 6, 2026 (numbers according to Elite Prospects)

National Hockey League 

American Hockey League

ECHL

Kontinental Hockey League / VHL

National League / Swiss League 

EIHL / NIHL

DEL

DEL2 / Germany3

Czechia

Czechia2

Liiga / Mestis

ICEHL

Hong Kong

Ligue Magnus