Game Day 1: vs Charlottetown

PREVIEW - It's finally game day as our Halifax Mooseheads kick off their 30th anniversary tonight as they host the Charlottetown Islanders at 7pm. The Herd will be starting the 2023-24 season as a younger team than what is on the regular roster as the club has five players who are at National Hockey League main camps this week. Rookie goaltender Jack Milner is set to get the starting job for this evening with veteran Mathis Rousseau at Arizona Coyotes camp. It will be a big night for another reason as the team will raise Nathan MacKinnon's number 22 to the rafters. The Islanders should be a good test and have gotten some reinforcements over the last few days with recently named captain Michael Horth returning from rookie camp. Despite the increase in ticket prices and change over to Ticket Master for the Mooseheads, we should see an almost sold out crowd tonight. Make sure you are in your seats early as the pre-game ceremony begins at 6:45pm. 

Overall records
Islanders: 0-0-0-0 = 0 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 5th overall)
Mooseheads: 0-0-0-0 = 0 points (6th in Maritimes division, 16th overall)

Top 3 scorers

HAL: n/a
CHA: n/a

Head-to-head

This is the first game of the season between these two teams. Last year, the Mooseheads had a 7-1-0-1 record against Charlottetown. Halifax won the last game by a score of 10-5 on March 25 at home with Josh Lawrence recording three goals and six points. 

Not playing - Jordan Dumais, Mathis Rousseau, Dylan MacKinnon, Jake Furlong and Mathieu Cataford are all away at NHL camps

Out of town

Titan vs. Sea Dogs - 7:00 p.m.
Eagles vs. Wildcats - 7:00 p.m.
Oceanic vs. Tigres - 8:00 p.m.
Olympiques vs. Voltigeurs - 8:00 p.m.
Phoenix vs. Armada - 8:00 p.m.
Sagueneens vs. Drakkar - 8:30 p.m.

2023-24 Promotional Schedule

Photo - Shawn Davidson

The regular season schedule was announced at the beginning of the summer and the Halifax Mooseheads haven't officially announced their events as of the writing of this post. However, they were listed on the form that people who bought 15-game packages received. So I'm going to do this post a little different this year and give you the full promotional schedule below. 

2023-24 promotional schedule
Home Opener - September 22 vs. Charlottetown
Fridge Magnet Giveaway - October 7 vs. Blainville-Boisbriand
30th Ann. T-shirt Giveaway - October 21 vs. Val-d'Or
Mooseheads Fight Cancer - November 4 vs. Sherbrooke
90's Night - November 11 vs. Shawinigan
Kid's Day - November 12 vs. Cape Breton
Toque Toss - December 8 vs. Gatineau
New Year's Eve - December 31 vs. Cape Breton
Towel Giveaway - January 13 vs. Quebec
DND Appreciation - January 20 vs. Chicoutimi
Alumni Night - March 2 vs. Saint John
Fan Appreciation Night - March 10 vs. Moncton

As you can see, there seems to be no teddy bear toss this season and we'll have to wait and see if the New Year's Eve match will be the normal Hurley Cup/Battle of Nova Scotia special event game. I'm not sure why the team never have the DND appreciation game on Remembrance Day if they play that day. 

Herd to Retire MacKinnon's Number

Photo - News 95.7 website

Our Halifax Mooseheads announced today that they will kick off their 30th anniversary season by retiring Nathan MacKinnon's number 22 during the 2023-24 home opener on September 22. The Cole Harbour, NS native won a Memorial Cup with the team in 2013 and has spent the last 10 years with the Colorado Avalanche where he has collected 759 points during that time. 

The 28-year-old had his best year points wise in 2022-23 scoring 42 goals and 111 points in 71 games played. MacKinnon will be the fourth player in club history to have his number retired after Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Alex Tanguay and Jody Shelley. He became the first member of the Mooseheads to be drafted first overall in the NHL. Nate Dogg, as he has been nicknamed, scored 63 goals and 90 assists during 101 games playing for Halifax. 

"It's a true honour to have my jersey retired by the Mooseheads. I can't wait to share this moment with everyone back home in Moose Country," said MacKinnon. 

"Retiring number 22 at the home opener is the way to begin our 30th anniversary season," said Brian Urquhart in the press release. "Nate grew up idolizing the Mooseheads, starred for the team, led us to a Memorial Cup, and now he's one of the best players in the world. It will be a very special night for Nathan, his family and all Mooseheads fans." 

I'm so looking forward to this and I was hoping that they would retire his number at some point this season. It makes sense for the ceremony to be later this month as the NHL season will not have started yet. An anniversary jersey will be unveiled sometime this fall. 

Thirtieth Season Roster

YOUR 2023-24 HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

3  Dylan MacKinnon  D  Riverview, NB
5  Brady Schultz  D  Monroe, CT, USA
6  Markus Vidicek  C  Kirkland, QC

7  David Moravec  D  Havlickuv Brod, Czechia
8  Jack Martin  D  Upper Coverdale, NB

9  Liam Kilfoil  C  Quispamsis, NB*
10  Mathieu Cataford LW  Saint-Constant, QC
11  Jordan Dumais  RW  L-ile-Bizard, QC

12  Brody Fournier  RW  Lombardy, ON 
14  Logan Crosby  LW  Salt Springs, NS
15  Dominic MacKenzie  D  Stellarton, NS*
19  Reece Peitzsche  LW  Beaver Bank, NS

21  Braeden MacPhee  C  Moncton, NB
23  Yannik Ponzetto  LW  Kloten, Switzerland*
26  Owen Phillips  D  Hammonds Plains, NS

35  Jack Milner  G  Antigonish, NS*
43  Jake Furlong  D  Upper Tantallon, NS

48  Liam Welsh  RW  Halifax, NS
60  Mathis Rousseau  G  Boisbriand, QC
63  Jake Todd  C  Beaver Bank, NS
67  Lou Levesque  C  Saint-Jerome, QC*
89  Antoine Fontaine  C  Granby, QC*
90  Cade Moser  C  Linacy, NS*

*indicates rookie

30th Anniversary Schedule Announced

Our Halifax Mooseheads 30th season regular season schedule was announced today. 

Like last year, the Herd will open up the season on home ice when the Charlottetown Islanders come to town on September 22. The two teams will meet at Eastlink Centre the next night with the puck scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. both evenings. Hopefully we won't get another postponement of the opening weekend in the Maritimes like in 2022. 

Other highlights for the 2023-24 regular season includes:

• The first Quebec road-trip will be October 12-15 when the Mooseheads travel to Baie-Comeau, Chicoutimi and Rimouski 
• A league finals rematch between Quebec and Halifax is set for January 13, 2024 at the Scotiabank Centre, meaning we'll probably see even more of a different team for the Remparts than we did in Game 6 
• We will get to see the return of the Hurley Cup series against Cape Breton, with the Eagles hosting on December 30 at 3 p.m. The two teams will meet again in Moose Country on New Year's Eve for an afternoon game 
• Halifax's longest home-stand will be six games from February 28-March 14 (this game being the home finale as well) while a five game road trip between Nov. 24-Dec. 2 is the longest 
• The regular season will wrap up on March 23 with the Herd visiting Saint John in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday against the Sea Dogs. 

Halifax also announced in the press release that a full promotional schedule will be released later in the summer.