Herd Word

ALL-STAR TEAMS

Photo - QMJHL website

Despite having a not so good season, a couple of Halifax Mooseheads players were honoured for their efforts during the regular season. Goaltender Jacob Steinman, probably mostly because of his stats while he was with the Moncton Wildcats before being traded to Halifax at Christmas time, was named to the QMJHL First All-Star Team earlier this month. In 52 games played in 2024-25, Steinman had a 29-16-4-1 record, a 2.44 goals against average with a 0.923 save percentage and 3 shutouts. At the same time, defenceman Carlos Handel was one of six players to be on the All-Rookie Team after picking up 3 goals and 26 points in 52 games, all with the Mooseheads. 

Congrats to both guys being given the recognition!

MOOSE TRACKS
I haven't shared all the Moose Tracks videos but thought I would post this one as it seems like it will be the last one for the season. For episode 7, we get behind the scenes looks at play by play announcer Garreth MacDonald and go into the dressing room. 

PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE
Our Mooseheads announced their pre-season schedule a couple of weeks ago and the team will play four exhibition matches, all against provincial rivals Cape Breton. I noticed the schedule being up a couple days before the team made it official, but it looked odd so wasn't sure it was the full schedule. Nice to see the team will be sharing the love around Nova Scotia this year. This is the least amount of games I have seen Halifax play. 

August 19  at Cape Breton     7:00 p.m.  Centre 200
August 20  vs Cape Breton     7:00 p.m.  St. Margaret's Centre
August 23  vs Cape Breton     4:00 p.m.  Rath Eastlink Community Centre
September 6  at Cape Breton     4:00 p.m.  Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre

GOLDEN PUCK AWARDS
The QMJHL announced the nominees for the first seven Golden Puck Awards a few weeks ago and former Herd Markus Vidicek was among the three names vying for the Guy Carbonneau Trophy as top defensive forward. Unfortunately, the next day the winner was announced as Matyas Melovsky of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. 

On May 21, the league released the names for the final eight awards. First, net-minder Jacob Steinman has been nominated for the Patrick Roy Trophy as goaltender of the year. The 20-year-old had a 0.917 save percentage in 22 games with Halifax according to the article. Mooseheads alumni Mathieu Cataford is one of the final three players who will look to win the Marcel Robert Trophy which is given to the student athlete of the year. The winners will be announced on June 5. 

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
It was a mixed bag of results for former Halifax Mooseheads players at the World Championships. After Winnipeg was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, forward Nikolaj Ehlers joined host Denmark, making it six alumni participating in the tournament. The 29-year-old Ehlers helped his country to a 4th place finish, their best ever result, by scoring 3 goals in 4 games. They would battle against Nathan MacKinnon, MacKenzie Weegar and Canada in the quarter-finals, winning 2-1. MacKinnon recorded 13 points in 8 games but couldn't help the Canadians finish higher than 5th place. Filip Zadina and Czechia lost 5-2 to Sweden in the quarters. Nico Hischier was once again named captain of Switzerland but unfortunately got injured just a week into the competition, ending his tournament. Timo Meier finished 17th in scoring with 3 goals and 10 points as the Swiss lost a very tight final game, 1-0 in overtime to the United States.

Congratulations to Timo Meier, Nico Hischier and Switzerland on becoming silver medalists on May 25. 

Other things..

• Mooseheads alumni Maxime Fortier has signed on with SaiPa of Liiga for the 2025-26 season 
• The 2025 Memorial Cup is over for the two Q teams after the Rimouski Oceanic went 0-3 in the preliminary round while the Moncton Wildcats were defeated by London in the semi-finals 
• Beginning next year, the CHL along with its membership leagues, announced that Under Armour will be the exclusive jersey, footwear and apparel partner while Bauer will serve as the official equipment supplier 
• Another university commitment was made last week with assistant captain Braeden MacPhee joining the recruitment class for the UNB Reds 
• From Scott Wheeler; d-man Carlos Handel has been invited to this year's NHL draft combine which begins on Monday

Oceanic Advance, CHL Finals Set

Photo - Cataractes Twitter

The Rimouski Oceanic have advanced to the QMJHL championship series.

Former Halifax Mooseheads defenceman Jack Martin scored at the 5:49 mark of the second period to get the Oceanic on the board first in Game 7 of their semi-final against the Shawinigan Cataractes. It looked like it would be an easy win for Rimouski, who got out to a 3-0 lead but Cole Chandler scored for the Cats late in the frame before Shawinigan forced overtime with two more goals in the third period on Tuesday evening. Forward Eriks Mateiko scored his 6th goal of the playoffs in the 2nd OT period to send the Memorial Cup hosts off to the league final with a 4-3 victory. 

Every game was won by the home team in this series which doesn't happen very often. 

Rimouski will take on the Moncton Wildcats, who already advanced to the fourth round with a sweep against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, for the title. With this result, the Wildcats know they will also be in the 2025 version of the national tournament. 

Martin isn't the only Herd alumni that will be fighting for the Gilles Courteau Trophy this month as Rimouski also has Lou Levesque and Mathieu Cataford on their team while Mathis Rousseau, Logan Crosby, Markus Vidicek and Dylan MacKinnon suit up for Moncton. 

Below you will find the three league final series matchups. 

J. Ross Robertson Cup
#W1 London Knights vs. #E4 Oshawa Generals; series starts Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET

Ed Chynoweth Cup
#E1 Medicine Hat Tigers vs. #W3 Spokane Chiefs; series starts Friday at 7:00 p.m. MT

Gilles-Courteau Trophy
#1 Moncton Wildcats vs. #2 Rimouski Oceanic; series starts Saturday at 5:00 p.m. AT 

Fans can watch all the championship games across the CHL on TSN. 

Herd Word

WORLD U17
Halifax Mooseheads associate coach Brad MacKenzie assisted Canada White to a gold medal at the 2024 World U17 Hockey Challenge earlier this month in Sarnia. In the six team tournament, Canada White defeated Czechia and lost to Sweden in overtime during the preliminary round. It was an all Canada championship match. Congrats to Brad and the rest of Canada White on becoming the U17 champions. 

Photo - Hockey Canada website

NCAA RULE CHANGE
In a big move, the NCAA voted a couple weeks ago that players who have skated for any of the CHL teams will be allowed to play collegiate hockey in the USA effective August 1, 2025. Previously, CHL players had been considered professionals and barred because of the NCAA's amateurism rules, in part because some CHL have signed NHL entry-level contracts according to the NHL website. While it'll probably increase the pool of talented American players (or Canadians wanting to play college hockey in the States) for the QMJHL, OHL and WHL, it sounds like it could be detrimental to other junior leagues in the country. Universities in Canada will likely feel the affect of this rule change as well. One example of this already is star goaltender for the Moncton Wildcats, Jacob Steinman announced his commitment to play for the Bowling Green Falcons in 2024-25. 

Photo - Predators X

L'HEUREUX IN NHL
Former Herd forward Zachary L'Heureux made his NHL debut on October 22 and has been able to stay up in top league ever since with the Nashville Predators. The 21-year-old scored his first NHL goal on Monday. L'Heureux, a native of Montreal, QC, has an additional three assists for a total of 4 points in 15 games played. Congrats to Zach. 

ATTENDANCE
Despite being in a rebuild year, fans in Moose Country are still showing up - at least according to official numbers. The average attendance so far this season of 7,815 is fourth most in team history through the first 10 games. The top three seasons are 2012-13 (8,270) when the team was projected to win the President's Cup, 2018-19 (8,131) and 1999-00 (8,078). Both of the latter seasons were years that the Mooseheads were Memorial Cup hosts. In the summer, the club announced that season ticket holder seats were sold out so that is great considering the Mooseheads didn't have the hype that those other teams did. Whether it's the new arena features and added in-game experiences or the fact that the lineup on the ice has been competitive most games or the fact that half of the matches have been against Quebec teams, nice to see the fans continuing to support the team. 

MOOSE TRACKS
Episode 3 of Moose Tracks is up on YouTube now but you can watch below. I guess I never shared the first two but you can watch Episode 1 and Episode 2 on the team's channel as well. I believe they only did four episodes last season, so hopefully since this is the third one already they will be doing more this season. 

TREY LEWIS
Not sure if this was talked about in the above mentioned podcast but Willy Palov posted last week that a new biography about former captain Trey Lewis has hit bookstore shelves. The book is written in french and has been a project for New Brunswick native Bruno Richard since 2020. Richard said he conducted more than 50 interviews of Lewis's friends, former teammates and others who know him best according to the article. 

If you know french and enjoy hockey biographies, keep a look out for the book titled Mon idole, Trey Lewis at a store near you. 

Photo - Herd website

NEW TEAM THINGS
The club has announced a few new adventures this month and it began with the unveiling of a new bus. It features individual leather captain's chairs along with a new window layout and redesigned interior lighting which will provide a better passenger experience on their long road trips. Halifax also opened up a new physical team store that is at Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth. Fans can get everything that has been sold on the online shop the last few years but I think the store has a few small additional items. I checked it out today and they have some nice displays so check it out if you need to do some Christmas shopping. The store will be open during mall hours Monday-Friday. 

Scott MacIntosh and former Herd player Brad Cuzner launched the new Mooseheads podcast on Wednesday as well. I'm not sure how often they will put out a new episode but the first one is up on the team's YouTube channel now. Mooseheads ultimate tough guy Trey Lewis was a guest for this week, discussing his career with Halifax and what he has been up to since he graduated junior hockey. Check it out here. 

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? 

Herd Word

I can't believe today is Boxing Day and since we have a little break, I thought I would catch up on some news that has happened the past few weeks. The second half of the season should be an exciting time.

TOP PROSPECTS
The NHL/CHL top prospects game will make an appearance this season on January 25, 2023 and there will once again be a Halifax Mooseheads player on the roster. The Canadian Hockey League announced the 40 young men that will play in the game earlier this month. 17-year-old Mathieu Cataford will look to impress the scouts next month in Vancouver. Congrats to Mathieu and good luck, show them what you got. 

Photo - Mooseheads Twitter

DOUCET COMES TO HALIFAX
Our Halifax Mooseheads made yet another big trade last week, acquiring Alexandre Doucet from the Val-d'Or Foreurs. Doucet is from Sherbrooke, QC and has played his whole career with Val-d'Or. The 20-year-old has played really well this season in which he is leading the league in goals with 27 and is second in the Q in points. Halifax gave up three draft picks in the trade; 2023 1st round, 2024 2nd round and 2023 3rd rounder. "He's a game-changer. We think this trade gives us one of the best players in the league this season and makes our lineup even more dangerous than it already was," Cam Russell said. 

Halifax will have to deal with the overage situation now that the team has four players and clubs are only allowed three on their roster. Welcome to the team Alexandre. 

Biasca in pre-comp action
Photo - Swiss hockey Twitter

WORLD JUNIORS
The 2023 World Junior Hockey Championships begin today and while there won't be any Mooseheads players representing the home country Canada, Halifax will have a couple of guys on other country teams. Herd captain Attilio Biasca for the third straight year made Team Switzerland and will actually be wearing the C on his jersey for his country during the tournament. The Swiss are in Group B so they are playing in Moncton. Their first game is today at noon AT against Finland while they'll also play Slovakia, Latvia and the United States in round robin action. Meanwhile, defenseman David Moravec will look to help Team Czechia improve on their 4th place finish at the 2022 summer tournament. Czechia starts the week with a tilt against Canada this evening at 7:30pm AT. They'll also have matches versus Germany, Austria and Sweden. 

UPCOMING GAMES
Your Moose are back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to New Brunswick to battle the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The match will start a four game road stand for Halifax as the Scotiabank Centre is being used for the aforementioned World Juniors. Halifax will play two games in Cape Breton to end 2022 including a New Year's Eve afternoon tilt. Moose Country will have to wait until January 8 to see their team on home ice again. The club's first promotional match of 2023 takes place on January 14 with a t-shirt giveaway. 

Photo - Thunder Twitter

FOURNIER SIGNED BY CARDIFF
Former Halifax Mooseheads forward Stefan Fournier is headed overseas after being signed by the Cardiff Devils of the EIHL. Fournier has played the majority of the last five seasons with the ECHL's Wichita Thunder. The 30-year-old has recorded seven goals and 12 points in 17 games so far during the 2022-23 season. Cardiff doesn't expect the Dorval, QC native to play a game in Wales until December 31. "The reports we have on Stefan are very exciting, a player that I believe our fanbase will instantly embrace. He plays with an edge, throws his weight around, is willing to drop the gloves and scores dirty goals in front of the net," says Devils head coach Brodie Dupont. 

Good luck on the other side Stefan, Moose Country will be cheering for you. 

More Memorial Cup Info Announced

The Canadian Hockey League along with the Halifax Mooseheads and Kia have announced the game times for each of the 9 matches that will be played during the 2019 Memorial Cup. With the tournament being broadcasted on national television via Sportsnet, the majority of games will be at 8pm Atlantic time. The CHL announced the schedule a couple months ago but just released the time of puck drop today. Halifax will host the national tournament from May 16-26, 2019 at the Scotiabank Centre. This will be the second time that the Mooseheads have hosted the Memorial Cup, the last being in 2000. Below you will find the full schedule;

Friday May 17    8PM   WHL vs. HAL
Saturday May 18    4:30PM   QMJHL vs. OHL
Sunday May 19    8PM   HAL vs. OHL
Monday May 20    8PM   QMJHL vs. WHL
Tuesday May 21    8PM   OHL vs. WHL
Wednesday May 22    8PM   HAL vs. QMJHL
Thursday May 23    8PM   Tie-breaker
Friday May 24    8PM   Semi-final
Sunday May 26    8PM    FINAL

 

Late last week, the hosting committee announced that in addition to full tournament packages (which are still on sale), fans can also purchase 2-game packages which will go on sale February 22 at 11am. These packages can be bought at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, online at TicketAtlantic.com or by phone at 902-451-1221. They will start at $90 plus HST and service charge, and will include one game featuring the Halifax Mooseheads. For more information, click here.

Check back here as I will keep you updated on all the Memorial Cup info including the fan fest and gameday stuff.

Photo - Vincent Ethier (via Herd website)

CHL Announces New Partnership & Cup Logo

The Canadian Hockey League unveiled the logo for the 2019 Memorial Cup yesterday and also announced a new partnership with Kia Canada who will be a sponsor of the national tournament. With the Halifax Mooseheads hosting this year's tournament from May 17-26, Herd President Brian Urquhart was in attendance as the league made the announcement. Read the full press release below.

CHL Memorial Cup logo 2019
Photo - chl.ca

Quebec City, QC - The Canadian Hockey League in association with Kia Canada Inc. are proud to announce a new partnership whereby Kia Canada becomes the Official Automotive Partner of the Canadian Hockey League, Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, as well as new presenting sponsor of the Memorial Cup.

The new partnership officially launched today on CHL Facebook Live broadcasting media events in Quebec City and Calgary where the logo for the 2019 Memorial Cup Presented by Kia was unveiled and the host city for the 2020 Memorial Cup Presented by Kia was announced as Kelowna, British Columbia.

“On behalf of the Canadian Hockey League it is my pleasure to welcome Kia Canada to the CHL family,” said CHL President David Branch. “We are excited to work together to align our goals and build a strong partnership that includes creating a unique and memorable experience at our distinguished national championship. We look forward to the Memorial Cup Presented by Kia in Halifax this May, and our 2020 event in Western Canada.”

The Memorial Cup has a rich tradition that has shaped the way junior hockey is played in North America.  The trophy was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association in March, 1919, in remembrance of the many soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice for Canada in the First Wold War.  In 2010 the Memorial Cup was rededicated to the memory of all fallen Canadian Military Personnel.  Last season marked the centennial celebration of the Memorial Cup where it was presented for the 100th time to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Regina.  The 2019 Memorial Cup Presented by Kia will feature the host Halifax Mooseheads along with the champions from the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL competing May 16-26.

“At Kia, we believe in the power that sports have to bring people and communities together so, as we enter our 20th year in Canada, we are proud to be a new partner of the Canadian Hockey League – the highest junior echelon of Canada’s favourite sport,” said Michael Kopke, Director of Marketing, Kia Canada Inc. “With our industry-leading quality and advanced safety and technology features, Kia’s lineup is a great fit for the CHL and Canadian hockey families wanting to stay safe and warm on their way to the rink; and everyone at Kia will be working hard to drive our national past-time and working within communities across the country to provide more opportunities for Canadians to watch, play and love the sport of hockey.”

Kia Canada will also have the opportunity to engage with CHL fans and communities across the country as an associate partner of the CIBC Canada Russia Series and the Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.  Throughout the regular season they’ll help spotlight some of the league’s best teams with feature content and title sponsorship of the CHL’s popular weekly top-10 rankings, then join each regional league as a playoff partner during the stretch drive towards the Memorial Cup Presented by Kia.  With commitment to community top of mind, Kia Canada will also present Humanitarian of the Year awards in all three leagues and to a national recipient at the annual CHL Awards Ceremony.

Established in 1999, Kia Canada has achieved impressive growth including recent record years that exceeded over 70,000 annual vehicle sales through our 188 dealerships nationally.

Four Mooseheads named to Top Prospects game

The Canadian Hockey League along with the Guelph Storm and Sherwin-Williams announced the 40 players that will be participating in the upcoming CHL/NHL Prospects Game. For the sixth straight year, your Halifax Mooseheads have players named to the rosters. Halifax has 4 members who will participate this season, a record for the Moose and the most of any team this year. Alex Gravel, Jared McIssac and Benoit-Olivier Groulx were named to team one and Filip Zadina was named to team two for the game that will be held in Guelph, Ontario on January 25, 2018. The coaches will be named at a later date but most likely they will be Bobby Orr and Don Cherry. Team captains will be announced closer to the match.

The game will be yet another opportunity for Gravel, Groulx, McIssac, and Zadina to show National Hockey League scouts what they have and get their draft stock even higher. At the beginning of the season, Jared, Filip, and Benoit-Olivier had an 'A' rating meaning they are projected to go in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft in June, while Alex was a top-ranked NA goalie. On Sportsnet's list for December, SN has Filip ranked at number four, Benoit-Olivier is ranked at #27, Jared is ranked at number 10 while Alex is ranked as the second NA goalie for the draft.

Congratulations to Filip, Benoit-Olivier, Jared, Alex and the rest of the players named to Team Cherry and Team Orr. For the full release check here.

CHL Names Top Prospects Game Captains

Nico Hischier is having a good season and it just got a little greater.

Photo - CHL.ca

The Canadian Hockey League announced the captains and alternate captains for the 2017 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects game on Tuesday afternoon and the lone Halifax Moosehead player that will be participating in this year's match was among the players given the honour. Hischier was named the captain of Team Orr for the game. The 18 year old joins Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings who will captain Team Cherry. Assisting Nico on Team Orr are the Mississauga Steelheads Nicolas Hauge and Michael Rasmussen of the Tri-City Americans.

Congratulations to Nico on being named captain of on of the teams. Moose Country will be cheering you on during the game. The Naters, Switzerland native had this to say; "It feels really good (to be named captain) because it’s an honour for me and I’m really excited about it,” said Hischier. “It’s a good experience and a chance to meet new friends so it should be fun.”

You can watch the Top Prospects game on Sportsnet on January 30. The match pits the top 40 NHL draft eligible players that are playing in the CHL. This year's version will be hosted by the city of Quebec and the Quebec Remparts.

Mooseheads to bid for 2019 Memorial Cup

Photo - Vincent Ethier

Original story from Halifax Mooseheads' Scott MacIntosh

The Halifax Mooseheads are excited to announce their intentions to submit a bid to host the 101st Memorial Cup in Halifax in 2019.

“The Memorial Cup is a tribute to great Canadian heroism. For almost 100 years it has been the symbol of junior hockey supremacy,” said Mooseheads Majority owner Bobby Smith.

“Today we begin our efforts to showcase our hockey team, our organization, our terrific arena and our great city so that our fans can be treated to the 2019 Memorial Cup tournament.”

The 2018-2019 season will celebrate the 25th anniversary season of the Mooseheads. It will also be 20 seasons since the Club hosted its only previous Memorial Cup in 2000 when the hometown team electrified the city of Halifax and garnered national attention for the franchise. The fans were possibly the biggest story of the event in the spring of 2000 as 79,877 packed the Scotiabank Centre (then Metro Centre) for the eight-day tournament which at the time was the second highest total in the history of the Memorial Cup.

“Halifax loves hockey and we love the Moose! Not only would we pack the house for Memorial Cup 2019 like we did in 2000, we can be counted on to mobilize volunteers and create a warm East Coast welcome throughout the city for players and fans. It would be a special week,” said Mayor Mike Savage.

Halifax captured the franchise’s first and only Memorial Cup Championship in 2013 when Nathan MacKinnon scored a hat trick in the final to beat the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 in Saskatoon, SK. The team has since added an impressive young group of players and currently has 12 players on its roster 17-years-old and younger.

“The players that we have added to our roster over the past couple of years will be a solid core to build around,” said Mooseheads General Manager Cam Russell.

The Memorial Cup, one of the most prestigious and coveted trophies in North American sport, has a rich tradition that has shaped the way junior hockey is played in North America. The trophy was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association in March 1919, in remembrance of the many soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice for Canada in The First World War.  In 2010 the Memorial Cup was rededicated to the memory of all fallen Canadian Military Personnel.

The winning bid of the 2019 Memorial Cup is expected to be announced in spring of 2018.

Hosting the Memorial Cup again would be awesome for the fans, the city of Halifax and the Canadian Hockey League. Halifax has always been a great place to watch hockey and the East Coast crazy about the sport. It would be an excellent way to end the Mooseheads 25th season and celebrate is with fans across the country. Good luck to Cam Russell, Bobby Smith and company on the bid, I really hope we get it. There are rumours saying that the Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats are going to bid as well but I have not seen anything for sure. 

Former Moose Players on Memorial Cup Hosts

As we all know by now, three former Halifax Mooseheads players are going to be playing in their second Memorial Cup tournament.

Zach Fucale began the 2015 QMJHL playoffs as the back up to Callum Booth but took over mid way through the first round. He led his Quebec Remparts past 3 series' against teams he used to play 8 or 9 times a season. First the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in 7 games, then sweeping the Charlottetown Islanders and Moncton Wildcats in the second and third rounds respectively. Matt Murphy might have caused the Remparts the Q championship with a bad penalty but he'll have at the very least 3 more games to redeem himself. We'll have to wait and see if Brian Lovell will play in the tournament. 

The 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup logo on Colisee Pepsi ice
Photo - mastercardmemorialcup.ca

The Memorial Cup host Quebec Remparts are joined by the team they lost to in the President Cup finals; the Rimouski Oceanic, the OHL champion Oshawa Generals and the WHL champion Kelowna Rockets.

Rimouski ended the season atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 99 points. The Oceanic defeated the 16th place Victoriaville Tigres in 4 games, the 14th place Gatineau Olympiques in 5 games and the 6th place Val-d'Or Foreurs in 4 games. Their series against the 4th place Remparts was the most adversity that they faced during this year's playoffs, having to come from behind twice and win in double overtime in Game 7 to win the President Cup.

Oshawa finished the year first in the Eastern Conference and second overal in the Ontario Hockey League with 108 points. The Generals beat the 8th place Peterborough Petes in 5 games, the 5th place Niagara IceDogs in 5 games and the 3rd place North Bay Battalion in six games. They then went on to face Connor McDavid and the Western second place Erie Otters defeating them in 5 games to win the J. Robertson Cup. 

Kelowna ended the season first in the Western Conference and second overall in the Western Hockey League with 112 points. The Rockets defeated the eigth place Tri-City Americans in four games, the fifth place Victoria Royals in five games and the third place Portland Winterhawks in six games. They then swept the Brandon Wheat Kings to take home the Ed Chynoweth Cup. 

These 4 teams will play in the 10 day tournament, each playing one game against the other three teams with the top team advancing directly to the championship game. 

Below is the full schedule (all times Atlantic):

May 22 Kelowna vs. Quebec 8:30 p.m.

May 23 Rimiouski vs. Oshawa 5:30 p.m. 

May 24 Quebec vs. Oshawa 5:30 p.m. 

May 25 Rimouski vs. Kelona 8:30 p.m.

May 26 Oshawa vs. Kelowna 8:30 p.m.

May 27 Quebec vs. Rimouski 8:30 p.m.

May 28 Tie-breaker 8:30 p.m.

May 29 Semi-final 8:30 p.m.

May 31 Championship 8:00 p.m.

Good luck to all four teams! Who do you think will win the Memorial Cup? 

Herd Word

CHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Canadian Hockey League announced it's player of the week today. After being named the first star of the QMJHL for the week of March 2-8, Danish forward Nikolaj Ehlers was named the CHL Player of the Week. The 19 year old had 12 points and a plus/minus rating of plus-8. This is the second time Ehlers has been given the honour this season. Read the full press release here. Congrats once again Nikolaj.

UNIVERSITY CUP

CIS University Cup logo
via ticketatlantic.ca

The Canadian Interuniversity Sport's hockey championships are less than 48 hours away. This year they will be hosted at the Scotiabank Centre by the St. FX X-Men and will be held March 12-March 15. There are 7 former Mooseheads players in the tournament, all on Atlantic University Sport teams. The host X-Men will be joined by the Alberta Golden Bears, UNB Varsity Reds, Guelph Gryphons, Windsor Lancers, Acadia Axemen, Patriotes UQTR and Calgary Dinos. The quarterfinals will be held on Thursday and Friday with the winners playing in the semis on Saturday. The bronze medal and championship games will be on Sunday at 2pm and 6:30pm respectively. Click here for the University Cup website and a more in depth look at the tournament.

KID MACK HURT
Former Halifax Mooseheads player Nathan MacKinnon won't be playing hockey for awhile. The current Colorado Avalanche forward will be out for 6-8 weeks with a broken foot. The reigning NHL rookie of the year sustained the injury on Wednesday in the Avs 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Unless Colorado makes the playoffs, MacKinnon's season is done. The Avalanche are currently 7 points out of a playoff position with 16 games to go.

CROSSLEY
It's been almost a week since the scary moment that happened last Wednesday in a game versus the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Elijah Francis laid out a hit on rookie Brett Crossley near the boards and the 17 year old Mooseheads forward was stretchered off the ice after laying still for about 10 minutes. Luckily, Crossley is doing okay after the hit. His father Brad had this to say on Facebook on Thursday.

METRO NEWS 
Coach Domique Ducharme told the Metro News that the QMJHL reffing has 'been ridiculous in the last seven, eight games we've played in the Maritimes Division'. For the full article click here.

NEXT UP
Your Halifax Mooseheads will be on the road this weekend, travelling to Bathurst and Saint John. The Herd will visit the Titan on Friday night and than the Sea Dogs on Saturday night. Friday's match-up will be the last of the season series between the Moose and Titan. Halifax is 5-3-0-0 against Acadie-Bathurst this year. The Moose will be meeting Saint John again after this weekend, in the season finale for both teams. Halifax has yet to beat the Dogs this season, going 0-5-1-0 against them.

LIVE TWEETS
Talking about this weekend, I will be heading up to Saint John to watch the boys play and as such will be doing some live tweeting. Let's pray I don't forget my phone charger like I did last year! Though I will be going to the last two home games of the regular season, Saturday's away match-up will be my last live tweet until the playoffs.

Konecny, Meier Lead Team Orr

Timo Meier certainly did not hurt his draft stock during last night's BMO Top Prospects game.

The Halifax Mooseheads forward help lead his team, under coach Bobby Orr, to a 6-0 victory over the team coached by Don Cherry. Meier, who hails from Harisu, Switzerland, scored a first period goal and assisted on two others. The 18 year old was playing on a line with top ranked Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters and Ottawa 67's sophmore Travis Konecny. McDavid had an assist in a game that was sold out because everyone wants to see this kid play. He created plenty of plays for Timo and Konecny to use to get their points however. Travis scored two goals and had an assist for Team Orr and received the player of the game. 

Here is the NHL.com's recap.

Meier in Prospects game

The Canadian Hockey League along with the the Niagara IceDogs and BMO Financial Group announced the 40 players that will be participating in the upcoming CHL/NHL Prospects Game. For the third straight year, your Halifax Mooseheads have a player named to one of the rosters. Swiss player Timo Meier was named to team Orr for the game that will be held in Niagara, Ontario on January 22, 2015.

The game will be yet another opportunity for Meier to show National Hockey League scouts what he has and get his draft stock even higher. At the beginning of the season, Timo had a 'B' rating meaning he was projected to go in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft I. June. About a month ago, that rating was bumped to 'A' (first round projection). On Craig Button's list he jumped from being projected going in picks 80-89 to pick 35. Meier will also be hoping to show of his skills on the world stage with his home country Switzerland during the 2015 World Juniors. 

Congratulations to Timo and the rest of the players named to Team Cherry and Team Orr. For the full release check here. 

Tuesday Thoughts

Here are some news and thoughts to get your Tuesday night started.

INJURIES
Cavan Fitzgerald is still out with a broken patella (knee cap) but will likely be back either this weekend or next when the Mooseheads are on the road. Two injuries came from this past weekend's games. Rookie Brett Crossley sustained a concussion in Friday night's win over provincial rivals after getting elbowed in the head by Cape Breton's Pierre-Luc Dubois at Scotiabank Centre. Dubois has since been suspended until further notice. The next evening in Sydney, captain Ryan Falkenham suffered a lower body injury. Falkenham will be out 6-8 weeks.

Photo via halifaxmooseheads.ca

EHLERS
Danish forward Nikolaj Ehlers will be at the Joe Howe Superstore on Wednesday night to sign autographs. It was announced a couple weeks ago that he is among the 24 CHL players who have hockey cards in select boxes of Post Foods Canada cereals. Ehlers will be at the Superstore between 6:30 and 7:30 tomorrow night.


FUCALE
Mooseheads goaltender Zachary Fucale is among the 20 or so Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players that will be playing against the Russian juniors this week. The two teams will play a game tonight in Bathurst, New Brunswick and than again on Thursday night in Rimouski, Quebec. It was announced earlier today that Fucale will get the start for Team QMJHL. You can watch both games on Sportsnet beginning at 8pm Atlantic time.

CHRISTMOOSE SKATE
It hasn't been officially announced but if you check on the team website, Halifax has put up a new event; the Christmoose Skate. The event will take pl

Photo courtesy of:
Vincent Ethier on QMJHL's twitter

ace December 16th from 6:30 until 8pm and is only open to full and 15 game season ticket holders. It's a fun evening where fans can skate with the team and get pictures and autographs. Bring the family and have a great night.

UP NEXT
Your Halifax Mooseheads will play twice this weekend, both at home. Frederik Gauthier and the Rimouski Oceanic will be in town for their first trip to the Scotiabank Centre on Saturday. Puck drops will be 7pm at the Scotiabank Centre. While Ivan Barbashev, Vladimir Tkachev and the Moncton Wildcats makes another visit to Moose Country on Sunday evening. Puck drops at 4pm.

CHL Releases 2015 Memorial Cup Logo

The logo for the 2015 Memorial Cup tournament that will be held in Quebec City, QC in May of 2015 by the Quebec Remparts. Not much to say, it looks basically like the other ones. See below at the official press release.

CHL Memorial Cup logo 2015
Photo: qmjhl.ca

Toronto, ON - The Canadian Hockey League in association with the host organizing committee for the 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup are proud to unveil the official logo for next year’s championship.

The 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup logo features a Rempart.  The Remparts of Quebec City are the only remaining fortified city walls in North America.  The English began fortifying the existing walls, after they took Quebec City from the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.  The wall surrounds most of Old Quebec, which was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985. The fortifications were designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1948 and today, the Remparts have four surviving gates which are Porte St. Jean, Porte St. Louis, Porte Prescott and Porte Kent.

"When you talk about Quebec City, the Remparts are a must to describe the old part of Quebec City”, said Claude Rousseau, president of the 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup Host Committee.  “The Memorial Cup is named to honour those who have served in Canadian’s Armed Forces and it is therefore fitting that a Rempart be featured in the official logo for the 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Québec.  This architectural ensemble consists of 4.6 km of remparts encircling the Old City and the Citadelle, a military installation and official residence of both the Monarch of Canada and the Governor General of Canada.  Since 1920, the Cidatelle is also the ceremonial home of the Royal 22nd Regiment, a francophone regiment, which comprises three Regular Forcebattalions, two Primary Reserve battalions and a band, making it the largest regiment in the Canadian Army”, concluded Mr. Rousseau.

Québec was founded by the French explorer Champlain in the early 17th Century.  It is the only North American City to have preserved its remparts, together with the numerous bastions, gates and defensive works which still surround Old Québec. The Upper Town, built on the cliff, is characterised  by monuments like the Citadel and the Château Frontenac. Together with the Lower Town and its ancient districts, it forms an urban ensemble which is one of the best examples of a fortified colonial city.  The CHL and the Québec Remparts are proud to feature a Rempart as a symbol of the 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup logo.

The 2015 logo also features the traditional likeness of the Memorial Cup trophy atop logos for the CHL and MasterCard currently in their 16th straight year as title sponsor of the event, along with a poppy at the centre of the logo symbolizing the event’s longstanding support of Canadian Armed Forces.

The 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup will mark the 97th edition of the prestigious national championship and takes place May 21-31 at the Colisee Pepsi featuring the host Quebec Remparts along with the champions of the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

For more information please visit www.mastercardmemorialcup.ca.

Weekend Roundup

Well it's almost the end of the weekend so I thought I would break down what has happened in the last 48 hours for current and former Mooseheads, as well as some other news.

MACKINNON
Former star Moose player Nathan MacKinnon has been just as much of a star on the Colorado Avalanche as he was here in Halifax. In two games earlier in the week in San Jose, Nathan was held pointless in two Avalanche losses that made their playoff series with the Sharks tied 2-2. Back home on Saturday night, like the Moose were, MacKinnon had an assist on Colorado's second goal and its third which tied the game with less than 2 minutes left. He than scored the overtime winner to give the Avs a 3-2 series lead. He leads the NHL in points with 10 now after his three point night.

ALUM IN AHL
There are a few former Mooseheads playing in the American Hockey League. Alexandre Grenier of the Utica Comets and Konrad Abeltshauser of the Worcester Sharks had a good season for their respective teams but they couldn't help them get into the playoffs. Konrad finished the season with 6 goals and 21 points in 57 games. He was also named the Sharks "Man of the Year". In 68 games, Grenier was 4th in team scoring with 17 goals and 39 points. Andrew Bodnarchuk and the Manchester Monarchs have played two games in the playoffs against the Norfolk Admirals. Andrew is a -1 and has 3 shot on goal through 2 games. He finished the regular season with 8 goals and 32 points in 73 games.

SATURDAY'S MOOSE GAME
When everybody thought they were out, they have come storming back and now lead the series thanks to a 4-3 overtime win last night. Maxime Fortier scored his first ever QMJHL goal to win the game for Halifax. The Mooseheads got out to a 2-0 lead after Andrew Ryan scored 25 seconds into the second period but with the help of Anthony Mantha's two goals and former Moosehead Randy Gazzola's two helpers, Val-d'Or was up 3-2 with 18 minutes left in the game. Austyn Hardie tied it and the goalies took over after that making good saves. With the win, Halifax leads the semi final series 3-2 and Game 6 is Monday night in Val-d'Or.

FORMER HERD VISIT MOOSE COUNTRY
Abeltshauser, Chris Clarke, Trey Lewis and Stephen MacAulay were all in attendance at the electric Metro Centre for Saturday's game. Fans were quite happy and the boys even took pictures with some of them.

QMJHL NEWS
So the Blainville/Baie-Comeau series is getting interesting. The Drakkar were able to tie the game up at 2 with less than 3 minutes left to force overtime and took the game 3-2 with Valentin Zykov scoring the game winner for Baie-Comeau at 8:16 of the first OT. That series is now tied at 3 games a piece. Game 7 goes on Tuesday.

CHL NEWS
The other two leagues' cup finals are set now. The Ontario Hockey League final was determined on Friday after Guelph won Game 5 against the Erie Otters 5-0 to win their series 4-1. The Storm will face the North Bay Battalion for the OHL championship. With the Edmonton Oil Kings defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-3 last night, they will now face the Portland Winterhawks for the WHL championship. This is the third straight year the Hawks and Oil Kings have met in the final series.

Ehlers Named An Alternate.

Leading rookie scorer of your Halifax Mooseheads and the QMJHL Nikolaj Ehlers was named an alternate captain of Team Orr at the BMO CHL Top Prospects Game.

The game, which pits the top 40 National Hockey League draft eligible prospects against each other, will be played on January 15 in Calgary, Alberta. This year there's only one Mooseheads player playing in the game. Halifax hosted last year's event and had three players in the game. With a game postponed last week, Ehlers will have to miss the makeup game which is also being played on Wednesday.

Congratulations to Nikolaj and the other 5 captains that were named Thursday morning. For the full story click here.

Memorial Cup update

The Herd have been busy already at the 2013 Memorial Cup in Saskatoon. They left on a charter flight just before noon Atlantic time yesterday to head to the host city. The team landed about 3pm and were greeted by media on the tarmac. The other two teams left their respective cities a little before Halifax landed considering they are closer.

Last night was the 'Meet the Coaches' media event. Before the four coaches took questions, they took a picture with the ultimate prize; the Memorial Cup. None of them touched it of course.

Zach Fucale, goalie for your Halifax Mooseheads was named yesterday morning as CHL Goalie of the Week with a 2-1 record last week and a goals against average of 2.35. He was also named Goalie of the Week after the first week of April. Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks was named CHL Player of the Week.

Good luck to the Halifax Mooseheads. First game is Saturday against Portland.

Record breaking season

Not only did your Halifax Mooseheads break their own attendance record this season but they also broke many other franchise records throughout the season. These include most assists by a rookie d, all-time wins leader, most wins in a season by a goalie, most road wins in a season, all time leading points by a defenceman. There were also many milestones reached throughout the season as well. These include 100th game, 150th game, 200th game, 250th game, 100 and 150 career points; and 30 career powerplay goals.

Most assists by a rookie defenceman: MacKenzie Weegar - 36 - record passed February 6, 2013 (Jeff Sullivan 23 1996-97)
Most wins in a season by a goalie: Zach Fucale - 45 - record passed February 16, 2013 (Dany Dallaire 35 2001-02)
All-time wins leader: Zach Fucale - 69 - record passed February 17, 2013 (Jean-Sebastien Giguere 68 2003-04)
All time points leader, defenceman: Konrad Abeltshauser - 136 - record passed January 18, 2013 (Jasmin Gelinas 130 1998-00)
Most wins in a season: 58 - franchise record passed February 20, 2013 (46 wins by 1998-99 team)
Most points in a season: 120 - franchise record passed February 27, 2013 (101 points by 2002-03 team)
First career goal: Brennan Bailey (recorded February 17, 2013), Brian Lovell (recorded February 15, 2013), Liam Alcalde (recorded February 8, 2013)
100th game: Ryan Falkenham (milestone reached March, 2013), Nathan MacKinnon (milestone reached March 13, 2013), Austyn Hardie (milestone reached January 13, 2013), Zach Fucale (milestone reached February 6, 2013)
150th game: Luca Ciampini (milestone reached January 25, 2013), Marty Frk (milestone reached March 13, 2013), Matt Boudreau (milestone reached March 17, 2013)
200th game: Konrad Abeltshauser (milestone reached January 31, 2013)
250th game: Brent Andrews (milestone reached February 22, 2013)
100 career points: Jonathan Drouin (milestone reached February 6, 2013), Brent Andrews (milestone reached January 18, 2013), Luca Ciampini (milestone reached January 11, 2013), Matt Boudreau (milestone reached November 30, 2012)
150 career points: Nathan MacKinnon (milestone reached March 13, 2013), Darcy Ashley (milestone reached February 16, 2013), Marty Frk (milestone reached February 24, 2013), Konrad Abeltshauser (milestone reached March 6, 2013)
30 career ppg: Matthew Boudreau (milestone reached February 24, 2013)


CHL/QMJHL/team awards
Mooseheads Scholastic Player of the Month (October) - Ryan Falkenham
Mooseheads Scholastic Player of the Month (November & December) - Zach Fucale
Mooseheads Scholastic Player of the Month (January) - Stephen Fournier
Mooseheads Scholastic Player of the Month (February) - Liam Alcalde
1st star of the month (February) - Jonathan Drouin
2nd star of the month (September & October) - Nate MacKinnon
2nd star of the month (December) - Matt Boudreau
2nd star of the month (March) - Zach Fucale
Telus Q 1st star of the week (September 24 & February 25) - Jonathan Drouin
Telus Q 1st star of the week (February 4) - Zach Fucale
Telus Q 2nd star of the week (October 22) - Nate MacKinnon
Telus Q 2nd star of the week (October 8 & 29) - Jonathan Drouin
Telus Q 2nd star of the week (January 21) - Mack Weegar
Telus Q 2nd star of the week (March 11) - Zach Fucale
Telus Q 3rd star of the week (February 4 & February 18) - Jonathan Drouin
CHL Player of the week (September 23) - Jonathan Drouin
CHL Goalie of the Week (February 18) - Zach Fucale
QMJHL Dickies Hardest Working Player of the Year - Darcy Ashley

MacKinnon, Drouin, Andrews and Fucale were named to Team QMJHL for the Subway Series. MacKinnon (captain), Drouin (alternate) and Fucale (starting goalie) were named to Team Cherry for the prospects game.
The Moose and the city of Halifax were selected to host the 2013 CHL/NHL top prospects game. The Herd also played their 1300th regular season game this season.