QMJHL Season Begins Tonight

The 2021-22 QMJHL regular season begins this evening with the defending champion Victoriaville Tigres hosting the Shawinigan Cataractes at 8 p.m. Atlantic time. 

Some news before we get into the previews. 

Last week, the Canadian Hockey League announced that the 2021 CIBC Canada Russia Series will not be played given the ongoing challenges presented by the global pandemic. Details regarding the 2022 event will be announced at a later. This kind of sucks as it would've been nice to see if a couple of Halifax Mooseheads players were invited. We'll have to wait now most likely until December to see if Zachary L'Heureux and Elliot Desnoyers or any other guys will participate in Team Canada's world junior camp.

Three of the four current Mooseheads players that were invited to NHL main camps have been reassigned back to the junior club earlier this week. Bobby Orr and Cameron Whynot were released from the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames respectively on Saturday meanwhile Zachary L'Heureux got sent down by the Nashville Predators on Monday. From the Herd's preview for the home opener, L'Heureux is currently day-to-day with an upper body injury suffered at Predators camp last week. He is also due to serve the remaining three games of a four-game suspension to start the year after receiving the sentence on April 13th of last season. 

James Swan and Attilio Biasca will be out to start the season after both players suffered hand injuries during training camp and remain on the sideline indefinitely with a mid-to-late October return timeframe. Halifax is hopeful that they will have forwards Jordan Dumais and Vincent Gauthier in the lineup when puck drops tomorrow night after they both received injuries as well. 

Welcome back Moose Country! The Halifax Mooseheads have been permitted by the Nova Scotian government to host games at full capacity once again. Proof of full vaccination will be required meanwhile masks will still be mandatory for the immediate future. Check out the video the team put out to hype up fans. 

Even though our Halifax Mooseheads failed to make the CHL Top 10 pre-season rankings, which were released today, I thought I would share the list anyways. There are four QMJHL teams who got ranked with two of them coming from the Maritimes division. Another Maritime club is in the honourable mentions (London Knights, Charlottetown Islanders, Brandon Wheat Kings). 

Now let's get to the previews from other media personnel.

• Sportsnet has one question for every team in the Quebec league. 
• Junior hockey is finally getting back to normal after the pandemic wiped out the 2020 post-season for all 3 leagues under the CHL and the Ontario Hockey League lost it's entire 2020-21 season. 
• CBC Sports' Rob Pizzo and CHL play-by-play man Victor Findlay try to preview the season below. 
  
  
  
  
• Saltwire's Willy Palov, who has been covering the Halifax Mooseheads for years, has shared his thoughts on how good the Herd will be this year. 
• Most analysts have Halifax finishing the regular season 4th in the Maritimes division including Stephane Leroux from RDS and Palov from Saltwire

Yes it's going to be another different season but I am really excited to get back to cheering for the boys and hopefully it will be much more normal year. With a number of the Mooseheads' leading scorers returning and being a year older, Halifax should have an offensive team and could make some waves in what will be a tough Maritime division. Go Moose Go! See you Saturday Moose Country. 

Photos - QMJHL, Mooseheads & CHL websites

Canada/Russia Series Rosters Announced

Photo - Harbour Station website

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League along with the Canadian Hockey League, the hosting teams and Hockey Canada announced the roster for the upcoming Canada-Russia Series. Saint John, NB and Moncton, NB will host the first two games of the series on November 4 and 5, respectively.

Halifax has five players named to be apart of the team. I believe this is the most players that our Mooseheads have had be on the announced roster. However, Jared McIsaac is still out recovering from shoulder surgery and is not expected to return until at least the end of November so he most likely will not play. Other players on the roster from the Herd include; goaltender Alexis Gravel, defenseman Justin Barron, forwards Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Raphael Lavoie.

A number of 2020 NHL draft prospects cracked the roster, giving fans across the country a chance to see what they can do. All six games during the series will be broadcasted on Sportsnet at 8pm Atlantic time for the Q and OHL matches.

Full roster
GOALTENDERS
Gravel, Alexis (HAL)
Rodrigue, Olivier (MON)

DEFENSEMEN
Barron, Justin (HAL)
Bergeron, Justin (ROU)
Bolduc, Samuel (BLB)
Bouchard, Xavier (BAC)
Cormier, Lukas (CHA)
Guenette, Maxence (VDO)
McIsaac, Jared (HAL)
Poirier, Jeremie (SNB)
Spence, Jordan (MON)

FORWARDS
Beaucage, Alex (ROU)
Bourque, Mavrik (SHA)
Element, Shawn (BAT)
Fortier, Gabriel (BAC)
Groulx, Benoit-Olivier (HAL)
Laferriere, Mathias (CAP)
Lafreniere, Alexis (RIM)
Lapierre, Hendrix (CHI)
Lavoie, Raphael (HAL)
Legare, Nathan (BAC)
Mercer, Dawson (DRU)
Pelletier, Jakob (MON)
Poulin, Samuel (SHE)
Simoneau, Xavier (DRU)

Press release.

Herd Word

Photo - Mariners Twitter

FRED PAGE CUP
A couple of former Halifax Mooseheads forwards will be hoping to represent eastern Canada at the Royal Bank Cup by winning the Fred Page Cup later this week. Brett Crossley, who played for the Herd from 2014 to 2018, helped his Yarmouth Mariners win the MJAHL playoff championship earlier in April. Crossley had 4 goals and 16 points in 14 games. The Mariners will join the Princeville Titan (LHJQ champions) and Ottawa Jr. A Senators (CCHL champions) as well as host Amherst Ramblers in the tournament. Amherst has another Moose alum in Caleb Rich who played for Halifax during the 2016-17 season. This is Rich's second season with the Ramblers. The Fred Page Cup is played from May 1-5, 2019.

Congrats to Brett and the Mariners on winning the Kent Cup. Good luck to all the teams and players,

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Mooseheads goaltender Alexis Gravel was named the QMJHL's player of the week for the week ending May 29. The Asbestos, QC native had a 3-1 record over the past week in the playoffs with a 0.938 save percentage to help Halifax advance to the President Cup finals. In the three home games during their series with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, Gravel was named the first star after facing 35, 35 and 34 shots respectively in Game 3, 4 and 6. He was also named the CHL goaltender of the week today.

HOSTS
The Canadian Hockey League announced on April 19 the 6 host cities for the upcoming Canada/Russia series. Both QMJHL arenas are in the province of New Brunswick. For the 2nd time in the last three years, the Moncton Wildcats will be hosting a game. Below is the full schedule

Game 1 - Monday November 4 at Saint John, NB
Game 2 - Tuesday November 5 at Moncton, NB
Game 3 - Thursday November 7 at Kitchener, ON
Game 4 - Monday November 11 at London, ON
Game 5 - Wednesday November 13 at Saskatoon, SK
Game 6 - Thursday November 14 at Prince Albert, SK

QMJHL DRAFT
On the same day the Canada/Russia series hosts were announced, the QMJHL had their draft lottery and the winner ended up being the Saint John Sea Dogs. Even though they finished 17th in the league, Saint John had just a 4.8% chance to get the first overall pick because of trades that happened during the season. Val-d'Or received the Sea Dogs original pick while the pick Saint John won on was originally Blainville-Boisbriand's. For full story, click here.

MacKinnon getting interviewed on Sportsnet after Game 2
Photo - Avalanche Twitter

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs has finished and the final 8 teams have started to battle each other. There are three alumnus still in the running for the ultimate trophy, two of them are battling each other. Nathan MacKinnon helped the Colorado Avalanche advance to the second round for the first time since the 2007-08 season. MacKinnon had 3 goals and 8 points in 5 games versus the Calgary Flames and the Avalanche are now taking on the San Jose Sharks. Nathan has been getting a lot of praise from his peers and fans a like.

The Sharks include former Herd Timo Meier who had a goal and 4 points in their opening series against the Vegas Golden Knights. In the Eastern conference, Brad Marchand, who played 26 games with Halifax, and the Boston Bruins are taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round. Marchand scored all 9 of his points in the 1st round.

Herd Word

Photo - Q twitter

GRAVEL
Veteran goaltender Alexis Gravel had a great week and the QMJHL plus CHL have recognized his success this past weekend. Gravel was named the player of the week for the week ending October 15. The 18 year old started in two of the 3 games the Mosoeheads had last week and had a 2-0 record including a 5-0 shutout win on Sunday against Bathurst. He now has a 2.51 goals against average on the season which is good enough for 6th in the league. On Tuesday, the Asbestos, QC native was also named the Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Week.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
The QMJHL also announced the team of the week on Monday which included Gravel and defenceman Jared McIsaac. Congrats to both boys. Halifax has had a strong start to the season and with the return of McIsaac, the club seems to have figured out the defense allowed just 2 goals in the last week. Jared played it's first game of the season on Thursday and has a goal and three assists in three games.

CAPTAIN
On Wednesday, the Herd finally announced their leadership group. I'm not sure what took so long but it will be nice to see a C on someone when the team takes on the Moncton Wildcats tonight. Cam Russell, Eric Veilleux and the brass have named veteran Antoine Morand captain for the 2018-19 season. The 19-year-old was traded by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan back in June to Halifax after winning the Memorial Cup with the Titan.

Morand will be joined by Samuel Asselin, Jared McIsaac, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Joel Bishop who were all named alternate captains and will split duties between road and home games. Asselin has scored quite a bit this season after being acquired a few days into the regular season from Bathurst and is 5th in team scoring. Benoit-Olivier Groulx is just above Samuel in team scoring with 11 points and I'm sure is hoping to have a good season after getting drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in June. Bishop has played just one game so far this year before going down with an injury but it sounds like he will be back in the lineup tonight in Moncton.

Congrats guys.

CANADA RUSSIA SERIES
More news came from the league offices on Wednesday morning as the QMJHL announced its roster for the Canada/Russia series that will be played next month. A total of five current Mooseheads were named to the roster. Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Justin Barron, Raphael Lavoie, Jared McIsaac and Antoine Morand will represent Halifax when Team QMJHL takes on Russia in the final two games on Tuesday November 13 in Sherbrooke, QC and Thursday November 15 in Drummondville, QC. According to the team's press release, this is the second time that McIsaac and Groulx have participated in this event and the third time for Morand after representing Bathurst in 2016 & 2017. For Lavoie and Barron, who both have yet to be drafted into the NHL, it is their first time. This event, which will be held in four other cities before coming to Quebec, is another step on the way to Hockey Canada selecting who will represent the maple leaf at the 2019 World Juniors. Below is the full roster.

Photo - Q website

TOP 10
Your Halifax Mooseheads stayed at number 3 in this week's KIA CHL Top 10 rankings despite a 3-0 record over the last 7 days. The Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL took over first spot, displacing the Baie-Comeau Drakkar who fell to #7.

Week 5 rankings:
1. Prince Albert Raiders {11-1-0-0}   last week: 2
2. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies {9-1-0-0}   last week: 6
3. Halifax Mooseheads {8-2-0-0}   last week: 3
4. Victoria Royals {7-1-0-0}   last week: 4
5. Peterborough Petes {8-2-0-0}   last week: n/a
6. Vancouver Giants {9-1-1-0}   last week: 7
7. Baie Comeau Drakkar {8-2-0-1}   last week: 1
8. Ottawa 67's {8-3-0-0}   last week: n/a
9. Saginaw Spirit {6-2-1-0}   last week: n/a
10. Guelph Storm {6-2-1-0}   last week: 9
Honourable mention: Seattle Thunderbirds {6-1-1-0}, Moncton Wildcats {6-3-1-0}, Mississauga Steelheads {6-2-1-0}

Moose Players in Canada-Russia Series

Photo - CHL Twitter

Some big news came out of the CHL earlier this month when the league, along with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, announced it’s roster for the Canada-Russia series that will be played in 6 cities during November. Four Halifax Mooseheads players were among those listed on the team. Veterans Jocktan Chainey and Arnaud Durandeau will suit up for Team QMJHL along with sophomore teammates Jared McIsaac and Benoit-Olivier Groulx. They’ll be joined by other draft eligible players like Noah Dobson of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Saint John Sea Dog’s Joe Veleno. Other big names on the roster are goaltender Samuel Harvey of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles’ forward Drake Batherson.

The Canada-Russia series is an annual event where each league in the Canadian Hockey League plays two games against a Russian squad. It helps Hockey Canada determine which players they want to bring to the World Junior Hockey Championships which for 2019 will be held in Buffalo, NY. For the Q portion of the series, the Charlottetown Islanders and Moncton Wildcats will host a match each on November 14 and November 16 respectively. Former Mooseheads head coach Dominique Ducharme will be behind the bench once again to coach Team QMJHL.

Congratulations to Jocktan, Jared, Benoit and Arnaud on being named to the roster. Moose Country is excited to watch and cheer you guys on.

Fortier named to Team QMJHL's roster

Photo - Metro News

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced it's roster today for the Canada-Russia Series that will be held next month in Rouyn-Noranda and Halifax. Mooseheads forward Maxime Fortier was listed on the roster. 

The Canada-Russia Series is a series of six games played across Canada with players trying to showcase they deserve to be on the world junior teams for each country. This season, the city of Halifax will host the last game of the series, which will be played on November 19. Other cities include; Kelowna and Kamloops, British Columbia as well as Owen Sound and Windsor, Ontario. Head coach Dominique Ducharme will be the top bench boss for Team QMJHL and will be joined by Martin Raymond, Darren Rumble and Gilles Bouchard.

Tickets for the game in Moose Country are on sale now for the general public. Adult/Senior tickets are $22 each while Student/Youth are $12 each and can be purchased at TicketAtlantic.com, the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstores or by calling 1-877-451-1221.