Mooseheads Upset Drummondville

Photo - Saltwire

Mooseheads move on to round 2! There's something I did not think I would be writing in 2025 but our Halifax Mooseheads have won their series after picking up a 2-0 victory on Tuesday night against the Voltigeurs in Drummondville. It was a pretty even first period with the two teams going to the dressing rooms tied 0-0 after 20 minutes and shots 12-11 in favour of the home team. A couple of Drummondville penalties was all the excitement really in the opening period. It seemed like it would be a scoreless game after two periods but with 64 seconds remaining in the frame, rookie forward Carlos Handel broke the deadlock. The Volts even had a 4 minute power play after Shawn Carrier took a high sticking penalty just under six minutes into the second but the Moose killed it off. Shots after 40 minutes were 20-19. Drummondville stepped up their pressure in the final frame though to try and tie the game, outshooting Halifax 18-4 but I would say Moose goaltender Jacob Steinman was not ready to finish his junior hockey career yet as he picked up the shutout. Liam Kilfoil sealed the win by scoring into the empty net with less than a minute remaining. 

FINAL: Mooseheads 2 at Voltigeurs 0
Stars: 3. Carlos Handel HAL | 2. Louis-Felix Charrois DRU | 1. Jacob Steinman HAL
Attendance: 2,545

GAME LOG
First period
No scoring

Second period
18:56 HAL Carlos Handel (1) | A: Schultz

Third period
19:09 HAL Liam Kilfoil (3), EN | A: Fontaine & Aucoin

Powerplay: HAL - 0-for-3, DRU - 0-for-2
Shots: 38-23 in favour of Drummondville

UP NEXT: Game 1 of round 2 versus Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Friday 

Round 1 Opponent, Schedule Confirmed

We had to wait until the last day to find out who the opponent would be but our Halifax Mooseheads will play the Western conference champ Drummondville Voltigeurs in the 2025 playoffs. The series will start on Friday in Drummondville. 

This is one of those years where an eastern conference team crosses over to the western conference because of having more points at the end of the season than the 8th (and last) place West team. The Mooseheads clinched their berth in the post-season on March 16 with a victory over Cape Breton. However, two losses in the final weekend along with the Gatineau Olympiques picking up a victory on Saturday evening against the Volts pushed the Mooseheads down to the final playoff spot. 

Halifax went 0-2-0-0 against Drummondville during the regular season but as we know, playoffs are a different game and things you don't expect can happen. This is only the second playoff series between these two clubs after they met in the 2019 semi-final round. 

To accommodate the distance between the two cities, this will be a 2-3-2 series instead of the normal 2-2-1-1-1. Find the full schedule below (puck drops are Atlantic time) 

Game 1    Friday March 28 @ 8:00pm at Centre Marcel Dionne
Game 2    Saturday March 29 @ 8:00pm at Centre Marcel Dionne
Game 3    Tuesday April 1 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
Game 4    Wednesday April 2 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 5  Friday April 4 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 6  Monday April 7 @ 8:00pm at Centre Marcel Dionne
*Game 7  Tuesday April 8 @ 8:00pm at Centre Marcel Dionne

*if necessary

Single game tickets for games 3 and 4 in Moose Country will go on sale to the general public on March 25. You can purchase them online at ticketmaster.ca or at the Scotiabank Centre box office. 

Game Day 30: vs. Drummondville

PREVIEW - For its 30th game of the season, our Halifax Mooseheads are introducing what I assume is their 30th anniversary jersey as they welcome the Drummondville Voltigeurs tonight. The Mooseheads announced today that they will be wearing jerseys called The 94's inspired by the original ones and will be returning to the red colour. Hopefully they can bring the team some good luck as Halifax has been on a bit of a slump the last couple of weeks, going 1-3-2-0 in their last six games after winning 10 straight. They'll be in tough against a streaking Voltigeurs team that have won five in a row and are just 1 point behind the Herd in the standings. This will be a hard month for Halifax with the team playing three games in three days this week then they will lose the services of four of their best players to the World Juniors for at least a bit. What kind of squad will we see tonight during the CHL's Game of the Week matchup? You can watch it on TSN+ and CHL TV. Drummondville is led in points by Bridgewater, NS native Luke Woodworth and is yet another club that are expected to be a playoff contender this season with a handful of NHL drafted players.

Overall records
Voltigeurs: 18-8-3-1 = 40 points (1st in Central division, 3rd overall)
Mooseheads: 19-7-3-0 = 41 points (1st in Maritimes division, 2nd overall)

Top 3 scorers
HAL: Jordan Dumais 42pts (15G & 27A), Mathieu Cataford 38pts (14G & 24A), Markus Vidicek 37pts (19& 18A)
DRU: Luke Woodworth 34pts (15G & 19A), Peter Repcik 33pts (16G & 17A), Justin Cote 28pts (14G & 14A)

Head-to-head 
This is the first game of the season between these two teams. Last year, Halifax had a 1-1-0-0 record versus the Voltigeurs while Drummondville was 1-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads. Drummondville won the last matchup back on February 10, 2023 by a score of 6-4 with Alex Doucet leading Halifax with 3 points. 

Last games
Drummondville is coming off a 6-1 victory over the Sea Dogs on the road last night. Justin Cote had a first star performance with a goal and 2 assists for the Voltigeurs while Louis-Felix Charrois made 17 saves to get the win in Saint John.

Halifax is coming off a 2-0 loss to Rouyn-Noranda on December 2nd. Mathis Rousseau stopped 38 of the Huskies 40 shots as the Mooseheads were shutout on the road for the second time during their road trip. 

Not playing - Logan Crosby and Lou Levesque are out with injuries

Out of town
Islanders vs. Olympiques - 7:00 p.m.
Oceanic vs. Cataractes - 8:00 p.m.
Phoenix vs. Wildcats - 8:00 p.m.

Game Day 26: vs. Drummondville

PREVIEW - Our Halifax Mooseheads kick off a four game home-stand tonight as they welcome the Drummondville Voltigeurs with puck dropping at 7 p.m. Both teams will be trying to break their winless streaks. Halifax didn't have a very good road trip last week, losing three of the four games and all were one goal matches. There'll be lots of noise this evening cheering on the Herd to a victory as it is student night at the Scotiabank Centre.  Drummondville has also had losses in their last three going 0-2-0-1 but they do have the #2 pick from the 2021 QMJHL draft on their team. Tyler Peddle is fifth in rookie scoring so far this season and hails from Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The Mooseheads will be without captain Elliot Desnoyers as he heads out for Team Canada World Junior team selection camp. 

Game coverage
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry | Post-game: Halifax Mooseheads

Overall records
Voltigeurs: 12-9-4-1 = 29 points (3rd in Central division, 8th overall)
Mooseheads: 13-10-1-1 = 28 points (4th in Maritimes division, 10th overall)

Leading scorers
HAL: Jordan Dumais 36pts (13G & 24A), Elliot Desnoyers 36pts (16G & 20A), Zachary L'Heureux 28pts (11G & 17A)
DRU: Justin Cote 28pts (11G & 17A), Luke Woodworth 22pts (9G & 13A), Jacob Dion 20pts (8G & 12A)

Head-to-head
This is the first game between these two teams this season. The last game they played was November 8, 2019 in Halifax with the visiting Voltigeurs getting the 4-1 victory. Maxim Trepanier scored the lone goal for the Mooseheads while Drummondville's Anthony Morrone made 20 saves. 

Last games
Drummondville is coming off a 5-2 loss in Charlottetown last night to start their east coast road trip. Nova Scotian Luke Woodworth scored for the Voltigeurs while rookie Riley Mercer made 32 saves against the Islanders.

Halifax is coming off a 3-2 defeat on the road on Sunday evening in Quebec. Zach L'Heureux and Elliot Desnoyers scored for the Mooseheads while rookie Mathis Rousseau stopped 36 of the Remparts 39 shots. 

Not playing - Elliot Desnoyers (World Junior camp)

Out of town 
Tigres vs. Eagles - 7:00 p.m.
Drakkar vs. Sagueneens - 8:30 p.m.

After the buzzer
Halifax will welcome the Victoriaville Tigres on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

Nov 8: Mooseheads vs. Voltigeurs preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS

Puck drops at 7:00pm

TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Our Halifax Mooseheads will appreciate the member of the Canadian Forces tonight when they welcome the Drummondville Voltiguers to the Scotiabank Centre. The game marks the 16th annual DND Appreciation night where the boys will wear special commemorative jerseys that'll honour the 50th anniversary of the tragedy on board HMCS Kootenay. Fans will be able to buy raffle tickets once again for a chance to win a jersey, with proceeds going to the Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Garden. Halifax continues to struggle lately with coming off a 4-3 overtime loss last Saturday to the Saint John Sea Dogs after defeating the last place Bathurst Titan. The Volts are on a bit of roll, winning seven of their last 10 games including doubling up on those Titan last night. Drummondville will be without leading scorer Dawson Mercer as he is currently serving a suspension while the Mooseheads are still without Walter Flower and of course Jared McIsaac.

This is the second meeting between these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Voltigeurs while Drummondville has a 0-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last match-up was on October 2 where Halifax won 5-1 on the road with Raphael Lavoie leading the good guys with a goal and 2 assists. 

Overall Records
Voltigeurs: 13-7-0-0 = 26pts (2nd in Central division, 4th overall)
Mooseheads: 8-9-1-0 = 17pts (4th in Maritimes division, 13th overall)

Leading scorers
HAL: Raphael Lavoie 28pts (13G & 15A), Benoit-Olivier Groulx 21pts (6G & 15A), Maxim Trepanier 20pts (10G & 10A)
DRU: Dawson Mercer 31pts (16G & 15A), Xavier Simoneau 29pts (12G & 17A), Isiah Campbell 19pts (10G & 9A)

Out of Town
Titan vs. Wildcats    7:00pm
Remparts vs. Armada    8:00pm
Oceanic vs. Olympiques    8:30pm
Huskies vs. Drakkar    8:30pm
Sagueneens vs. Tigres    8:30pm

After the Buzzer
The Halifax Mooseheads will host a toy drive during their game against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday night.

Finals Here We Come

Game Six Recap

HAL wins series 4-2

HALIFAX - President Cup Finals bound! How does that sound Moose Country? Honestly I am surprised that I am able to say that sentence but on Sunday afternoon it became a reality after Xavier Parent scored less than 3 minutes into the extra frame to give the Halifax Mooseheads a 2-1 overtime victory. With the win against the Drummondville Voltigeurs today, the Mooseheads will face off against the CHL's top ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the fourth round. Halifax had a good start with Arnaud Durandeau scoring to give the home fans on their feet just 8:28 into the game. Drummondville would go into the middle frame down 1-0 but Halifax-native Gregor MacLeod would tie the game at a goal a piece at the 12:50 mark of the second. In the third, it was a goaltender battle between Anthony Morrone and Alexis Gravel with neither guy letting in another goal. For the Mooseheads, they certainly had their chances though to take back the lead in that final frame of regulation. Gravel was stellar in all three home games during this series and was awarded the 1st star each match, including tonight where he made 33 saves. Thankfully, it didn't take very long for the OT period to be done and our boys were jumping over the bench to celebrate. Keith Getson shot it wide, Joel Bishop picked it up behind the side of the net and passed it to Xavier Parent out front who put the puck perfectly above Morrone's glove to end the game.

FINAL: Voltigeurs 1 at Mooseheads 2 OT
Stars: 3. Xavier Parent HAL | 2. Anthony Morrone DRU 1. Alexis Gravel HAL
Attendance: 7,681

GAME LOG
First period
8:28 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (7) | A; Groulx & Chainey

Second period 
12:50 DRU Gregor MacLeod (7) | A: Veleno

Third period 
No scoring

Overtime
2:22 HAL Xavier Parent (4) | A: Bishop & Getson

Powerplay: DRU - 0-for-1; HAL - 0-for-1
Shots: 34-29 in favour of Drummondville

DID NOT PLAY - Cole Stewart, Alexis Sansfacon, Samuel Dube and Denis Toner were healthy scratches while Marcel Barinka is at the U18's

UP NEXT - President Cup finals against the Huskies in Rouyn-Noranda on Thursday night. Puck drop 8pm.

Pushed To The Brink

Game Four Recap 

HAL leads series 3-1

Halifax celebrates their win
Photo - Ashley Hennigar

Your Halifax Mooseheads have pushed the 2nd overall Drummondville Voltigeurs to the brink of elimination after a 5-2 victory in Game 4. Mooseheads goaltender Alexis Gravel was once again named the first star, making 33 saves in a game that the home team was outshot 35-23. The biggest save being a cross crease glove save in the second period that kept the game scoreless at that point and made the 7,848 fans in attendance stand on their feet in ovation. The first period was not really entertaining as both teams were not giving the other club much room to work but both goaltenders did have to make a few nice saves at each end. In the second period, the special teams became a huge factor as three of the four goals scored in the frame were scored on the power play. Dawson Merceer got Drummondville on the board first with 1 second remaining in a Raphael Lavoie slashing penalty but Lavoie answered for Halifax 62 seconds later, also on a man advantage. Xavier Parent's goal with 4:27 left in the second, which made it 3-1 Herd, was the lone marker in that middle frame that was not scored with an extra skater on the ice. The Mooseheads were in control to start the third, leading 4-1 after 40 minutes and the final 20 was just about keeping that lead. Steve Hartley decided to pull goaltender Olivier Rodrigue with 3:50 remaining trying to give his team a chance to close the gap but Samuel Asselin scored in the empty net to put a stop to that. A late high sticking penalty by Joel Bishop proved to give the Voltigeurs a little bit of life as they made it 5-2.

FINAL: Voltigeurs 2 at Mooseheads 5
Stars: 3. Maxim Trepanier HAL | 2. Joel Bishop HAL | 1. Alexis Gravel HAL 
Attendance: 7,848

GAME LOG
First period
No scoring

Second period
10:01 DRU Dawson Mercer (5), PP | A: Guay & Veleno
11:03 HAL Raphael Lavoie (17), PP | A: McIsaac & Morand
14:21 HAL Maxim Trepanier (4), PP | A: Chainey & Groulx
15:33 HAL Xavier Parent (3) | A: Bishop & Getson
19:07 HAL Antoine Morand (5), PP | A: Durandeau & McIsaac

Third period 
16:29 HAL Samuel Asselin (6), EN | A: Lavoie
18:48 DRU Joseph Veleno (7), PP | A: Guay & MacLeod

Powerplay: DRU - 2-for-5; HAL - 3-for-4
Shots: 35-23 in favour of Drummondville

DID NOT PLAY - Alexis Sansfacon, Dennis Toner, Cole Stewart and Samuel Dube were healthy scratches while Marcel Barinka is at the U18's

SCORES
Rimouski 3 vs. Rouyn-Noranda 6 

UP NEXT _ Game 5 will be played in Drummondville on Friday night. Puck drops at 8:30pm

PLAYOFF GAME #15: vs. Drummondville

PREVIEW

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS

Game Four of Round Three

Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

HALIFAX - Who's ready for some mid-week Halifax Mooseheads hockey? Our hometown boys find themselves up 2-1 in their series now winning the last two games, including a big tight battle on Tuesday evening which resulted in a 2-1 victory for Halifax. The team will be looking to stifle the likes of Joe Veleno and Maxime Comtois once again when the Drummondville Voltigeurs invade the Scotiabank Centre tonight for Game 4. While Comtois did score late in the game last night to make it interesting, you didn't really notice him or Veleno out there. Despite giving up 30+ shots, Halifax did play a good defensive game and held the regular season goal leading team to just a single goal in Game 3. Alex Gravel played really well to keep the Volts at bay so he'll hopefully back stop them to another win tonight. For the first time in 2018-19, the Herd had a healthy lineup. Benoit-Olivier Groulx, who had the second most points on the club, was back on the ice last night after missing a month with mononucleosis. Should be another good game so come out and cheer on the Memorial Cup hosts as they take on Drummondville.

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1  Apr 19  Mooseheads 1 at Voltigeurs 3
Game 2  Apr 20  Mooseheads 5 at Voltigeurs 4 2OT
Game 3  Apr 23  Voltigeurs 1 at Mooseheads 2
Game 4  Apr 24  Voltigeurs at Mooseheads - 7pm
Game 5  Apr 26  Mooseheads at Voltigeurs - 8:30pm
*Game 6  Apr 28  Voltigeurs at Mooseheads - 2pm
*Game 7  Apr 30  Mooseheads at Voltigeurs - 8pm

NOT DRESSED - Marcel Barinka (U18s)

NOTES

• There's a few Moose players among the leaders as Raphael Lavoie has the most points (25) & goals (16) in the QMJHL while Alex Gravel is third in save percentage (0.920) 
• Jake Ryczek has 10 assists this year after picking another 2 up last night and becomes the 7th defender in club history to have 10+ assists in same post-season 
• Olivier Rodrigue came in relief on Tuesday and made 20 saves, will he make his first start of the playoffs after being out the whole time with an injury

OUT OF TOWN
Rimouski vs. Rouyn-Noranda - 8:30pm

NEXT GAME - The two teams will meet again on Friday night in Drummondville for Game 5. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

Tight Battle

Game Three Recap

HAL leads series 2-1

Your Halifax Mooseheads have a 2-1 series lead after picking up a 2-1 victory in Game 3 of their third round match against the Drummondville Voltigeurs. It was a tight battle between the two clubs all night with the Moose holding the Volts to zero goals until the last three minutes of the game. There was also some hatred boiling to the surface, I guess when you play three straight games against each other and there is so much at stake, tempers tend to flare. Samuel Asselin got the scoring going 8:24 into the match, picking up a rebound and putting it past Anthony Morrone. Keith Getson scored minutes later which chased the Volts' goaltender after he allowed 2 goals on 8 shots. Halifax dominated the first half of the middle frame but for the whole second period, not much happened except for some nice chances by the Mooseheads. Drummondville pressured in the third, trying to get back into the game, outshooting the home team 16-4 in the final frame. Alexis Gravel stood tall the rest of the way until Maxime Comtois was able to squeak the puck past Gravel with 2:31 left. That''s as close as the away team would get. Once again, the Herd couldn't celebrate right away as there was some chattering going on between a few players on both teams. In a big boost, Benoit-Olivier Groulx was back in the lineup for Halifax after being off for a month with mononucleosis.

FINAL: Voltigeurs 1 at Mooseheads 2
Stars: 3. Keith Getson HAL | 2. Jake Ryczek HAL | 1. Alexis Gravel HAL
Attendance: 7,328

GAME LOG
First period
8:24 HAL Samuel Asselin (5) | A: Lavoie & Ryczek
11:44 HAL Keith Getson (6) | A: Ryczek

Second period
No scoring

Third period
17:39 DRU Maxime Comtois (10) | A: Guay & Lauzon

Powerplay: DRU - 0-for-4; HAL - 0-for-2
Shots: 35-28 in favour of Drummondville

DID NOT PLAY - Alexis Sansfacon, Cole Stewart and Samuel Dube were healthy scratches while Marcel Barinka is at the U18's

SCORES
Rimouski 2 vs. Rouyn-Noranda 5

UP NEXT - The two teams will meet again at the Scotiabank Centre for Game 4 tomorrow night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Round 3 Schedule

Our Halifax Mooseheads have made the third round for the first time since 2014 and will take on the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the semi-finals.

The QMJHL announced the schedule over the weekend after the quarter-finals were completed this past Friday. Halifax swept their series against the Moncton Wildcats while Drummondville took 5 games to dispatch the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the second round. This is the first time these two clubs have met in post-season. Despite the Volts being 12 hours away, once getting to the final four the series format is automatically 2-2-1-1-1. 

Find the schedule of the Voltigeurs-Mooseheads series below:

Game 1  Friday April 19 @ 8:30pm at Centre Marcel Dionne

Game 2  Saturday April 20 @ 8:00pm at Centre Marcel Dionne

Game 3  Tuesday April 23 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre

Game 4  Wednesday April 24 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre

*Game 5  Friday April 26 @ 8:30pm at Centre Marcel Dionne

*Game 6  Sunday April 28 @ 2:00pm at Scotiabank Centre

*Game 7  Tuesday April 30 @ 8:00pm at Centre Marcel Dionne

*if necessary

Single game tickets for Game 3 and 4 at home go on sale Thursday morning at 11am and can be purchased at select Superstore outlets, Ticket Atlantic Box Office or charge by phone 902-451-1221. 

Nov 25: Mooseheads vs. Voltigeurs preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS
Puck drops at 3:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Your Halifax Mooseheads are back in action and will be hosting another tough opponent this afternoon as the Drummondville Voltigeurs come to town. Drummondville and Halifax have almost the exact same record with the Volts having an extra loss. The Mooseheads had a much better game last night after getting 7 shots in the final 40 minutes of Tuesday's match but the club came away with no points in a super heated match against Baie-Comeau yesterday. Drummondville has the third best goaltender in the league so far this season in Olivier Rodrigue who has a 2.26 goals against average and 13 victories while Halifax is still looking to reach the century goal mark. Exceptional player Joe Veleno has played quite well for the Voltigeurs and looks to be on pace to surpass his career high in points, he has 35 points in 22 games in 2018-19. The Herd will need to shut him down this afternoon if they have any chance of winning. In goal, I would be surprised if we don't see Rodrigue versus Alex Gravel.

This is the second and final game between these two teams. Halifax has a 1-0-0-0 record against the Voltigeurs while Drummondville is 0-0-1-0 versus the Mooseheads. The last game was on October 21 where the Mooseheads were led by Alex Gravel's 44 save performance to a 4-3 overtime victory in Drummondville. 

Overall Records
Voltigeurs: 17-6-1-0 = 35pts (4th overall, 1st in Central division)
Mooseheads: 17-5-1-0 = 35pts (5th overall, 2nd in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Samuel Asselin 27pts (15G & 12A), Benoit-Olivier Groulx 27pts (13G & 14A), Arnaud Durandeau 27pts (12G & 15A)
DRU: Joe Veleno 35pts (16G & 19A), Greggor MacLeod 28pts (12G & 16A), Nicloas Guay 25pts (10G & 15A)

Previous Games
Drummondville is coming off of a 7-1 victory in Moncton last night. Joe Veleno led the charge for the Voltigeurs with a hat-trick and 6 points while Olivier Rodrigue made 35 saves to pick up the win against the Wildcats.

Halifax is coming off a 2-1 defeat on Saturday evening against the Drakkar on home ice. Arnaud Durandeau had the lone marker for the Mooseheads while Alex Gravel took the loss, stopping 23 of Baie-Comeau's 25 shots.

Head-to-Head
October 21  Mooseheads 4 at Voltigeurs 3 OT
November 25  3pm  Voltigeurs at Mooseheads

Out of Town
Charlottetown vs. Baie-Comeau - 3:00pm
Acadie-Bathurst vs. Sherbrooke - 3:00pm
Quebec vs. Blainville-Boisbriand - 4:00pm
Shawinigan vs. Chicoutimi - 5:00pm
Gatineau vs. Victoriaville - 5:00pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will travel to Blainville on Thursday night for a matchup against the Armada to begin their 3 game Quebec road trip. Puck drops at 8pm.

Herd Get 1st Shootout Win

Photo - Christian Laforce (Local Xpress)

Five out of six. That is an excellent way to start the new year! In a game that saw a couple of players going against their old team and the return of former coaches, the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Drummondville Voltigeurs in a shootout. Dominique Ducharme, who coached the Moose for the last 5 seasons and won a Memorial Cup with the team, was back in Moose Country on Friday night but he couldn't coach his new team to a victory. On the bench was his assistant coach in Halifax for a few of those seasons; Steve Hartley. For the Herd it was their first shootout victory of the season and it has given the team 5 wins in their last six games to begin 2017. The new recruits have been very good so far but tonight it was a couple of rookies who helped get the win. After a uneventful first period, Drummondville got out to a 1-0 lead over 7 minutes into the middle frame. Halifax had a few powerplays in the second half of the period but despite some pressure could not get a puck past Olivier Rodrigue. Not until that is the 3:27 minute mark of the third period where Max Fotier scored in tight to tie the game. Rodrique and Alexis Gravel kept it a tight game especially in the final minutes. In overtime, the home team took a penalty but Gravel was their to stop all 10 shots he faced in the extra 5 minutes as Drummondville outshot Halifax 10-2. Rookie defenseman Jared McIsaac scored the lone goal in the shootout to propel the Mooseheads.

FINAL: Voltigeurs 1 at Mooseheads 2 SO
Stars: 3. Jared McIsaac HAL | 2. Olivier Rodrigue DRU | 1. Alexis Gravel HAL
Attendance: 6,777
MC's Top Herd: Alexis Gravel

GAME LOG
First period
None

Second period
7:33 DRU Nicolas Beaudin (2) | A: none

Third period
3:27 HAL Maxime Fortier (24) | A: Lepage & Somppi

Overtime
None

Shootout
Round 1 – HAL Maxime Fortier (Save)     DRU Pavel Koltygin (Save)
Round 2 – HAL Jared McIsaac (Save)     DRU Nicolas Guay (Save)
Round 3 – HAL Nico Hischier (Save)     DRU Nicolas Beaudin (Save)

Powerplay: DRU - 0-for-5, HAL - 0-for-4
Shots: 38-32 in favour of Drummondville

MISSING IN ACTION: Mathieu Charlebois, Caleb Rich, Barrett Dachyshyn

SCORES
Victoriaville 1 at Acadie-Bathurst 5
Saint John 4 at Cape Breton 1
Moncton 3 at Charlottetown 8
Blainville-Boisbriand 3 at Chicoutimi 1
Rimouski 3 at Gatineau 6
Sherbrooke 3 at Rouyn-Noranda 6

UP NEXT: Halifax will welcome the Victoriaville Tigres for some Sunday afternoon hockey. Puck drops at 3pm.

TRADE: Herd Say Goodbye to Captain Again

Photo - Moose website

The Halifax Mooseheads made some big moves this afternoon, just a day before the trade deadline.

Cam Russell and the team staff traded prospect Frederik Theoret and a 9th round draft pick in 2017 to Drummondville for veteran Frederic Aube. The move should add some stability to the Mooseheads backend, which is very young and inexperienced. Aube, 20, has 4 goals and 20 points so far this season to go along with 49 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating. The Sherbrooke, QC native will most likely be in the top 4 on defence when he joins the team from the Voltigeurs.

Photo - Ford's twitter

Halifax also announced that they have acquired a 1st rounder in 2018 from Rouyn-Noranda in exchange for captain Taylor Ford. This is the second year that the Herd have said goodbye to their captain after trading alum Timo Meier around the same time last season to the Huskies as well. Ford will surely be missed by the team and city but picking up another pick in the first round in 2018 will hopefully help the Moose go on a long run during the playoffs that season.

I want to wish Taylor good luck for the rest of the season and during his career. Welcome to Moose Country Frederic Aube, hope you enjoy your time here.

PREVIEW: Quebec Road Trip

Since I am going on the road with the Mooster Club, I figured I would preview this weekend's trip through the province of Quebec. The first stop on the trip will be visiting the largest arena in the Canadian Hockey League for some Friday night hockey. Games between the Quebec Remparts and the Halifax Mooseheads are always entertaining, including last year. The Mooseheads will than be travelling south part of the province to take on the Sherbrooke Phoenix. There isn't much history between Halifax and the Phoenix as the team that wears blue and white has only been in the league for two and a half seasons. Halifax's last home game was against the Drummondville Voltigeurs and that's who they'll end this four game road streak against on Sunday evening.

QUEBEC REMPARTS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

January 23, 2015 at 8:00pm

TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @CoolenTQN

Pepsi Colisee (15,176) ~ Quebec City, QC

This is the second game of the season series, with Halifax coming out on top on December 11th in 4-3 home overtime victory. Former Herd player Matt Murphy scored twice for the Mooseheads while Kevin Resop made 30 saves. The Remparts have a 26-17-1-2 record which is good enough for 55 points and 5th overall in the standings. Quebec is led by Dmytro Timashov (15G & 48A), Adam Erne (27G & 28A), and Guillaume Gauthier (19G & 25A). The Remparts are coming off a 3-2 loss on Sunday at home despite outshooting the Charlottetown Islanders 38-29. Nikolas Brouillard had a goal and an assist to lead Quebec while Fucale made 26 saves to take the loss.

SHERBROOKE PHOENIX vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

January 24, 2015 at 5:00pm

TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @CoolenTQN

Palais des Sports Leopold-Drolet (3,646) ~ Sherbrooke, QC

Halifax has yet to play the Phoenix this season. The Mooseheads were 1-1-0-0 against Sherbrooke last season while the blue and white team was 1-0-0-1 in 2013-14. This will be only the 6th meeting between these two teams with our boys having the advantage in the series, after winning all three games during the 2012-13 season. The Phoenix have a 24-16-1-3 record, good enough for 8th overall in the standings. Sherbrooke's top 3 scorers are Daniel Audette (19G & 30A), Kay Schweri (7G & 41A), and Tim Wieser (30G & 15A). The Phoenix are coming off an almost collapse to the sixth overall Sea Dogs on Sunday at home. Audette helped Sherbrooke build a 4-0 lead with 2 goals and 2 assists in the game before Saint John forced a shootout. Evan Fitzpatrick made 28 saves to get the 6-5 victory.

DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

January 25, 2015 at 5:00pm

TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry

Centre Marcel Dionne (4,000) ~ Drummondville, QC

When this game is played, there will be 10 days between this matchup and the previous one these two teams played. The Mooseheads hosted the Volts back on January 15 and skated away with a hard fought 3-2 shootout victory. Anthony Brodeur stopped 53 of Halifax's 55 shots in regulation and overtime but couldn't stop a nice goal by Cavan Fitzgerald in the shootout. The Voltigeurs has 45 points with a 21-21-0-3 for a 14th place in the standings. Joey Ratelle (27G & 12A), Alex Barre-Boulet (14G & 19A) and George Golovkovs (9G & 18A) lead Drummondville in scoring so far this season. The Voltigeurs are coming off a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Screaming Eagles in Sydney on Saturday. Drummondville was once again out-shot, only getting 14 pucks on Cape Breton's net. Joe Fleschler made 22 saves letting in 4 goals before being replaced by Brodeur who made 8 saves.

POSTGAME: Voltigeurs 2, Moosheads 3 SO

MC POST-GAME

Here's a few stories from last night's 3-2 shootout win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs

The Q News' recap: Cavan Fitzgerald played the role of the hero in the Halifax Mooseheads 3-2 shootout victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Thursday night at Scotiabank Centre. 

Metro Halifax's recap: It's not every day that a defenceman gets the glory of scoring the winning goal in a shootout. 

The Canadian Press' recap: Nikolaj Ehlers extended his point streak to 18 games on Thursday as the Halifax Mooseheads edged the visiting Drummondville Voltigeurs 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. 

L'Express' recap: Comme son celebre pere l'a fait si souvent durant sa carriere, Anthony Brodeur a offert une brillante performance devant son filet, jeudi soir, a Halifax.

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: Cavan Fitzgerald has been practicing his Pavel Datsuk-like move for awhile now, but hadn't really had a chance to put it to the test until Thursday night with the Mooseheads and Voltigeurs deadlocked in a shootout at Scotiabank Centre. 

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Jean-Sebastien Taillefer, Andrew Shewfelt and Brandon Vuic were all healthy scratches

SCORES
None

NEXT GAME: Halifax will be battling against the provincial rivals, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, on Sunday in Sydney. Puck drops at 4pm.

GAMEDAY #43: vs Drummondville

GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS

January 15, 2015 at 7:00pm

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

Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Your Halifax Mooseheads will be playing their last game on a four-game homestand tonight when they welcome the Drummondville Voltigeurs to the Scotiabank Centre. They've been pretty good during the previous three matchups on this homestand, losing the first game disappointedly to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Tonight won't be as emotional as Saturday's game but it should be just as exciting. One point separates these two teams in the standings so it should be a tight game but you never know. Halifax will need to start getting some secondary scoring if they're going to want to make a push in the second half of the season to the playoffs. New guys Sam Hunter and Eric Brassard haven't been too shabby, Brassard made 53 saves in his last two starts both wins. Hunter got his first point with the Mooseheads back on Friday and he's still learning the defense systems that Coach Dom Ducharme has in place for the team but sitting behind the bench, I can tell you that he wants to learn.

This is the first game of the season between these two teams. Halifax was 2-0-0-0 against the Volts last season while Drummondville was 0-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads. Halifax won the last meeting 5-2 Darcy Ashley scoring 2 goals and assisting on another while Jonathan Drouin recorded 3 assists.

Overall Records
Voltigeurs: 21-20-0-2 = 44 points (4th in West division, 13th overall)
Mooseheads: 21-18-2-1 = 45 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 11th overall)

Leading Scorers
HFX: Nikolaj Ehlers 53pts (20G & 33A), Timo Meier 52pts (22G & 30A), Danny Moynihan 42pts (20G & 22A)
DRU: Joey Ratelle 39pts (27G & 12A), Alex Barre-Boulet 32pts (14G & 18A), Georgs Golovkovs 27pts (9G & 18A)

Last Games
Drummondville is coming off a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Sea Dogs on Wednesday night. Despite outshooting the opponent 36-20, the Volts could only get goals from Adam Chapman and Sergei Boikov past the Saint John goaltender on the road.

Halifax is coming off a 3-1 victory against Blainville-Boisbriand on Saturday night. Timo Meier and Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist to lead the Mooseheads while Eric Brassard stopped 32 shots to get the home win versus the Armada.

Season Series
Thursday Jan 15  Drummondville at Halifax - 7pm
Sunday Jan 25  Halifax at Drummondville - 5pm

Out of Town
None

After the Buzzer
The Mooseheads will travel to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Sunday evening. Puck drops at 4pm.

POSTGAME: Voltigeurs 2, Mooseheads 5

MC POST-GAME
Don't know what Coach Ducharme said but it clearly worked

FINAL: Voltigeurs 2 at Mooseheads 5
50/50 Winning Draw: $7,057
Three stars: 3. Drouin HAL | 2. Murphy HAL | 1. Ashley HAL
Attendance: 6,920
MC Top Herd: Jonathan Drouin

The Canadian Press' recap: Darcy Ashley had two goals and an assist to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to their fifth win in a row, 5-2 over the Drummondville Voltigeurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Thursday.

Metro Halifax's recap: Zach Fucale never wavered after the Drummondville Voligeurs fired a pair of power play goals passed the Halifax Mooseheads netminder on their first three shots.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: It took a a comeback effort to do it but the Halifax Mooseheads extended their winning streak to five games Thursday night at the Metro Centre.

halifaxmooseheads.ca's recap: The Mooseheads stormed back from a 2-0 1st period deficit to beat a pesky Drummondville Voltigeurs squad Thursday night in Moose Country before 6,920 at the Metro Centre.

The Q News' recap: Matt Murphy scored once and added two assists in the Halifax Mooseheads 5-2 victory over the visiting Drummondville Voltigeurs on Thursday night at the Halifax Metro Centre.

qmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Mac Weegar, Brian Lovell, Vince Watt and Liam Alcalde were all out because of injuries

FIRST PERIOD
The Moose played their worst period of the season last night in the first 20 minutes. They were outshot 9 to 4 and were down 2-0 going into the first intermission. Whatever coach Dom said to the boys certainly worked as they stormed back. Zach Fucale let in the goals on Drummondville's first 3 shots.

POWERPLAY
In the first period the powerplay was in favour of Drummondville as the Volts scored both of their goals with the man advantage. In the second, the powerplay helped the Herd get back in it. Even though Halifax didn't score on the pp in the middle frame, most of their 17 shots came with the men advantage.

THREE POINTS
Matt Murphy, Jonathan Drouin and Darcy Ashley had three point nights. Murphy had a goal and 2 assists. Drouin had three assists while Ashley scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season and added a helper. Last night was Matt's third 3 point night this month.

BAILEY
Brennan Bailey was called up to take the place of Mackenzie Weegar who is injured.

EHLERS
Nik Ehlers was hit hard in the second and laid on the ice for a few minutes. The refs whistled down the play and the Moose's therapist went out to check if he was okay. Ehlers was able to skate to the bench by himself and not miss a shift.

MEIER
Swedish rookie Timo Meier scored his 8th goal of the season EIGHT seconds into the third period. It is tied for the 3rd fastest goal in franchise history. Surprising it's not the fastest goal.

OTHER SCORES
Foreurs 4 - 2 Sagueneens
Sea Dogs 2 - 4 Tigres

UP NEXT
Halifax travels to Prince Edward Island today to take on the Charlottetown Islanders at the Eastlink Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY 25: vs Drummondville

IT'S GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS

Puck drops at 7pm

Metro Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

PREVIEW - Well they finally did it and now they'll try to extend it. The Halifax Mooseheads finally got over there three straight wins curse and won their fourth in a row on Saturday when they took on the Saint John Sea Dogs. Tonight they will try to make it 5 in a row against a tough Drummondville team. With points in his last 8 games, Jonathan Drouin has caught up to rookie Nikolaj Ehlers for the team lead in scoring. This will also be the first game of a 3 in 3 night swing that will travel to the other two Atlantic provinces.  


Your Mooseheads lead the season series 1-0 as this is the second and last game between these two teams. Timo Meier scored twice and Zach Fucale made 22 saves in a 3-2 win in Drummondville for Halifax.

THE NUMBERS

Leading scorers
DRU: Christophe Lalancette 26pts (8G & 18A), Georgs Golovkovs 24pts (9G & 15A), Jerome Verrier 23pts (16G & 7A)
HAL: Nikolaj Ehlers 30pts (12G & 18A), Jonathan Drouin 29pts (9G & 20A), Brent Andrews 27pts (12G & 15A)

LAST GAMES
Halifax welcome the Sea Dogs on Saturday and almost didn't win their fourth straight but an empty net goal by Jonathan Drouin sealed the 7-5 win. Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews all scored 2 goals and Drouin added 3 assists to help with goal total while Zach Fucale had to stop 17 shots.

Drummondville travelled to the newly named Eastlink Centre on the Island last night and came away with a 4-1 loss against the Charlottetown Islanders. Joey Ratelle scored the only goal for the Volts while goalie Joe Fleschler made 24 saves.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 6  Mooseheads 3 at Voltigeurs 2
November 14 @ 7pm  Voltigeurs at Mooseheads

NOT PLAYING - I don't even know anymore :P Mac Weegar is out with an ankle sprain

OUT OF TOWN
Val-d'Or at Chicoutimi - 8:00pm
Saint John at Victoriaville - 8:00pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: None
Live: @MC_MooseCountry (a bit), @HFXMooseheads
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

AFTER THE GAME
Halifax will travel to PEI to take on the Charlottetown Islanders. Puck drops at 7pm.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 3, Voltigeurs 2

MC POST-GAME
Drummondville unable to tie the game, Halifax wins

FINAL: Mooseheads 3 at Voltigeurs 2
Attendance: 2,212
Three stars: 3. Moynihan HAL | 2. Meier HAL | 1. Lalancette DRU

The Canadian Press' recap: Timo Meier scored twice, including the winner on the power play, as Halifax defeated the Voltigeurs.

Metro Halifax's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads ended their road trip above .500, for the first time this season.

theqnews.net's recap: Timo Meier scored twice helping the Halifax Mooseheads to a 3-2 win over the Voltigeurs at Centre Marcel Dionne in Drummondville Sunday afternoon.

L'Express' recap: Prives d'Alexandre Roy et de Georgs Golovkovs, tous deau mis K.-). par une commotion cerebrale subie la veille, les Voltigeurs (6-4-0-0) ont mise sur la defensive pour tenter de freiner les champions en titre de la Coupe Memorial.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: The drive back to Halifax should be nice and relaxed for the Mooseheads.

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: The Mooseheads seem to be finding their groove.

QMJHL.ca's recap: Game summary.

SCORERS: Christophe Lalancette (1) DRU 16:03, Timo Meier (3) HAL 27:05, Jerome Vernier (5) 27:5, Timo Meier (4) HAL 35:25, Jonathan Drouin (2) HAL 43:12

MISSING IN ACTION: Brian Lovell, Jacob Jacques, Vincent Watt, Darcy Ashley and Liam Alcade were the scratches for Halifax. Alexandre Roy, Mathieu Amyot and Georgs Golovkovs were the ones sitting in the press box for Drummondville.

PINK IN THE RINK
This was one of two pink in the rink games that the Mooseheads are taking part in. The Voltigeurs wore pink jerseys during the game. They also wore them yesterday when Drummondville took on Rimouski. It's all to help raise awareness for breast cancer and the research to stop it.

SWEEP
Three games in three nights is a big task to finish. Well your Herd have not only finished it but will be coming home with the weekend sweep after winning today as well as Friday night and Saturday. They were able to collect all 6 points available to them in the 3 days.

POWERPLAY
The powerplay seems to be clicking better as two of the 3 goals were scored with the man advantage. Halifax ended the night 2 for 6 on the powerplay and a perfect 4 for 4 on the penalty kill.

SHOTS
Final shots ended in a tie with both teams shooting 24 pucks at the net.

MEIER
Timo Meier scored a couple of nice goals last night. He recorded the first goal of the game for the Moose tying up the game in the middle frame. He than tied up again with less then 5 minutes left on the powerplay.

DROUIN
Jonathan Drouin scored his second goal in 4 games, scoring the game winner. He had a second goal taken away.

OTHER SCORES
Saint John 5 - 4 Bathurst SO
Cape Breton 1 - 3 Moncton
Quebec 2 - 3 Blainville
Gatineau 5 - 3 Sherbrooke

NEXT GAME
It's back to Moose Country for Halifax now when they start a 6 game homestand on Friday against Blainville-Boisbriand. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY 11: at Drummondville

IT'S GAMEDAY

DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Puck drops at 5:00pm

Centre Marcel Dionne (3,038) ~ Drummondville, QC

PREVIEW - 3-in-3. Three games in 3 days, all on the road in Quebec. Halifax has had to get the 2 points adwarded to a win in extra time both times. On Friday, the Mooseheads had a 2-0 win and were forced into overtime while last night Halifax native Ryan Falkenham was the hero scoring the tying goal and game winner. They will look to not have to play more then 60 minutes this evening for the third straight game when they travel to Drummondville to take on the Voltigeurs. Jonathan Drouin seems to have found his grove in the last two games recording 4 points after having none in his season debut. 

If the Herd can skate away with a win and go three for three on this weekend's road trip, they will have a winning record for the first time all season. It will be tough as Halifax will be playing one of the top teams in the league both in team records and powerplay. The road teams powerplay has gotten better partly because they went 2 for 3 with a man advantage last night. 

 

Drummondville will travel to Halifax in a little over a month to take on the red, white and green. Both teams will look a little different as hopefully a lot of them will be sporting moustaches. 

THE NUMBERS

Leading scorers
HAL: Andrew Ryan (5G, 5A, 10 PTS), Nikolaj Ehlers (5G, 3A, 8 PTS), Brent Andrews (1G, 6A, 7 PTS)
DRU: Joey Ratelle (4G, 6A, 10 PTS), Georgs Golovkos (6G, 3A, 9 PTS), Guillaume Gauthier (5G, 4A, 9 PTS)

LAST GAMES
Drummondville is coming off a 5-4 win over the Rimouski Oceanic. Christophe Lalancette led the team with 3 assists.

Halifax is coming off a big 3-2 overtime win in Victoriaville against the Tigres. Ryan Falkenham scored two goals while Zach Fucale only had to stop 24 shots.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
This season    0-0-0-0    0GF    0GA
October 6 @ 5pm  Mooseheads at Voltigeurs
November 14 @ 7pm  Voltigeurs at Mooseheads
Last season    3-0-0-0   16GF    5GA

NOT PLAYING - Once again Darcy Ashley is the only one for sure not playing this evening

OUT OF TOWN
Sea Dogs at Titan - 3:00pm

Eagles at Wildcats - 4:00pm

Ramparts at Armada - 5:00pm

Olympiques at Phoenix - 5:00pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: None
Live: @HFXMooseheads
Webcast: TELUS
Radio: News 95.7
Post-game: MooseCountry blog

AFTER THE GAME

Halifax will come back home for their longest home stand of the season when the take on the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Puck drops at 7pm.