Cataford Scores Hat Trick in Win

It was another close game on Friday night but this time against a team that should not have been in the game really at all. Veteran forward Mathieu Cataford had a great night, factoring in all of the Mooseheads goals as Halifax won 5-4 in overtime over the Gatineau Olypiques. The away team got on the board pretty early on with rookie Matthew Eric scoring at the 1:55 mark in the first period. Leading scorer Jordan Dumais looked to score the tying goal, however the referees called it back as it was determined there was an offside earlier in the play after review. As soon as the puck went in though, many of the 8,015 fans in attendance threw on the ice toques, socks and gloves in support of the team's inaugural toque toss game. With just over a minute left in the opening period, Markus Vidicek scored the official tying goal and the clubs went into their locker rooms for the first intermission tied at 1. There was a bit more scoring in the middle frame with the score being 3-3 after 40 minutes. The Olympiques took a 4-3 lead 5:47 into the third period but Cataford scored again less than five minutes later on the power play and the game headed to overtime. Halifax got the 2 points when Cataford got his third goal of the night (and 5th point) just 1:06 into the extra frame. The win meant that the Mooseheads got back to back victories in their anniversary jerseys. 

FINAL: Olympiques 4 at Mooseheads 5 OT
Stars: 3. Jeremie Minville GAT | 2. Jordan Dumais HAL | 1. Mathieu Cataford HAL
Attendance: 8,015 
MC's Top Herd: Mathieu Cataford

GAME LOG
First period
1:55 GAT Matthew Eric (2) | A: Kaine
18:56 HAL Markus Vidicek (23) | A: Cataford & Dumais

Second period
4:56 GAT Thomas Chafe (6) | A: Wold
5:13 GAT Alexander Gaudio (4) | A: Eric & Blais
10:49 HAL Mathieu Cataford (15), PP | A: Dumais & Vidicek
16:40 HAL Jordan Dumais (16) | A: Cataford & Furlong

Third period 
5:47 GAT Jeremie Minville (20) | A: Ling & Golicic
10:31 HAL Mathieu Cataford (16), PP | A: Fournier & Dumais

Overtime 
1:06 HAL Mathieu Cataford (17) | A: Moravec & Vidicek

Powerplay: GAT - 0-for-2; HAL - 2-for-5
Shots: 34-24 in favour of Halifax 

Next game
The Halifax Mooseheads will head to Saint John to take on the Sea Dogs tomorrow night to wrap up a 3-in-3. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

Orr Traded to Gatineau

While writing my previous post, our Halifax Mooseheads made another big announcement saying they completed a couple of trades on Sunday morning. Halifax acquired a pair of draft picks from the Gatineau Olympiques in exchange for forward Bobby Orr. The move creates some space amongst a crowded forward group at training camp. The 19-year-old scored 21 goals and 44 points in 63 games last season. He had 76 points in 104 games for the club over two seasons after being acquired from Saint John in the summer of 2020. 

Photo - Herd website

In a separate deal Halifax finalized a swap with the Charlottetown Islanders for defenceman Alexandre Tessier who had been attending Isles camp on a conditional loan. The Herd will receive a ninth round pick in the 2024 draft. 

Good luck to both Bobby and Alexandre with their new teams and thank you for the memories in Moose Country, we'll miss you boys. 

This means that the 2022 training camp is down to 24 players which includes thirteen forwards, 8 defencemen and three goaltenders. 

Whynot Scores OT Winner

Rookie defenceman Cameron Whynot scored his second goal of the season and it was a big one as it was the game winner to give the Halifax Mooseheads a 4-3 OT victory over the Gatineau Olympiques on Thursday night. The game started out pretty even with shots tied at 11 in the first period but Zachary Dean recored his 12th goal with 94 seconds remaining in the frame to give Gatineau a 1-0 lead. It was Dean's fourth marker against the Herd this season after picking up a hat trick on Sunday afternoon. Alexandre David would score his 1st as a Moosehead past the midway point of the game to tie the game up for Halifax. The third period was exciting. Gatineau would once again take the lead less then 5 minutes into the final frame but 60 seconds later Kevin Gursoy extended his point streak with a goal. Gursoy picked up his 16th at the 10:07 mark and it was the Mooseheads' first lead of the match. A power play goal by Mathieu Bizier later in the third and a number of nice saves by Alexis Gravel would send the game to extra time. It looked like we were going to see a shootout before Whynot skated in with the puck and flipped it over the Olympqiues goaltender to give the home team the win. 

FINAL: Olympiques 3 at Mooseheads 4 OT

Stars: 3. Zachary Dean GAT | 2. Cameron Whynot HAL | 1. Kevin Gursoy HAL

Attendance: 

MC's Top Herd: Kevin Gursoy

Powerplay: GAT - 1-for-3; HAL - 0-for-3

Shots: 40-26 in favour of Gatineau

MISSING IN ACTION - Gavin Hart (healthy), Justin Barron (injured), Keegan Hunt (healthy) and Samuel Dube (injured)

SCORES

Blainville-Boisbriand 5 at Cape Breton 7

Acadie-Bathurst 2 at Victoriaville 4

Quebec 2 at Shawinigan 6

UP NEXT - Halifax will head to New Brunswick with a number of fans as they visit the Moncton Wildcats on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Jan 18: Olympiques vs. Mooseheads preview

GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Puck drops at 5:00pm

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

Centre Robert-Guertin (4,000) ~ Gatineau, QC

The Quebec road trip concludes for our Halifax Mooseheads as they head west to take on the Gatineau Olympiques in an early evening tilt. It is also the first game of a home and home between these two clubs. This match could have playoff implications as the teams are separated by only 4 points heading into today. Gatineau has been one of the hottest teams as of late, going 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 and winning three straight. Halifax is 1-1 on this trip, basically because of the very strong play of veteran goaltender Alexis Gravel who has stopped 33 and 43 shots in the previous two games. Marcel Barinka has scored in back to back games and the Mooseheads will be hoping that this is the start of some offence for the European. The new overage Herd players have been leading the charge since the Christmas break with D'Artagnan Holy, Denis Toner and Kevin Gursoy combining for 20 points in 9 games.

This is the first of two meetings between these two teams this season. Halifax was 2-0-0-0 against the Olympiques last season while Gatineau had a 0-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was March 5, 2019 in Gatineau where Keith Getson scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory for Halifax. 

Overall records
Mooseheads: 17-22-2-1 = 37pts (5th in Maritimes division, 15th overall)
Olympiques: 15-24-3-0 = 33pts (4th in West division, 17th overall)

Leading scorers
GAT: Carson MacKinnon 32pts (6G & 26A), Metis Rodelns 30pts (13G & 17A), Kieran Craig 27pts (12G & 15A)
HAL: Kevin Gursoy 34pts (13G & 21A), Zack Jones 19pts (9G & 10A), Senna Peeters 18pts (12G & 6A)

Out of Town
Voltigeurs vs. Armada     4:00pm
Foreurs vs. Remparts     4:00pm
Tigres vs. Phoenix     5:00pm
Drakkar vs. Sagueneens     5:00pm

After the Buzzer
The two teams will head to Halifax and face off against each other again on Thursday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Mar 5: Olympiques vs. Mooseheads preview

GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
March 5, 2019 at 8:30pm
Robert-Guertin Centre (4,000) ~ Gatineau, QC
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Quebec has not been nice to our Halifax Mooseheads so far on this road trip and the team will look to rebound from two straight losses when they take on the Gatineau Olympiques tonight. Halifax was defeated by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Val-d'Or Foreurs over the weekend, the second one was unexpected. This will be the last matchup of the regular season against a team from the French province for the Mooseheads. The top line of Raphael Lavoie, Samuel Asselin and Antoine Morand have been quiet the last couple of games and hopefully a match against 13th place Gatineau will bring them back to life. Both goaltenders will be looking to bounce back as well, I'm not sure who will get the start but Alex Gravel was pulled in the match against the Huskies while Cole McLaren played in Sunday's game. The Olympiques are also on a losing skid, going 0-3-1-0 in their last 4 games.

This is the second and final match up against these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Olympiques while Gatineau has a 0-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last game was on February 15 where Halifax skated with a 7-2 victory on the back of Raphael Lavoie's 2 goals and two assists.

Overall Records
Mooseheads: 45-13-2-1 = 93pts (3rd overall, 1st in Maritimes division)
Olympiques: 22-34-4-2 = 50pts (13th overall, 2nd in West division)

Leading Scorers
GAT: Giodano Finoro 48pts (25G & 23A), Gabriel Bilodeau 47pts (11G & 36A), Metis Rollens 42pts (17G & 25A)
HAL: Samuel Asselin 83pts (47G & 36A), Raphael Lavoie 73pts (32G & 41A), Antoine Morand 69pts (22G & 47A)

Previous Games 
Halifax is coming off a 3-2 loss on the road in Val-d'Or on Sunday evening. Joel Bishop and Keith Getson scored for the Mooseheads while Cole McLaren stopped 26 of the Foreurs' 29 shots in the defeat.

Gatineau is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss against the Islanders on home ice Sunday afternoon. 20 year old Giordano Finoro scored for the Olympiques while Remi Poirier made 34 saves versus Charlottetown.

Head-to-Head
February 15  Olympiques 2 at Mooseheads 7
March 5  8:30pm  Mooseheads at Olympiques

Out of Town
Rimouski vs. Chicoutimi - 8:30pm

After the Buzzer 
The Mooseheads will come back to the Maritimes this weekend but will stay on the road as they visit the Moncton Wildcats on Friday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

High Scoring Affair For 40th Win

Forty wins in 56 games, how does that sound Moose Country? Your Halifax Mooseheads picked up their 40th victory of the season on Friday night in dominating fashion against the Gatineau Olympiques. The Herd haven’t gotten win number 40 this fast since the year they won the President’s Cup, where they had 47 victories in 56 matches. Gatineau is a young team, they only have 5 players born in 1998 or 1999, and it showed this evening in their first game against the Mooseheads in 2018-19. Captain Antoine Morand scored 30 seconds into the contest while Halifax outshot the Olympiques 21-4 in the first period. Raphael Lavoie made a few dekes in front of second year goaltender Creed Jones before sliding the puck through the five hole to give the home team a 2-0 lead. That’s all the scoring that would happen in the opening 20 minutes. The middle frame was a little tighter with Gatineau pushing back and the club was able to get one past Alex Gravel on the power play just minutes after Samuel Asselin made it 3-0. Halifax held a commanding 4-1 lead after 40 minutes. The third period started off pretty frantic with defenceman Jared McIsaac scoring his 13th of the year 19 seconds into the frame while overager Giordano Finoro picked up his second of the game just thirteen seconds later. I thought the amount of shots the Herd had on Tuesday were high (49) but the team surpassed that tonight, outshooting Gatineau 54-20 cruising to a 7-2 win.

FINAL: Olympique 2 at Mooseheads 7
Stars: 3. Giordano Finoro GAT | 2. Antoine Morand HAL | 1. Raphael Lavoie HAL
Attendance: 7,809
MC’s Top Herd: Raphael Lavoie

GAME LOG
First period
0:30 HAL Antoine Morand (21) | A: Asselin & Lavoie
9:47 HAL Raphael Lavoie (26) | A: None

Second period
1:57 HAL Samuel Asselin (44) | A: Morand & Kyte
4:25 GAT Giordano Finoro (18), PP | A: Bilodeau & Roelens
6:10 HAL Raphael Lavoie (27), PP | A: Barron & Ryczek

Third period
0:19 HAL Jared McIsaac (13) | A: Flower & Morand
0:32 GAT Giordano Finoro (19) | A: None
4:06 HAL Samuel Dube (2) | A: Groulx & Ryczek
12:54 HAL Jake Ryczek (8), PP | A: Barron & Lavoie

Shots: 54-20 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: GAT – 1-for-4; HAL – 2-for-6

NOT DRESSED – Ostap Safin (injured), Marcel Barinka (injured), Alexis Sansfacon (healthy), Cole Stewart (injured) and Jocktan Chainey (injured)

SCORES
Wildcats 8 at Sea Dogs 1
Cataractes 1 at Phoenix 4
Oceanic 7 at Foreurs 4
Voltigeurs 4 at Tigres 1
Titan 4 at Drakkar 11
Screaming Eagles 4 at Armada 0
Remparts 2 at Sagueneens 3 OT

UP NEXT – Halifax will welcome the Charlottetown Islanders to the Scotiabank Centre on national television tomorrow afternoon. Puck drops at 4:30pm.

Big Victory on National Television

Photo - Shawn Davidson

Halifax took advantage of the exposure that a nationally televised game gives and played a pretty good game that led to a 4-1 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques. Alexis Gravel put on a show by stopping 29 shots while Otto Somppi had two big goals to help the Mooseheads get the win in front of over 8,000 fans on Saturday evening. The game started with a small pre-game ceremony because the Memorial Cup trophy was in the house. Herd alum Brent Andrews and Darcy Ashley came out with the Cup and a few military personnel who were all apart of the ceremonial faceoff. After the anthem, the puck dropped and there wasn't much action in either end for the first 10 minutes but Halifax was able to get a powerplay goal on their second shot to get the early lead. Max Fortier made some nice moves late in the frame putting the home team up 2-0 after the first period. Gravel stayed strong in the second period as Gatineau really came out, outshooting the Moose 10-5 but the score stayed 2-0 through 40 minutes. The Olympiques were able to get one through Alexis in the third but Somppi scored his second to give Halifax the two goal lead again. With about seven minutes to go in the match, the Piques captain Alex Breton got a stick in the gut and was helped off the ice to the dressing room but it seemed to make the away team pissed off as there were a couple of scrums in those final minutes. The first was Raphael Lavoie versus Jeffrey Durocher fighting off the faceoff and as those two players were skating to the dressing rooms, the coaches exploded with not very nice words and Fortier decided to say some choice words as well causing him to be tossed. The second was a short boxing match between Connor Moynihan and Gabriel Bilodeau.

FINAL: Olympiques 1 at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Tristan Berube GAT | 2. Otto Somppi HAL | 1. Alexis Gravel HAL
Attendance: 8,681
MC's Top Herd: Alexis Gravel

GAME LOG
First period
10:12 HAL Otto Somppi (26), PP | A: Zadina & McIsaac
18:16 HAL Maxime Fortier (29) | A: Durandeau

Second period
None

Third period
7:56 GAT William Basque (2) | A: Roy & Breton
9:30 HAL Otto Somppi (27) | A: Barron
19:43 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (18), EN | A: Somppi & Groulx

Shots: 30-25 in favour of Gatineau
Powerplay: GAT - 0-for-5; HAL - 1-for-3

NOT DRESSED - Patrick Kyte (injured), Ryan Barbosa (healthy) and Joel Bishop (injured)

SCORES
Drummondville 5 at Moncton 4
Val-d'Or 4 at Baie-Comeau 5
Chicoutimi 2 at Quebec 8
Rouyn-Noranda 3 at Rimouski 5


UP NEXT: The Mooseheads will host Dom Ducharme and the Drummondville Voltigeurs tomorrow afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.

GAMEDAY #57: vs Gatineau

GAMEDAY
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES
Puck drops at 4:30pm
TV: Sportsnet | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

For the first time this season your Halifax Mooseheads are on national television tonight meaning puck drop has moved to 4:30pm. The Herd will host the Gatineau Olympiques while looking for their fifth win in a row. Both teams have been pretty hot lately with Halifax going 7-2-1-0 in their last 10 games played and conversely Gatineau having a 7-1-1-1 record however the Olympiques are coming off a loss to Moncton. Despite winning four in a row, the home team in today's contest has struggled at times during the streak. They were down 3-1 early on against Moncton last Friday before finding their offense and the Moose had to win the last two games in overtime. What kind of team will we see from the club today, we'll have to wait and find out but they'll need to start on time because the 'Piques are going to be hungry for a win to put themselves in a better position. It's a big day in Moose Country for another reason as well as the Memorial Cup 100 tour is swinging through Halifax this weekend so if you head to the game be sure to get a picture with the trophy and tag your photos with #Halifax2019.

This is the second and last game between these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Olympiques while Gatineau has a 0-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was November 3 in Gatineau where the Herd won 7-5 with Filip Zadina scored a hat trick and added an assist to lead the away team.

OVERALL RECORDS
Olympiques: 31-21-3-3 = 68 points (4th in West division, 10th overall)
Mooseheads: 38-13-6-1 = 83 points (1st in Maritimes division, 2nd overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Otto Somppi 75pts (25G & 50A), Filip Zadina 69pts (39G & 30A), Maxime Fortier 66pts (28G & 38A)
GAT: Shawn Boudrias 54pts (23G & 30A), Alex Breton 39pts (9G & 30A), Dawson Theede 36pts (17G & 19A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Gatineau is coming off a 4-1 defeat on Friday evening in Moncton. Anthony Beauchamp scored the lone goal for the Olympiques while Creed Jones made 27 saves in the loss to the Wildcats.

Halifax is coming off a 3-2 overtime victory on Wednesday in Charlottetown. Otto Somppi scored two goals to lead the Mooseheads and Raphael Lavoie scored another overtime winner while Alex Gravel stopped 27 of the Islanders 29 shots.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
November 3  Halifax 7 at Gatineau 5
February 24  Gatineau at Halifax - 4:30pm

OUT OF TOWN
Wildcats vs. Voltigeurs     4:00pm
Drakkar vs. Foreurs     5:00pm
Remparts vs. Sagueneens      5:00pm
Oceanic vs. Huskies     5:00pm
Tigres vs. Screaming Eagles     8:00pm


AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will host the Drummondville Voltigeurs tomorrow afternoon and welcome back former coach Dom Ducharme. Puck drops at 3pm.

Big Night for the Mooseheads in Gatineau

Tonight's game had some milestones in it, where it saw Benoit-Olivier Groulx have a big homecoming to rookie sensation Filip Zadina recording his first career hat trick. It was also announced tonight during the game that captain Max Fortier has signed an entry-level deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets. As we all have seen the last few years, this is a well deserving contract for the captain. This was a big effort out of the team where they lost the first game of this road trip to Quebec on Wednesday night. This game saw a complete team effort. Combined for most of the scoring it saw Max Fortier and Filip Zadina factor for 5G & 2A it was a treat for the Moosehead faithful that made the trip to see the team play. There was some solid goaltending from Blade Mann-Dixon that kept the Moose lead at times especially when the Herd took a 5 on 3 powerplay. The penalty kill stayed strong as they went 6 for 6 on the kill. The Mooseheads will look to finish the trip up strong as they head to Drummondville to take on the Volts tomorrow.

What a treat for this great crowd of Mooseheads fans in Gatieneau tonight. Zadina doing it all. #HatTrickpic.twitter.com/HyDG3jI1JJ

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) November 4, 2017

FINAL: Halifax 7 at Gatineau 5
Stars: 3. Max Fortier HAL | 2. Vitalii Abramov GAT | 1. Filip Zadina HAL
Attendance: 3,188
MC’s Top Herd: Filip Zadina

GAME LOG
First period
5:28 GAT Mitchell Balmas (9) | A: Abramov & Shestopalov
11:01 HAL Filip Zadina (13) | A: McIssac
15:08 GAT Vitalii Abramov (7) | A: Bilodeau & Durocher
16:49 HAL Max Fortier (12) | A: Durandeau & Chainey

Second period
4:32 HAL Filip Zadina (14) SH | A: Chainey & Somppi
5:16 HAL  Max Fortier (13) SH | A: Barbossa
10:24 GAT Jeffery Durocher (5) | A: Roy & Hatto
13:48 HAL Filip Zadina (15) | A: Moynihan

Third period
11:53 HAL Raphael Lavoie (5) | A: Zadina & Groulx
17:30 GAT Mikhail Shestopalov (3) | A: none
19:41 HAL Otto Somppi (5) SH | A: Fortier
19:48 GAT Samuel Hatto (2) | A: Roy & Malo

Powerplay: GAT – 0-for-6; HAL – 0-for-2
Shots: 30-29 in favour of Gatineau

NOT DRESSED – Walter Flower (injured), Jordan Lepage (injured), Xavier Parent (U-17's) and Justin Barron (U-17's)

SCORES
Cape Breton 3 at Acadie Bathurst 6
Moncton 3 at Quebec 5
Blainville 5 at Sherbrooke 3
Charlottetown 5 at Victoriaville 3
Saint John 0 at Chicoutimi 6
Drummondville 3 at Shawinigan 4
Rimouski 3 at Val D'or 2

UP NEXT: Halifax will travel to take on the Voltiguers tomorrow evening in Drummondville. Puck drops at 4pm.

Mooseheads Win Thanksgiving Matinee

Photo - Myles Dennis

And they've done it. For the first time since the 1998-99 season, your Halifax Mooseheads have started the season 5 and 0 on home ice after picking up an overtime victory on Monday afternoon against the Gatineau Olympiques. Connor Moynihan got his third goal of the weekend to get the good guys on the board exactly 6 minutes in to the game but shortly after the Mooseheads received a holding penalty and the Olympiques converted on their powerplay to tie the game. The first period ended with a 3-2 Halifax led score while shots were 18-7 in favour of the Herd. It was a pretty strong period by the home side and it continued in the middle frame. Gatineau couldn't keep up in the second period, giving up two more goals while being outshot 13-4 but the Piques were a different team in the third period as were the Moose. The Olympiques scored three times on their first 4 shots of the final 20 minutes to tie the game at 5 goals a piece, forcing head coach Andre Tourigny to pull starter Kevin Resop. Alexis Gravel came in and made 15 saves in relief to keep the game tied after regulation. In overtime, Halifax killed off a penalty and than at 3:35, Maxime Fortier passed cross ice to Nico Hischier who slammed the puck into the net to win the game.

FINAL: Olympiques 5 at Mooseheads 6OT
Stars: 3. Otto Somppi HAL | 2. Bradley Kennedy HAL | 1. Nico Hischier HAL
Attendance: 5,110
MC's Top Herd: Nico Hischier

GAME LOG
First period
6:00 HAL Connor Moynihan (5) | A: Dachyshyn & Charlebois
7:23 GAT Nicolas Meloche (1), PP | A: Abramov & Dostie
13:18 HAL Maxime Fortier (6) | A: Sorrentino
17:16 HAL Otto Somppi (3) | A: Ford & Fortier
17:44 GAT Nicolas Meloche (2) | A: MacEwen & Breton

Second period
5:17 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (3) | A: Charlebois
12:55 HAL Bradley Kennedy (2), PP | A: Somppi & Fortier

Third period
0:48 GAT Alex Dostie (3), SH | A: none
4:40 GAT Zack MacEwen (4) | A: none
5:28 GAT Zack MacEwen (5), PP | A: Meloche

Overtime
3:35 HAL Nico Hischier (2) | A: Jones & Fortier

Powerplay: GAT - 2-for-7, HAL - 1-for-6
Shots: 41-33 in favour of Halifax

MISSING IN ACTION- Raphael Lavoie, Joel Bishop, Brett Crossley

SCORES
Moncton 1 at Charlottetown 10
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 at Victoriaville 1

UP NEXT: The Mooseheads go on the road now for 4 games starting with a trip to play the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY #6: vs. Gatineau

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

Happy Thanksgiving Moose Country. Your Halifax Mooseheads host their first holiday matinee of the season today as the Gatineau Olympiques come to town. The game also happens to be the last in a 3 game home-stand for the Herd and the last home game until the team's pink in the rink match on October 21. Halifax will be looking to win their third straight and start the year 5-0 on home ice for the first time since the 1998-1999 season. The Mooseheads somehow keep finding ways to win despite being out shots in a couple of games and sometimes being out played as well. Gatineau on the other hand seems to be starting a rebuild as they have only one win in 7 games. The Olympiques were the 6th overall team last season and have scored 11 goals so far. On paper the outcome should be in the Herd's favour but it will depend on goaltending.

This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. Last year, Gatineau was 2-0-0-0 against the Mooseheads while Halifax had a 0-2-0-0 record versus Olympiques. The last matchup in the 2015-16 season was February 10. Alex Dostie and Chiwetin Blacksmith scored two goals each in Gatineau's 6-0 victory while Kevin Resop made 35 saves for Halifax.

OVERALL RECORDS
Olympiques: 1-5-1-0 = 3 points (6th in West division, 17th overall)
Mooseheads: 4-2-0-0 = 8 points (4th in Maritimes division, 9th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 9pts (5G & 4A), Connor Moyniahn 5pts (4G & 1A), Arnaud Durandeau 5pts (3G & 2A)
GAT: Vitalii Abramov 5pts (2G & 3A), Alex Dostie 5pts (2G & 3A), Zack MacEwen 3pts (3G)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Gatineau is coming of a 2-1 loss to the Screaming Eagles. Vataloo Abramov scored the lone goal for the Olympiques while Mathieu Bellemore made 24 saves to take the defeat in Cape Breton on Sunday afternoon.

Halifax is coming off a 5-2 victory over the Islanders in a rematch game on Saturday evening. Connor Moynihan scored twice to lead the Mooseheads while rookie Alexis Gravel stopped 35 of Charlottetown's 37 shots to get his first career win.

NOT DRESSED - n/a

ALUM ON OLYMPIQUES - Jean-Sebastien Taillefer and Dominik Blain-Dupuis

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 10  Olympiques at Mooseheads - 3pm
November 2  Mooseheads at Olympiques - 8:30pm

OUT OF TOWN
Islanders vs. Wildcats   3:00pm
Tigres vs. Armada   3:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will go on the road now for four games starting on Wednesday in Acadie-Bathurst against the Titan. Puck drops at 7pm.

POSTGAME: Olympiques 3, Mooseheads 6

MC POST-GAME
Here's some stories from last night's 6-3 win over the Gatineau Olympiques

My recap: Once again, it didn't take long for Danish forward Nikolaj Ehlers to make an impact in his return from the U20 world ice hockey championships. 

The Q News' recap: Fresh off of a successful IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, Nikolaj Ehlers and Timo Meier guided the Halifax Mooseheads to a 6-3 trouncing of Benoit Groulx's Gatineau Olympiques. 

Metro News' recap: They're ba-ack.

The Canadian Press' recap: Nikolaj Ehlers did not disappoint in his first Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game in over a month. 

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: There was no shortage of chances for fans to toss teddy bears on the ice on Friday night as the Mooseheads skated past the reeling Gatineau Olympiques 6-3 on the strength of great efforts from both Nikolaj Ehlers and Timo Meier. 

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Brandon Vuic (healthy scratch), Vince Watt (healthy scratch) and Domenico Argento (call up - healthy scratch)

SCORES
Blainville-Boisbriand 4 - 3 Charlottetown SO
Cape Breton 8 - 1 Acadie-Bathurst
Sherbrooke 7 - 4 Quebec
Baie-Comeau 4 - 9 Victoriaville
Chicoutimi 2 - 5 Rouyn-Noranda
Rimouski 4 - 2 Val-d;Or

NEXT GAME: The Mooseheads play again tonight and will host the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Puck drops at 7pm.

RECAP: Ehlers, Meier Help In Return

HALIFAX - Once again, it didn't take long for Danish forward Nikolaj Ehlers to make an impact in his return from the U20 world ice hockey championships. After a nice pregame ceremony where Ehlers, Swiss forward Timo Meier and Gatineau Olympiques coach Benoit Groulx were honored for playing at the tournament it looked like it might take a while for Moose Country to be able to throw their teddies on the ice. However, 13 minutes into the first period second year American forward Danny Moynihan scored to give the Mooseheads a 1-0 lead and the stuffed animals flew. Nikolaj scored a minute and a half into the second to push it to 3-0 with his second of the night. He would score the hat trick with 15:05 left in the game which would seal the victory for Halifax. Meier chipped in with 4 assists in his return while the Herd also welcomed back Ryan Falkenham, who got an assist in his first game since November 15.

FINAL: Olympiques 3 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Moynihan HAL | 2. Meier HAL | 1. Ehlers HAL
Attendance: 8,222
MC's Top Herd: Timo Meier

GAME LOG
First period
13:00 HAL Danny Moynihan (19), PP | A: Meier & C. Fitzgerald
16:06 HAL Nikolaj Ehlers (17) | A: Meier & Hunter

Shots: pucks to the net in the first were 10 to 8 Halifax

Second period
1:28 HAL Nikolaj Ehlers (18) | A: Fortier & Meier
1:42 GAT Valentin Zykov (8) | A: None
13:36 HAL Philippe Gadoury (18) | A: D. Moynihan & Falkenham
16:53 GAT Louick Marcotte (23) | A: Berube

Shots: Gatineau had the advantage in shots this period, 9-7

Third period
4:55 HAL Nikolaj Ehlers (19) | A: Meier
6:10 HAL Danny Moynihan (20), PP | A: Ehlers & C. Fitzgerald
15:56 GAT Tommy Veilleux (12) | A: Breton & Dostle

Shots: Halifax had 12 shots to Gatineau's 7, with the Mooseheads out-shooting the Olympiques 29-24 overall

POWERPLAY
Gatineau: 0-for-3
Halifax: 2-for-5

GOALIES
Winning goaltender: Eric Brassard HAL 21 saves
Losing goaltender: Nicolas Lachance GAT 23 saves

GAMEDAY #41: vs Gatienau

GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES

January 9, 2015 at 7:00pm

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

Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

It's going to be a welcoming party at the Scotiabank Centre tonight when your Halifax Mooseheads host the Gatinrau Olympiques. Halifax will welcome back three players to the lineup. Captain Ryan Falkenham returns from injury tonight while Nikolaj Ehlers and Timo Meier return from individually successful World Junior tournaments. Speaking of the World Juniors, the Mooseheads will have a world champion coach to battle against this evening. Benoit Groulx led Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2015 tournament in Toronto and will try to lead his Olympiques to a victory against Halifax in his first game back behind the Gatineau bench. Halifax will also welcome a new player to the bench after the team announced earlier this week that they signed Toronto, ON native and free agent Sam Hunter. With all that who would think that this has been a big event from the beginning of the season. Tonight is Halifax's annual Teddy Bear Toss game. Don't forget to bring your stuffed animals and throw them on the ice when the Mooseheads score their first goal.

This is the second and last game of the season between thesse two teams. Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Olympiques while Gatienau is 0-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads this year. The two teams last met on October 24 with the visiting Herd coming out with a big 9-6 victory on the road. Phil Gadoury led Halifax with 5 points (2 goals and 3 assists) while Zach Fucale made 20 saves on 26 shots.

Overall Records
Olympiques: 15-23-0-4 = 34 points (6th in West division, 16th overall)
Mooseheads: 19-17-2-1 = 41 points (4th in Maritimes division, 14th overall)

Leading Scorers
HFX: Nikolaj Ehlers 47pts (16G & 31A), Timo Meier 46pts (21G & 25A), Danny Moynihan 39pts (18G & 21A)
GAT: Louick Marcotte 44pts (22G & 22A), Yakov Trenin 37pts (11G & 26A), Alexandre Carrier 34pts (6G & 28A)

Last Games
The Olympiques are coming off a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in Sydney. Elie Berube had 2 goals and an assist to lead Gatienau while Nicolas Lachance was chased from the game after allowing 2 goals on 7 shots on Wednesday night.

The Mooseheads are coming off a disappointing loss to the 18th place Acadie-Bathurst. Danny Moynihan scored the only goal in a 3-1 defeat to the Titan on the road while Kevin Resop made 22 saves as Halifax was outshot 25-18 in the game this past Sunday.

Season Series

Friday Oct 24 Halifax 9 at Gatineau 6

Friday Jan 9 Gatineau at Halifax - 7pm

Out of Town
Islanders vs. Armada 7:00pm
Titan vs. Screaming Eagles 7:30pm
Remparts vs. Phoenix 8:00pm
Tigres vs. Drakkar 8:00pm
Huskies vs. Sagueneens 8:30pm
Foreurs vs. Oceanic 8:30pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will be hosts to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada tomorrow night for Saturday night hockey. Puck drops at 7pm.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 9, Olympiques 6

MC POST-GAME

Here are some stories from last night's 9-6 win over the Gatineau Olympiques

The Q News' recap: The Halifax Mooseheads scored a flurry of goals defeating the Gatineau Olympiques 9-6 at the Robert Guertin Centre on Friday night.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads scored early and often in a wide open 9-6 win over the Gatineau Olympiques in Gatineau on Friday.

Metro Halifax's recap: Forward Philippe Gadoury put five points on the game sheet to help the Halifax Mooseheads find its offensive confidence in a 9-6 win over the Gatineau Olympiques on Friday night.

The Canadian Press' recap: Philippe Gadoury had two goals and three assists for Halifax in their win over the Olympiques.

halifaxmooseheads.ca's recap: The offense came fast and furious on Friday night for the Mooseheads as they opened up a huge lead in the opening period en route to their biggest output of the season and cruised to a relatively comfortable 9-6 victory in Gatineau.

qmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Cavan Fitzgerald (broken patella), Sam LeBlanc (lower body), Jordan King (healthy) and Jesse Lussier (broken wrist)

SCORES
Quebec 5 - 4 Acadie-Bathurst OT
Moncton 5 - 6 Sherbrooke
Val-d'Or 3 - 5 Blainville-Boisbrian
Drummondville 4 - 1 Chicoutimi
Rouyn-Noranda 2 - 4 Rimouski

NEXT GAME: Halifax continues their Quebec trip tonight against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Puck drops at 5pm.

GAMEDAY #14: at Gatineau

GAMEDAY

GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

October 24, 2014 at 8:30pm

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

Robert Guertin Centre (3,196) ~ Gatineau, QC 

Today is Friday which begins another week of Halifax mosoeheads hockey. This weekend, your Mooseheads have their first Quebec road trip of the 2014-15 season and it starts in Gatineau. Tonight's game against the Olympiques is also the first of a 3 in 3 weekend for Halifax. There was considerable improvement last weekend when the boys took on Cape Breton in back to back games, but for some reason on Sunday the Herd couldn't put together a full 60 minute game again. However, it's looking up as more injured players are close to coming back, we may even see one or two this weekend. As the Moose are trying to get out of their slump, the "Piques are as well. Gatienau will try to break a 3 game losing streak tonight on thier home ice.

This is the first game between the Olympiques and Mooseheads this season. The two teams split last season's series, each team winning on home ice.

Overall Records

Mooseheads: 4-7-1-1 = 10 points (5th in Maritimes division, 7th overall)

Olympiques: 7-6-0-3 = 17 points (3rd in West division, 6th overall)

Leading Scorers

GAT: Louick Marcotte 20pts (9G & 11A), Yakov Trenin 20ts (5G & 15A), Alexandre Carrier 14pts (1G & 13A)

HFX: Timo Meier 14pts (5G & 9A), Ryan Falkenham 8pts (5G & 3A), Morgan Nauss 8pts (1G & 7A)

Last Games

Halifax is coming off a shocking loss to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Sunday afternoon. Just when it looked like the Moose would pull of 2 straight wins (for the 1st time this season), the Eagles rallied for 4 goals in the last five minutes to win 4-1. Zach Fucale made 33 saves on 36 shots for the loss.

The Olympiques are coming off a 6-4 loss in Rimouski on Tuesday. Yakov Trenin led Gatineau with a goal and 2 assists against the Oceanic while Anthony Broudeur made 30 saves on 32 shots in relief of Nicolas Lachance to take the loss.

Season Series

Friday Oct 24  Halifax at Gatineau - 8:30pm

Friday Jan 9  Gatineau at Halifax - 7pm

Out of Town

Titan vs Remparts 7:30pm

Phoenix vs Wildcats 8:00pm
Aramda  vs Foreurs 8:00pm
Sagueneens vs Voltigeurs 8:00pm
Oceanic vs Huskies 8:30pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax continues their Quebec roadtrip tomorrow evening in Blainville for a game against the Aramda. Puck drops at 5pm.

Gadoury Powers Series Win.

Game Five Recap

Series: HAL wins 4-1 

Stars: 3. 

Attendance: 3,449

GATINEAU - Well they may want to keep him next year after the year he has had this season and game 5 of the second round might have helped his case a little bit more. 20 year old Philippe Gadoury was a big factor in tonight's series clinching win for the Halifax Mooseheads who were on the road for this fifth game because of the distance between the two cities in the series. Gadoury, who may be one of the Herd's overagers next season, was apart of all four goals in the win recording 3 assists and scoring the last goal of the game. Despite the fact that the Gatineau Olympiques gave the away team 7 powerplay opportunities it really wasn't a as physical game the previous games were, the referees put the whistle away for most of the game unless there were actual rough stuff like fighting or slashing.

FINAL: Halifax 4 at Gatineau 1

Point getters: HAL Gadoury 4 (1G & 3A), Drouin 3 (1G & 2A), Ehlers 2 (1G & 1A), Weegar 2 (2A), Ciampini 1G; GAT Carrier 1G, Tardif-Richard 1A

Goaltenders: Steeves GAT | Fucale HAL

Shots 1st: 8-6 GAT | 2nd: 8-8 tie | 3rd: 15-7 HAL

Powerplay GAT 0/4, HAL 3/7


OUT OF TOWN
Drummondville 2 - 5 Val-d'Or
Rimouski 4 - 3 Blainville OT

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #9: at Gatineau

IT'S GAMEDAY

GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: HAL leads 3-1

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Robert Guertin Centre (3,717) ~ Gatineau, QC

PREVIEW - Win and you move on, loose and you come back home for another game against the same team. That's the case for the Halifax Mooseheads. For the Gatineau Olympiques it's win and you stay alive, loose and your season is done. This is a huge game for both teams. If Halifax wins than they can prove that they can handle the nosiest of buildings despite The Bob being one of the smallest. If they loose, well than maybe they don't have it in them to go all the way even though they have the scoring power to go all the way again. Though there are different referees tonight don't expect either team to not play the rough game especially Gatineau who will be firing on all cylinders trying to get the Moose off their game by ramping up the home fans with hits, fights, pains and goals.

NOT PLAYING - Darcy Ashley will be a game time decision as will the heatlhy scratches

NOTES

• Brandon Vuic will not be suspended for tonight's game. His agressor penalty, which carries an automatic one game suspension, was overturned by the QMJHL yesterday so good news for the Mooseheads and Vuic

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 4 Olympiques 1 at Mooseheads 4
Game 2 Apr 5 Olympiques 2 at Mooseheads 6
Game 3 Apr 8 Mooseheads 2 at Olympiques 5
Game 4 Apr 9 Mooseheads 4 at Olympiques 2
Game 5 Apr 11 Mooseheads at Olympiques
*Game 6 Apr 14 Olympiques at Mooseheads
*Game 7 Apr 15 Olympiques at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Voltigeurs at Foreurs - 8:30pm
Oceanic at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Sportsnet
Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald, Moose Country blog

NEXT GAME
It depends on weather Gatineau wins, if they can Game 6 will be Monday in Halifax. Puck drops at 7pm.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #7: at Gatineau

IT'S GAMEDAY

 GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: HAL leads 2-0

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Robert Guertin Centre (3,196) ~ Gatineau, QC

PREVIEW - it's on to Gatineau now where your halifax Mooseheads will take on the hometown Olympiques in what could be a possible three games in the Quebec city. If the first two games are any testament to how the rest of this series is going to go, game 5 in Gatineau will not be needed though. The man advantage has been the down fall for the 'Piques as they have gone 53% on the penalty kill. There have only been two even strength goals in the first 2 games of the series, 1 by both teams. If Gatineau has any chance of making this interesting they will have to still play with passion but not the aggressive passion they have been playing with the last two games. Being in front of their home crowd might help that and get them motivated. The home team in both games of the season series won between these two teams. Will we see that trend continue? We will have to wait.

NOT PLAYING - Darcy Ashley is still out with a lower body injury

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 4 Olympiques 1 at Mooseheads 4
Game 2 Apr 5 Olympiques 2 at Mooseheads 6
Game 3 Apr 8 Mooseheads at Olympiques
Game 4 Apr 9 Mooseheads at Olympiques
*Game 5 Apr 11 Mooseheads at Olympiques
*Game 6 Apr 14 Olympiques at Mooseheads
*Game 7 Apr 15 Olympiques at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Foreurs at Voltigeurs - 8:00pm
Drakkar at Huskies - 8:30pm
Oceanic at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: None
Live: @CoolenTQN
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
The fourth game will be played tomorrow night in Gatineau once again. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

Man Advantaged.

Game One Recap

Series: HAL leads 1-0

STARS: 3. Drouin HAL | 2. Fucale HAL | 1. Ryan HAL

Attendance: 8,927

HALIFAX - Three; the number of goals that your Halifax Mooseheads scored on the powerplay. The man advantage has been good to the Mooseheads during the playoffs this season and it didn't stop tonight. Not only did Halifax get 3 goals on the Booster Juice powerplay but all the goals during the game were scored with the man advantage. For the first 40 minutes it looked like this series was going to be a very low scoring one but like they have done in the previous series, the bad guys let their guard down and Halifax took advantage of it. We also had our first penalty shot when Nikolaj Ehlers took down Vincent Dunn on a partial breakaway chance. Zach Fucale stood strong during the resulting penalty shot and made a big save to keep it a 1-0 game. 

FINAL: Gatineau 1 at Halifax 4

Point getters: GAT Bourcier 1G, Deslauriers & Berube 1A each; HAL Ryan 3 (2G & 1A), Drouin & Ehlers 2A each, Gadoury & Andrews 1G each, Murphy & Weegar 1A each

Goaltenders: Fucale HAL | Steeves GAT

Shots 1st: 14-10 HAL | 2nd: 11-8 GAT | 3rd: 11-5 HAL

Powerplay HAL 3/7, GAT 1/3

OUT OF TOWN
Rouyn-Noranda 1 - 4 Baie-Comeau
Drumonndville 4 - 3 Val-d'Or  OT
Blainville 0 - 3 Rimouski