August, we welcome you!

We have turned the calendar in to August which means the off-season is two weeks away from being over for us fans and Halifax Mooseheads will soon start up again. The team kicked off the new month with a roster move as the QMJHL's pre-season trade period opened on Friday. 

Halifax announced that they have acquired 18-year-old goaltender Owen Bresson from the Shawinigan Cataractes in exchange for a 2026 3rd round draft pick. Bresson, a Dominion, NS native, made his Q debut in November following the NCAA rule change. He picked up eight wins in 17 games played for the Cataractes while posting a 2.98 goals against average and a 0.905 save percentage.

Photo - Herd website

According to the press release, Owen will join Nick Cirka to form the duo who will mind the Mooseheads net this season. Welcome to the team Owen! 

Other news and notes...

• Like I mentioned above, the summer trade period began yesterday August 1 and it will go until August 24. 
• Herd training camp will start Aug. 16 the team announced a few days ago with two White-Green intrasquad games on the following day. I will share the full schedule when camp is closer but you can click here for what the team shared. 
• Tickets for Halifax's 'home' exhibition games will go on sale on Tuesday. A live stream will be provided for both on the team's YouTube channel. 
• Former forward Barrett Dachyshyn has signed with the Antigonish Senior Bulldogs of the NSJHL. The 26-year-old did not play last season after finishing four years at the University of Windsor. 
• 92 players were invited to Hockey Canada's national teams orientation camp in preparation for the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Among the forty-two that will look for a spot on the men's team are alumni defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and forward Brad Marchand plus the previously named Nathan MacKinnon. 
• A new recruiting window opened on Aug. 1 for NCAA college hockey teams so be ready for more commitments from junior players. The Grand Forks Herald has a list of 20 Canadians to watch and the Mooseheads 2026 3rd overall selection Malik L'Italien is #16 on the list. 

Alumni among first 6 for Olympics

Last year, the National Hockey League announced that their players would be available to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The league along with the qualified federations came out with their first six players on their rosters last week. A few Halifax Mooseheads alumni were among the players named. 

Photo - Avalanche Twitter

Forward Nathan MacKinnon will represent Hockey Canada for the first time at the Olympics as NHL players have not been able to participate in the games since 2014. MacKinnon, who wore the Mooseheads' jersey from 2011-2013, just finished his 12th professional season with the Colorado Avalanche. He recorded 32 goals and 116 points during the regular season in 2024-25. The 29-year-old's 84 assists were a league high. Follow Avalanche teammate Cale Makar is also slated to suit up for Canada. 

27-year-old Nikolaj Ehlers is set to play for Team Denmark. To me this is no surprise as Ehlers helped his country qualify for the tournament last year as well as in 2021. He was named to the original 3 for the 2022 Olympics but the NHL decided not to send players in the end, citing concerns over COVID. The Aalborg native picked up 63 points in 69 games played for the Winnipeg Jets this past season and is up for a contract after completing his tenth year in the NHL. 

Photo - Devils Twitter

Just like the previous Olympics, Timo Meier and Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils look to be teammates for Team Switzerland assuming everything works out this time. Hischier, who played only one season in Halifax, scored 35 goals and 69 points during the regular season and added 4 goals in 5 playoff games. The 26-year-old wore the captaincy at the last two World Championships so it's possible that he is given the honour in February. 28-year-old Meier record 53 points in 80 games in his second full season with the Devils after suiting up for six & a half years for San Jose. 

Congrats to the four players who are were named to the initial rosters. It will be interesting to see if any other alumni will also represent their countries. The full rosters are set to be released in January. 

The men's hockey tournament will be held February 11-22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. 

Abeltshauser Headed To Olympics

Well despite 4 former Halifax Mooseheads being named to Olympic rosters, only one will actually be playing in the Games next week.

After the NHL decided to pull their players out, countries had to change who will represent them in the men's hockey tournament. Herd alumni Konrad Abeltshauser is one of the lucky benefactors of the change and will represent his country Germany. 

The 29-year-old played 4 years for Halifax between 2009 and 2013, eventually winning the 2013 Memorial Cup with the organization. He holds the franchise record for points by a defenseman with 150. He now plays for the EHC Munchen of DEL, a team Abeltshauser has been with since 2015. Originally from Bad Tolz, Germany Konrad has represented the country many times. 

Germany, who are the reigning Olympic bronze medalists, will begin their quest for a medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing when they face Canada in their opening game on February 10th. Below is the preliminary schedule for Germany (Beijing time):

Feb 10  Canada vs. Germany  9:10pm
Feb 12  Germany vs. China  4:40pm
Feb 13  United States vs. Germany  9:10pm

Congratulations to Konrad on making the Olympic team and good luck to Germany. 

Herd Word

Some news from the past week or so as we are in the middle of January and things keep changing. 

MIRON WAIVED

I missed this in amidst all the other news last week but forward Landon Miron was put on waivers by the Halifax Mooseheads and quickly got claimed by the Val-d'Or Foreurs on January 7. The 19-year-old from Dartmouth, NS had one goal and two assists in 18 games this season in Halifax. Since joining the Mooseheads as an undrafted free agent in 2019, Miron has produced 15 goals and eight assists for 23 points in 75 career QMJHL games. 

Good luck Landon in Val-d'Or, we'll miss you in Moose Country. 

HERD ADD FREE AGENT
This was rumoured shortly after the trade deadline passed last Thursday and it was confirmed by the club on Monday. The Herd have added 19-year-old free agent Evan Boucher who comes from Timmons, ON. He was second in the CCHL's scoring race with 22 goals and 40 points in 27 games with the Brockville Braves prior to signing with Halifax. According to the release, Boucher played 92 career CCHL games between Rockland, Nepean and Brockville, putting up a total of 78 points. "He is a big forward who plays physically and has a good scoring touch. We think he will be a nice compliment to our roster", said General Manager Cam Russell. 

Welcome to the team Evan. He will wear number 71 according to the club's Twitter account.

OLYMPICS CANCELLED
Kind of old news as it was announced before Christmas but I was still hoping some way we'd get to see NHL players in the 2022 Winter Olympics next month. The National Hockey League along with the Players Association decided that its players would not participate in the Olympics in Beijing. Many different reasons were the cause of the league making this decision like the uncertainty about how long players would have to quarantine in China should they test positive, safety concerns as well as the fact that the NHL has had to postpone multiple games this season because of government restrictions and league protocols. 

This means that we won't see Jakub Voracek, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier and Nikolaj Ehlers heading over seas to represent their countries which is really unfortunate especially as Ehlers helped Denmark qualify for the tournament. We could still see a few alumni suit up but we'll have to wait and see as it seems only the USA and Czech Republic have released their new rosters. Minor professional league players can be named and it sounds like NCAA guys can too. 

ALL-STAR SELECTIONS
One event is still going on next month for NHL players at least for now. The league announced the rosters for the 2022 All-Star game. Former Herd Nathan MacKinnon was named captain of the Central Division team via a fan vote. This is the 4th time MacKinnon has been made an all-star in his career. The 26-year-old has 6 goals and 35 points so far this season with the Colorado Avalanche. Another Moose alum Timo Meier will play for the Pacific Division in his first all-star appearance. Meier is 10th in league scoring with 39 points (15 goals+24 assists) for the San Jose Sharks. 

The 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game will take place on February 5 in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena and will feature a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format. 

Congratulations to Nathan and Timo on their all-star game nod. Good luck boys, Moose Country will be cheering you on.

DRAFT RANKINGS
3 members of our Halifax Mooseheads were listed in the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Season Rankings released on Wednesday. Defenceman Jake Furlong was ranked #53 on the most recent list which predicts he'll be a second round draft pick. Surprisingly, forward Jordan Dumais is ranked only as high as #72 which would put him in the third round. If he keeps having the season that he has been, I suspect we'll see him being higher up the list by the time the draft rolls around. Forward Markus Vidicek is the last player from the Herd on the rankings at #98. 

In total, 36 QMJHL players were among the names that ranked by the scouting services with Gatineau Olympiques defenceman Tristan Luneau the highest ranked Q player. Other projected first-round selections from the league include Maveric Lamoureux (Drummondville) and Nathan Gaucher (Quebec). Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs continues to be the projected 1st overall pick. For the full list of prospects, click here. 

Talking about prospects, the Canadian Hockey League announced on Friday that the 2022 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects game originally scheduled for February 2 has been postponed due to ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic. A new date will be released at a later date. 

Q SEASON POSTPONED 
From the QMJHL
With no clear timeline of COVID-19 restrictions being eased, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League today announced the postponement of its return to play plans. 

Initially scheduled for a return in the week of January 17, the regular season will resume on February 1. The league is still working on rescheduling all postponed games, with the primary objective of having all franchises play their full 68-game schedule.  

Photos - Saltwire, Herd website, Avalanche & Sharks Twitter accounts

Alumni Named to Olympic Rosters

Early in September, the National Hockey League announced that they will allow their players to represent their countries in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics. This is great news as I found it wasn't quite as enjoyable to watch the men's tournament without the top players being there in 2018. With the coronavirus still affecting the world, the NHL and the International Olympic Committee have said that they have until January to determine officially if players will participate in the Olympics. 

Governing bodies for each team must announce its first three players by October 15 while also submitting their "long list". Final rosters will be announced in January. Most of the 12 participating countries have named their first 3 players as of last week. If everything works out, it looks like at least 4 former Halifax Mooseheads will represent their country in the tournament come February. 

Jakub Voracek, who was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets this summer, will suit up for the Czech Republic. This will be the second time the 32 year old has played for his country in the Olympics. He has been the Captain of the Czechs at the last 3 world championship tournaments that he has participated in so I wouldn't be surprised if he wears the C in February. 

Team Switzerland will have two alumni on their team as New Jersey Devils' captain Nico Hischier and Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks were two of the 3 guys named to the Swiss team early on. Hischier, 22, and Meier, 25, have both played in two world championships and were teammates in 2021. 

After leading them in scoring and helping his country to qualify for the Olympics, 25-year-old Nikolaj Ehlers is set to play for Denmark. Other than the qualifying tournament, this will be the first time Ehlers has represented his country since the 2017 world championships. 

Congrats to all four players on being named to Olympic teams. I expect we will see more alumni representing their countries come February and I'll keep you updated when the time comes. 

Photos - NHL website and Live Feeds

Ehlers Helps Denmark Make Olympics

Halifax Mooseheads alumni Nikolaj Ehlers could be an Olympian in February. The 25-year-old helped his Denmark team be victorious in the Olympic qualifying tournament over the weekend in Olso, Norway. 

Nikolaj had nine points over the 3 games as the Danes won all three to be first in their group to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in their history. His second goal in their opening game ended up being the game winner as Denmark picked up a 4-3 victory over Slovenia before the team dominated South Korea on Friday by a score of 11-1. Ehlers once again had the game winning goal and finished the match with 2 goals and 4 assists. Sunday's game was a big one as the red and white took on Norway for top spot in their group. The Danish team won 2-0 with Nik scoring his 5th tally of the weekend to finish the tournament as the top scorer.

I say he could be an Olympian because the National Hockey League has not yet determined if they will allow their players to participate in the 2022 Olympics. The league has released the regular season schedule with a two week break in February so it is a bigger possibility this time than it was 4 years ago in 2018. If NHLers are allowed, I imagine Ehlers will make the Denmark team as he has been pretty good for them in other tournaments as well. We may also see a few other former Mooseheads players on Olympic rosters if the NHL does participate. 

Congrats to Denmark on qualifying for the Olympics and good luck in February. Cross your fingers Moose Country that NHLers will be heading to Beijing and we will see some alum playing. 

Photo - IIHF Twitter

Voracek is an Olympian!

Former Halifax Mooseheads player Jakub Voracek is now an Olympian. He was named as one of the 25 players that will represent their home Czech Republic during the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Voracek played for the Mooseheads between 2006 and 2008 after he was drafted 1st overall by Halifax in the CHL Import Draft. In 112 games he collected 187 points scoring 56 goals and assisting on 131 others. Most of his points came in his sophmore year where he only played 53 games but got almost twice that in points, finishing the 2007-08 QMJHL season with 101 points. This is the eighth time Voracek has represented his country.

Congratulations Jakub. You can watch him and the Czechs in February when the men's tournament starts on February 12 and goes until the 23rd.