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.
The Mooseheads ended up playing only five exhibition games this year after the final one on September 13 was cancelled because of a virus going through the Cape Breton Eagles team.
One step into preparing to celebrate the Halifax Mooseheads 30th anniversary season has happened as the team have released their pre-season schedule on Friday.
Halifax is anticipated to play six games over the pre-season schedule this summer. The QMJHL exhibition play will begin on August 17 and go until September 16 with a two-week break in between. Our Mooseheads are once again taking on the Charlottetown Islanders and Cape Breton Eagles.
Here is the 2023-24 pre-season schedule:
August 22 at 7pm - vs. Cape Breton Eagles (RBC Centre) August 23 at 7pm - at Cape Breton Eagles (Centre 200) August 25 at 7pm - vs. Charlottetown Islanders (RBC Centre) September 9 at 7pm - at Charlottetown Islanders (MacLauchlan Arena) September 10 at 4pm - vs. Cape Breton Eagles (RBC Centre) September 15 at 7pm - at Cape Breton Eagles (Membertou Sport & Wellness Centre)
ROOKIE CAMPS There are a number of former and current Halifax Mooseheads players attending rookie camps and tournaments this weekend. A few of the big tournaments will feature our Herd trying to make the main camp of teams that they are with. Recent NHL draft picks Jordan Dumais and Jake Furlong will be hoping to showcase that Columbus and San Jose made the right choice in selecting them.
via NHL.com
Check out which players will be attending rookie camps below Markus Vidicek - Arizona Coyotes Jake Furlong - San Jose Sharks Evan Boucher - Calgary Flames Cameron Whynot - Calgary Flames Bobby Orr - Carolina Hurricanes Jordan Dumais - Columbus Blue Jackets Justin Barron - Montreal Canadiens Xavier Parent - New Jersey Devils Arnaud Durandeau - New York Islanders Elliot Desnoyers - Philadelphia Flyers Zachary L'Heureux - Nashville Predators Zack Jones - New Jersey Devils
PRE-SEASON The Herd finished their exhibition schedule on Friday night on 'home' ice against Cape Breton and they came out on top by a score of 10-5. Halifax scored six goals in the third period which included 2 by Attilio Biasca. Third year forward James Swan recorded a hat trick and 17-year-old Mathieu Cataford added to his pre-season point total with five assists last night. The victory gave the Mooseheads a 4-1-0-0 record in the pre-season.
I'll have final stats from the pre-season in tomorrow's post.
via Jackets Twitter
DUMAIS 18-year-old Jordan Dumais ended the 2021-22 regular season with 109 points to lead Halifax in scoring which led the Columbus Blue Jackets to picking him 96th overall in the 2022 NHL draft. Dumais wasted no time in showing the Jackets they made the correct decision back in June by scoring two goals on Thursday afternoon. It led to Columbus' 7-1 defeat against the St. Louis rookies at the Traverse City prospect tournament.
"There's no size limit anymore," said Trent Vogelhuber, who is coaching the CBJ prospects team in Traverse City. "You have skill and you can score like that, you're gonna find a way to play. He's got to keep working, get a little stronger, and obviously he's a young kid, but the stuff you can't teach is there."
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS Individual game tickets went on sale on Tuesday for all 34 regular season games. Prices range from $10 for youth tickets to $27 for adult tickets in the lower bowl. You can purchase them on ticketatlantic.ca
Full promotional schedule can be found below.
via Mooseheads Twitter
CAPTAIN Halifax is looking for a new group to lead the team during the 2022-23 season since the three men who wore letters last year have moved on. General Manager Cam Russell and company have yet to name this year's group but I asked my followers on my Instagram who they thought would be given the C. The results ended like this:
With all four of these young men away at NHL camps, we most likely will not find out who will lead this year's team until possibly October.
NEW LOOK A big announcement was made by our Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday morning with the team coming out that they will have a new look for 2022-23. Feeling have been mixed with the new logo but everyone has seemed to enjoy the announcement video that was posted which you can see below. The logo is a lot cleaner and someone noticed that the H seems to be in the shape of Citadel Hill which I think is a nice nod to the city.
I wonder if this will mean that new jerseys are on the way as well but we'll have to wait and see. There certainly will be some new merchandise for the upcoming season as the shop website is currently under construction to showcase products with the updated logo. Not sure any club has had the exact same logo for almost 30 years so it really was time to make a change. Let me know what you think about it in the comments below. Can't wait to see the logo on the ice in less than a week though.
STANLEY CUP FINALS The NHL Stanley Cup final series will begin on Wednesday and it will include a former Halifax Mooseheads player. Nova Scotia native Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche will be looking for the franchise's third Stanley Cup after sweeping the Edmonton Oilers last week in the conference finals. This will be first trip to the Stanley Cup final for MacKinnon in his career. The Herd alum scored a pivotal goal and registered seven shots on goal in the series clinching game which ended with a 6-5 score in overtime. Nathan has contributed 11 goals and 7 assists for 18 points in Colorado's 14 postseason games that has seen the team post an incredible 12-2 record in series wins over Nashville, St. Louis and Edmonton. The Avalanche had to wait a few days to find out who their opponent would be but now know and will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning for the trophy. Tampa is looking for their third straight championship.
TICKETS
Our Halifax Mooseheads announced the prices and benefits for the 2022-23 season tickets the other day. One of the biggest benefits is the first right to not keep their seat for the 2023 World Juniors as long as you get your packages before July 15. Full season ticket packages begin at $225 for a youth ticket. Also available is the normal 15-game pack plus a family flex 20 package.
Prices for a season membership are below: Red Green
Fans can get on the waiting list by going to the tickets page here or call 492-3470 as full packages don't go on sale until June 22.
Q AWARDS Mooseheads forward Jordan Dumais was named the QMJHL's most sportsmanlike player of 2022 a couple weeks ago. To be considered for the Frank J. Selke trophy, a player must prove his efficiency on the ice, demonstrate the utmost respect for opponents and officials as well as avoid the penalty box. One of the top used forwards on the Mooseheads, the Ile-Bizard, QC native spent no more than six minutes in the penalty box all season. Check out Dumais being presented the award here. Awesome job Jordan!
The league has been handing out the Golden Puck awards and recently announced the all-star rookie team for the 2021-22 season with Herd forward Mathieu Cataford cracking the list. Cataford led all 16-year-olds players in points with 46 after Halifax selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 Q entry draft. Congrats to Mathieu on being given the honour.
PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE
Our Halifax Mooseheads released their pre-season schedule for the upcoming season. The Herd will play a total of six games starting on August 23 with a trip to Sydney against the Cape Breton Eagles. Halifax's three home pre-season matches will be played at the RBC Centre in Dartmouth. Tickets will go on sale later in the summer.
Full schedule below August 23 Halifax at Cape Breton 7pm Glace Bay Miners Forum August 24 Cape Breton at Halifax 7pm RBC Centre August 26 Saint John at Halifax 7pm RBC Centre September 9 Halifax at Saint John 7pm Centre Aitken September 11 Halifax at Cape Breton 3pm Centre 200 September 16 Cape Breton at Halifax 7pm RBC Centre
The regular season schedule was also announced on Tuesday but I will do a separate post for that.
MEMORIAL CUP Three of the four teams that will participate in the Memorial Cup are known now after the Edmonton Oil Kings won the WHL championship last night over the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Oil Kings won their series 4-2 after a 2-0 Game 6 victory in Alberta. Edmonton will join the Shawinigan Cataractes and the Saint John Sea Dogs in Saint John for the 2022 tournament. Shawinigan won the QMJHL title on June 11 with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 5. The OHL trophy will be handed out tomorrow evening as Game 7 is set to go in Hamilton between the hometown Bulldogs and the Windsor Spitfires.
Congrats to Shawinigan and Edmonton on winning their respective leagues and to whoever wins the OHL.
Photos - NHL and Mooseheads website, Sea Dogs Twitter
Unfortunately, our Halifax Mooseheads finished the pre-season with a 3-2 shootout loss on Friday night but considering they were playing the highest scoring team during the exhibition schedule; the Saint John Sea Dogs, fans should be happy. I had said after the home game a couple of weeks ago that the real test would be against the Sea Dogs and while there was times that Halifax was flat, they didn't allow themselves to be pushed around. Saint John got on the board pretty quickly, with William Defour scoring his team leading 6th goal of the pre-season just 19 seconds into the game. The Mooseheads couldn't get anything through until late in the middle frame despite having four straight power-plays but then the referees gave the home team the next four penalties. Markus Vidicek picked up his first to tie the game up at the 17:26 mark of the second before former Herd Cole Foston gave the Dogs the lead early in the third. Senna Peeters sent the game to overtime which was entertaining and featured a few really good chances for Halifax to end it but no luck.
Game at a Glance FINAL: Saint John 3 at Halifax 2 SO Saint John scorers: William Defour, Cole Foston, Riley Bezeau(SOW) Halifax scorers: Markus Vidicek, Senna Peeters Powerplay: SNB - 1/6, HAL - 1/7 Shots: Sea Dogs - 40, Mooseheads - 35
This is the pre-season finale, Halifax will now take the week after the game to practice before travelling to Sydney for a meeting with the Cape Breton Eagles for the season opener
MESSAGE TO MOOSE COUNTRY With the news on Tuesday afternoon that Nova Scotia will be delaying the start of Phase 5 of its reopening plan, questions were brought up about what restrictions will be in place for the Halifax Mooseheads home opener. According to Scotiabank Centre, the game will go on as planned but fans will be required to wear a mask at all times except for when eating or drinking and need to provide a proof of vaccination. The regulation around vaccination proof is not a surprise as it was announced that everyone attending would need it back a few weeks ago.
See below the full message from the Herd.
INJURIES The season hasn't even officially started and Cam Russell is already dealing with injuries. Elliot Desnoyers had surgery earlier in the summer and has been rehabilitating during the last while in Philadelphia but is expected to be in the lineup come opening night. Halifax was dealt another blow to their forward group over the weekend as two more players went down during training camp. Hand injuries will keep out sophomores James Swan and Attilio Biasca for a significant amount of time. 17-year-old Swan suffered a broken hand during practice last Thursday and is expected to be gone for 4-6 weeks. Biasca, 18, left Saturday's pre-season match early because of a thumb injury and was to undergo surgery this past Monday. How long he will be out is not clear at this time.
PEETERS
Our Halifax Mooseheads have gotten one player back from NHL rookie camps as the Arizona Coyotes returned forward Senna Peeters to the club Wednesday. This means that the 19-year-old will not participate in the Coyotes prospect tournament like I thought he would. We may see a couple more players be sent back this weekend but hopefully one or two will make main camps later in the month.
Here's a picture of Senna in the Coyotes uniform. The Duerne, Belgium native was a free agent invite.
MEMORIAL CUP The announcement of who will host the 2022 Memorial Cup has been delayed again. It was originally planned to be made the week of Sept. 6 but was pushed to this week. Journalist Kevin Dube reported that the identity of the chosen team will be revealed next week now. Only two teams put their names forward for this year's tournament; the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Quebec Remparts. Saint John has never hosted the Memorial Cup while Quebec last hosted it in 2015 and in 2003 before that.
It will be back-to-back years for the QMJHL to host the flagship tournament as the Halifax Mooseheads were the last team to host in 2019. The past two (2020 and 2021) have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament will be held later this year from June 2-12.
TOMILSON
20-year-old Brendan Tomilson was not without a team for long as he was acquired by the Pickering Panthers of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League the other day. Tomilson was released by the Mooseheads at the end of August despite having a stronger season in 2020-21 where he scored 3 goals and picked up 9 points in 25 games played. The Cameron, ON native had 8 points in 55 games the year before.
Good luck Brendan with your new team in Picketing.
Boy was it good to be back! I was unable to get tickets last season so even though this evening's game was just pre-season, it was nice to cheer for our Halifax Mooseheads live once again. The fans that were in attendance were treated to a pretty good game as the home team went on to win 4-3 over their provincial rivals, the Cape Breton Eagles. The away team came out harder on Saturday evening after getting defeated big time last night but Halifax was still just too strong. Cape Breton got on the board first with a power play goal by veteran Jeremy Langlois before sophomore Jordan Dumais tied the game up just over a minute later. Goaltender Brady James was forced to make some really nice saves during the game but both net-minders were tested the same as shots ended 29-29. Landon Miron picked up the game winning goal at the 7:36 mark of the third period on the power play.
Game at a Glance FINAL: Cape Breton 3 at Halifax 4 Cape Breton scorers: Jeremy Langlois, Dawson Stairs, Ivan Ivan Halifax scorers: Jordan Dumais, Zack Jones, Zachary Beauregard, Landon Miron Powerplay: CAP - 2/5, HAL - 1/3 Shots: Eagles - 29, Mooseheads - 29
Our Halifax Mooseheads picked up their second win of the pre-season schedule on Friday night at the RBC Centre with a 7-4 victory over the Moncton Wildcats. Sophomore Robert Orr continued on his hot streak scoring another 2 goals while the goaltenders that suited up once again played about half a game each. Moncton got on the score board first at the 3:14 mark of the opening period but Halifax led 3-2 after 20 minutes. Senna Peeters scored early in the third for the Mooseheads 5th goal which ended up being the game winner in the high shooting match. The Herd's next exhibition game will be on September 10 against Cape Breton.
Game at a Glance FINAL: Moncton 4 at Halifax 7 Moncton scorers: Charles Antoine-Pilote (2), Alexis Daniel, Thomas Auger Halifax scorers: Dylan MacKinnon, Mathieu Cataford, Robert Orr (2), Senna Peeters, Jordan Dumais, Attilio Biasca Powerplay: MON - 2/6, HAL - 1/5 Shots: Wildcats - 41, Mooseheads - 40
This is the first pre-season match for both teams and continuing on from last season, these provincial rivals will see each other in 2021-22
Halifax announced that it had trimmed their training camp roster by 3 this afternoon
RBC Centre will host the game tonight and as such, fans will not be allowed to attend. You can watch the battle unfold on the club's Official YouTube page
Cape Breton has put out their lineup for tonight's match while Halifax has not
Pre-season hockey begins tomorrow with three games this week!
Due to building maintenance at Scotiabank Centre, the Halifax Mooseheads training camp is being held at the RBC Centre in Dartmouth which means that a couple of the pre-season games will not be played at the team's home arena like originally announced. As such, I thought I would share the updated exhibition schedule and give some reminders.
The two August games (Tuesday August 24th & Friday August 27th) will be held at the RBC Centre. Both games will be closed to the public because of Covid-19 protocols at the arena, but free live streaming will be available on the Mooseheads Official YouTube channel with play-by-play from Garreth MacDonald and Scott MacIntosh. Season Ticket Members will receive free tickets to the two September games (Saturday Sept. 11 and Friday Sept. 24) at the Scotiabank Centre while an on sale date for General Public tickets will be announced in the coming weeks according to the team.
The venue for two of the Mooseheads away games has also changed after the Cape Breton Eagles announced recently that their training camp will be held in Glace Bay this year.
August 24 Halifax vs. Cape Breton 7 p.m. RBC Centre August 25 Cape Breton vs. Halifax 7 p.m. Glace Bay Miners Forum August 27 Halifax vs. Moncton 7 p.m. RBC Centre September 10 Cape Breton vs. Halifax 7 p.m. Glace Bay Miners Forum September 11 Halifax vs. Cape Breton 4 p.m. Scotiabank Centre September 18 Moncton vs. Halifax 7 p.m. Superior Propane Centre September 24 Halifax vs. Saint John 7 p.m. Scotiabank Centre
Our Halifax Mooseheads home opener at Scotiabank Centre is set for Saturday, October 2nd at 7 p.m. versus Cape Breton.
Another step to beginning the 2021-22 season was the releasing of the pre-season schedule which happened today. Our Halifax Mooseheads will play a total of seven games including 4 that are at the Herd's home arena; Scotiabank Centre.
It is still up in the air if fans will be able to attend the exhibition games as Nova Scotia Public Health has yet to determine what safety protocols will need to be in place for the upcoming year. Information on tickets will be announced later this summer once those decisions have been made.
Here is the schedule for the 2021-22 pre-season: August 24 at 7pm - vs. Cape Breton Eagles August 25 at 7pm - at Cape Breton Eagles August 27 at 7pm - vs. Moncton Wildcats September 10 at 7pm - at Cape Breton Eagles September 11 at 4pm - vs. Cape Breton Eagles September 18 at 7pm - at Moncton Wildcats (Superior Propane Centre) September 24 at 7pm - vs. Saint John Sea Dogs
I'll have more on training camp and pre-season in August when information is released.
