Herd Word

I can't believe today is Boxing Day and since we have a little break, I thought I would catch up on some news that has happened the past few weeks. The second half of the season should be an exciting time.

TOP PROSPECTS
The NHL/CHL top prospects game will make an appearance this season on January 25, 2023 and there will once again be a Halifax Mooseheads player on the roster. The Canadian Hockey League announced the 40 young men that will play in the game earlier this month. 17-year-old Mathieu Cataford will look to impress the scouts next month in Vancouver. Congrats to Mathieu and good luck, show them what you got. 

Photo - Mooseheads Twitter

DOUCET COMES TO HALIFAX
Our Halifax Mooseheads made yet another big trade last week, acquiring Alexandre Doucet from the Val-d'Or Foreurs. Doucet is from Sherbrooke, QC and has played his whole career with Val-d'Or. The 20-year-old has played really well this season in which he is leading the league in goals with 27 and is second in the Q in points. Halifax gave up three draft picks in the trade; 2023 1st round, 2024 2nd round and 2023 3rd rounder. "He's a game-changer. We think this trade gives us one of the best players in the league this season and makes our lineup even more dangerous than it already was," Cam Russell said. 

Halifax will have to deal with the overage situation now that the team has four players and clubs are only allowed three on their roster. Welcome to the team Alexandre. 

Biasca in pre-comp action
Photo - Swiss hockey Twitter

WORLD JUNIORS
The 2023 World Junior Hockey Championships begin today and while there won't be any Mooseheads players representing the home country Canada, Halifax will have a couple of guys on other country teams. Herd captain Attilio Biasca for the third straight year made Team Switzerland and will actually be wearing the C on his jersey for his country during the tournament. The Swiss are in Group B so they are playing in Moncton. Their first game is today at noon AT against Finland while they'll also play Slovakia, Latvia and the United States in round robin action. Meanwhile, defenseman David Moravec will look to help Team Czechia improve on their 4th place finish at the 2022 summer tournament. Czechia starts the week with a tilt against Canada this evening at 7:30pm AT. They'll also have matches versus Germany, Austria and Sweden. 

UPCOMING GAMES
Your Moose are back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to New Brunswick to battle the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The match will start a four game road stand for Halifax as the Scotiabank Centre is being used for the aforementioned World Juniors. Halifax will play two games in Cape Breton to end 2022 including a New Year's Eve afternoon tilt. Moose Country will have to wait until January 8 to see their team on home ice again. The club's first promotional match of 2023 takes place on January 14 with a t-shirt giveaway. 

Photo - Thunder Twitter

FOURNIER SIGNED BY CARDIFF
Former Halifax Mooseheads forward Stefan Fournier is headed overseas after being signed by the Cardiff Devils of the EIHL. Fournier has played the majority of the last five seasons with the ECHL's Wichita Thunder. The 30-year-old has recorded seven goals and 12 points in 17 games so far during the 2022-23 season. Cardiff doesn't expect the Dorval, QC native to play a game in Wales until December 31. "The reports we have on Stefan are very exciting, a player that I believe our fanbase will instantly embrace. He plays with an edge, throws his weight around, is willing to drop the gloves and scores dirty goals in front of the net," says Devils head coach Brodie Dupont. 

Good luck on the other side Stefan, Moose Country will be cheering for you. 

Herd Word

With the regular season beginning this week, there is lots of news popping up so I thought I would do another Herd Word. 

CHL TOP 10
The Canadian Hockey League announced the pre-season edition of the Kia CHL Top-10 Rankings on Tuesday and our Halifax Mooseheads were among the honourable mention teams on the list. 

According to the website; The climb up the ranks begins this season for the Halifax Mooseheads as the club returns a well-rounded offensive core headlined by newly minted Columbus Blue Jackets draftee Jordan Dumais who was one of only seven QMJHL skaters to reach triple-digit production last season. 

Other honourable mention teams include the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL and the WHL's Portland Winterhawks. 

MACKINNON
It's been a good summer for alumni Nathan MacKinnon who after leading the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup title back on June 26, signed an 8-year contract extension earlier this week. The contract will start in the 2023-24 season and is worth $100.8 million dollars. At an average annual salary of $12.6 million, this will make MacKinnon the highest paid player in the National Hockey League. 

"Nathan is obviously one of the premier players in the NHL so a long-term extension was something we wanted to get done before the season started," said Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland. "He has that rare combination of speed and power with a high compete level that makes him a generational player. We are thrilled he will continue to be a member of this team and this community for many years to come." 

"Denver's the only place I want to be, for sure," MacKinnon recently said in Henderson, Nevada, during a pre-season player media tour. 

MacKinnon has recorded 242 goals and 648 points in 638 career regular season games. The 27-year-old is going into his 10th NHL season and his point total ranks sixth on the franchise's all-time scoring list. 

PREDICTIONS/PREVIEWS
Many believe that the Mooseheads will contend for the Maritimes division title this season and could contend in the playoffs in the spring. 

Chronicle Herald's Willy Palov shared his predictions of how the QMJHL will end come March;

3. Halifax Mooseheads: There's some debate about whether this is Halifax's 'go for it' year or if it's 2023-24. With the depth and balance the Mooseheads have in their lineup, it might end up being both. Zachary L'Heureux, Cam Whynot, Jordan Dumais and Mathieu Cataford are just some of the blue-chip pieces in place for a turn at the top of the cycle that should last a minimum of two years. 

The QMJHL shared their division previews for the 2022-23 season and on Wednesday, it was the Maritimes division's turn. Check out the video below.

Below you'll also find a video from the Canadian Hockey League previewing the QMJHL. 

HERD ON TV
Our Halifax Mooseheads will be in two games that will be apart of the CHL on TSN broadcast this season. The Herd's game against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on November 3 and their match at the Moncton Wildcats on November 27 are among the fifteen-ish games set to be shown on TSN in the first half of the season. For a full list of matches, click here. 

The CHL also announced their TV Game of the Week broadcast schedule and it includes Halifax's match on October 8 versus the Islanders in Charlottetown. Fans can watch the game via the CHL mobile app and online at watch.chl.ca for free. Full schedule here. 

IMPORTANT DATES

• The date and location for the NHL/CHL Top Prospects game was announced by Regina Pats star and 2023 draft-eligible prospect Connor Bedard the other day. It will be played in Bedard's hometown of Vancouver, BC on January 25, 2023. 
• The QMJHL's holiday trading period will be Sunday, December 18 to Friday, January 6.
• Dates for the 2023 Memorial Cup were also announced and the tournament will be played from May 26 to June 5 in Kelowna. 

Photos - Avalanche Twitter & CHL website

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

Herd Word

Photo - Shawn Davidson

LAVOIE
On the same day he had been cut from the World Junior team, 18 year old Raphael Lavoie found out he would participate in the 2019 Sherwin-Williams Top Prospects game next month. "The 24th annual showcase of the CHL’s top prospects eligible for the NHL Draft will be played on Wednesday January 23, 2019, at the ENMAX Centrium, home of the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels.  The 40 competing players were chosen by NHL clubs and include talent from across the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League." according to the press release. It hasn't been the season most expected Lavoie to have after the Montreal, QC native had 30 goals and 63 points in a full season last year however he still has 34 points in 31 games so far.

Congrats to Raphael, go show those scouts that you deserve to be a top 10 draft pick.

TOP 10
The KIA Canadian Hockey League Top 10 for Week 14 was announced on December 19 and your Halifax Mooseheads found themselves going into the holiday break ranked 7th in the country after a 2-0-0-1 record that week.

Full rankings below
1. Prince Albert Raiders (31-2-0-1)
2. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (28-6-0-1)
3. Ottawa 67's (25-6-3-1)
4. London Knights (23-5-2-1)
5. Everett Silvertips (27-7-1-1)
6. Drummondville Voltigeurs (25-7-1-0)
7. Halifax Mooseheads (24-7-1-1)
8. Vancouver Giants (22-8-2-0)
9. Baie-Comeau Drakkar (23-9-1-1)
10. Niagara IceDogs (20-7-5-0)

Honourable mentions: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (21-8-4-1), Sudbury Wolves (21-9-1-1), Moncton Wildcats (23-10-2-1)

FIRST HALF
Despite injuries and a few games that they really should've won, the Mooseheads finished the first half of the 2018-19 season in a pretty good place. Halifax is on top of the Maritimes division having won 24 of their first 33 games. They are third in QMJHL with an even 50 points. Halifax also has the third best power play so far this season while their penalty killing is the best in the league at 88.7%. Samuel Asselin, who was acquired from the Bathurst Titan after the season began, leads the Herd with 24 goals and 42 points which is good enough for 15th in the Q. Third year goaltender Alex Gravel finds himself in the top 5 of a few categories; save percentage (4th - 0.918), wins (2nd - 18) and shutouts (T-2nd - 2).

Halifax's last match before the break was against the Charlottetown Islanders where the Mooseheads skated to a 6-2 victory on home ice. Jordan Maher scored twice while Gravel made 30 saves.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
For the week ending December 17, 2018 the QMJHL announced the players on it's team of the week and there were two Mooseheads among them.

FUCALE
It was announced earlier this week that former Moose goaltender Zach Fucale had been named to the Canadian Spengler Cup team. The majority of Team Canada for this tournament is made up of players who play overseas now because their options to play pro in North America have dried up. Canada will play 2 preliminary matches against European clubs than head to the medal round. Fucale made 24 saves yesterday to help his team to a 2-1 victory against host HC Davos. Zach was apart of the team that won the gold medal two years ago at this tournament.

Good luck to Zach and Team Canada this week!

Photo - Avs website

MACKINNONWith it being December, attention has turned to the NHL All-Star game that will be held by the San Jose Sharks on Kanuary 27. Over the last couple of weeks, fans have been able to vote who they think should be named the captains of each of the division teams. Well the NHL announced the results of that vote this morning and former Herd star forward Nathan MacKinnon was voted as the C for the Central division. Kid Mack has been playing on what many have called the best line in hockey this season and has recorded 22 goals and 59 points. This will be Nathan's third All-Star appearance in his NHL career. He joins Auston Matthews (Toronto - Atlantic), Connor McDavid (Edmonton - Pacific) and Alexander Ovechkin (Washington - Metropolitan) as the captains.

Four Mooseheads named to Top Prospects game

The Canadian Hockey League along with the Guelph Storm and Sherwin-Williams announced the 40 players that will be participating in the upcoming CHL/NHL Prospects Game. For the sixth straight year, your Halifax Mooseheads have players named to the rosters. Halifax has 4 members who will participate this season, a record for the Moose and the most of any team this year. Alex Gravel, Jared McIssac and Benoit-Olivier Groulx were named to team one and Filip Zadina was named to team two for the game that will be held in Guelph, Ontario on January 25, 2018. The coaches will be named at a later date but most likely they will be Bobby Orr and Don Cherry. Team captains will be announced closer to the match.

The game will be yet another opportunity for Gravel, Groulx, McIssac, and Zadina to show National Hockey League scouts what they have and get their draft stock even higher. At the beginning of the season, Jared, Filip, and Benoit-Olivier had an 'A' rating meaning they are projected to go in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft in June, while Alex was a top-ranked NA goalie. On Sportsnet's list for December, SN has Filip ranked at number four, Benoit-Olivier is ranked at #27, Jared is ranked at number 10 while Alex is ranked as the second NA goalie for the draft.

Congratulations to Filip, Benoit-Olivier, Jared, Alex and the rest of the players named to Team Cherry and Team Orr. For the full release check here.

CHL Names Top Prospects Game Captains

Nico Hischier is having a good season and it just got a little greater.

Photo - CHL.ca

The Canadian Hockey League announced the captains and alternate captains for the 2017 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects game on Tuesday afternoon and the lone Halifax Moosehead player that will be participating in this year's match was among the players given the honour. Hischier was named the captain of Team Orr for the game. The 18 year old joins Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings who will captain Team Cherry. Assisting Nico on Team Orr are the Mississauga Steelheads Nicolas Hauge and Michael Rasmussen of the Tri-City Americans.

Congratulations to Nico on being named captain of on of the teams. Moose Country will be cheering you on during the game. The Naters, Switzerland native had this to say; "It feels really good (to be named captain) because it’s an honour for me and I’m really excited about it,” said Hischier. “It’s a good experience and a chance to meet new friends so it should be fun.”

You can watch the Top Prospects game on Sportsnet on January 30. The match pits the top 40 NHL draft eligible players that are playing in the CHL. This year's version will be hosted by the city of Quebec and the Quebec Remparts.

Herd Word: Fucale To Play in Spengler Cup

HISCHIER
The Canadian Hockey League released the rosters for the CHL/NHL Top Prospects game that will be held on January 30, 2017 in Quebec City. Halifax Mooseheads rookie Nico Hischier was among the players who will participate in the annual showcase of draft eligible players. Hischier leads the league in rookie scoring with 48 points and has been ranked in the top 10 on scouting services listings all season long. Despite not playing in the last few games, Nico still is second on the Moose team.

Congrats to Nico on representing the Mooseheads in the top prospects game.

Photo - Brampton Beast's Facebook

FUCALE
It was announced on Tuesday that Zach Fucale will represent Hockey Canada once again, this time at the Spengler Cup.

The former Halifax Mooseheads goaltender was among the 23 players that were named to Team Canada's roster for the tournament. Fucale is in second year of professional hockey and is playing for the Brampton Beast of the ECHL. He is doing pretty good, recently playing to a shutout in a game against the Adirondack Thunder on Saturday night. Zach and the rest of Team Canada will start the Spengler Cup on Boxing Day in Davos, Switzerland. The tournament will end on December 31 with the gold medal game.

Congrats to Zach and good luck in the tournament. Moose Country will be cheering big time for you!

TAILLEFER
With the holiday break now in full swing, it also brings with it a multitude of trades in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. One of those trades in the first week included a Herd alum. The Gatineau Olympiques announced a big trade on Wednesday with the Charlottetown Islanders. Gatineau traded former Moosehead Jean-Sebastien Taillefer in a 7 player deal.

Moose Country would like to wish good luck to Jean-Sebastien with the Islanders.

WORLD JUNIORS
Another tournament that begins on December 26th is the World Junior Hockey Championships which this year are being held right here in Canada, splitting between Montreal and Toronto. There is no Mooseheads on the host country team but former head coach Dominique Ducharme leads the home nation in a role behind the bench. However, a current player will be in the tourney. The almost 18 year old; Nico Hischier will be on Team Switzerland and will hope to help his country better their 9th place finish at last year's championship.

Good luck to both men next week. Go get em.

LAVOIE
Rookie Raphael Lavoie will be back in the lineup after the holiday break. Halifax announced today that their 2016 second round pick is returning to the team after spending the last 2 and a half months in the Quebec triple A league. The 16 year old began the season with the Moose but after a difficult start made the decision to play for the team he was on last season. Lavoie scored seven goals and recorded 18 points in 15 games played with the College Antoine-Girouard Gaulois.

POSTPONED GAME
The match between the Saint John Sea Dogs and your Halifax Mooseheads on December 16 was postponed until further notice because of bad weather that caused the Herd unable to get out of Nova Scotia. The QMJHL announced the other day a makeup date for the game. The two teams will now play on March 1st at 7pm in Harbour Station.

Konecny, Meier Lead Team Orr

Timo Meier certainly did not hurt his draft stock during last night's BMO Top Prospects game.

The Halifax Mooseheads forward help lead his team, under coach Bobby Orr, to a 6-0 victory over the team coached by Don Cherry. Meier, who hails from Harisu, Switzerland, scored a first period goal and assisted on two others. The 18 year old was playing on a line with top ranked Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters and Ottawa 67's sophmore Travis Konecny. McDavid had an assist in a game that was sold out because everyone wants to see this kid play. He created plenty of plays for Timo and Konecny to use to get their points however. Travis scored two goals and had an assist for Team Orr and received the player of the game. 

Here is the NHL.com's recap.

Meier in Prospects game

The Canadian Hockey League along with the the Niagara IceDogs and BMO Financial Group announced the 40 players that will be participating in the upcoming CHL/NHL Prospects Game. For the third straight year, your Halifax Mooseheads have a player named to one of the rosters. Swiss player Timo Meier was named to team Orr for the game that will be held in Niagara, Ontario on January 22, 2015.

The game will be yet another opportunity for Meier to show National Hockey League scouts what he has and get his draft stock even higher. At the beginning of the season, Timo had a 'B' rating meaning he was projected to go in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft I. June. About a month ago, that rating was bumped to 'A' (first round projection). On Craig Button's list he jumped from being projected going in picks 80-89 to pick 35. Meier will also be hoping to show of his skills on the world stage with his home country Switzerland during the 2015 World Juniors. 

Congratulations to Timo and the rest of the players named to Team Cherry and Team Orr. For the full release check here. 

Ehlers Named An Alternate.

Leading rookie scorer of your Halifax Mooseheads and the QMJHL Nikolaj Ehlers was named an alternate captain of Team Orr at the BMO CHL Top Prospects Game.

The game, which pits the top 40 National Hockey League draft eligible prospects against each other, will be played on January 15 in Calgary, Alberta. This year there's only one Mooseheads player playing in the game. Halifax hosted last year's event and had three players in the game. With a game postponed last week, Ehlers will have to miss the makeup game which is also being played on Wednesday.

Congratulations to Nikolaj and the other 5 captains that were named Thursday morning. For the full story click here.

Nathan still unable to defeat Jones

After 3 games between these top 2 ranked NHL draft eligible players, Nathan MacKinnon of your Halifax Mooseheads still has not been able to defeat Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks. The forward and defenceman have played against each other twice before playing in tonight's CHL/NHL Top Prospects game. They first met in the 2011 U-17 World Championships, as USA and Jones dominated Team Atlantic and MacKinnon 12-1. This past December they met again as Seth and USA again beat Nathan and Canada in medal standings by winning gold at the 2013 U-20 Ice Hockey World Championships. However, during round-robin play Team Canada beat USA to finish first in their group undefeated, but undefeated in round-robin doesn't mean it will continue. This was the case as, after USA beat the Czechs in the quarters, they also beat Team Canada in the semis to play for gold while Canada was forced to play for bronze. Seth won gold while Nathan and Canada lost the last game to place fourth. This time around in Halifax, Jones and his team; Team Orr shutdown Nathan and Team Cherry, winning this years prospects game 3-0. Seth earned a point in tonight's win.

Team Orr, coached by Nova Scotia's own Mike McPhee were considered the home team and wore white jerseys. After each goal, the players of Team Orr were the only ones celebrating. Not one person in the crowd actually cheered after the goals as is normally the case when the home team scores. By 6 and a half minutes in, the white team was outshooting the red team (Cherry) 9-2 and led after one period 1-0. The only penalties in the first 40 minutes were 2 fighting majors for each team. The shots were closer after the second but by the end of the period Orr was up 3-0. Both teams switched goalies with about 8 minutes left in the period. The third brought more shooting by the 'home' team and only 3 penalties but no more scoring. The finals shots were 36-20 for Team Orr.

Notes: This was the first ever shutout of the event... Rimouski was represented by four players, the most of any team... Captain Oshawa was in attendance as the winner of BMO's ultimate fan contest (congrats)...

Players of the game: Laurant Dauphin (Orr) and Tristen Jarry (Cherry)

50/50
Congratulations to Jen of Grand Lake who got $19,638 winning tonight's 50/50

Attendance: SELLOUT (10,595)

Psst, Nathan, Jonathan and Zach get back to business on Friday as they head to Quebec and with a win or a point and a Shawinigan loss will be able to clinch a playoff spot.

Jan 16: Top prospects game

On Wednesday, the home arena of your Halifax Mooseheads will host the 18th annual CHL/NHL Top Prospects game at 8pm Atlantic time. The game will pit the top 40 Canadian Hockey League players that are draft eligible in 2013 playing for either Team Orr or Team Cherry. The game will feature a couple of Nova Scotians, including Mooseheads star forward Nathan MacKinnon and Team Orr coach Mike McPhee of Sydney. Three Moosehead players will be playing all on the same team under the coaching eye of Don Cherry. NHL teams will all have scouts at the game to see these exciting draft eligible players, about 200 personnel were already slated to be in attendence by Monday. 20 scouts were at the game on Friday vs. Blainville to see the return of Nate and Joe.

Here are the rosters:
Team Orr (white)
Coached by - Mike McPhee, assisted by Doug MacLean and Dominique Duchrame
Captained by - Seth Jones, alternates Sean Monahan and Hunter Shinkaruk

Forwards: Justin Bailey (Kitchener Rangers), Oliver Bjorkstrand (Portland Winterhawks), Max Domi (London Knights), Anthony Duclair (Quebec Remparts), Adam Erne (Quebec Remparts), Bo Horvat (London Knights), Curtis Lazar (Edmonton Oil Kings), Sean Monahan (Ottawa 67's), Nicolas Petan (Portland Winterhawks), Kerby Rychel (Windsor Spitfires), Hunter Shinkaruk (Medicine Hat Tigers) and Nick Sorensen (Quebec Remparts)

Defencemen: Chris Bigras (Owen Sound Attack), Madison Bowey (Kelowna Rockets), Seth Jones (Portland Winterhawks), Jan Kostalek (Rimouski Oceanic), Shea Theodore (Seattle Thunderbirds) and Nikita Zadorov (London Knights)

Goaltenders: Philippe Desrosiers (Rimouski Oceanic) and Spencer Martin (Mississauga Steelheads)

Team Cherry (red)
Coached by - Don Cherry, assisted by Nick Kypreos, Brian Kilrea and Bert O'Brian
Captained by - Nathan MacKinnon, alternates Jonathan Drouin and Darnell Nurse

Forwards: Cole Cassels (Oshawa Generals), Jason Dickinson (Guelph Storm), Jonathan Drouin (Halifax Mooseheads), Frederik Gauthier (Rimouski Oceanic), Stephen Harper (Erie Otters), Ryan Hartman (Plymouth Whalers), Morgan Klimchuk (Regina Pats), Ryan Kujawinski (Kingston Frontenacs), Nathan MacKinnon (Halifax Mooseheads), Anthony Mantha (Val-d'Or Foreurs), Zach Nastasiuk (Owen Sound Attack) and Valentin Zykov (Baie-Comeau Drakkar)

Defencemen: Samuel Morin (Rimouski Oceanic), Josh Morrissey (Prince Albert Raiders), Mirco Mueller (Everett Silvertips), Darnell Nurse (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds), Eric Roy (Brandon Wheat Kings) and Jordan Subban (Belleville Bulls)

Goaltenders: Zachary Fucale (Halifax Mooseheads) and Tristan Jarry (Edmonton Oil Kings)

BREAKING: MacKinnon and Drouin named captains in Prospects game

Today, the CHL announced the captains, alternate captains, and coaches that will participate in this year's Top Prospects game which is to be held at the Metro Centre. Two stars playing for the Mooseheads were named to Team Cherry; Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. Nathan will serve as captain and Jonathan will be his alternate.

Team Cherry will be coached by Don Cherry, captained by MacKinnon, and the alternates are Drouin and Darnell Nurse (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of OHL)
Team Orr will be coached by former NHL player and Stanley Cup champion Mike McPhee, captained by Seth Jones (Portland Winterhawks of WHL), and the alternates are Sean Monahan (Ottawa 67`s of OHL) and Hunter Shinkaruk (Medicine Hat Tigers of WHL).

Full story can be found here: http://www.halifaxmooseheads.ca/article/mackinnon-drouin-to-dress-for-team-cherry/132702

Big year in Moose Country (and events)

This is a big year for the Mooseheads. Along with the annual game events, the city of Halifax and the Herd are the host of the 2013 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game which is being held at the Metro Centre on January 16, 2013.

Annual events
HOME OPENER - September 28 (Moose vs. Gatineau Olympiques L 1-6)
Pink in the Rink 5 - October 19 (Moose vs. Sherbrooke Phoenix W 4-3)
DND Appreciation Night - November 16 (Moose vs. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies W 8-3)
Battle of Nova Scotia - December 29 (Moose vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles W 4-1)
Teddy Bear Toss - January 4 (Moose vs. Saint John Sea Dogs L 2-3 OT)
Fan Appreciation Night/Season finale - March 17 (Moose vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles W 5-2)