Lots to be determined in final weekend

Photo - Herd website

The regular season is nearing its completion with the final two games for all eighteen teams this weekend. The 16 playoff spots have been clinched but our Halifax Mooseheads don't know yet who their first round opponent will be. 

Halifax could still technically move up to 6th place in the Eastern Conference, however the club needs to win both their games and have the Cape Breton Eagles lose theirs. So assuming the Mooseheads finish the season in the No. 7 seed, they will take on the second place team which could either be the Chicoutimi Sagueneens or Moncton Wildcats. 

The Wildcats will play the Charlottetown Islanders in a home-and-home series, while the Sagueneens take on the Quebec Remparts. 

Over in the Western Conference; Drummondville, Rouyn-Noranda and Blainville-Boisbriand are in the mix to win the #1 spot. Meanwhile, at the other end positions 6-8 are locked up. The Shawinigan Cataractes and Sherbrooke Phoenix are the lone playoff series officially determined, however the team with home advantage is still up in the air as the two teams are separated by one point and are the 4th and 5th seeds respectively. 

A few other notes...

• Every team in the league will be on the ice on both Friday and Saturday. Once again, Saturday matches will be afternoon starts. 
• Our Mooseheads, who have won four straight for the first time this season, are set to visit the Newfoundland Regiment this weekend for two road games. 
• At the bottom of the standings are the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (34 points) and Rimouski Oceanic (37 points) who will play each other twice to end the regular season. Both will miss the playoffs. 
• For the draft, scheduled to take place in Halifax, the Mooseheads will have a chance to win the lottery despite being 12th in the league right now. This is because Cam Russell and co. hold Rimouski's first round pick. 

Back & forth battle goes to Halifax

Photo - Herd Instagram

The Halifax Mooseheads have won their 4th game at home to start their season as they picked up two points against the Rimouski Oceanic on Thursday night, getting a 5-4 victory. Halifax was pretty dominate all game but there were times, mostly early in the third period, that the puck just seemed to bounce all over the place. Junior Gaulberto got the Mooseheads on the board at the 6:58 mark of the opening frame with his first QMJHL goal and that's how the teams would go into the intermission with the home team up 1-0 after 20 minutes. Former Herd forward Lou Levesque tied the game up for Rimouski about midway through the second. Rookie Cam Minella also scored his first career goal to give Halifax back the lead but once again the Oceanic would find a way to suck the air out of the Moose Country crowd. Rimouski took a 3-2 lead early in the third taking advantage of the back and forth bouncy action. Veteran Shawn Carrier scored twice in the final frame, including back handing a rebound into the net to make it 3-3. He would also record a shorthanded empty net goal with exactly one minute left to seal the game.

FINAL: Oceanic 4 at Mooseheads 5
Stars: 3. Emile Duquet RIM | 2. Paulo Gualberto Jr HAL | 1. Shawn Carrier HAL
Attendance: 6,532
MC's Top Herd: Paulo Gualberto Jr. 

GAME LOG
First period
6:58 HAL Paulo Gualberto Jr. (1) | A: MacPherson & Doyle

Second period
8:36 RIM Lou Levesque (1) | A: None

13:22 HAL Cameron Minella (1) | A: McNab & Gaulberto Jr.

18:40 RIM Emile Duquet (4) | A: Dube & Romaniak

Third period
3:26 RIM Justin Beaulieu (1) | A: Duquet & Dube
7:13 HAL Shawn Carrier (3) | A: Phillips & Kennedy
17:46 HAL Connor MacPherson (2) | A: L'Italien
19:00 HAL Shawn Carrier (4), SH EN | A: None
19:31 RIM Logan Roop (2) | A: Czaja & Nappiot

Powerplay: RIM - 0-for-2; HAL - 0-for-0
Shots: 42-30 in favour of Halifax

Did not play - Alec Nesreddine (healthy), Lincoln Waugh (injured), Mathieu Taillefer (injured) & Antoine Fontaine (healthy)

Next game

Our Mooseheads will continue this six game homestand when they welcome the reigning champion Moncton Wildcats for 90's Night on Saturday. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

Steinman Goaltender of Year & Friday News

The QMJHL held their annual Golden Pucks awards gala on Thursday afternoon at a hotel in Quebec City. A couple of players who have ties to the Mooseheads were amongst the nominees. 

Photo - QMJHL website

Goaltender Jacob Steinman, who started the season with the Moncton Wildcats before being traded to Halifax at Christmas, won the Patrick Roy Trophy as Goaltender of the Year. He had a 29-16-4-1 record during the season in 52 games played, finishing second in the QMJHL in GAA (2.41) and save percentage (0.923). Steinman will continue his hockey career with Bowling Green State University in the NCAA. 

Meanwhile, past player Mathieu Cataford was the winner of the Marcel Robert Trophy as Student Athlete of the Year. According to the release; Cataford maintained an average of more than 95% while currently studying Business Administration at Saint Mary's University with a 4.0 GPA while suiting up for the Rimouski Oceanic in 2024-26. 

Other news that has come out this week:

• According to Mikael Lalancette the 2026 QMJHL draft will be held in Halifax

  Ce n’est pas encore officiel, mais tout indique que le repêchage de l’an prochain #LHJMQ aura lieu à Halifax.
  
  Il est encore tôt, mais l’un des beaux espoirs de la cuvée 2026 est Zaac Charbonneau, le neveu de Daniel Brière.

  — Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) June 5, 2025

    
• Two former Herd players are on the move in Europe; D'Artagnan Joly will be playing in the DEL2 with ESV Kaufbeuren next season while Zach Fucale signed a 2 year contract with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL 
• Champions are colliding as the Hockey East Tournament winning Maine Black Bears of the NCAA have received a commitment from Herd alumni Mathis Rousseau, who won the Gilles Courteau trophy in March with the Moncton Wildcats 
• Logan Crosby, who played for the Mooseheads from 2021-2024, will finish his junior career with the Pictou County Crushers during the 2025-26 season   

Photo - Crushers Twitter

• Moose alum Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers find themselves down 1-0 in a Stanley Cup finals rematch against the Edmonton Oilers. Game 2 is tonight in Edmonton

Wildcats Are League Champs

Photo - QMJHL Facebook

First in the Maritimes division, regular season champions and now Gilles Courteau Trophy winners. The Moncton Wildcats were dominate this season and it continued in the playoffs with them finishing as league champs on Monday afternoon for the first time since 2010. 

The game started pretty even with the teams going to the locker rooms for the first intermission in a scoreless tie in Rimouski. Forward Gabe Smith scored the opening goal for Moncton at the 6:30 mark of the second period and he picked up another one later in the middle frame to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes. The Oceanic weren't going to go away easy though and they scored twice in the third to make the game close but at the final buzzer, the score was 3-2. 

Overage goaltender Mathis Rousseau, a former Halifax Mooseheads player, made 24 saves to pick up the victory. He and the Wildcats' other net-minder Rudy Guimond shared the load throughout the playoffs. 

Draft-eligible forward Caleb Desnoyers, who had 30 points during the post-season, was named Most Valuable Player. 

The moment they were all waiting for! @monctonwildcats | #QPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/WAtljX7u6n

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) May 19, 2025

Herd alumni Markus Vidicek captained the Wildcats and was the first person to lift the trophy before passing it to Rousseau. Fellow alum Dylan MacKinnon and Logan Crosby also became champions after falling just short 2 years ago with Halifax. 

On Rimouski, former Herd Mathieu Cataford finished in the top 10 of playoff scoring with 18 points. Lou Levesque and Jack Martin, who suited up for Halifax before being traded at Christmas time, now play for the Oceanic as well. 

Both clubs will join the London Knights of the OHL and the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2025 Memorial Cup tournament, which will be held in Rimouski, QC starting on Friday night. 

Congratulations to Vidicek, Crosby, Rousseau, MacKinnon and the Moncton Wildcats on winning the Gilles-Courteau Trophy. 

Oceanic Advance, CHL Finals Set

Photo - Cataractes Twitter

The Rimouski Oceanic have advanced to the QMJHL championship series.

Former Halifax Mooseheads defenceman Jack Martin scored at the 5:49 mark of the second period to get the Oceanic on the board first in Game 7 of their semi-final against the Shawinigan Cataractes. It looked like it would be an easy win for Rimouski, who got out to a 3-0 lead but Cole Chandler scored for the Cats late in the frame before Shawinigan forced overtime with two more goals in the third period on Tuesday evening. Forward Eriks Mateiko scored his 6th goal of the playoffs in the 2nd OT period to send the Memorial Cup hosts off to the league final with a 4-3 victory. 

Every game was won by the home team in this series which doesn't happen very often. 

Rimouski will take on the Moncton Wildcats, who already advanced to the fourth round with a sweep against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, for the title. With this result, the Wildcats know they will also be in the 2025 version of the national tournament. 

Martin isn't the only Herd alumni that will be fighting for the Gilles Courteau Trophy this month as Rimouski also has Lou Levesque and Mathieu Cataford on their team while Mathis Rousseau, Logan Crosby, Markus Vidicek and Dylan MacKinnon suit up for Moncton. 

Below you will find the three league final series matchups. 

J. Ross Robertson Cup
#W1 London Knights vs. #E4 Oshawa Generals; series starts Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET

Ed Chynoweth Cup
#E1 Medicine Hat Tigers vs. #W3 Spokane Chiefs; series starts Friday at 7:00 p.m. MT

Gilles-Courteau Trophy
#1 Moncton Wildcats vs. #2 Rimouski Oceanic; series starts Saturday at 5:00 p.m. AT 

Fans can watch all the championship games across the CHL on TSN. 

Mooseheads Make Trade with Rimouski

Photo - Journal Le Soir

The Halifax Mooseheads moved two players on the opening day of the winter trade period. Forward Lou Levesque and defenceman Jack Martin were traded to the Rimouski Oceanic yesterday and in return the Herd received right winger Quinn Kennedy plus a 2026 second round pick. 

Although it might not have been the most expected trade by the fans, it is a good move for the players as Levesque and Kennedy will be closer to home. Kennedy is a native of Upper Tantallon, NS and was selected by Rimouski 9th overall in the 2022 QMJHL draft. The 18-year-old scored 21 goals and recorded 45 points last season and has 16 points already in 2024-25. He is known for his offensive abilities. 

Photo - CHL website

Levesque meanwhile, requested to be closer to his family and Cam Russell was able to accommodate that request. The 18-year-old had 12 goals and 33 points in 2023-24 during his rookie season. He become a fan favourite in Moose Country over the last year and a half. Martin was drafted by Halifax 55th overall in 2021 and played 152 games for the Herd. The Upper Covedale, NB native had a career-high 13 points in the 2022-23 season and was on his way to pass that total as he recorded 12 points in 30 games this year. 

"We're excited to get a player of Quinn's calibre. He was a high draft pick who has an excellent skill set. Quinn's abilities will be a nice addition on our power play unit. I know he's also very excited to play for his hometown team," said GM Russell.

Good luck to Lou and Jack with the Oceanic as they battle for the Memorial Cup and thank you boys for playing your hearts out while in Halifax. Welcome to Moose Country Quinn, we look forward to watching you continue your career here. 

Halifax Overtakes Rimouski in Standings

The Halifax Mooseheads won their fourth straight game and overtook Rimouski in the standings with a 6-2 victory over the Oceanic on Friday night. Rimouski started off strong but Mathis Rousseau was up to the test once again helping the Herd to keep it a scoreless game. To no one's surprise, Jordan Dumais scored at the 13:21 mark on the power play to get the home team on the board first. Halifax was up 2-0 after the first period despite finding themselves outshot 12-7 in the frame. Rimouski's Louis Robin cut the lead in half early in the second period which started a very jam packed twenty minutes. At the 8:45 mark, Zac Beauregard ran over the Oceanic's goaltender, Patrik Hamrla, which led to an altercation and somehow a five minute match penalty for the 20-year-old. This drew lots of boos and 'ref you suck' chants from the crowd. The fans were loud again minutes later after Halifax killed off the major penalty. The Oceanic then took a penalty and Elliot Desnoyers scored what would end up being the game winner. Halifax was up 4-2 after 40 minutes and received two more goals in the final frame by Mathieu Cataford and Markus Vidicek. 

FINAL: Oceanic 2 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Mathieu Cataford HAL | 2. Louis Robin RIM | 1. Elliot Desnoyers HAL
Attendance: 5,846
MC's Top Herd: Elliot Desnoyers

Game Log
First period
13:21 HAL Jordan Dumais (36), PP | A: Boucher & Vidicek 
19:36 HAL Jake Furlong (4) | A: Orr & Cataford

Second period
2:08 RIM Louis Robin (10) | A: Cormier & Brunet
15:22 HAL Elliot Desnoyers (37), PP | A: None
15:46 RIM Louis Robin (11) | A: Cormier & Dumoulin

18:30 HAL Elliot Desnoyers (38) | A: Dumais & Swan

Third period
17:39 HAL Mathieu Cataford (16) | A; Dumais & Desnoyers
18:18 HAL Markus Vidicek (18), EN SH | A: Desnoyers

Shots: 31-24 in favour of Rimouski
Powerplay: RIM - 0-for-3; HAL - 2-for-3

SCORES
Saint John 4 at Acadie-Bathurst 2
Sherbrooke 6 at Charlottetown 2
Chicoutimi 4 at Val-d'Or 2
Drummondville 2 at Quebec 5

Victoriaville 5 at Blainville-Boisbriand 3

Missing in action: Attilio Biasca (injured), Zachary L'Heureux (injured) and Cam Whynot (illness)

Up next: The Mooseheads will celebrate their overagers and fans tomorrow afternoon as they host the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Puck drops at 4 p.m.

Photo - Herd website

Game Day 65: vs. Rimouski

PREVIEW - It's a pivotal game tonight as your Halifax Mooseheads welcome the Rimouski Oceanic to the Scotiabank Centre this evening in their second to last home game of the regular season. These two clubs are separated by just one point since Halifax has gone on a three game winning streak while Rimouski have lost four straight. 17-year-old Jordan Dumais has found his scoring again, and so has the rest of the team after a disappointing March, picking up a record-tying six assists on Tuesday. He continues to lead the team in scoring and is now 4th in the league with 96 points. The Mooseheads will be looking to continue the strong play to end the season. Rimouski hasn't scored as many goals as Halifax this season but they haven't let in as many either so we could be in for a very tight game should both goalies be on their game tonight. Either way, Friday night hockey is always exciting and if you can't be at the arena in person, you can watch the match on Eastlink.  

Game coverage
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry | Post-game: Moose Country

Overall records
Oceanic: 31-23-5-4 = 71 points (2nd in East division, 8th overall)
Mooseheads: 34-28-1-1 = 70 points (4th in Maritimes division, 9th overall)

Leading scorers
HAL: Jordan Dumais 96pts (35G & 61A), Elliot Desnoyers 78pts (36G & 42A), Markus Vidicek 58pts (17G & 41A)
RIM: Xavier Cormier 60pts (27G & 33A), Luka Verreault 54pts (25G & 29A), William Dumoulin 48pts (22G & 26A)

Head-to-head
Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Oceanic this season while Rimouski has a 0-1-0-0 versus the Mooseheads. The last game between the two clubs was back on February 5 with Halifax picking up a 7-5 victory on the road. Elliot Desnoyers had four goals to lead the Herd while Brady James made 34 stops against Rimouski. 

Last games
Halifax is coming off a dominating 9-3 victory over Cape Breton on Tuesday evening. Jordan Dumais recorded six assists and Evan Boucher had a four goal night to lead the Mooseheads while Brady James made 31 saves on the road against the Eagles. 

The Oceanic began their Maritime road trip with a 5-3 defeat to the first place Charlottetown Islanders last night. Xavier Cormier had a goal and 2 assists for Rimouski and rookie goalie Gabriel Robert made 19 saves. 

Not playing - Has not been announced

Out of town
Titan vs. Sea Dogs - 7:00 p.m.
Islanders vs. Phoenix - 7:30 p.m.
Foreurs vs. Sagueneens - 8:00 p.m.
Remparts vs. Voltigeurs - 8:00 p.m.
Armada vs. Tigres - 8:30 p.m.

After the buzzer
Halifax will host their fan appreciation night tomorrow afternoon against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Puck drops at 3 p.m.

McLaren's 32 Saves Leads to Victory

Photo - Mooseheads Twitter

Moose win! It's been a while since anybody has been able to say that. Our Halifax Mooseheads put an end to their 9 game losing streak by defeating the 4th overall Rimouski Oceanic on Thursday night. Cole McLaren stopped all 32 shots for his first shutout of the season to lead the home team to a 1-0 victory. Projected first overall pick in the upcoming NHL entry draft Alexis Lafreniere and the Oceanic came into the game as heavy favourites with a 8-0-1-0 record before this evening but strong defensive performances by the team in the first 40 minutes and fantastic goaltending from McLaren were able to hold off the offensive power that is Rimouski. Kevin Gursoy got the Mooseheads on the board with five seconds remaining in the first period and that turned out to be the game winner. The was some questionable officiating during the game, especially when Ozzie King was high sticked on the nose and no call was made. In the second period, the away team thought they had scored to tie the game but McLaren was down, injured and the referee was in the process of whistling when Rimouski put it in the net so it was immediately waved off. Despite not getting on the scoresheet, whoever does the three stars gave the third star to former Herd Walter Flower as it was his last game in Halifax. 

FINAL: Oceanic 0 at Mooseheads 1

Stars: Walter Flower RIM | 2. Kevin Gursoy HAL | 1. Cole McLaren HAL

Attendance: 7,536

MC's Top Herd: Cole McLaren

Powerplay: RIM - 0-for-2; HAL - 0-for-3

Shots: 32-21 Rimouski

MISSING IN ACTION - Justin Barron (injured), Said Abi-Faycal (healthy), Alexis Gravel (injured), Denis Toner (sick) and Samuel Dube (injured)

SCORES

Sherbrooke 4 at Victoriaville 3

Quebec 4 at Baie-Comeau 2

UP NEXT - Halifax will continue their three game home stand with a match against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Saturday. Puck drops at 7pm. 

Mooseheads Move Two Defensemen

The Halifax Mooseheads made two moves on the opening day of the winter trade period.

Photo - Getty Images

On Sunday, the Herd announced that they have traded two of their defensemen, both of whom are 1999-born players. Halifax first moved Walter Flower to the Rimouski Oceanic for two draft picks before trading Patrick Kyte to the Chicoutimi Saguneens, for a 2020 first round draft pick.

Flower, a Lunenburg, NS native, was originally drafted by the Mooseheads back in 2015 and joined the team in his first year of eligibility. He finishes his time with his hometown team playing 235 regular season games, which is 16th most in franchise history, over 4 and a half seasons. The 20-year-old piked up 66 points during his time with the club as well as 200 penalty minutes.

Photo - Jackie Photog

Kyte, from Pembroke, ON, was signed by Halifax as a free agent in 2017 and leaves the team with 156 career games. He scored 69 regular season points and had 131 penalty minutes in 2-plus seasons with the Mooseheads.

The two trades have added some valuable early round draft picks this June after GM Cam Russell moved the teams' original selections in previous trades.

Good luck to Walter and Patty with their new clubs. Moose Country will miss both of you. 

Moose Double Up Oceanic to Start 2019

Your Halifax Mooseheads started the new year just like they ended the last, with a victory. For the first game in 2019, the Herd doubled up the visiting Rimouski Oceanic to pick up a 6-3 win on home ice. The Mooseheads didn't take long to get the fans at the Scotiabank Centre out of their feet as defenceman Justin Barron got his team on the board just 13 seconds in to the game. Draft eligible forward Raphael Lavoie extended the lead to 2 a little more than 9 minutes later and that's how the first period would end with Halifax up 2-0. Lavoie had his second straight two goal game when he gave the Moose a 3-0 lead 5:42 into the middle frame, chasing starting goalie Tristan Berube. Veteran goaltender Alexis Gravel had to be strong the whole game, especially in the first and third periods when the Oceanic outshot the boys, including 12-4 in the final frame. It has looked like Gravel worked on his puck control during the Christmas break as it seems like he hasn't been giving up as many rebounds as he did before the break even though he still faced a number of shots. The home team look like they sit back in the second period some games but on Friday night, they didn't at all. They scored three times in the middle frame and outshot Rimouski 15-8. The Oceanic got on the board at the 17:03 minute mark in the second and got two before in the final 5 minutes after Arnaud Durandeau made it 6-1 early in the third.

FINAL: Oceanic 3 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Justin Barron HAL | 2. Alex Gravel HAL | 1. Raphaël Lavoie HAL
Attendance: 7,840
MC’s Top Herd: Alex Gravel

GAME LOG
First period0:13 HAL Justin Barron (3) | A: Groulx & Durandeau
9:21 HAL Raphael Lavoie (18), PP | A: Barron & Groulx

Second period5:42 HAL Raphael Lavoie (19), PP | A: Morand & McIsaac
8:40 HAL Antoine Morand (13) | A: Getson & Barron
9:06 HAL Joel Bishop (4) | A: Higgins & Toner
17:03 RIM Olivier Garneau (21), PP | A: Huntington & Lafreniere

Third period
1:37 HAL Arnaud Durnandeau (19) | A: Dube & Kyte
15:47 RIM Nathan Ouellet (4) | A: Pare & D'Astous
19:31 RIM Zachary Massicotte (1) | A: Bowman

Shots: 27-34 in favour of Rimouski

NOT DRESSED – Ostap Safin (injured), Jocktan Chainey (injured), Kyle Petten (healthy), Marcel Barinka (injured), Cole Stewart (healthy)

SCORESScreaming Eagles 5 at Sea Dogs 1
Remparts 4 at Wildcats 3 OT
Armada 2 at Foreurs 3
Drakkar 5 at Tigres 3

UP NEXT – The Moose will stay on home ice tomorrow evening to welcome Patrick Roy and the Quebec Remparts. Puck drops at 7pm.

Dec 2: Oceanic vs. Mooseheads preview

RIMOUSKI OCEANIC VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 4:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Colisée de Rimouski (5,062) ~ Rimouski, QC

Your Halifax Mooseheads are back in action and will be facing another tough opponent this afternoon in the Rimouski Oceanic as they travel to Rimouski to finish up the road trip in Quebec. The Oceanic have been a hot team as of late with a 7-1-1 record after a slow start to the season. Rimouski and Halifax have very similar records with the Oceanic having two extra losses and the Moose having one more win on them. The Mooseheads had a much better game Friday night which saw their three game losing streak snapped in favor of their 5-2 win over the Cataractes. Rimouski has the fourth best goaltender in the league so far this season in Chase Ellis who has a 2.44 goals against average and 12 victories while Halifax has reached the century goal mark they will be looking to start the next century out strong. Alexis Lafrenière has played very well for the Oceanic and looks to be on pace to surpass his career high in points, he has 46 points in 27 games in 2018-19. The Herd will need to shut him down this afternoon if they have any chance of winning. In goal, I would be surprised if we don’t see Ellis versus Alex Gravel.

Overall Records
Oceanic: 16-9-2-0 = 34pts (7th overall, 2nd in East division)
Mooseheads: 18-7-1-0 = 37pts (5th overall, 2nd in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Samuel Asselin 33pts (18G & 15A), Benoit-Olivier Groulx 29pts (14G & 15A), Raphael Lavoie 28pts (14G & 14A)
RIM: Alexis Lafrenière 46pts (16G & 30A), Jimmy Huntington 37pts (20G & 17A), Charle-Edward D'Astous 36pts (8G & 28A)

Previous Games
Rimouski is coming off of a 6-1 victory Friday evening against Victoriaville. Jimmy Huntington led the charge for the Oceanic with two goals while Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo made 22 saves to pick up the win against the Tigres.

Halifax is coming off a 5-3 victory on Friday evening against the Cataractes on the road. Samuel Asselin had a hat trick and an assist to lead the way for the Mooseheads while Alex Gravel took the win, stopping 14 of  Shawinigan’s 16 shots.

Head-to-Head
December 2  4pm  Mooseheads at Oceanic
January 4  7pm  Oceanic at Mooseheads

Out of Town
Acadie-Bathurst vs. Rouyn Noranda - 3:00pm
Charlottetown vs. Val-D'or - 3:00pm
Drummondville vs. Blainville-Boisbriand - 4:00pm
Sherbrooke vs. Victoriaville - 4:00pm
Chicoutimi vs. Baie-Comeau - 5:00pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will travel home to take on the Saint John Sea Dogs to open up a five game home stand to close out the first half of the season. Puck drops at 7pm.

Lavoie Overtime Hero Again

Photo - Myles Dennis

For the fifth time this season, 17 year old Raphael Lavoie was the hero in overtime to give the Halifax Mooseheads 3 straight wins. The victory also stopped the Rimouski Oceanic's win streak at 5 games. Halifax got off to a very fast start when Filip Zadina scored his 38th goal just 36 seconds into the game. In the next five minutes the Mooseheads scored two more times to lead 3-0 on only 4 shots which led the Oceanic to pull starting goalie Colten Ellis. The move seemed to help Rimouski a little bit as the away team got a goal with under 6 minutes to go in the first period. Connor Moynihan and Lavoie scored before the end of the frame to give the Herd a commending 5-1 lead. In the second Rimouski was able to catch the home team sleeping some and closed the gap to one goal with the help of rookie Alexis Lafreniere. The 16 year old Lafreniere also scored the tying goal in the third period to force overtime. In the final minutes Moose tried to end it in regulation as well as get Zadina a hat trick but were unable to close it out. The victory was also the 800th regular season win in the Halifax Mooseheads franchise.

FINAL: Oceanic 5 at Mooseheads 6 OT
Stars: 3. Alexis Lafreniere RIM | 2. Raphael Lavoie HAL | 1. Otto Somppi HAL
Attendance: 8,328
MC's Top Herd: Arnaud Durandeau

GAME LOG
First period
0:36 HAL Filip Zadina (38) | A: Lavoie & Somppi
2:59 HAL Benoit_Olivier Groulx (24) | A: McIsaac & Durandeau
5:26 HAL Filip Zadina (39), SH | A: Somppi
14:37 RIM Anthony D'Amours (1) | A: Bowman & Soucy
15:20 HAL Connor Moynihan (18) | A: Durandeau & Ryczek
18:38 HAL Raphael Lavoie (24) | A: None

Second period
5:35 RIM Mathieu Bizier (8) | A: D'Amours
6:34 RIM Alexis Lafreniere (36) | A: Nadeau & Dove-McFalls
18:39 RIM Anthony Gagnon (10) | A: Zavgorodniy & MacKinnon

Third period
16:36 RIM Alexis Lafreniere (37) | A: Stewart & D'Astous

Overtime
2:29 HAL Raphael Lavoie (25) | A: Ryczek & Durandeau

Shots: 38-27 in favour of Rimouski
Powerplay: RIM - 0-for-2; HAL - 0-for-2

NOT DRESSED - Maxime Fortier, Copper Jones, Patrick Kyte and Blade Mann-Dixon were out with injuries

UP NEXT: Halifax will travel to Charlottetown to take on the Islanders on Wednesday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY #57: vs. Rimouski

GAMEDAY
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS RIMOUSKI OCEANIC
Puck drops at 2pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

School's out so why not bring the family to an afternoon hockey game as your Halifax Mooseheads take on the Rimouski Oceanic on Family Day. The Oceanic are one of the hottest teams coming in to today's match as winners of five straight and have also clinched a spot in the playoffs leading the East division. Halifax will look to give another performance like Friday evening where they scored a home record 12 goals in a big victory over Moncton but with both teams coming into this afternoon's competition separated by just one point, expect a tight low scoring game. This will be the lone time that Moose Country will see 16 year old phenom Alexis Lefreniere who is now tied with Mooseheads' forward Filip Zadina a top the rookie scoring leaders with 67 points. Lafreniere actually leads the Oceanic in scoring while for part of the season Zadina led the Herd but was passed by veteran Otto Somppi a few weeks ago. We should be in for a very exciting game and with 6 home matches after today there's no better time to come cheer on for the Herd as everyone looks to finish off the season strong before the playoffs.

This is the first game between these two teams. Halifax was 1-1-0-0 against the Oceanic last season while Rimouski had a 1-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was on January 29, 2017 where Rimouski came away with a 5-4 home victory with Halifax getting goals from four different players.

OVERALL RECORDS
Oceanic: 36-14-5-1 = 78 points (1st in East division, 3rd overall)
Mooseheads: 36-13-6-1 = 79 points (1st in Maritimes division, 2nd overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Otto Somppi 71pts (23G & 48A), Filip Zadina 67pts (37G & 30A), Maxime Fortier 66pts (28G & 38A)
RIM: Alexis Lafreniere 67pts (35G & 32A), Mathieu Nadeau 60pts (20G & 40A), Samuel Dove-McFalls 59pts (19G & 40A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Rimouski is coming off a 8-3 victory against the Wildcats in Moncton on Sunday afternoon. Alexis Lafreniere led the Oceanic with 2 goals and an assist while goalie Colten Ellis stopped 26 shots to get the win.

Halifax defeated the Wildcats on home ice Friday night, winning 12-5. Benoit-Olivier Groulx led the Mooseheads with a career game of 2 goals and five points while Alexis Gravel made 32 saves to get the victory against Moncton.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
February 19  Rimouski at Halifax - 2pm
March 6  Halifax at Rimouski - 8:30pm

ALUM ON OCEANIC - Jordan Lepage

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will go on the road for a game and take on the Charlottetown Islanders in a mid-week match. Puck drops at 7pm.

Moose Clear Up Back End With Trade

Photo - Mooseheads website

Earlier today, the Halifax Mooseheads announced their second trade of the winter trading period. The team traded defenceman Jordan Lepage to the Rimouski Oceanic for a first round draft pick in 2018. With this trade, it clears up the backlog on the back end since the trade for Jake Ryzeck from the Titan.

The Mooseheads originally drafted Jordan in the 3rd round in 2015. In 88 games with the Mooseheads which also includes 6 playoff games, the 18-year-old registered 1 goal and 19 assists as well as 162 penalty minutes. The Rimouski native missed the first 19 games due to offseason hip surgery. The Oceanic and Mooseheads have not played a game against each other yet this season, the first game is set for February 19th which is the Family Day matinee.

All the best in Rimouski Jordan!

GAMEDAY #49: at Rimouski

GAME PREVIEW
RIMOUSKI OCEANIC VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
Puck drops at 4:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Colisee Financiere Sun Life (4,285) ~ Rimouski, QC

It's the final game for your Halifax Mooseheads of a 3-in-3 road trip through the province of Quebec. Today also marks the last road game against a Quebecois team this season. Four points separate the two teams playing this afternoon so fans in Rimouski are in for a big hard fought match I'm guessing. Halifax will be without star rookie Nico Hischier for the second straight game as he gets ready to participate in the Top Prospects game on Monday. The Mooseheads will be hoping to have a gritty performance like they did yesterday as the team is missing more than just Nico this weekend. They played with 3 full lines last night and are most likely going to be doing something similar today but Jared McIsaac should be back on the ice. Rimouski on the other hand, despite being 14th in the league, has the league's top scorer in Tyler Boland who is now 8 points ahead of the Herd's Max Fortier. The Oceanic are 2-0-1-0 in their last 3 games and will be looking to continue collecting points.

This is the second and last meeting between these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Oceanic while Rimouski has a 0-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was October 7 in Moose Country where the home Mooseheads picked up the 6-5 victory. Bradley Kennedy, Max Fortier & Otto Somppi had a goal and an assist each to lead the team.

OVERALL RECORDS
Mooseheads: 23-21-1-3 = 50 points (5th in Maritimes division, 11th overall)
Oceanic: 21-24-4-0 = 46 points (5th in East division, 14th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
RIM: Tyler Boland 79pts (36G & 43A), Dylan Montcalm 60pts (13G & 47A), Samuel Laberge 38pts (15G & 23A)
HAL: Maxime Fortier 71pts (26G & 45A), Nico Hischier 68pts (33G & 35A), Jake Coughler 39pts (25G & 14A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Halifax is coming off a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Phoenix on Saturday night. Joel Bishop and Otto Somppi scored for the Mooseheads while Blade Mann-Dixon made 29 saves in Sherbrooke to pick up the win.

Rimouski is coming off a big 9-3 win on home ice over Drummondville. Three different players had a goal and 3 assists each to lead the Oceanic while Alexandre Lagace stopped 23 of the Voltigeurs' 26 shots on Saturday.

ALUM ON OCEANIC - Sam Hunter

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 7  Rimouski 5 at Halifax 6
January 29  Halifax at Rimouski - 4pm

OUT OF TOWN
Islanders vs. Sea Dogs     3:00pm
Sagueneens vs. Olympiques     5:00pm
Cataractes vs. Drakkar     5:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will head back home after the game and host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Thursday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Moose Stay Undefeated at Home

Photo - Myles Dennis

Your Halifax Mooseheads have started the 2016-17 season with victories in each of their first 3 home games but it hasn't been easy on the fans and Friday night's game was another example of that. The Mooseheads were able to get out to a quick 2-0 lead less than 6 minutes into the game with goals by Arnaud Durandeau and Bradley Kennedy which forced Rimouski to pull their starting goalie. The tally by Kennedy was his first in a Herd jersey. Speaking of firsts, rookies Raphael Lavoie and Jared McIsaac picked up their first QMJHL point, both assisting on separate goals. Halifax kept the pressure on during the rest of the first period and skated to the dressing room with a 4-2 lead. But some unfortunate penalties gave Rimouski an edge that made that 2 goal lead non existent. The Oceanic scored two powerplay goals to tie the match up at 5 goals a piece. There was some nice plays and pretty good saves by Kevin Resop who started his fifth straight game. Cooper Jones scored a nice goal to give Halifax the lead for good but the team couldn't convert on 3 chances at the empty net in the last minute and 30 seconds to extend the lead.

FINAL: Oceanic 5 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Jared McIsaac HAL | 2. Maxime Fortier HAL | 1. Otto Somppi HAL
Attendance: 5,552
MC's Top Herd: Maxime Fortier

GAME LOG
First period
0:18 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (3) | A: Dachyshyn & Flower
5:50 HAL Bradley Kennedy (1) | A: none
9:48 RIM Alex-Olivier Voyer (1) | A: Pare & D'Astous
10:01 HAL Otto Somppi (2) | A: Fortier & Charlebois
17:28 HAL Ben Higgins (1) | A: Lavoie
18:36 RIM Simon Bourque (1) | A: Montcalm & Boland

Second period
6:23 RIM Tyler Boland (6) | A: Mikhnin & Picco
9:39 HAL Maxime Fortier (5), PP | A: Kennedy & Somppi
11:49 RIM Daniel Hardie (2), PP | A: Leberge
16:09 RIM Tyler Boland (7), PP | A: Montcalm

Third period
11:09 HAL Cooper Jones (2) | A: McIsaac & Groulx

Powerplay: RIM - 3-for-7, HAL - 1-for-3
Shots: 26-22 in favour of Rimouski

MISSING IN ACTION - Joel Bishop, Brett Crossley, Jocktan Chainey

SCORES
Charlottetown 3 at Cape Breton 5
Gatineau 2 at Moncton 3
Saint John 4 at Quebec 2
Victoriaville 6 at Baie-Comeau 5 OT
Chicoutimi 1 at Rouyn-Noranda 3
Acadie-Bathurst 4 at Shawinigan 5 SO
Sherbrooke 0 at Blainville-Boisbriand 3

UP NEXT: Halifax will have a rematch against the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Featured image: Myles Dennis

Jan 8: Mooseheads vs. Oceanic preview

GAMEDAY
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS RIMOUSKI OCEANIC
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

How will Halifax fare without their top guns? Well tonight Mooseheads fans get their first look at the new post-trade period team in Moose Country when they host the Rimouski Oceanic. Gone are captain Timo Meier, former leading scorer Danny Moynihan, defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Cody Donaghey. Newcomer Jocktan Chainey has played well since suiting up in his first game with the Herd after Christmas while this evening's annual teddy bear toss game should be Zack Taylor and Anthony Sorrentino's debut match in the red and green. That's right fans, it's the Halifax Mooseheads teddy bear toss game so be sure to bring a stuffed animal to the rink with you to throw on the ice after the Mooseheads' first goal. All stuffed animals will go to Ronald McDonald House. Halifax is coming into tonight's match up as a team that has gotten points in their last 3 games with all three going to overtime. In two of the games, the Herd gained a 2-0 lead only to give it up and than have to come back from two goal deficits to tie the game to get an extra point. Rookie Otto Somppi is becoming Mr. Clutch scoring either a tying goal and/or the game winning goal in the last few matches. Should be an interesting rest of season.

Overall Records
Mooseheads: 14-20-5-1 = 34 points (6th in Maritimes division, 17th overall)
Oceanic: 23-12-3-1 = 50 points (3rd in East division, 7th overall)

Leading Scorers
RIM: Dylan Montcalm 38pts (15G & 23A), Antoine Dufort-Plante 32pts (15G & 17A), Simon Bourque 28pts (6G & 22A)
HAL: Maxime Fortier 48pts (21G & 27A), Otto Somppi 30pts (9G & 21A), Andrew Shewfelt 19pts (8G & 11A)

Last Games
Halifax is coming off a 6-5 overtime victory over Charlottetown on Tuesday night. Andrew Shewfelt led the Mooseheads with a goal and 2 assists while Kevin Resop stopped 34 of the Islanders 39 shots for the home win.

Rimouski last played host to Acadie-Bathurst on Tuesday evening, losing 7-1 on home ice. Carson MacKinnon scored the lone goal while the Oceanic's goaltending duo of CA Poirier-Turcot and Louis-Philip Guindon made 32 saves against the Titan.

Season Series
Head-to-Head: 0-1-0-0 = 0 points
October 31  Halifax 2 at Rimouski 3
January 8  Rimouski at Halifax - 7pm

Out of Town
Titan vs Screaming Eagles 7:00pm
Islanders vs Olympiques 7:00pm
Remparts vs Tigres 8:00pm
Cataractes vs Voltigeurs 8:00pm
Drakkar vs Armada 8:30pm
Huskies vs Phoenix 8:30pm

After the Buzzer
The Mooseheads will continue their five game homestand tomorrow when the Gatineau Olympiques come to town. Puck drops at 7pm.

Oceanic Are League Champs

Former Halifax Mooseheads player Matt Murphy is going to regret the penalty he took in double overtime for a long time.

Michael Joly celebrates hit double OT goal
Photo - Vincent Either (QMJHL Twitter)

Murphy was penalized for a tripping call and it gave the Rimouski Oceanic a man advantage, which in overtime is huge. Michael Joly was the hero on the 2 minute 4-on-3, scoring at 2:13 in the 5th frame. This gave the Oceanic a Game 7 victory and were named the 2015 President Cup champions.  

Christopher Clapperton got Rimouski on the board first twelve minutes into the game while Nikolaj Brouillard scored less then 4 minutes later to tie the game. From there it was a goaltending battle as former Herd goalie Zach Fucale of the Quebec Remparts and the Oceanic's Phillipe Desrosiers kept the score tied at 1 a piece. Fucale made 32 saves while Desrosiers made 47 saves. 

The third former Moose player on the Remparts team, Brian Lovell, has seen limited ice time and was not even in last night's match-up. 

Both teams had qualified for the Memorial Cup tournament coming into this series so though Fucale, Murphy and Lovell didn't get a second QMJHL championship they will have a chance to be national champs once again. 

The Memorial Cup will begin on Friday May 22 in Quebec City with the Remparts being hosts. They will face the WHL champion Kelowna Rockets at 7:30 EDT. Rimouski starts their tournament against the OHL champion Oshawa Generals on Saturday at 4:30 EDT.

Congratulations to the Rimouski Oceanic on winning the President's Cup and good luck next week. They will represent our league well. Look back later in the week for Memorial Cup coverage.

President Cup Schedule Released

Not only do former Halifax Mooseheads players Zach Fucale, Matt Murphy and Brian Lovell get a second chance to win the Memorial Cup, they now get another chance to win the President Cup as well. With the performance from Fucale, who took the starting job from Calum Booth in the playoffs, the Quebec Remparts swept the Moncton Wildcats in the third round.

The QMJHL semi finals were over quickly as the Rimouski Oceanic also swept their 3rd round opponent; the defending president cup champions Val-d'or Foreurs. The Oceanic will also play in the Memorial Cup at the end of May as the Quebec league representative.

Full schedule below:
Game 1 Tuesday May 5 at 7pm Quebec vs. Rimouski
Game 2 Friday May 8 at 7pm Quebec vs. Rimouski
Game 3 Sunday May 10 at 3pm Rimouski vs. Quebec
Game 4 Wednesday May 13 at 7pm Rimouski vs. Quebec
*Game 5 Friday May 15 at 7pm Quebec vs. Rimouski
*Game 6 Sunday May 17 at 3pm Rimouski vs. Quebec
*Game 7 Monday May 18 at 7pm Quebec vs. Rimouski

All times Eastern
* if neccesary