Game Day 25: vs Huskies

PREVIEW - After another five game road trip, our Halifax Mooseheads are back home for a few matches starting with one this evening as they host the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies during the annual toque toss charity game. Both teams have had 0.500 records over their last 10 games and are coming off a loss. The Huskies will be looking for their first win on their current run through the Maritimes division while Halifax hopes to not get swept in their season series against Rouyn-Noranda. Mooseheads rookie forward Oleg Kulebiakin continues to be on a hot streak including scoring a hat trick on November 21 and posting 4 assists in one game a week later. The Russian leads the team with 30 points after twenty-five games, and probably would have been invited to the world juniors if the country was still in the tournament. This is the first time since the 2011-12 season that a rookie has led the Herd in scoring. So don't forget to bring some toques and when the home team scores their first goal tonight, throw them on the ice so they can be donated to HRM shelters. 

Coverage
TV: FloHockey | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry

Overall records
Huskies: 15-8-2-1 = 33 points (2nd in West division, 6th overall)
Mooseheads: 14-8-1-1 = 30 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 9th overall)

Leading scorers
HAL: Oleg Kulebiakin 30pts (17G & 13A), Shawn Carrier 24pts (14G & 10A), Liam Kilfoil 20pts (5G & 15A)
ROU: Thomas Verdon 39pts (12G & 27A), Samuel Beauchemin 25pts (8G & 17A), Eliot Ogonowski 23pts (10G & 13A)

Head-to-head
Halifax is 0-0-1-0 against the Huskies this season while Rouyn-Noranda has a 1-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two teams met on Halloween night in Rouyn where Antoine St. Laurent scored twice, including the overtime winner, to help his Huskies get a 5-4 OT victory over Halifax. 

Out of town
Cataractes vs. Phoenix - 5:00 p.m.
Eagles vs. Foreurs - 7:00 p.m.

After the buzzer
Halifax will welcome the Val-d'Or Foreurs tomorrow afternoon for the toy drive game. Puck drops at 3 p.m.

Theme Nights

We've known the regular season schedule for our Halifax Mooseheads for a couple of months but now the team has released their list of promotional games that will take place during 2025-26. I'll highlight the more special/annual events happening below. 

Annual events
HOME OPENER - September 20 vs. Charlottetown Islanders
DND Appreciation Night - October 25 vs. Cape Breton Eagles     
Toque Toss - December 6 vs. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies    
Mooseheads Fight Cancer - February 13 vs. Moncton Wildcats
Fan Appreciation Night - March 6 vs. Cape Breton Eagles

See the full promotional schedule in the 'Schedule' tab. 

Events

The Halifax Mooseheads released their promotional schedule recently and it looks a bit different from years past, but below you will find the annual charity events that happen. It seems that once again the Hurley Cup will not be played but I hope that they change their minds because it is one of my favourite events. 

Annual events
HOME OPENER - October 4 vs. Quebec Remparts
DND Appreciation Night - November 9 vs. Baie-Comeau Drakkar     
Toque Toss - December 14 vs. Charlottetown Islanders     
Mooseheads Fight Cancer - February 8 vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan  
Fan Appreciation Night - March 22 vs. Charlottetown Islanders

Minor hockey nights: Nov. 10, Dec. 6, Jan. 24, Feb. 22, Mar. 16
Student nights: Nov. 21 & Jan. 23 

See the full promotional schedule in the 'Schedule' tab. 

Cataford Scores Hat Trick in Win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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