Victoriaville Captures League Title

Photo - Tigres Facebook

It's been a season like no other but it ended on Saturday evening with the Victoriaville Tigres claiming the QMJHL title defeating the Val-d'Or Foreurs in Quebec City. 

Alex Beaucage scored the game winner at the 1:01 mark of double overtime to clinch Victoriaville's second President's Cup title in franchise history. The 4-2 series victory completed an upset by the 4th place Tigres over 2nd place Val-d'Or. 

Val-d'Or was considered by many the favourites to be champions this season after loading up at the trade deadline. The Foreurs had a 29-3-2-2 record in the regular season to finish second with a 0.861 points percentage, behind only the Charlottetown Islanders' 0.875%. Victoriaville meanwhile finished 6th in the standings with a 16-9-1-0 record or 0.635 points percentage. 

Highlights below

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was the only CHL league to crown a champion during this weird 2020-21 season that had multiple changes all year long due to the coronavirus. The Q hopes to begin next season on October 1. 

Nov 15: Foreurs vs. Mooseheads preview

VAL-D'OR FOREURS VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Puck drops at 8:00pm

TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Centre Air Creebec (2,140) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

The road has been okay for our Halifax Mooseheads so far this year, with the team sporting a 6-5 record and they'll look to improve on that this evening when they visit the Val-d'Or Foreurs. Both teams are on a two game winning streak so for one that will end tonight. Only 3 points seperate these clubs, meaning it could go either way depending on which team shows up for Halifax and whose goaltender brings their A game. For the Mooseheads, their power play has been sketchy this season but on Wednesday night they scored three of their 4 goals with the man advantage. Talking about special teams, it's the second best penalty kill team (Halifax) taking on the second worst power play team (Val-d'Or) so don't expect much to be done there. Val-d'Or is coming off a big win against the Saint John Sea Dogs but they should have a harder time scoring on the Herd.

This is the second and final game between these two teams this season. Halifax is 1-0-0-0 against the Foreurs while Val-d'Or has a 0-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Raphael Lavoie each had 2 goals and 4 points back on October 13 to help lead Halifax to a 6-2 victory the last time the clubs met. 

Overall records
Mooseheads: 10-10-1-0 = 21pts (4th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)
Foreurs: 11-9-2-0 = 24pts (1st in West division, 8th overall)

Leading scorers
VDO: Nicolas Ouellet 18pts (12G & 6A), Alexandre Doucet 16pts (4G & 12A), Karl Boudrias 15pts (6G & 9A)
HAL: Raphael Lavoie 33pts (15G & 18A), Benoit-Olivier Groulx 25pts (8G & 17A), Maxim Trepanier 23pts (12G & 11A)

Out of Town
Wildcats vs. Olympiques    7:00pm
Tigres vs. Oceanic    8:00pm
Huskies vs. Sea Dogs    8:30pm
Voltigeurs vs. Armada    8:30pm
Cataractes vs. Eagles    8:30pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will continue this road trip through Quebec as they have a rematch against the Memorial Cup champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Saturday night. Puck drops at 8pm.

Big Third Leads to Win

The Halifax Mooseheads got their first win on home ice. After an unfortunate loss in their home opener a week ago, Halifax started off slow but finished strong to send the Moose Country fans home happy. Val-d'Or scored the opening goal of the match and led 1-0 after 20 minutes though it was a pretty back and forth game in the first period. Alex Gravel made a couple of amazing saves in the dying seconds of the frame to keep it a one goal game and the boys in front of him seemed to wake up in the second as the Herd got two goals one minute apart just minutes into the middle frame by Walter Flower and Jordan Maher. A goal by the Foreurs' Ivan Kozlov towards the end of the period tied the game, however it really should not have counted as Flower got high sticked right before the goal was scored. In the third, the home team put a ton of pressure on Mathieu Marquis, getting 16 shots towards the Val-d'Or goaltender and they were able to convert on a few of those. A powerplay marker by Samuel Asselin about 5 minutes into the final frame ended up being the game winner while Flower scored his second of the night (and season) minutes later. Veteran Benoit-Olivier Groulx finished the scoring off with a couple of power play goals in the final minutes to put the game out of reach.

FINAL: Foreurs 2 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Ostap Safin HAL | 2. Samuel Asselin HAL | 1. Walter Flower HAL
Attendance: 8,256
MC's Top Herd: Walter Flower

GAME LOG
First period
18:22 VDO Julien Tessier (8), PP | A: Ouellet & Kozlov

Second period
5:16 HAL Walter Flower (1) | A: Durandeau & Lavoie
6:16 HAL Jordan Maher (3) | A: Parent & Kyte
18:55 VDO Ivan Kozlov (5) | A: Tessier & Farmer

Third period
4:59 HAL Samuel Asselin (10), PP | A: Safin & Barron
6:58 HAL Walter Flower (2) | A: Groulx & Safin
15:35 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (7), PP | A: Morand & McIsaac
16:42 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (8), PP | A: McIsaac & Lavoie

Shots: 41-23 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: VDO - 1-for-4; HAL - 3-for-4

NOT DRESSED - Jocktan Chainey (injured), Samuel Dube (injured), Brock McLeod (healthy) and Kyle Petten (injured)

SCORES
Cataractes 2 at Oceanic 6
Armada 1 at Sagueneens 3
Sea Dogs 1 at Drakkar 8
Titan 3 at Screaming Eagles 2
Huskies 4 at Olympiques 3
Islanders 4 at Tigres 3 OT

UP NEXT - The top two teams in the Maritimes will go head to head Sunday afternoon as your Mooseheads host the Moncton Wildcats tomorrow. Puck drops at 2pm.

Nov 3: Mooseheads vs. Foreurs preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS VAL-D'OR FOREURS
November 2, 2018 at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Hello November! It's hard to believe that we're into November already and the Halifax Mooseheads are about to play just their second home game of the season tonight when they welcome the Val-d'Or Foreurs to Scotiabank Centre. Halifax will play 8 of their next 9 matches at home though so this month will be busy for the and fans alike. The Mooseheads will look to get back in the win column and a game against the 15th place Foreurs might be what they need. Halifax has yet to lose two games in a row this season. Val-d'Or has been good lately, going 2-0-0-1 in their last three games with the shootout loss coming last night to the Moncton Wildcats. It sounds like Halifax will get some reinforcements this weekend as Ostap Safin is projected to be back in the lineup either tonight or tomorrow but I'm hoping it's this evening. Safin has been out injured since September 30 so fans have yet to decide if the trade that brought him here was a good decision or not. As for the other few trades Cam Russel and the brass made, they seem to be working out pretty well. It feels like almost every game Samuel Asselin is scoring, of course that isn't the case as he has 9 goals in 17 games while Antoine Morand is right behind him in team scoring and Jordan Maher has been creating chances and finds hi self with 7 points.

This is the first game between these two teams. Last season, Halifax had a 2-0-0-0 record against the Foreurs while Val-d'Or was 0-1-0-1 versus the Mooseheads. The last game was December 8 where the Herd picked up a 2-1 shootout victory in Val-d'Or with Otto Somppi getting the SO winner and Halifax outshooting the Foreurs 45-22.

Overall Records
Foreurs: 5-10-2-1 = 13pts (15th overall, 4th in West division)
Mooseheads: 12-4-0-0 = 24pts (5th overall, 2nd in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Raphael Lavoie 18pts (11G & 7A), Arnaud Durandeau 18pts (7G & 11A), Samuel Asselin 17pts (9G & 8A)
VDO: Felix Boivin 17pts (4G & 13A), Julien Tessier 15pts (7G & 8A), Nicolas Ouellet 10pts (6G & 4A)

Previous games
Val-d'Or is coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the Wildcats on Friday night. Julien Tessier had a hat trick to lead the Foreurs while Jonathan Lemieux stopped 41 of Moncton's 44 shots in regulation, receiving third star honours on the road.

Halifax is coming off a 5-2 loss to their provincial rivals Cape Breton a week ago in the team's home opener. Jake Ryczek led the Mooseheads with a goal and 2 points while Alex Gravel took the defeat with 23 saves versus the Screaming Eagles.

Head-to-Head
November 2  7pm  Foreurs at Mooseheads
March 3  5pm  Mooseheads at Foreurs

Out of Town
Rimouski vs. Shawinigan - 5:00pm
Chicoutimi vs. Blainville-Boisbriand - 5:00pm
Baie-Comeau vs. Saint John - 5:00pm
Cape Breton vs. Acadie-Bathurst - 7:00pm
Gatineau vs. Rouyn-Noranda - 8:00pm
Victoriaville vs. Charlottetown - 8:00pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will welcome the CHL 9th ranked Moncton Wildcats to the Scotiabank Centre tomorrow afternoon. Puck drops at 2pm.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 4, Foreurs 6

MC POST-GAME

Here;s some stories from last night's 6-4 loss against the Val-d'Or Foreurs

The Q News' recap: Less than 24 hours after a humiliating 11-1 loss, the Val-d'Or Foreurs responded with a hard fought 6-4 victory over the Halifax Mooseheads Sunday afternoon, Nov. 30, in Val-d'Or.

Metro Halifax's recap: It was a bittersweet weekend on the road for the Halifax Mooseheads.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: Another comeback was not in the cards for the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday. 

The Canadian Press' recap: Jeremie Fraser and Anthony Richard had two goals and an assist each as the Foreurs sank Halifax.

halifaxmooseheads.ca's recap: The Mooseheads had a sweep of a three-game road trip in their sights but it wasn't in the cards for the Herd on Sunday afternoon in Val d'Or as Halifax lost 6-4 to the defending President's Cup Champions at the Air Creebec Centre snapping a four-game winning streak for the Moose.

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Vince Wat (upper body), Josh Fitzgerald (concussion), Tristan Tardif (healthy), Ryan Falkenham (lower body), Morgan Nauss (upper body), Brett Crossley (concussion) and Cavan Fitzgerald (broken patella)

SCORES
Charlottetown 1 - 5 Moncton
Acadie-Bathurst 4 - 3 Saint John SO
Blainville-Boisbriand 6 - 3 Cape Breton
Chicoutimi 3 - 0 Drummondville
Quebec 2 - 3 Rimouski OT
Victoriaville 5 - 4 Rouyn-Noranda

NEXT GAME: Halifax will come home for four games starting on Friday against the Charlottetown Islanders. Puck drops at 7pm. 

GAMEDAY #29: at Val-d'Or

GAMEDAY

VAL-D'OR FOREURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

November 30, 2014 at 5:00pm

TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Centre Air Creebec (2,140) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

Just think, a little over a month ago the Mooseheads couldn't string two wins together. In the past month they've had 2 two game win streaks and are on a four game victory streak right now. Halifax will be looking to continue their strong play this evening when they visit the Foreurs in Val-d'Or. The Herd will be playing a team that is 3 points behind them this time but Zach Fucale will have to be excellent today if Halifax hopes to win. Val-d'Or is third in team scoring with 107 goals for, behind Rimouski and Moncton but they have the most goals against in the league. Can Halifax finish off the month of November strong with another victory? We will have to wait and see.

This is the second and last meeting between the Moose and Val-d'Or this season. The Foreurs won the last one on October 5 with a 4-3 shootout victory. Danny Moynihan had 2 goals to lead Halifax in the defeat while Zach Fucale made 33 saves to take the loss. 

Overall Records
Mooseheads: 13-12-2-1 = 29 points (4th in Maritimes division, 13th overall)
Foreurs: 11-14-1-3 = 26 points (6th in West division, 15th overall)

Leading Scorers
VDO: Anthony Richard 36pts (17G & 19A), Anthony Beauregard 33pts (10G & 23A), Julien Gauthier 31pts (17G & 14A)
HFX: Nikolaj Ehlers 41pts (15G & 26A), Timo Meier 36pts (17G & 19A), Philippe Gadoury 23pts (9G & 14A)

Last Games
Halifax is coming off a big 8-5 comeback victory over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last night in Rouyn-Noranda. Nikolaj Ehlers had 4 goals and 2 assists to lead the comeback for the Mooseheads while Zach Fucale made 18 saves for the win.

Val-d'Or is coming off a huge 11-1 defeat at the hands of the Victoriaville Tigres on home ice last night. Stephen Anderson scored the only goal for the Foreurs while Etienne Montpetit and Keven Bouchard made 26 saves on 37 shots.

Season Series
Sunday Oct 5  Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 3 SO
Sunday Nov 30  Mooseheads at Foreurs - 5pm

Out of Town
Wildcats vs Islanders - 2:00pm
Sea Dogs vs Titan - 3:00pm
Screaming Eagles vs Armada - 4:00pm
Voltigeurs vs Sagueneens - 5:00pm
Oceanic vs Remparts 5:00pm
Huskies vs Tigres 5:00pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will get back home for a matchup against the Charlottetown Islanders for some Friday night hockey. Puck drops at 7pm.

POSTGAME: Foreurs 4, Mooseheads 3 SO

MC POST-GAME

My recap: Your Halifax Mooseheads are 0-for-1 in the shootout in this young season.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: At least the Halifax Mooseheads made progress on Sunday.

Metro Halifax's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads may have broken their scoring drought Sunday, but it still wasn't enough. 

The Canadian Press' recap: Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored once in the shootout and regulation as Val-d'Or edged the Mooseheads.

halifaxmooseheads.ca's recap: On a day where fans were buzzing about the announced return of Nikolaj Ehlers, Danny Moynihan provided the spark the Mooseheads were looking for on offense and the Sunday afternoon crowd at Scotiabank Centre was treated to a back-and-forth battle with the Val-d'Or Foreurs. 

The Q News' recap: Anthony Beauregard fooled Zachary Fucale in the shootout ending a seven-game losing streak for the Val-d'Or Foreurs as they defeated the Halifax Mooseheads 4-3 in extra time.

qmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Jean-Sebastien Taillefer (upper-body), Nicolaj Ehlers (Jets camp), Jessie Lussier (broken wrist), Cavan Fitzgerald (fractured patella) and Sam Leblanc (lower-body)

SCORES
Chicoutimi 4 - 5 Quebec OT
Rimnouski 6 - 4 Sherbrooke
Baie-Comeau 4 - 5 Gatineau
Acadie-Bathurst 2 - 4 Shawinigan
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 - 3 Victoriaville

NEXT GAME: Halifax will host Maritime division rival Charlottetown Islanders on Friday night for Pink in the Rink. Puck drops at 7pm.

RECAP: Short-out

HALIFAX - Your Halifax Mooseheads are 0-for-1 in the shootout in this young season. It was a much better game then Thursday night but your Herd failed to get the full two points on Sunday evening. After a back and forth game that saw it tied three times, Zach Fucale was unable to close the door in the penalty shot portion. Despite being out shot once again, the boys had a lot more jump tonight.

FINAL: Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 3  SO
Stars: 3. Watt HAL | 2. D. Moynihan HAL | 1. Aube-Kubel VDO
Attendance: 7,095
MC's Top Herd: Danny Moynihan

GAME LOG
First period
18:12 VDO Stephen Anderson (5), PP | A: Richard & Aube-Kubel
19:06 HAL Vincent Watt (2) | A: None

Shots: Val-d'Or led first period shots by a large margin of 16-9

Second period
4:07 VDO Nicolas Aube-Kubel (4) | A: Gauthier & Mandat

Shots: In the middle frame, shots were 8-7 for the Foreurs

Third period
0:44 HAL Danny Moynihan (1) | A: Ford & Fortier
5:59 HAL Danny Moynihan (2), PP | A: Murphy & Nauss
13:52 VDO Shawn Ouellette-St-Amant (1) | A: Mandat & Larouche

Shots: In the last 20 shots were again close with it being 11 to 10 for the visiting team

Overtime
None

Shots: Halifax led shots 2-1 in the 5 minute OT period

Shootout
Round 1 - VDO Anthony Richard (Save)    HAL Philippe Gadoury (Save)
Round 2 - VDO Nicolas Aube-Kubel (Goal)    HAL Danny Moynihan (Save)
Round 3 - VDO Anthony Beauregard (Goal)

POWERPLAY:
Val-d'Or: 1-for-2
Halifax: 1-for-4

GOALIES
Winning goaltender: Etienne Montpetit VDO 25 saves
Losing goaltender: Zach Fucale HAL 33 saves

GAMEDAY #8: vs Val-d'Or

GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. VAL-D'OR FOREURS

October 5, 2014 at 4:00pm

TV: QMJHL Live | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry

Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS 

It's a rematch of the 2014 semi finals series. This is the first time since that Game 7 3-2 loss that your Halifax Mooseheads are playing the Val-d'Or Foreurs. The Mooseheads might end up having an advantage this evening, hosting a team that will be playing their third game in three nights. The Herd are looking to get back on track after being shutout in two straight games. The Foreurs have been going through the east coast this weekend, losing both games. 

Overall Records

Foreurs: 2-6-0-1 = 5 points (6th in West division, 17th overall)

Mooseheads: 2-4-1-0 = 5 points (5th in Maritimes division, 15th overall)

Leading Scorers

HFX: Timo Meier 9pts (4G & 5A), Ryan Falkenham 7pts (5G & 2A), Maxime Fortier 5pts (1G & 4A)

VDO: Anthony Beauregard 9pts (3G & 6A), Nicolas Aube-Kubel 6pts (3G & 3A), Julien Gauthier 6pts (3G & 3A)

Last Games

Val-d'Or is coming off a shootout loss on Saturday night in Moncton. Nicolas Aube-Kubel led the Foreurs with a goal and an assist while Keven Bouchard made 31 saves against the Wildcats.

Halifax is coming off a another shutout loss, being defeated by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 5-0 on Thursday night. Zach Fucale made 36 saves in the loss.

Season Series

Sunday Oct 5  Val-d'Or at Halifax - 4pm

Sunday Nov 30  Halifax at Val-d'Or - 5pm

Out of Town

Remparts vs Sagueneens 4:00pm
Phoenix vs Oceanic 4:00pm
Olympiques vs Drakkar 5:00pm
Cataractes vs Titan 5:00pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will host the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday night for Pink in the Rink night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Gazzola, Foreurs Going to London.

The Val-d'Or Foreurs President's Cup winning group photo
Photo: qmjhl.ca

The four teams that will be playing in the 96th version of the Memorial Cup have been determined now after the Val-d'Or Foreurs and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar played their Game 7 last night.

The Foreurs, who defeated your Halifax Mooseheads in the semi finals, took a 3-0 lead into the third period and it looked like they were going to cruise to their third President's Cup title. However, just like it has been since the first round no lead is safe and the Drakkar came all the way back to tie the game. It took player of the year Anthony Mantha to seal the victory for his team in the last minute.

Former Halifax Moosehead Randy Gazzola played in his first league championship after his current team defeated his former team in 7 games in the semi finals. Gazzola was traded at the deadline in 2013 before the Herd made their incredible run to winning both trophies. Randy scored at the 13:08 mark to make it a 3-0 game.

Despite Mantha recording three points last night and having 38 overall he was unable to win the Guy Lafluer Trophy for Most Valuable Player, that honor went to Toronto Maple Leafs prospect and Val-d'Or goaltender Antoine Bibeau who made 43 stops in 60 minutes of play last night.

This is the second straight season that Baie-Comeau has not been able to win the championship after losing to the Moose last season in 5 games.

Val-d'Or will now travel to London today where they will join the host Knights, the OHL champions Guelph Storm and the WHL champs Edmonton Oil Kings for the Canadian Hockey League championship. The Knights and Foreurs will begin the tournament against each other on Friday.

Foreurs, Drakkar Battle for QMJHL Title

There were two Game 7s last night. One ended in happiness for the home fans, the other ended in sadness and probably even shock. The first overall Baie-Comeau Drakkar were able to comeback from a 3-2 series deficit and win Game 7 on home ice last night. They defeated the fifth overall Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 2-1 with goals from Alexandre Ranger and Charles Hudon.

In the other semi final, the Halifax Mooseheads cameback from a 2-0 series deficit winning 3 straight games but were unable to make another comeback in the final 2 games. Nikolaj Ehlers and Philippe Gaodury scored for the Mooseheads, who shot 41 pucks at Val-d'Or Foreurs goaltender Antoine Bibeau. The defence was a bit shaky all series long in which the goaltending and penalty calls seemed to be in the Foreurs favour.

The Foreurs and Drakkar will now meet in the President's Cup final which begins on Friday. Here is the full schedule:

Game 1 - Friday May 2 | 7:30PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau
Game 2 - Saturday May 3 | 4:00PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau
Game 3 - Tuesday May 6 | 7:30PM | Baie-Comeau @ Val-d'Or
Game 4 - Wednesday May 7 | 7:30PM | Baie-Comeau @ Val-d'Or
Game 5 - Friday May 9* | 7:30PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau
Game 6 - Sunday May 11* | 4:00PM | Baie-Comeau @ Val-d'Or
Game 7 - Tuesday May 13* | 7:30PM | Val-d'Or @ Baie-Comeau

Good luck to both teams in the finals. I predict that this series will go 7 games with the Drakkar coming out on top.


In the other two CHL finals it is North Bay and Guelph, which begins Thursday, in the Ontario Hockey League and in the Western Hockey League for the third straight year it is Edmonton versus Portland which starts on Saturday. My predicitions: Guelph and Portland in 6 games.

Season is Done.

Game Seven Recap

Series: VDO wins 4-3

Stars: 3. Brendan Duke HAL | 2. Darcy Ashley HAL | 1. Brent Andrews HAL

Attendance: 10,595

Final salute. Photo: Ashley Hennigar

HALIFAX - Well it was a good season and it has come to end with a 3-2 loss to the Val-d'Or Foreurs in a pivotal Game 7. Despite outshooting the Foreurs 41-16, the Halifax Mooseheads could not figure out how to get the puck past Antoine Bibeau who was once again phenomenal in nets. With the loss, your Mooseheads run for a consecutive President's Cup ended while the Foreurs one has continued. It was an energetic game as the sellout crowd was cheering on the home boys all night including standing for pretty much the last 4 minutes.

FINAL: Foreurs 3 at Mooseheads 2

Point getters: VDO Gelinas, Poudrier & Presseault 1G each, Gazzola, Pietroniro, Gauthier, Aube-Kubel & Sille 1A each; HAL Ehlers & Gadoury 2 each (1G & 1A), Drouin & Weegar 1A each

Goaltenders: Fucale HAL | Bibeau VDO

Shots 1st: 11-9 HAL | 2nd: 13-4 HAL | 3rd: 17-3 HAL

Powerplay HAL 1/5, VDO 0/3

OUT OF TOWN
Blainville 1 - 2 Baie-Comeau

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #15: at Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

VAL-D'OR FOREURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: HAL leads 3-2

Puck drops at 8:00pm

Air Creebec Centre (3,504) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

PREVIEW - The Halifax Mooseheads will look to continue their small streak of winning when they visit the Air Creebec Centre tonight for a big game six of this semi final series. The Mooseheads ended the little trend of the road team winning when Maxime Fortier scored the overtime winner for the 4-3 game 5 home win. Comebacks has been the story of this series and Val-d'Or will be hoping to continue that tonight in their home rink. If the Foreurs are going to tie this series, Anthony Mantha is going to be at the front of it. He has been quite good for the Foreurs so far and he will have to keep being good if the Foreurs want to continue their season.

NOT PLAYING - Timo Meier (upper) and Brendan Duke (lower) are out with injuries still while healthy scratches will be made before game time

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 18 Foreurs 5 at Mooseheads 2
Game 2 Apr 19 Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 2
Game 3 Apr 22 Mooseheads 6 at Foreurs 5 OT
Game 4 Apr 23 Mooseheads 5 at Foreurs 4
Game 5 Apr 26 Foreurs 3 at Mooseheads 4 OT
Game 6 Apr 28 Mooseheads at Foreurs
*Game 7 Apr 29 Foreurs at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
none

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @HFXMooseheads
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
If Val-d'Or wins tonight Game 7 will be tomorrow night at 8pm in Halifax.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #13: at Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

VAL-D'OR FOREURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: VDO leads 2-1

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Air Creebec Centre (3,504) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

PREVIEW - How do you follaw that? A crazy intense come from behind overtime win has the Halifax Mooseheads back in this series. The Mooseheads were down 3-0 four minutes in as Zach Fucale let in 3 goals on 4 shots for the second game in a row but this time it ended his night. Half way through the second period, Halifax found themselves down 5-1 now after Anthony Mantha scored a hat trick. Murphy got two goals in 58 seconds in the middle frame, which made it 5-3, to start the comeback and Jesse Lussier scored the overtime winner to complete it. Halifax will have to continue the momentum and have a much faster start when the two teams meet for Game 4 tonight in Val-d'Or. We may see Kevin Darveau start his first game of these palyoffs.

NOT PLAYING - hasn't been announced

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 18 Foreurs 5 at Mooseheads 2
Game 2 Apr 19 Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 2
Game 3 Apr 22 Mooseheads 6 at Foreurs 5 OT
Game 4 Apr 23 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 5 Apr 26 Foreurs at Mooseheads
*Game 6 Apr 28 Mooseheads at Foreurs
*Game 7 Apr 29 Foreurs at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Drakkar at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @HFXMooseheads, @CH_WillyPalov
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
Since Halifax won last night, there will be for sure a game 5 which will be in Moose Country on Saturday. Puck drops at 7pm.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #12: at Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

VAL-D'OR FOREURS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series: VDO leads 2-0

Puck drops at 8:30pm

Air Creebec Centre (3,504) ~ Val-d'Or, QC

PREVIEW - Comeback. For the first time in two seasons the Halifax Mooseheads find themselves in a hole down 2 games to none in their semi final series against the Val-d'Or Foreurs. They're going to have to figure out the secret of beating Antoine Bibeau who has been quite good saving 60 of 64 Moosehead shots in the first two games of the series. Halifax will also have to smarten up on defence as they have allowed a few odd man rushes and have spent more time in their own end than they normally do. It's going to be a hard road back for the Herd but if they can clean up their game a bit and get back to the basics this series will get interesting quite quickly. The Foreurs, despite being outshot in both games in Nova Scotia, have quieted Nikolaj Ehlers and Jonathan Drouin to just 3 points between them in the first two games. They will be looking to keep the two forwards off the scoreshort this week while Moose fans will be hoping both will explode in the two road games.

NOT PLAYING - healthy scratches will be made before the game while Ryan Falkenham is of course still out

PLAYOFF SERIES
Game 1 Apr 18 Foreurs 5 at Mooseheads 2
Game 2 Apr 19 Foreurs 4 at Mooseheads 2
Game 3 Apr 22 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 4 Apr 23 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 5 Apr 26 Foreurs at Mooseheads
Game 6 Apr 28 Mooseheads at Foreurs
Game 7 Apr 29 Foreurs at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN
Drakkar at Armada - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @HFXMooseheads, @CH_WillyPalov
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
The two teams will meet for Game 4 tomorrow night in Val-d'Or. Puck drops at 8:30pm.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #10: vs Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. VAL-D'OR FOREURS

Series tied 0-0

Puck drops at 7:00pm

Metro Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

PREVIEW - Three times we've been here, can we make it the second year that we move on in a row? After a big comeback in the second round versus the Quebec Remparts three years ago, the Mooseheads didn't have enough gas for the third round and were defeated 4 games to 2 games. Last year, well we all now what happened last season. Your Halifax Mooseheads look to get back to the Preisdent's Cup finals but they will have to get through a series with the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

This is going to be a very exciting series. These two teams were one two in overall scoring in the regular season and have the past two Most Valuable Players. That's the biggest story line going into this series is Drouin vs. Mantha. Veteran Anthony Mantha of the Foreurs was recording points at a 2.10 points per game average during the regular season to end with 120 points and on top of the QMJHL scoring while after getting sent down by Tampa Bay, Jonathan Drouin of the Herd finished with a 2.34 points per game average finishing third in Q scoring with 108 points.

SEASON SERIES
Halifax went 2-0-0-0 versus the Foreurs this season, while Val-d'Or went 0-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads

October 18, 2013 - Halifax def. Val-d'Or 5-2
November 2, 2013 - Halifax def. Val-d'Or 4-2

NOTES

• Fans who live in the Atlantic provinces will be able to watch 3 of the first four games on Eastlink
• Darcy Ashley will be back in the lineup tonight after missing the second round
• Willy Palov breaks down the final two series' and gives us his predictions

NOT PLAYING - the Mooseheads are healthy now except for Ryan Falkenham still being out so there will be scratches made before puck drop

TONIGHT'S GAMES
Armada at Drakkar - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Radio: News 95.7
Webcast: TELUS
Post-game: The Chronicle Herald

NEXT GAME
Game 2 of this semi final series between the Foreurs and Moose will be tomorrow night. Same place same time.

POSTGAME: Foreurs 2, Mooseheads 5

MC POST-GAME
Success once again in Pink in the Rink

HALIFAX - For the second straight year, your Halifax Mooseheads were on the winning side of the annual Pink in the Rink event.

The Canadian Press' recap: Brent Andrews scored a hat trick to lead the Halifax Mooseheads past the Val-d'Or Foreurs 5-2 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play Friday.

Metro Halifax's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads welcomed back Jonathan Drouin with a decisive win on Friday night.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: A little taste of home seemed to inspire Nikolaj Ehlers.

MISSING IN ACTION: Trey Lewis (hip), Jesse Lussier (concussion), Ryan Falkenham (hips), Liam Alcalde (healthy) and Brendan Duke (flu) did not play for your Moose. Maxime Gravel, Keven Larouche and Lukas Sladkovsky were not on the ice for the Foreurs.


PINK IN THE RINK
The 6th annual Pink in the Rink event was once again a success for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Atlantic Region. The pink jerseys that the Mooseheads were wearing were pretty cool this year. They were full pink with the colored Herd logo on the front.

HAT TRICK
With the net empty two players were able to get a hat trick last night but Nikolaj Ehlers decided to give up his chance and gave it to Brent Andrews to score the empty net goal and the hat trick one.

INJURIES
Halifax has been hit by the injury bug big this year already. Trey Lewis is out with tears in his hip, while Jonathan Drouin just got back from a groin injury and now Ryan Falkenham is out for the season after needing surgery on both hips.

EHLERS
European rookie Ehlers recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick last night. He scored two goals and had the chance to score a hat trick late in the third. He recorded two assists as well and fought Louick Marcotte halfway through the last frame. He was escorted off the ice for getting a game misconduct from the fight.

DROUIN
Jonathan Drouin made his home debut this season last night. He played in the 3 road games earlier this month after getting sent down by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He than hurt his groin before last Friday's game against Blainville. Drouin recorded three assists during the game.

MANTHA
League leading scorer Anthony Mantha recorded an assist in yesterday's game. He also had three penalties during the game.

GAZZOLA
Randy Gazzola returned to Halifax for the first time after being traded last year to Val-d'Or at the trade deadline.

OTHER SCORES
Chicoutimi 3 - 4 Acadie-Bathurst
Quebec 3 - 0 Moncton
Baie-Comeau 7 - 1 Sherbrooke
Gatineau 4 - 3 Drummondville
Rimouski 3 - 4 Shawinigan

UP NEXT
The home stand continues tonight when they take on the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at the Metro Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.

Success in Pink.

For the second straight year, your Halifax Mooseheads were on the winning side of the annual Pink in the Rink event. Brent Andrews scored the first hat trick of the season for the team while rookie European Nikolaj Ehlers recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick. Val-d'Or scored the first goal of the game and than Halifax scored 3 unanswered goals before the end of the first period. Ehlers scored two goals and decided to allow Andrews to receive the hat trick with an empty net goal instead of taking it himself. Jonathan Drouin made his home season debut tonight and was pretty good picking up 3 assists. He looked a little timid at times but that is understandable after a groin injury.

FINAL: Foreurs 2 at Mooseheads 5
50/50 Winning Draw: $11,158
Three stars: 3. Jonathan Drouin HAL | 2. Brent Andrews HAL | 1. Nikolaj Ehlers HAL
Attendance: 8,777 
MC's Top Herd: Nikolaj Ehlers

GAME LOG
First period
11:07 VDO Anthony Richard (8) | A: Aube-Kubel & Fraser
13:17 HAL Nikolaj Ehlers (7), PP | A: Weegar & Drouin
14:10 HAL Brent Andrews (3) | A: Weegar
19:31 HAL Nikolaj Ehlers (8) | A: Drouin

Penalties: Galipeau VDO (4:52, Tripping), Andrews HAL (6:06, Roughing), Galipeau VDO (13:05, Interference), Mantha VDO (16:10, High-sticking)
Shots: Halifax led shots in the first 13-11

Second period
0:16 HAL Brent Andrews (4) | A: Ryan & Ehlers
11:56 HAL Guillaume Gelinas (6), PP | A: Gazzola & Mantha

Penalties: Morin VDO (9:46, Too many men), Ciampini HAL (11:29, Tripping), Gelinas VDO (16:05, Cross-checking)
Shots: Val-d'Or was only able to get off 7 shots to Halifax's 13

Third period
19:52 HAL Brent Andrews (5), EN | A: Ehlers & Douin

Penalties: Mantha VDO (7:37, Cross-checking), Marcotte VDO (9:10, Fighting), Macotte VDO (9:10, Fighting after original altercation - Game Miscoduct), Pietroniro VDO (9:10, Fighting), Ashley HAL (9:10, Cross-checking), Weegar HAL (9:10, Fighting), Weegar HAL (9:10, Fighting after original altercation - Game Miscoduct), Mantha VDO (14:37, Hooking)
Shots: Halifax once again led shots 12 to 4 and ended the game 38 to 22

GOALIES
Winning goaltender: Zach Fucale HAL 20 saves
Losing goaltender: Francois Tremblay VDO 33 saves

POWERPLAY
Halifax: 1-for-7
Val-d'Or: 1-for-3

GAMEDAY 15: vs Val-d'Or

IT'S GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. VAL-D'OR FOREURS

Puck drops at 7:00pm

Metro Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

PREVEW - Pink jerseys. League leading scorer. Val-d'Or Foreurs. Those are the stories for tonight's game at the Halifax Metro Centre. Your Halifax Mooseheads will be hosting Anthony Mantha and his Foreurs when they have their pink in the rink event this evening. Mantha is leading the Quebec league in scoring as well as points. He has 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points in just 10 games. Those are insane numbers for anybody but clearly he is trying to show the Detroit Red Wings that they should have kept him in the NHL.

The Mooseheads will be wearing pink jerseys when they take on Val-d'Or. The jerseys will then be raffled off to 20 lucky fans at the end of the game. There are also going to be other jerseys available to be won. The team announced on twitter that the ice will not be painted pink this season.


This is the first game between these two teams this season. They will meet again in two weeks in Val-d'Or.

THE NUMEBRS

Leading scorers

VDO: Anthony Mantha (16G, 12A, 28 PTS), Louick Marcotte (5G, 14A, 19 PTS), Guillaume Gelinas (5G, 12A, 17 PTS)
HAL: Andrew Ryan (9G, 7A, 16 PTS), Nikolaj Ehlers (6G, 7A, 13 PTS), Brent Andrews (2G, 10A, 12 PTS)

LAST GAMES
Halifax won big on Tuesday against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 7-3. Andrew Ryan added to his goal total with 2 goals and added an assist while Zach Fucale made 40 saves as the Eagles outshot the Moose.

Val-d'Or were in Charlottetown last night to play the Islanders and with Anthony Mantha held of the score sheet only got one goal in a 7-1 loss despite outshooting Charlottetown 49 to 31. Guillaume Gelinas scored the only goal while Francois Trembley and Keven Bouchard making a combined 24 saves.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
This season    0-0-0-0     0GF   0GA
October 18 @ 7pm  Foreurs at Mooseheads
November 2 @ 8:30pm  Mooseheads at Foreurs
Last season     2-0-0-0    8GF   6GA

NOT PLAYING - Trey Lewis is still out with a tear in his hip while it is possible that Jonathan Drouin could return to the lineup tonight from a groin injury

OUT OF TOWN
Sagueneens at Titan - 7:00pm
Remparts at Wildcats - 7:00pm
Drakakr at Phoenix - 8:00pm
Olympiques at Voltigeurs - 8:30pm
Oceanic at Cataractes - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Webcast: TELUS
Radio: News 95.7
Post-game: MooseCountry blog

AFTER THE GAME
Halifax will be back on the ice tomorrow night and will take on the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at the Metro Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.

Gazzola, Foreurs look to move on

Former Moose player Randy Gazzola is still playing in the QMJHL with the Val-d'Or Foreurs. Gazzola and his team are playing in the first round of the President's Cup playoffs against the PEI Rocket. Randy was traded to the Foreurs in January when Halifax traded for Matt Murphy. Randy recorded 2 goals and 11 assists in 28 games with Val-d'Or to end the season with 33 points (7 goals & 26 assists). Game 6 between Val-d'Or and PEI goes tonight with the Foreurs looking to move on to round 2. It's do or die time for the Rocket as they are down 3-2 in their series and are hosting the Quebec team on the island at Charlottetown Civic Centre. Puck drops at 7:00pm Atlantic time.

The other two players that were released in January are still playing right now in the Junior A leagues. Steve Gillard is playing in the second round of the MHL with the Woodstock Slammers who are playing the Summerside Western Capitals. The Capitals are leading the series 1-0 in the best of seven. Anthony Terenzio is playing for the Whitecourt Wolverines in the third round of the AJHL. Whitecourt is down 2-0 in their series against the Spruce Grove Saints