Marchand Scores for Canada in WCH Victory

Former Halifax Mooseheads forward Brad Marchand scored the game winner on Thursday night to give Team Canada the trophy at the World Cup of Hockey.

As no surprise to anyone, the Canadians won the tournament but it wasn't as easy as people thought they would win. The team, packed with many stars including Sidney Crosby, Carey Price, Steven Stamkos and Brent Burns, swept the preliminary round to win their group and secure a spot in the semi-finals. In the semis Canada took on the Russians where Marchand scored twice during the match (both being assisted by fellow Scotian Sidney Crosby and fellow Bruin Patrice Bergeron) on to a 5-3 victory. The win moved the Canadians to the finals against Team Europe.

Team Europe was made of players from the other European countries that weren't already in the tournament. The countries included in this team were Latvia, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. Many were surprised that Team Europe made it to the finals. Their lone loss during the preliminaries was to Canada. In the semis they defeated Sweden in overtime on the back of Tomas Tatar's two goals.

The final was a best of 3 games, meaning a team had to win two out of three games in the last round to win the trophy. Canada came out pretty good with Marchand scoring less than 3 minutes into the first game. The 28 year old than assisted on the last goal of the game on Tuesday night as the red and white won 3-1. On Thursday night Canada got out to a somewhat slow start letting in the first goal of the game and were held scoreless until the last 3 minutes of the game. That's when Bergeron scored to tie the game and the Air Canada Centre erupted with joy. With 44 seconds left in the game Marchand scored a nice wrister in the slot to put Canada up 2-1.

Congratulations to Brad Marchand and Team Canada for proving that hockey is Canada's game and winning the World Cup of Hockey 2016 trophy. Below is a team photo.

Photo - NHL

Kid Mack Helps Team NA Win

Former Halifax Mooseheads star player Nathan MacKinnon helped Team North America to a 4-0 exhibition victory in the World Cup of Hockey on Thursday night.

The 21 year old got the first goal of the game and the last one. Nathan put Team North America on the board shortly after the beginning of the second period, shooting a rebound into the net past Team Europe goaltender Jaroslav Halak on the powerplay. The North Americans, which is made up of players 23 and under from Canada and the United States, potted two more goals by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers) and Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames) in the next 4:43 of the game. In the third period, MacKinnon skated in on a breakaway but was tripped by Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins) which led to a penalty shot. The Cole Harbour, NS native didn't waste his opportunity to put Team NA up by 4 goals as he deked out Halak and backhanded the puck into the back of the net with 8:08 left in the game.

This was the first exhibition match for both teams at the WCH and was held in Quebec City's year old Videotron Arena. The two will meet again over the weekend in Montreal before the 2016 version of the World Cup of Hockey begins for real next Saturday (September 17) at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.

4 Alumni Named to World Cup Rosters

A couple of former Halifax Mooseheads were named to World Cup of Hockey rosters today and will join two other alumni who were already given spots on participating teams.


Brad Marchand and Jonathan Drouin made rosters this evening after productive Men's World Championship and playoff stints respectively.  Marchand, who won a gold medal earlier this month, was named to Team Canada. The 28 year old had his best professional season in 2015-16 but wasn't initially announced to the team back on March 2. A strong tournament at the World Championships probably helped the Halifax native's case to be included. Tampa Bay forward Drouin had a difficult regular season which was why he was left off the rosters announced in March but his play in the last month of the season and the playoffs secured him a spot on Team North America. The Sainte-Agathe, QC native had the lone goal in the Bolts Game 7 loss on Thursday night.

The World Cup of Hockey will be played in Toronto, Ontario from September 17 to October 1, 2016. It's organized by the National Hockey League and is the third installment, the other two being in 1996 and 2004. Eight teams, which include Canada, United States, Europe, Finland, Sweden, North America, Czech Republic and Russia. The North American team will be comprised of 23 and under players from the States and Canada.


Former Moose superstar Nathan MacKinnon was named back in March to Team North America while on the same day Jakub Voracek got included on the Czech Republic team.

Full rosters can be find here.

Congratulations to the four former Mooseheads and good luck to them in September during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey!


Photos - NHL.com