GAMEDAY 30: at Cape Breton

IT'S GAMEDAY

CAPE BRETON SCREAMING EAGLES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Puck drops at 7:00pm

Centre 200 (5,000) ~ Sydney, NS

PREVIEW - Can they make it a perfect month? Well we'll have to wait and see if the Halifax Mooseheads can make it a perfect November. Of course they'll be doing it on he road but Moose fans can still watch the game, as long as you have Eastlink. It's a big game. Provincial rivals. 10 straight wins. What's going to happen.


The Moose and Eagles played on October 15th last in the second of 9 games. Halifax won big with Andrew Ryan scoring 2 goals and an assist in a 7-3 win. Zach Fucale made 40 saves.

THE NUMBERS

LAST GAMES
Cape Breton hasn't played since Sunday when they invited the Acadie-Bathurst Titan to "The Nest" and lost 4 to 1. Loic Leduc scored the only goal for the Eagles while Chase Marchand made 26 saves.

Halifax played last the day before against Saint John in Moose Country and shutout the Sea Dogs 5-0 to extend their win streak to nine on Saturday. Nikolaj Ehlers scored 2 goals to power the offence which shot 42 pucks at Sebastien Auger. Zach Fucale stopped all 22 shots he faced.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
This season    1-1-0-0    9GF    3GA
September 22  Mooseheads 2 at Eagles 5
October 15  Eagles 3 at Mooseheads 7
November 29 @ 7pm  Mooseheads at Eagles
December 28 @ 7pm  Eagles at Mooseheads
December 29 @ 7pm  Mooseheads at Eagles
January 25 @ 7pm  Eagles at Mooseheads
February 12 @ 7pm  Eagles at Mooseheads
March 4 @ 7pm  Mooseheads at Eagles
March 15 @ 7pm  Eagles at Mooseheads
Last season     8-0-0-0    25GF    16GA

NOT PLAYING - a few may be out due to the flu and of course Ryan Falkenham is out all season recovering from hip surgery

OUT OF TOWN
Huskies at Islanders - 7:00pm
Foreurs at Sea Dogs - 7:30pm
Tigres at Phoenix - 8:00pm
Armada at Voltigeurs - 8:30pm
Drakkar at Olympiques - 8:30pm
Sagueneens at Oceanic - 8:30pm

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

AFTER THE GAME
The Mooseheads will come back home for a Sunday afternoon tilt against Moncton. Puck drops at 4:00pm.

The Good and the Bad

The Good:

• Jonathan Drouin is on a tear. He has 30 points in just the month of November going into Friday's game. He was named the first star of the QMJHL Telus 3 stars of the week in the last two weeks as well as the CHL Player of the Week this month.
• In the same month, your Mooseheads have not lost a game. Halifax has won all 9 games this month so far. Hopefully they can make it a perfect month on Friday when they take on provincial rivals Cape Breton.
• On Wednesday, the Herd were ranked #5 in the BMO CHL Top 10 Rankings for week 11. They moved up from #8 last week.
• During Pink in the Rink, Moose Coutnry raised $19,803 for Cancer Research. Story

The Bad:

• The team had to cancel their practice at the BMO Centre last night because 9 players are out wtih the flu. They were going to practice wtih the Bedford Blues. Story
• This weekends games will probably be the last games for a while for Drouin, Zach Fucale and hopefully Mac Weegar as the training camp for Team Canada's World Junior team starts sometime in early December.

The Interesting:

• The Moose have 7 games this season that have ended in a 5-2 score. That is the score that has happened the most this season.
• For the first time in the 11 year history of the Subway Super Series the Russians have swept the Ontario Hockey League in their 2 game mini series that they play.

Look for my previews of this weekends games on the day of, tomorrow's will be out mid morning. Also I will have a new post on Monday about how the team is doing so far this season.

My Team Canada roster for WJC

Well we are a month away from the World Juniors which are being held in Malmo, Sweden this year. I don't know about you but I always look forward to Christmas and Boxing Day when the World Juniors begin. With it being in Sweden this year, fans in Canada will once again have to get up early to see the best of their country play. Luckily it won't be as early as last year though if your on the East Coast. Sweden is 5 hours ahead of us here in Nova Scotia while Ufa, Russia is actually 10 hours ahead.

Here is who I think will get the invite from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Jonathan Drouin F
Anthony Mantha F
Frederik Gauthier F
Charles Hudon F
Zach Fucale G
Etteine Marcoux G
MacKenzie Weegar D
Christopher Clapperton F
Ryan Graves D

Good luck to everyone. I'll have a full list of attendees when it comes available.

POSTGAME: Titan 2, Mooseheads 9

MC POST-GAME
Jonathan Drouin has 5th straight 3 or more point night to help Moose win big

HALIFAX - The Halifax Mooseheads gave their fans something to cheer about on BMO CHL Ultimate Fan Contest night.

The Canadian Press recap: Jonathan Drouin scored once and set up four others as the Mooseheads crushed Acadie-Bathurst for their eighth win in a row.

Halifax Metro's recap: Everyone who you’d expect stepped up for the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night.

Titan Nation's recap: If you were one of the 8,108 in attendance at the Halifax Metro Centre tonight looking for a beat down, you probably left satisfied unless you were an Acadie-Bathurst Titan fan.

The Q News' recap: Jonathan Drouin helped lead the Halifax Mooseheads to their eighth consecutive win by scoring once and adding four assists in a 9-2 clobbering of the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan in front of 8,108 fans at the Halifax Metro Centre on Friday night.

halifaxmooseheads.ca's recap: The Mooseheads won their 8th in a row Friday night 9-2 over Acadie-Bathurst before a boisterous crowd of 8,108 at the Metro Centre.

MISSING IN ACTION: Jacob Jacques, Max Lindsay and Liam Alcalde were the scratches for your Herd last night

EIGHT
If you didn't know already, last night's win was the eighth win in a row for your Halifax Mooseheads. They currently have the best streak record in the QMJHL but despite winning so much this month, they have yet to pass the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for first place in the league.

SHUTOUT
Zach Fucale almost had his second shutout of the season. It looked like he was going to get it too but Aaron Kerr broke the bid half way through the third to give the Titan some slim hope of clawing their way back into the game.

GOALIES
Three goaltenders played in last night's game, the most that we have had since the 15 to 5 beating of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies back on November 1st. Fucale played the whole game while Jacob Brennan was pulled after allowing 5 goals on 24 shots. Brennan made some pretty unbelievable saves but the coach thought that that wouldn't help their case.

DROUIN
As mentioned above, Jonathan Drouin recorded his 5th straight game with 3 or more points. Last night was his first 5 point game this season. Drouin scored a goal and made some really nice plays to set up 4 other goals. He also played his 100th junior career game last night. Good way to celebrate.

WEEGAR
MacKenzie Weegar scored 2 goals last night. His first career multi goal game and they were both on the powerplay. He now has 5 goals this season.

ANDREWS
Brent Andrews scored two goals in yesterday's game as well. With it he passed his goal total from last season.

OTHER SCORES
Cape Breton 2 - 1 Saint John SO
Charlottetown 3 - 6 Chicoutimi
Victoriaville 1 - 4 Quebec
Moncton 0 - 3 Baie-Comeau
Shawinigan 3 - 4 Drummondville
Gatineau 3 - 6 Rimouski
Sherbrooke 4 - 5 Rouyn-Noranda
Blainville 4 - 2 Val-d'Or

UP NEXT
Halifax will continue playing at home when they host the Saint John Sea Dogs tonight. Puck drops at 7pm.

Moose Keep Rolling.

The Halifax Mooseheads gave their fans something to cheer about on BMO CHL Ultimate Fan Contest night. They extended their winning streak to 8 games with their 5th win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan this season. Jacob Brennan made some unbelievable saves but could not save them all as his defense let him down at times especially on the penalty kill where the Titan were ranked second going into the game. Brian Lovell returned in this game but it looks like he may be out again with the same injury after taking a knee on knee hit in the middle frame. The extra man played a big role in tonight's game as seven of the 11 goals were scored with a man advantage.

FINAL: Titan 2 at Mooseheads 9
50/50 Winning Draw: $8,758
Three stars: 3. Ashley HAL | 2. Weegar HAL | 1. Drouin HAL
Attendance: 8,108
MC's Top Herd: Mac Weegar

GAME LOG
First period
3:38 HAL Andrew Ryan (13) | A: Drouin & Ashley
15:42 HAL Nikolaj Ehlers (15) | A: Andrews & Meier
18:02 HAL Brent Andrews (15), PP | A: Drouin

Penalties: Leblanc HAL (9:00, Charging), Godin BAT (17:37, Hooking)
Shots: Halifax led the shots 11 to 8

Second period
14:52 HAL MacKenzie Weegar (4), PP | A: Drouin & Ashley
16:55 HAL Vincent Watt (1) | A: Shewfelt & Leblanc

Penalties: C. Moynihan HAL (11:52, Checking), Brisebois BAT (14:36, Interference), Lussier HAL (17:57, Slashing)
Shots: The Moose had a few more shots in the middle frame leading 14-8

Third period
1:13 HAL Jonathan Drouin (14), PP | A: Weegar & Ashley
6:29 HAL MacKenzie Weegar (5), PP | A: Ashley & Drouin
10:43 BAT Aaron Kerr (2), PP | A: Boivin & Brisebois
14:51 HAL Luca Ciampini (4) | A: C. Moynihan & Lussier
18:20 HAL Brent Andrews (16), SH | A: None
19:04 BAT Adam Stevens (9), PP | A: Boivin & Brisebois

Penalties: Godin BAT (0:29, Interference), Leclerc BAT (1:03, High-sticking), Grundy BAT (6:00, High-sticking), Hardie HAL (7:05, Roughing & Unsportsmanlike conduct), Cote BAT (15:37, Unsportsmanlike conduct - misconduct), Chapman BAT (15:37, Unsportsmanlike conduct - misconduct), Grundy BAT (15:37, Unsportsmanlike conduct - misconduct), Hardie HAL (15:37, Unsportsmanlike conduct - misconduct), Lussier HAL (17:46, Cross-checking)
Shots: Bathurst led the third period shots 11-9 but lost total shots 27 to 34

GOALIES
Winning goaltender: Zach Fucale HAL 25 saves
Losing goaltender: Jacob Brennan BAT 19 saves

POWERPLAY
Halifax: 4-for-5
Bathurst: 2-for-6

Note: Vincent Watt`s goal was his first of the season and first of his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League career.

GAMEDAY 28: vs Acadie-Bathurst

IT'S GAMEDAY

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS vs. ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN

Puck drops at 7:00pm

Metro Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

PREVIEW - It's finally Friday and another Mooseheads hockey game night. The team has been off since Saturday but we haven't seen them on Metro Centre ice since the 14th of November. It's been too long. Big Jo, Mac and Zach have played this week though helping Team QMJHL sweep the two game series between them and the Russia Selects on Monday and Wednesday. I'm surprised Fucale hasn't burned out yet; considering he's played a lot of hockey since arriving in Halifax two years ago between our championship run last year, Montreal Canadians camps in the summer, Ivan Hlinka tournament in 2012 and now 21 games played this year, but if we are going to return to the playoffs we need him to continue the way he is and for Kevin Darveau to be great when he needs to step in. Darveau will need to step up come December because Zach will most likely get invited to World Junior camp.

But for now, they'll just have to concentrate on this weekend. Acadie will come out hard I'm sure to get revenge for the last meeting where Nik Ehlers and Brent Andrews scored 2 goals each to help the Moose beat the Titan. Fans can get into this one tonight more than usual as BMO will be in attendance looking for big Moose fans in the crowd to win a signed Halifax Mooseheads jersey and a chance to go see the 2014 Memorial Cup. It's our turn to do the BMO CHL Ultimate Fan Contest. So dress up in your best fan attire and get to know your favourite team even more.


This is the fifth meeting between these two teams. The Mooseheads have won all four so far this season and if they win tonight, the Herd will win the season series even though there are still four more games after this one.

THE NUMBERS

Leading scorers
BAT: Scott Oke 18pts (9G & 9A), Raphael Lafontaine 18pts (7G & 11A), Alexandros Soumakis 16pts (9G & 7A), Adam Stevens 16pts (8G & 8A)
HAL: Jonathan Drouin 39pts (13G & 26A), Nikolaj Ehlers 35pts (14G & 21A), Brent Andrews 31pts (14G & 17A)

LAST GAMES
Halifax had 2 goals by Nikolaj Ehlers and Brent Andrews and 4 points (1G&3A) by Jonathan Drouin to beat the Titan 6 days ago on enemy territory. Kevin Darveau made 29 saves as his team doubled up the home team 6-3.

Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a loss against this Halifax team last Saturday in Bathurst. Adam Stevens and Francois Godin had a goal and an assist a piece while Jacob Brennan made 28 saves in the 6-3 loss.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
This season    4-0-0-0   20GF   11GA
September 25   Titan 3 at Mooseheads 5
October 25   Mooseheads 5 at Titan 2
October 26   Titan 3 at Mooseheads 4
November 16   Mooseheads 6 at Titan 3
November 22 @ 7pm   Titan at Mooseheads
January 11 @ 7pm   Titan at Mooseheads
January 19 @ 3pm   Mooseheads at Titan
February 16 @ 3pm   Mooseheads at Titan
February 28 @ 7pm   Mooseheads at Titan
Last season    6-0-2-0   50GF      35GA

NOT PLAYING - Brian Lovell (knee) and Jesse Lussier (concussion) most likely

OUT OF TOWN
Cape Breton at Saint John - 7:30pm
Charlottetown at Chicoutimi - 8:00pm
Victoriaville at Quebec - 8:00pm
Moncton at Baie-Comeau - 8:30pm
Shawinigan at Drummondville - 8:30pm
Gatineau at Rimouski - 8:30pm
Sherbrooke at Rouyn-Noranda - 8:30pm
Blainville at Val-d'Or - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE
TV: Eastlink
Live: @MC_MooseCountry, @ABTitanLive
Webcast: TELUS
Radio: News 95.7, CKLE 92.9
Post-game: MooseCountry blog

AFTER THE GAME
Halifax will host the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday Night Hockey at the Metro Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.

Drouin named first stars

Jonathan Drouin's awesome week keeps getting better. He was named the captain for Team QMJHL for the Subway Super Series last week and led them to a 3-2 win on Monday night with three assists.

He was announced as the first star for the week ending on November 17 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Monday. Drouin is the second Moosehead player to be named as one of the TELUS three stars of the week. Congrats Jonathan.

Earlier today, Big Jo was named the CHL Player of the Week by the Canadian Hockey League. He helped lead Halifax to three wins last week, which extend the Herd's win streak to 6, with 10 points in the 3 games. This extended his own point streak to 11 games.