Top Herd

Now that the regular season is over, I will be awarding my overall Top Herd player award. Now this is not an official award nor do I have a trophy but it is just something fun I have been doing this season as editor of this blog and a big fan of the Mooseheads.

And the winner is.....

Nikolaj Ehlers

Even though he was second in team scoring behind Jonathan Drouin, Ehlers has had the best rookie season in Mooseheads history since Ladislav Nagy in 1998-99 season. He ended the regular season with 104 points and was so close to getting 50 goals on the season. Three straight hat tricks in the weekend changeover of February and March helped make that record a possibility but he could not get the second goal he needed to in the last game to reach 50 goals, ending the season with 49. He's also skates fast and makes smart plays most of the time that allow the team an opportunity to score.


Here is the list of my Top Herd that I have done this season. I didn't name one every game.
Sept 1       Moncton - Nikolaj Ehlers
Sept 25     Bathurst - Trey Lewis
Sept 28     Baie-Comeau - Zach Fucale
Sept 29     Sherbrooke - Nikolaj Ehlers
Oct 11      Blainville - Ryan Falkenham
Oct 12      Saint John - Kevin Darveau
Oct 15     Cape Breton - Darcy Ashley
Oct 18     Val-d'Or - Nikolaj Ehlers
Oct 19     Rouyn-Noranda - Jonathan Drouin
Oct 23     Charlottetown - Austyn Hardie
Nov 8      Moncton - Brent Andrews
Nov 9      Saint John - Matt Murphy
Nov 14    Drummondville - Jonathan Drouin
Nov 22    Bathurst - Mac Weegar
Dec 29    Cape Breton - Kevin Darveau
Mar 6      Charlottetown - Nikolaj Ehlers
Mar 14    Saint John - Philippe Gadoury
Mar 15    Cape Breton - Jonathan Drouin



Thank you Moose Country fans for making this the most viewed page on my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I look forward to doing it again next season.

It's Over.

Game Four Recap

Series: HAL wins 4-0

STARS: 3. Ehlers HAL | 2. Weegar HAL | 1. Drouin HAL

Attendance: 1,418

CHARLOTTETOWN - The Halifax Mooseheads were too much for the Charlottetown Islanders tonight. Mason McDonald couldn't keep up his strong play and despite putting more pressure on Halifax, the Islanders were killed tonight in game four. For the first 15 minutes the Islanders kept it tied at zero-zero but Nikolaj Ehlers got the ball going with his third goal of the series. The Mooseheads would go on to score 10 goals, including 5 in the second period, to have a commanding lead before rookie Daniel Sprong got the home team on the board at 15:51 of the third period. Kameron Kielly got credited for the Isles second goal as he was the last one to touch the puck before it was tipped in past Kevin Darveau off Matt Murphy's stick blade. Ehlers, Jonathan Drouin and Mackenzie Weegar had two goals each to power the road team. 

FINAL: Halifax 11 at Charlottetown 3

Point getters: HAL Drouin 4 (2G & 2A), Weegar 3 (2G & 1A), Ciampini 3 (1G & 2A), Ehlers 2 (2G), D. Moynihan 2 (1G & 1A), Meier 2 (1G & 1A), Gadoury 2 (2A), C. Moynihan & Leblanc 1G each, Lussier, Shewfelt, Murphy & Watt 1A each; CHA DiPaolo 2 (2A), Vance, Sprong & Kielly 1G each, Pelletier & Cortese 1A each

Goaltenders: McDonald & Brassard CHA | Fucale & Darveau HAL

Shots 1st: 13-12 CHA | 2md: 22-3 HAL | 3rd: 10-8 HAL

Powerplay CHA 1/3, HAL 2/7

OUT OF TOWN

Blainville 2 - 3 Moncton

Gatineau 7 - 1 Cape Breton

Val-d'Or 8 - 2 Bathurst 

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #4: at Charlottetown

IT'S GAMEDAY

CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Halifax leads 3-0

Puck drops at 7:00pm

Eastlink Centre (3,717) ~ Charlottetown, PEI

PREVIEW - After a day off on Wednesday because of a snow storm that hit the Atlantic Region that postponed last night's game four to tonight, the two teams will look to get back on the ice. The Charlottetown Islanders is once again going to have to get better defensively if they hope to extend their season. The good news is that the shots that Mason McDonald is facing are getting a little bit less and he was able to limit Halifax to 4 goals on Tuesday night. The Mooseheads will look to sweep their first round series tonight so they don't have to come back tomorrow.

NOT PLAYING - Ryan Falkenham (hips), Austyn Hardie (upper body), Darcy Ashley (injured) & Brent Andrews (upper body) will not play for Halifax

NOTES - With the injuries starting to pile up now, Halifax has recalled Cavan Fitzgerald and Max Fortier for the remainder of the playoffs.

PLAYOFF SERIES

Game 1 Mar 21 Islanders 3 at Mooseheads 6

Game 2 Mar 22 Islanders 1 at Mooseheads 7

Game 3 Mar 25 Mooseheads 4 at Islanders 1

Game 4 Mar 26 Mooseheads at Islanders

*Game 5 Mar 28 Islanders at Mooseheads

*Game 6 Mar 30 Mooseheads at Islanders

*Game 7 Apr 1 Islanders at Mooseheads

OUT OF TOWN

Armada at Wildcats - 6:00pm

Olympiques at Eagles - 7:00pm

Foreurs at Titan - 7:30pm

GAME COVERAGE

TV: Eastlink

Live: @islandersgmday

Radio: News 95.7

Webcast: TELUS

Post-game: The Chronicle Herald, Islanders Country blog

NEXT GAME

It depends on how this game ends, if Charlottetown wins then Game 5 will be Friday night at 7pm.

Game 4 Postponed

Game 4 between your Halifax Mooseheads and the Charlottetown Islanders has been postponed from tonight to tomorrow night. The league had discussions with both teams early this afternoon and decided to postpone the game as a safety caution for everyone involved. Though the storm reached PEI later than it did in Nova Scotia, it would get bad really fast and fans would not be able to get to the game.

Look for a game preview tomorrow afternoon of Game 4 when the Islanders will try to get back in the series. Puck drops at 7pm on Thursday night.

Tonight's Cape Breton Screaming Eagles/Gatineau Olympiques game is postponed as well. That game was supposed to be played in Sydney at 7pm.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #3: at Charlottetown

IT'S GAMEDAY

CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Halifax leads 2-0
Puck drops at 7:00pm

Eastlink Centre (3,717) ~ Charlottetown, PEI

PREVIEW - Will being in front of home fans help the Islanders get back in this series or will it be too overwhelming for the team that finds themselves down 0-2 going to PEI? Halifax was able to sweep the first home portion of this first round series and will look to sweep the road part too tonight and tomorrow. Charlottetown will have to get past the defense and get more shots on Zach Fucale if they have any hope of winning a game becuase we all know that Mason MacDonald, the Haligonian Islanders goalie, can stand on his head but as we saw in the first two games he can do it for only so long. The duo of Nikolaj Ehlers and Jonathan Drouin though might just be too much to handle for this young team that started out well but slid in the latter half of the season. After the rough stuff in Halifax, it'll be interesting to see how the two teams play on the ice in Charlottetown. The Mooseheads were the only ones to get any extra discipline from the fight at 15:51 of the third period.

NOT PLAYING - Ryan Falkenham (hips), Brandon Vuic (suspended), Austyn Hardie (upper body) & Brent Andrews (upper body) will not play for Halifax

NOTES - Brandon Vuic of the Mooseheads was suspended for one game for his fight he had Saturday night against Hanley.

PLAYOFF SERIES

Game 1 Mar 21 Islanders 3 at Mooseheads 6

Game 2 Mar 22 Islanders 1 at Mooseheads 7

Game 3 Mar 25 Mooseheads at Islanders

Game 4 Mar 26 Mooseheads at Islanders

*Game 5 Mar 28 Islanders at Mooseheads

*Game 6 Mar 30 Mooseheads at Islanders

*Game 7 Apr 1 Islanders at Mooseheads 

OUT OF TOWN

Armada at Wildcats - 7:00pm

Olympiques at Eagles - 7:00pm

Foreurs at Titan - 7:30pm

Drakkar at Cataractes - 8:00pm

Oceanic at Sagueneens - 8:00pm

Voltigeurs at Tigres - 8:30pm

Remparts at Huskies - 8:30pm

GAME COVERAGE

TV: Eastlink

Live: @islandersgmday

Radio: News 95.7

Webcast: TELUS

Post-game: The Chronicle Herald, Islanders Country blog

NEXT GAME

Halifax will stay on the island for another game to play game 4 on Wednesday night versus Charlottetown. Puck drops at 7pm.

MC interviewed by TheHKYHatGuy

As most of you know or should by now if you read my blog, the Halifax Mooseheads are playing the Charlottetown Islanders in the first round of the 2014 QMJHL playoffs. I, at MooseCountry blog, am not the only fan in this series that has a fan site dedicated to one of the two teams. Herdcast has a podcast of the Mooseheads and invited a Islanders superfan named the HKYHatGuy to talk about the series on their next episode. HKYHatGuy invited me on to his show this past weekend and after having some technical issues, the YouTube video is live. We talk about the first two games between the 2 teams where Herdcast's was setting up the series.

Watch the whole video, I am about five minute mark. 

GO MOOSE GO and good luck in Charlottetown boys.

Around the CHL ~ volume #3 playoff edition #4

This is a bit late sorry. In this Around the CHL we will look at the 24 playoff series that are taking place in the Canadian Hockey League. For those of you who do not know, the teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs are fighting for the President's Cup, the Ontario Hockey League teams play for the J. Ross Robertson Cup while the teams in the Western Hockey League hope to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

President's Cup playoffs
#1 vs #16 Baie-Comeau - Shawinigan {regular season series BAC 5-1-0-0}
#2 vs #15 Halifax - Charlottetown {regular season series HAL 8-1-0-0}
#3 vs #14 Val-d'Or - Acadie-Bathurst {regular season series VAL 2-0-0-0}
#4 vs #13 Rimouski - Chicoutimi {regular season series tie 3-3-0-0}
#5 vs #12 Blainville-Boisbriand - Moncton {regular season series BLB 2-0-0-0}
#6 vs #11 Drummondville - Victoriaville {regular season series DRU 4-0-0-0}
#7 vs #10 Quebec - Rouyn-Noranda {regular season series QUE 3-1-0-0}
#8 vs #9 Gatineau - Cape Breton {regular season series tie 1-1-0-0}

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E8 Oshawa - Mississauga {regular season series OSH 3-0-0-0}
#E2 vs #E7 North Bay - Niagara {regular season series NIAG 3-2-0-1}
#E3 vs #E6 Kingston - Peterborough {regular season series KGN 5-0-1-0}
#E4 vs #E5 Barrie - Sudbury {regular season series SBY 5-3-0-0}

#W1 vs #W8 Guelph - Plymouth {regular season series GUE 3-0-0-1}
#W2 vs #W7 Sault Ste. Marie - Owen Sound {regular season series SSM 2-0-0-0}
#W3 vs #W6 Erie - Saginaw {regular season series ER 3-1-0-0}
#W4 vs #W5 London - Windsor {regular season series LDN 5-1-0-0}

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E8 Edmonton - Prince Albert {regular season series EDM 2-1-0-1}
#E2 vs #E7 Regina - Brandon {regular season series BDN 5-3-0-0}
#E3 vs #E6 Calgary - Kootenay {regular season series KTN 4-2-1-1}
#E4 vs #E5 Medicine Hat - Swift Current {regular season series tie 2-2-0-0}

#W1 vs #W8 Kelowna - Tri-City {regular season series KEL 4-0-0-0}
#W2 vs #W7 Portland - Vancouver {regular season series POR 4-0-0-0}
#W3 vs #W6 Victoria - Spokane {regular season series SPO 3-1-0-0}
#W4 vs #W5 Seattle - Everett {regular season series tie 5-4-1-0}

Tonight's games
Armada vs. Wildcats at 7PM
Greyhounds vs. Attack at 8PM
Otters vs. Spirit at 8:11PM
Hitmen vs. Ice at 10PM

Tuesday's games
Mooseheads vs. Islanders at 7PM
Armada vs. Wildcats at 7PM
Olympiques vs. Eagles at 7PM
Foreurs vs. Titan at 7:30PM
Battalion vs. IceDogs at 8PM
Storm vs. Whalers at 8PM
Colts vs. Wolves at 8PM
Drakkar vs. Cataractes at 8PM
Oceanic vs. Sagueneens at 8PM
Frontenacs vs. Petes at 8:05PM
Knights vs. Spitfires at 8:05PM
Generals vs. Steelheads at 8:30PM
Voltigeurs vs. Tigres at 8:30PM
Remparts vs. Huskies at 8:30PM
Tigers vs. Broncos at 10PM
Oil Kings vs. Raiders at 10PM
Hitmen vs. Frontenacs at 10PM
Winterhawks vs. Giants at 11PM
Rockets vs. Americans at 11:05PM
Silvertips vs. Thunderbirds at 11:05PM