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

Semifinals extended to Game 7s

Both Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semi final matchups are going to game 7. Val-d'or was able to win on home ice to tie the series with the Halifax Mooseheads at three games a piece. Halifax was unable to overcome another 4 goal game lead like they did in Game 3. Four goals in the first period was just too much for the Mooseheads to comeback from. The game ended with the Foreurs winning 7-5. Antoine Bibeau was as excellent as always stopping 38 shots while Zach Fucale and Kevin Darveau shared stopping 25 shots.

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar also tied their series with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada after winning their Game 6 on the road in overtime. Maxime St-Cyr led the Drakkar with 2 goals during regulation. Philippe Cadorette made 22 saves for the win while Etienne Marcoux had 38 saves for the loss.

Both Game 7s will be played on Tuesday night with the Foreurs visiting Moose Country dropping the puck at 8pm and the Armada visiting the Drakkar dropping the puck at 8:30pm.

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.

Weekend Roundup

Well it's almost the end of the weekend so I thought I would break down what has happened in the last 48 hours for current and former Mooseheads, as well as some other news.

MACKINNON
Former star Moose player Nathan MacKinnon has been just as much of a star on the Colorado Avalanche as he was here in Halifax. In two games earlier in the week in San Jose, Nathan was held pointless in two Avalanche losses that made their playoff series with the Sharks tied 2-2. Back home on Saturday night, like the Moose were, MacKinnon had an assist on Colorado's second goal and its third which tied the game with less than 2 minutes left. He than scored the overtime winner to give the Avs a 3-2 series lead. He leads the NHL in points with 10 now after his three point night.

ALUM IN AHL
There are a few former Mooseheads playing in the American Hockey League. Alexandre Grenier of the Utica Comets and Konrad Abeltshauser of the Worcester Sharks had a good season for their respective teams but they couldn't help them get into the playoffs. Konrad finished the season with 6 goals and 21 points in 57 games. He was also named the Sharks "Man of the Year". In 68 games, Grenier was 4th in team scoring with 17 goals and 39 points. Andrew Bodnarchuk and the Manchester Monarchs have played two games in the playoffs against the Norfolk Admirals. Andrew is a -1 and has 3 shot on goal through 2 games. He finished the regular season with 8 goals and 32 points in 73 games.

SATURDAY'S MOOSE GAME
When everybody thought they were out, they have come storming back and now lead the series thanks to a 4-3 overtime win last night. Maxime Fortier scored his first ever QMJHL goal to win the game for Halifax. The Mooseheads got out to a 2-0 lead after Andrew Ryan scored 25 seconds into the second period but with the help of Anthony Mantha's two goals and former Moosehead Randy Gazzola's two helpers, Val-d'Or was up 3-2 with 18 minutes left in the game. Austyn Hardie tied it and the goalies took over after that making good saves. With the win, Halifax leads the semi final series 3-2 and Game 6 is Monday night in Val-d'Or.

FORMER HERD VISIT MOOSE COUNTRY
Abeltshauser, Chris Clarke, Trey Lewis and Stephen MacAulay were all in attendance at the electric Metro Centre for Saturday's game. Fans were quite happy and the boys even took pictures with some of them.

QMJHL NEWS
So the Blainville/Baie-Comeau series is getting interesting. The Drakkar were able to tie the game up at 2 with less than 3 minutes left to force overtime and took the game 3-2 with Valentin Zykov scoring the game winner for Baie-Comeau at 8:16 of the first OT. That series is now tied at 3 games a piece. Game 7 goes on Tuesday.

CHL NEWS
The other two leagues' cup finals are set now. The Ontario Hockey League final was determined on Friday after Guelph won Game 5 against the Erie Otters 5-0 to win their series 4-1. The Storm will face the North Bay Battalion for the OHL championship. With the Edmonton Oil Kings defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-3 last night, they will now face the Portland Winterhawks for the WHL championship. This is the third straight year the Hawks and Oil Kings have met in the final series.

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.

MacKinnon held pointless, Avs lose in OT

Mooseheads alumni Nathan MacKinnon was held pointless in last night's Colorado Avalanche Game 3 of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Minnesota Wild. In 22 minutes and 8 seconds of ice time last night, MacKinnon had 3 shots and won about 28% of his faceoffs that he took.

He wasn't the only player held without a point in yesterday's game that was played in St. Paul, Minnesota. The two teams played through 60 minutes of scoreless action before Mikael Grunland scored at the 5:08 mark of the first overtime period to win the game for the Wild and put them back in the series with the 1-0 OT win. The Avalanche now lead the first round series 2 games to 1 game. Game 4 will be on Thursday once again in Minnesota.