Herd Word

DROUIN
Former Halifax Mooseheads player Jonathan Drouin and the Tampa Bay Lightning moved on to the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs with a 2-0 Game 7 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Drouin only played in one game during the first round, collecting no points and going minus-2 in that game. The Lightning are battling the Montreal Canadiens this round, a series that begins tomorrow night in Montreal.

WOLRD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Jakub Voracek
Photo - Philadelphia Flyers website

Moose alumni Nathan MacKinnon will represent his country once again, this time at the Men's World Championships which are set to begin tomorrow in Czech Republic. This will be the second time that MacKinnon has played in this tournament. The Cole Harbour native and Team Canada will play their first game on Friday, against Latvia at 11:15am Atlantic time. Halifax will have another former player in the tournament with Jakub Voracek playing for the Czech Republic. I believe he's even been named an alternate captain but there has been no official word yet.

VORACEK
Talking about Jakub, he had a pretty big year in terms of milestones. On October 25th, he recorded his 300th point in the NHL, while 3 days later recorded his 200th assist in the league. December 13 saw him hit 200 penalty minutes in the NHL. At the end of January, the 26 year old played his 500th career game. Check out more here.

Draft logo
Photo - Wikipedia

DRAFTS
The Halifax Mooseheads will be selecting in the first round of the QMJHL draft for the first time since 2012. GM Cam Russell will be on the podium picking 7th overall in the 2015 version which will be held in Sherbrooke, QC. The Entry draft will be held on June 6th. Halifax will also be drafting a player at the CHL Import Draft this season as Danish forward Nikolaj Ehlers is unlikely to be back on the team come September. The Moose hold the 19th spot on June 30th. The Florida Panthers host the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and the other import player on the Herd, Timo Meier hopes that he will get drafted in the first round on June 26. The Swiss forward is projected to go anywhere's from 10th to 15th with a few even thinking he will go in the top 10. Check out the list of upcoming events on the team website.

Semi Finals Set

After your Halifax Mooseheads were defeated by the Moncton Wildcats on Tuesday night, one semi final matchup was official. The second place Wildcats will take on the fourth place Quebec Remparts. That series will begin on Thursday night in Moncton with Game 2 going on Saturday. The Cats won't get much rest after playing a seven game series that ended last night in New Brunswick against the Mooseheads. Halifax fans will be interested in this series since there are three former Herd players on the team in goaltender Zach Fucale and defencemen Brian Lovell and Matt Murphy. The 3 young men were traded to Quebec during the winter trading period and are playing their last junior season (most likely for Zach). Despite what happens in this series, the Remparts will be in the Memorial Cup tournament but they would like to be going there as QMJHL champions.

In the other semi final matchup, first seed Rimouski Oceanic had to wait a little longer as the Baie Comeau/Val-d'Or series went into overtime during Game 7, also last night. The sixth seeded Foreurs came out on top, winning 4-3, which eliminated former Moose Luca Ciampini and the Drakkar. Val-d'Or are defending President Cup champions and will be looking to get back to the league finals against a very tough powerful Oceanic team. This series will begin on Friday in Rimouski and continue on Saturday.

I will keep the 2015 playoffs page updated until a champion is declared. A big congrats to Moncton on winning the series, it was a fun series to watch. Congratulations to the Mooseheads on a very well fought season and forcing TWO game sevens against tough teams.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 3, Wildcats 6

MC POST-GAME

Here's some stories from last night's 6-3 loss to the Moncton Wildcats

The Q News' recap: It took seven games, but the Moncton Wildcats finally got the better of their Maritime rivals, the Halifax Mooseheads.

The Chronicle Herald's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads reached the end of the line Tuesday night in Moncton.

Metro Halifax's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads put the final period on their season story Tuesday night at the Moncton Coliseum.

The Canadian Press' recap: Stephen Johnson struck twice and added an assist as the Wildcats advanced to the next round of the playoffs with a Game 7 win over Halifax.

moncton-wildcats.com's recap: The Moncton Wildcats have advanced to the semi-finals of the QMJHL playoffs for the first time since 2009-2010 after with a thrilling 6-3 win in Game Seven over the Halifax Mooseheads in front of 6215 fans at the Moncton Coliseum on Tuesdaynight.

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: Your Halifax Mooseheads fought until the end as they pushed the #2 ranked Wildcats all the way to Game 7 of the QMJHL Quarter-Finals, but the series finale did not turn out the way the #12 Moose had hoped for by dropping a 6-3 decision on Tuesday night at the Coliseum.

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary.

MISSING IN ACTION: Max Fortier (injured), Domenico Argento (healthy scratch), Makail Parker (healthy scratch), Sam Hunter (injured) and Jordan King (healthy scratch)

SCORES
Baie-Comeau 3 - 4 Val-d'Or OT

NEXT GAME
Not until late August. Check back here for updates

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #14: at Moncton

GAMEDAY

MONCTON WILDCATS vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

Series tied 3-3

Tuesday March 21, 2015 at 7:00pm

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

Moncton Coliseum (6,554) ~ Moncton, NB

Well it's all come down to this. Who's season will be extended tonight; the Mooseheads or the Wildcats? The victor could be either team as the whole series has had momentum changes. After being dominating in the first two games, both on the road, Halifax lost two on home ice and then got a beating of their own on Friday night in Fredericton to go down 3-2 in the series. On Sunday, the Herd played like it could be their last game of the season and they will need to play that way tonight as well, skating away with the home win in the early evening game. Moncton will most likely have the momentum though coming into tonight after scoring the last 3 goals of Game 6 as well as being on home ice. There will be at least 30 Mooseheads fans in attendance, trying to make hell for the Cats. It worked in Games 1 & 2 and the team (and fans) are hoping it will work again. 

NOT PLAYING - Halifax will be without Sam Hunter (upper body) and most likely Domenico Argento and Jordan King as healthy scratches
 

NOTES - The Mooseheads are 6-4-0-0 in Game 7s all time including one versus Moncton in the 2007 playoffs.

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

NEXT GAME
Once again it depends on the outcome of tonight.

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #11: vs Moncton

GAMEDAY

HALFIAX MOOSEHEADS vs. MONCTON WILDCATS

April 15, 2015 at 7:00pm

Halifax leads 2-1

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

Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

After winning the first two games on the road, it looked like the Halifax Mooseheads were poised to go up 3-0 in their second round series. But a early third period powerplay goal put the dagger in that scenario and the Mooseheads come into tonight with a 2-1 series lead instead. Halifax will be looking to continue their Cinderella run this evening during game 4 and push the Moncton Wildcats to the breaking point. Penalties killed the home team last night, with the Cats going 3 for 4 on the powerplay after your Herd were able to shut them out on the road. Of course, the Moose still have the best powerplay percentage in the league right now during playoffs at 35.9% while Moncton is 7th with 21.7%.

NOT PLAYING - Phil Gadoury and Sam Hunter will be game time decisions and expect to not see Dom Argento and Jordan King

TONIGHT'S GAMES
Oceanic at Olympiques - 8:30pm
Foreurs at Drakkar - 8:30pm

NEXT GAME
The two teams will meet again for game 5 on Friday in Fredericton. Puck drops at 7pm.

POSTGAME: Mooseheads 7, Wildcats 3

MC POST-GAME

Here's some stories from last night's 7-3 game 1 victory over the Moncton Wildcats

The Q News' recap: Nikolaj Ehlers scored four goals and picked up an assist to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to dominating 7-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Game 1 of their best-of-seven, second round series Friday night at Moncton Coliseum. 

The Chronicle Herald's recap: You wouldn't know it by the final score, but the Halifax Mooseheads started Friday night's second-round QMJHL playoff opener looking out of sorts. 

Metro News' recap: Instead of the traditional hat for scoring three, Nikolaj Ehlers wore a retro jean jacket over his equipment after scoring four goals Friday night, after helping the Halifax Mooseheads strike first in second-round QMJHL playoff action with a 7-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats. 

L'acadie Nouvelle's recap: Les partisans des Wildcats de Moncton anticipaient en salivant le debut de la saison de la chasse a l'orignal vendredi soir. 

halifaxmooseheads.com's recap: The Halifax Mooseheads are a confident bunch these days but they may have even surprised themselves after whipping the Wildcats 7-3 to open up Round 2 of the QMJHL President Cup Playoffs on Friday night in Moncton. 

moncton-wildcats.com's recap: It was the Nik Ehlers Show at the Moncton Coliseum on Friday night as the flashy forward scored four times to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to an impressive 7-3 win over the Monton Wildcats in front of 4283 fans. 

theqmjhl.ca's recap: Game summary. 

MISSING IN ACTION: Jordan King (healthy), Sam Leblanc (upper body injury) and Domenico Argento were not playing

SCORES
Charlottetown 2 - 7 Quebec
Gatineau 2 - 1 Rimouski
Baie-Comeau 3 - 2 Val-d'Or 2OT

NEXT GAME
Halifax will take on the Wildcats tonight for game 2 in Moncton. Puck drops at 7pm.

Fucale Breaks Postseason Record

Photo - QMJHL.ca

He may be on a different team but Montreal Canadiens prospect Zach Fucale is still breaking records. Fucale is now first in league playoff wins by a goaltender. With the Quebec Remparts' 7-2 victory over the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday night, the 19 year old got his 39th win the playoffs. He surpasses Roberto Luongo who previously held the record. He made 29 saves in the win that gave the Remparts a 1-0 lead in their second round series. The former Mooseheads player had 35 playoff wins with Halifax and has 4 victories so far in the 2015 President Cup playoffs.

Congrats Zach!!