NHL Dev Camp Invites

After the completion of the National Hockey League Entry Draft, teams release rosters for their development camp. A few current and former Halifax Mooseheads have been invited to camps.

Newly drafted Herd player Otto Somppi was listed on Tampa Bay Lightning's development camp roster that starts today and goes until July 2. You can find out more here. Former Halifax dman Cody Donaghey will also be at development camp as he was listed on the Ottawa Senators roster. The 20 year old was traded to the Senators in February from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Read more here.

Former Mooseheads defenseman Matt Murphy and current forward Maxime Fortier got invites from the Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens respectively. Neither team has officially announced their camp rosters or the dates of the camp but according to TVA's Mikael Lalancette both players received invitations on the weekend.

NHL Draft

The 2016 National Hockey League entry draft was held this weekend in Buffalo, New York

• Once again, for the first two picks of the draft it went the way everyone was expecting it to with the Toronto Maple Leafs selecting American Auston Matthews number one and Patrik Laine of Finland going to the Winnipeg Jets second overall.
• The 1st surprise of Friday night was when the Columbus Blue Jackets selected Pierre-Luc Dubois of the QMJHL's Cape Breton Screaming Eagles with the 3rd overall selection. Many thought that the QMJHL player would be drafted somewhere between 5 and 10. Only 14 Q players were selected in this year's draft, the lowest number in years.
• Halifax Mooseheads forward Otto Somppi was drafted in the 7th round 206th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, dropping below where many predicted him to go.
• 18 year old Maxime Fortier did not get drafted on the weekend while Herd prospect Joachim Blichfeld was selected 210th overall by San Jose.
• The 2017 NHL draft will be hosted by the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago, IL.

Poll #15

With the NHL draft coming up this weekend, there are two Halifax Mooseheads players who hope that they will hear their name called in Buffalo, NY so I thought I would ask you will they get drafted. Forwards Maxime Fortier and Otto Somppi probably won't be heading south since they both are anticipated to be drafted in the later rounds of the entry draft if at all. 18 year old Fortier was eligible to be picked last year but he was skipped over, his play this past year should have helped his stock. 17 year old Somppi was in the top 10 of rookie scorers for the 2015-16 season which led to an invite to the draft combine a few weeks ago. Below you will find each player's rankings from various hockey related personnel.

POLLS ARE CLOSED

Considering where Maxime is ranked where do you think the Montreal, QC player will be drafted?
No. 104 by HockeyProspect.com
No. 65 by ISS Hockey
No. 70 by TSN (Craig Button)
No. 73 by Future Considerations
No. 145 by NHL Central Scouting (NA skaters)


Considering where Otto is ranked where do you think the Helsinki, FIN player will be drafted?
No. 112 by HockeyProspect.com
No. 59 by ISS Hockey
No. 97 by The Hockey News
No. 105 by Future Considerations
No. 110 by McKeen's Hockey
No. 78 by NHL Central Scouting (NA skaters)

Flower & Prospects Invited To Hockey Canada Camps

Hockey Canada announced the invitees to their summer showcase camps on Monday in preparation of the 2016-17 hockey season. The announcement comes just 2 weeks after team coaches were named with former Halifax Mooseheads head boss Dominique Ducharme being appointed as the World Junior team's head coach.

Alexis Gravel
Photo - Gravel's Twitter

Defenseman Walter Flower was invited to the under-18 selection camp. "From July 29-Aug. 2, 44 players – four goaltenders, 16 defencemen, and 24 forwards – will participate in practices and three Red-White intrasquad games." Twenty-two men will be selected to play on the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Canadian team after the five days in Calgary.

During the same time, "111 players – 12 goaltenders, 36 defenceman and 63 forwards – will participate in practices and games on one of six teams: Black, Blue, Gold, Green, Red, and White." Four kids that your Herd drafted at the beginning of the month were invited to participate in the U-17 development camp. Goaltender Alexis Gravel, defenseman Jared McIsaac along with forwards Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Raphael Lavoie were amoung the players heading to Calgary for a chance to be on 1 of three national teams at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge held in early November.

Congratulations to all five young men and good luck next month.

Pre-season Schedule Announced

Photo - Mooseheads Twitter

HALIFAX, NS - The Halifax Mooseheads released their pre-season schedule for the upcoming season.

The Moose will play 5 different teams this year between August 19 and September 16. The schedule will include two home and home series against the Charlottetown Islanders and Moncton Wildcats. With the regular season starting later than normal this year, there will be a larger gap between the first few pre-season games and the last few. Home games will be played at the Halifax Forum like normal.

Halifax will also participate in the inaugural Hub City Showcase, a division wide rookie tournament being hosted by Moncton on the first weekend of the pre-season. Each team will play 3 games during the weekend with the last one being determined by the standings after the first two matches.This will undoubtedly change how training camp works. More details will be announced later in the summer.

Here is the 2016-17 pre-season schedule:
August 19 at 4pm - at Saint John Sea Dogs (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 20 at 1pm - vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 24 at 7pm - at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (Cape Breton County Recreation Centre - Coxheath, NS)
August 27 at 3pm - at Charlottetown Islanders (Pownal Sports Centre)
August 28 at 3pm - vs. Charlottetown Islanders (Halifax Forum)
September 10 at 7pm - at Moncton Wildcats (Dr Carson/Marion Murray Community Center - Springhill, NS)
September 11 at 3pm - vs. Moncton Wildcats (Halifax Forum)
September 16 at 7pm - vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (Halifax Forum)

Check back in August when I'll have more information on ticket prices and camp news.

Events

The schedule for the upcoming season was released earlier this week and the Halifax Mooseheads announced the dates for most of their 2016-17 season events. The date for the DND Appreciation night game has yet to be released but it's possible we'll see it being played on Remembrance Day. 

Annual events
HOME OPENER - September 24 vs. Saint John Sea Dogs
Pink in the Rink 9 - October 21 vs. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
DND Appreciation Night - not yet announced
Battle of Nova Scotia - December 31 vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
Teddy Bear Toss - January 6 vs. Moncton Wildcats
Fan Appreciation Night - March 18 vs. Saint John Sea Dogs

Mooseheads Schedule Released

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced the 2016-17 regular season schedule today.

Your Halifax Mooseheads will begin the season on the road yet again, travelling to Moncton to take on the Wildcats on September 23 at 7pm. Luckily we won't have to wait until October to see hockey at the Scotiabank Centre as the home opener for the Herd is the next night with a matchup versus the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Some highlights from the schedule:

• In an interesting scheduling quirk, the Moose are set to welcome the Gatineau Olympiques on Thanksgiving Day (3pm) and host the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Remembrance Day (7pm). We may see special DND-themed jerseys during the game on November 11.
• Halifax will have it's first 3 games in 3 nights trip between October 14 and October 16. This also happens to be the first Quebec trip of the season too and the team will visit Shawinigan, Blainville and Victoriaville during the weekend.
• For a third straight year, your Herd will host a game on New Year's Eve. This year it will be apart of the Battle of Nova Scotia event when Cape Breton visits Moose Country for a game currently scheduled at 2pm. The two teams will play in Sydney on December 30 at the normal 7pm.
• The Mooseheads will have it's longest road trip February 26-March 11 when they play 5 games away while the longest home stand is 3 games which happens 4 times.
• Halifax will finish the season on home ice, hosting 3 games to end the year. The fan appreciation game will be March 18 at 4pm. A full slate of 9 games will be played on this date.

Halifax have yet to announce their pre-season schedule or the dates of the annual events. The Moose said that they would announce the specialty games around the same time as the regular season schedule announcement so expect by the end of the week to get that info.