Gravel Comes Up Big Again

Game Four Recap

Series: Tied 2-2

Stars: 3. Gravel HAL | 2. Aube HAL | 1. Cougler HAL

Attendance: 5,458 

HALIFAX- Your Halifax Mooseheads have pushed the series to a game 6 with an exciting win tonight at the Scotiabank Centre over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The young team came back tonight playing with a lot of heart to get the victory in front of their fans. Alex Gravel stood on his head once again, making timely saves and coming up big when the team needed him to especially in the third period when the visiting Huskies were pressuring to get a couple of goals. With all of the injuries on the Herd, the team is making it fun hockey and showing the number two seed that this team is not going to back down. Next game is Friday night at the Scotiabank Centre, lets be loud and get behind our boys to take the lead going back to Rouyn-Noranda for game six.

FINAL: Huskies 1 at Mooseheads 3

Point getters: ROU Fortin 1G, Fontaine & Beaudin 1A each; HAL Coughler 2 (1G & 1A), Aube & Hischier 1G each, Durandau 2A, Bishop, Groulx & Lavioe 1A each

Goaltenders: Gravel HAL | Tremblay & Harvey VDO

Shots 1st: 13-11 HAL | 2nd: 9-4 ROU | 3rd: 13-6 ROU

Powerplay: HAL 1/6, ROU 0/4

DID NOT PLAY - Barrett Dachyshyn, Connor Moynihan, Blade Mann-Dixon & Walter Flower are injured while Ian MacPhee was a healthy scratch

OUT OF TOWN
Chicoutimi 4 at Victoriaville 3
Blainville 4 at Drummondville 4
Bathurst 4 at Quebec 1
Charlottetown 4 at Baie Comeau 1
Cape Breton 3 at Gatineau 4
Saint John 4 at Rimouski 3
Shawinigan 2 at Val D'or 3

Mooseheads on Golden Puck Awards Nominees

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced the nominees for their annual awards at the Golden Puck Gala. There are four Halifax Mooseheads among the players nominated with star forward Nico Hischier leading the way with 4 nominations. A Herd rookie will win the RDS Cup as rookie of the year as the only two nominees being Halifax players.

Here are the nominees for the awards that will be passed out on April 5th.

*via QMJHL

Michel-Brière Trophy – Most Valuable PlayerVitalii Abramov – Gatineau Olympiques
Samuel Girard – Shawinigan Cataractes
Nicolas Roy – Chicoutimi Saguenéens

RDS Cup (Rookie of the Year)Nico Hischier – Halifax Mooseheads
Jared McIsaac – Halifax Mooseheads

Michael-Bossy Trophy (Top Professional Prospect)Maxime Comtois – Victoriaville Tigres
Nico Hischier – Halifax Mooseheads
Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Charlottetown Islanders

Frank J. Selke Trophy (Sportsman of the Year)Tyler Boland – Rimouski Oceanic
Maxime Fortier – Halifax Mooseheads
Hugo Roy – Sherbrooke Phoenix

Émile "Butch" Bouchard Trophy (Best Defenseman)Guillaume Brisebois – Charlottetown Islanders
Thomas Chabot – Saint John Sea Dogs
Samuel Girard – Shawinigan Cataractes

Ron Lapointe Trophy (Coach of the Year)Gilles Bouchard – Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Joël Bouchard – Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Danny Flynn – Saint John Sea Dogs

Maurice Filion Trophy (General Manager of the Year)Gilles Bouchard – Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Joël Bouchard – Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Marc-André Dumont – Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Paul-Dumont Trophy – Personality of the YearThomas Chabot – Saint John Sea Dogs
Dominique Ducharme – Drummondville Voltigeurs
Nico Hischier – Halifax Mooseheads

Jacques-Plante Trophy (Best goals-against average)Mikhail Denisov — Shawinigan Cataractes
Francis Leclerc — Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Samuel Montembeault — Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

Marcel-Robert Trophy (Scholastic Player of the Year)Alexandre Alain – Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Nicolas Roy – Chicoutimi Saguenéens
Antoine Samuel – Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Humanitarian and Community Involvement TrophyGuillaume Beaudoin – Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Samuel Laberge – Rimouski Oceanic
Jesse Sutton – Quebec Remparts

Please note that the following trophies have been awarded in special pre-game ceremonies held last Thursday and Friday night : Guy-Carbonneau (Best Defensive Forward), Kevin-Lowe (Best Defensive Defenseman), Robert-Lebel (Best goals-against-average – Team), Jean-Rougeau (Regular Season Champions) and Luc-Robitaille (Best Offensive Team). Only the Michel-Bergeron (Offensive Rookie of the Year) and Raymond-Lagacé (Defensive Rookie of the year) trophies have yet to been given.

Here are the nominees:

Guy-Carbonneau – Best Defensive ForwardNicolas Roy – Chicoutimi Saguenéens

Kevin Lowe – Best Defensive DefensemanZachary Lauzon – Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

Michel-Bergeron Trophy – Offensive Rookie of the YearNico Hischier – Halifax Mooseheads
Ivan Kosorenkov – Victoriaville Tigres
Anderson MacDonald – Sherbrooke Phoenix

Raymond-Lagacé Trophy – Defensive Rookie of the YearXavier Bouchard – Baie-Comeau Drakkar
Alexis Gravel – Halifax Mooseheads
Jared McIsaac – Halifax Mooseheads


Robert-Lebel – Best goals-against-average – TeamBlainville-Boisbriand Armada

Jean-Rougeau – Regular season championsSaint John Sea Dogs

Luc Robitaille – Best offensive teamCharlottetown Islanders

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY #1: at Rouyn-Noranda

GAMEDAY
ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES vs. HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
March 24, 2017 at 8:30pm
Series tied 0-0
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Arena Iamgold (2,150) ~ Rouyn-Noranda, QC

It's the best time of the year. Well probably the toughest and funnest part of a hockey season. The 2017 playoffs began last night across the Canadian Hockey League and it will begin tonight for your Halifax Mooseheads. Despite being 15th in the Q, the Herd have been playing not terrible of late and will look to keep it up when they visit the second overall Rouyn-Noranda Huskies this evening. Halifax will need everyone to step up their game on the road this weekend to try and get at least a split. Veteran goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon is still out with an injury so this will be good experience for the rookie, Alexis Gravel as well for the young team as a whole. Can the Mooseheads make some hell for the defending champs? We'll have to wait and see. Playoffs are a whole different ball game. Go Moose Go!

SEASON SERIES
Rouyn-Noranda beat Halifax in both games of the season series.
October 21, 2016 - Rouyn def. Halifax 4-2
November 5, 2016 - Rouyn def. Halifax 5-1

NOT PLAYING- Blade Mann-Dixon, Otto Somppi and Barrett Dachyshyn are all out with injuries

NOTES

• The Q News makes their predictions
• Check out the QMJHL's preview of the series
• Don't forget that this series is 2-3-2 with three straight in Halifax next week
• Former captain Timo Meier tweeted out his well wishes to both his former teams this weekend

TONIGHT'S GAMES
Oceanic at Sea Dogs - 7:00pm
Drakkar at Islanders - 7:00pm
Olympiques at Screaming Eagles - 7:00pm
Remparts at Titan - 7:00pm
Foreurs at Cataractes- 8:30pm
Voltigeures at Armada- 8:30pm
Tigres at Saguenéens- 8:30pm

NEXT GAME
The two teams will meet again tomorrow night for game two in Rouyn-Noranda. Puck drops at 8pm.

Around the CHL ~ volume #3 playoff edition #7

This edition of "Around the CHL" will preview the 2017 playoffs. The top sixteen teams of the Quebec league will play for the President's Cup, while the top eight teams in each conference in the Western league will play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, and in the Ontario league the top eight teams in each conference play for the J. Ross Robertson Cup. 

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

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
#E1 vs #E8 Peterborough - Niagara {regular season series PBO 3-1-0-0}
#E2 vs #E7 Mississauga - Ottawa {regular season series MISS 2-0-2-0}
#E3 vs #E6 Oshawa - Sudbury {regular season series tie 2-2-0-0}
#E4 vs #E5 Kingston - Hamilton {regular season series HAM 3-2-0-1}
#W1 vs #W8 Erie - Sarnia {regular season series ER 3-1-0-0}
#W2 vs #W7 Sault Ste. Marie - Flint {regular season series SSM 3-1-1-1}
#W3 vs #W6 Owen Sound - Kitchener {regular season series OS 7-1-0-0}
#W4 vs #W5 London - Windsor {regular season series tie 3-2-1-0}

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs 
#E1 vs #WC2 Regina - Calgary {regular season series REG 3-1-0-0}
#E2 vs #E3 Moose Jaw - Swift Current {regular season series MJ 4-2-0-0}
#C1 vs #WC1 Medicine Hat - Brandon {regular season series MH 3-1-0-0}
#C2 vs #C3 Lethbridge - Red Deer {regular season series LET 5-0-1-0}
#U1 vs #WC2 Everett - Victoria {regular season series EVT 4-0-0-0}
#U2 vs #U3 Seattle - Tri-City {regular season series SEA 6-2-0-0}
#B1 vs #WC1 Prince George - Portland {regular season series POR 2-1-0-1}
#B2 vs #B2 Kelowna - Kamloops {regular season series KAM 6-3-0-1}

Predictions
QMJHL First Round - Saint John in 4, Rouyn-Noranda in 6, Shawinigan in 5, Charlottetown in 5, Blainville-Boisbriand in 5, Quebec in 6, Cape Breton in 6, Chicoutimi in 7
OHL First Round - Peterborough in 5, Mississauga in 5, Oshawa in 6, Hamilton in 6, Erie in 4, Owen Sound in 5, Sault Ste. Marie in 5, Windsor in 7
WHL First Round - Regina in 4, Everett in 4, Moose Jaw in 5, Seattle in 5, Prince George in 6, Medicine Hat in 7, Lethbridge in 6, Kamloops in 7

Tonight's games
Sea Dogs vs. Oceanic at 7PM
Islanders vs. Drakkar at 7PM
Screaming Eagles vs. Olympiques at 7PM
Titan vs. Remparts at 7PM
Frontenacs vs. Bulldogs at 8PM
Steelheads vs. 67's at 8PM
Cataractes vs. Foreurs at 8:30PM
Attack vs. Rangers at 8:30PM
Armada vs. Voltigeurs at 8:30PM
Huskies vs. Mooseheads at 8:30PM
Knights vs. Spitfires at 8:30PM
Sagueneens vs. Tigres at 8:30PM
Generals vs. Wolves at 8:35PM
Warriors vs. Broncos at 10PM
Pats vs. Hitmen at 10PM
Tigers vs. Wheat Kings at 10:30PM
Cougars vs. Winterhawks at 11PM
Rockets vs. Blazers at 11:05PM
Silvertips vs. Royals at 11:35PM
Thunderbirds vs. Americans at 11:35PM

Friday's games
Cataractes vs. Foreurs at 5PM
Sagueneens vs. Tigres at 5PM
Sea Dogs vs. Oceanic at 7PM
Islanders vs. Drakkar at 7PM
Screaming Eagles vs. Olympiques at 7PM
Titan vs. Remparts at 7PM
Huskies vs. Mooseheads at 8PM
Sting vs. Otters at 8:05PM
Petes vs. IceDogs at 8:05PM
Greyhounds vs. Firebirds at 8:07PM
Attack vs. Rangers at 8:30PM
Warriors vs. Broncos at 10PM
Hurricanes vs. Rebels at 10PM
Pats vs. Hitmen at 10PM
Tigers vs. Wheat Kings at 10:30PM
Rockets vs. Blazers at 11:05PM
Silvertips vs. Royals at 11:05PM
Thunderbirds vs. Americans at 11:05PM 

Season series versus each team

Below you will find the records of your Halifax Mooseheads versus each of the other seventeen teams in the Q plus the monthly records for the team this season.  (note: Halifax's score is listed first)

TELUS West division
Blainville-Boisbraind 2 games 0-2-0-0 {2-4, 0-3}
Drummondville 2 games 2-0-0-0 {2-1SO, 5-4}
Gatineau 2 games 1-1-0-0 {6-5OT, 2-5}
Rouyn-Noranda 2 games 0-2-0-0 {2-4, 1-5}
Sherbrooke 2 games 2-0-0-0 {9-5, 2-1}
Val-d'Or 2 games 1-1-0-0 {2-4, 5-3}

TELUS East division 
Baie-Comeau 2 games 0-1-0-1 {4-5SO, 4-7}
Chicoutimi 2 games 1-0-0-1 {4-1, 3-4SO}
Quebec 2 games 0-2-0-0 {5-6, 1-2}
Rimouski 2 games 1-1-0-0 {6-5, 4-5}
Shawinigan 2 games 0-2-0-0 {3-6, 0-1}
Victoriaville 2 games 1-1-0-0 {7-3, 2-3} 

Maritimes division
Acadie-Bathurst 9 games 2-6-1-0 {0-3, 6-4, 10-11, 5-3, 3-5, 3-4OT, 0-9, 2-3, 1-3}
Cape Breton 9 games 3-4-2-0 {6-4, 3-1, 1-5, 4-5OT, 3-6, 2-5, 5-4SO, 1-4, 2-3OT}
Charlottetown 9 games 4-5-0-0 {2-9, 5-2, 7-4, 1-2, 4-1, 3-4, 1-5, 1-3, 6-5OT}
Moncton 9 games  7-2-0-0 {3-4, 5-1, 3-0, 4-6, 3-2OT, 6-2, 7-2, 2-1, 5-3}
Saint John 8 games 2-6-0-0 {4-3, 4-1, 1-2, 4-7, 3-5, 2-4, 3-5, 1-2}

Monthly records
September 2 games ~ 1-1-0-0 record overall, 1-0-0-0 home, 0-1-0-0 away
October 14 games ~ 7-7-0-0 record overall, 5-3-0-0 home, 2-4-0-0 away
November 11 games ~ 6-4-0-1 record overall, 3-1-0-1 home, 3-3-0-0 away
December 9 games ~ 1-6-1-1 record overall, 0-4-0-0 home, 1-2-1-1 away
January 13 games ~ 8-4-0-1 record overall, 4-2-1-0 home, 4-2-0-0 away
February 11 games ~ 3-7-1-0 record overall, 1-4-1-0 home, 2-3-0-0 away
March 8 games ~ 1-6-1-0 record overall, 1-1-1-0 home, 0-6-0-0 away

Overtime/shootout records
OT ~ two overtime win-three overtime loss
SO ~ two shootout win-three shootout loss

V-Reds Are National Champs Again

Photo - UNB Reds website

The University Cup is staying in Atlantic Canada. Host University of New Brunswick cruised to a second straight national championship this past weekend after they defeated the Saskatchewan University Huskies 5-3 on Sunday afternoon in the gold medal game. The 4 day tournament was held at the Fredericton campus with the Varsity Reds giving the home fans lots to cheer about.

A few former Halifax Mooseheads helped the team capture the trophy. Cameron Critchlow, who has captained the V-Reds the last 3 seasons, won his third national championship in his 5 year university career which ended with the victory. Critchlow was champion in 2013 as well which was the last time UNB hosted the Cup. Third year defenceman Randy Gazzola had an assist during the weekend. Matthew Murphy, who played for the Quebec Remparts and Saint John Sea Dogs last season, was a rookie on the Frederticton university this year and picked up his first University Cup but I have no doubt that it will not be his only one.

Congratulations to the three Herd alumni and the UNB Varsity Reds on winning back to back championships. Moose Country is proud of you.

Around the CHL ~ volume #2 season edition #7

We're at the end of the regular season in major junior hockey so I thought I would recap who ended on top for different statistic categories. These are the final leaders for each of the three leagues. The 2017 Presidents Cup playoffs are just around the corner. Your Halifax Mooseheads are back in the playoffs after missing last season. GO Moose GO!

League leaders
Goals - Alex DeBrincat 65 goals (OHL Erie Otters), Giovanni Fiore 52 goals (QMJHL Val-d'Or Foreurs), Tyler Wong 51 goals (WHL Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Assists - Adam Brooks 87 assists (WHL Regina Pats), Taylor Raddysh 66 assists (OHL Erie Otters), Samuel Girard 66 assists (QMJHL Shawinigan Cataractes)
Points - Sam Steel 131 points (WHL Regina Pats), Alex DeBrincat 127 points (OHL Erie Otters), Vitalii Abramov 104 points (QMJHL Gatineau Olympiques)
Defenceman points - Connor Hibbs 85 points (WHL Regina Pats), Darren Raddysh 81 points (OHL Erie Otters), Samuel Girard 75 points (QMJHL Shawinigan Cataractes)
Rookie points - Nico Hischier 86 points (QMJHL Halifax Mooseheads ), Alekei Heponiemi 86 points (WHL Swift Current Broncos), Ryan Merkley 55 points (OHL Guelph Storm)
Goalie wins - Michael McNiven 41 wins (OHL Owen Sound Attack), Rylan Toth 36 wins (WHL Seattle Thunderbirds), Callum Booth 31 wins (QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs)
Save percentage - Carter Hart 0.927 SAV% (WHL Everett Silvertips), Tyler Parsons 0.925 SAV% (OHL London Knights), Callum Booth 0.911 SAV% (QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs)
Goals against average - Carter Hart 1.99 GAA (WHL Everett Silvertips), Michael McNiven 2.30 GAA (OHL Owen SOund Attack), Francis Leclerc 2.31 GAA (QMJHL Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)

Division leaders
WHL - Regina Pats 112 points/52 wins (East division), Medicine Hat Tigers 103 points/51 wins (Central division), Everett Silvertips 100 points/44 wins (U.S. division), Prince George Cougars 96 points/45 wins (B.C. division)
OHL - Erie Otters 103 points/50 wins (Midwest division), Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 100 points/48 wins (West division), Peterborough Petes 89 points/42 wins (East division), Mississauga Steelheads 81 points/34 wins (Central division)
QMJHL - Saint John Sea Dogs 102 points/48 wins (Maritimes division), Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 93 points/43 wins (TELUS West division), Shawinigan Cataractes 90 points/42 wins (TELUS East division)

BMO CHL top ten ~ week 26
1. Regina Pats {52-12-7-1} week 25 #2
2. Erie Otters {50-15-2-1} week 25 #3
3. Saint John Sea Dogs {48-14-5-1} week 25 #1
4. Owen Sound Attack {49-15-2-2} week 25 #6
5. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds {48-16-3-1} week 25 #5
6. London Knights {46-15-3-4} week 25 #4
7. Medicine Hat Tigers {51-20-1-0} week 25 #9
8. Charlottetown Islanders {46-18-4-0} week 25 #7
9. Everett Silvertips {44-16-9-3} week 25 n/a
10. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies {43-18-2-5} week 25 #8
Honorable mentions: Seattle Thunderbirds {46-20-4-2 #10}, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada {43-19-4-2 n/a}, Windsor Spitfires {41-19-5-3 n/a}