Offence Leads to PITR Win

Well that was a bunch of everything. Offence, lead changes, physicality. Just everything you would want in a game when the two teams from Nova Scotia battle it out on a Saturday night. The evening started out with a special ceremony where a father and son came out to drop the puck to honour their mother/wife who lost her battle with breast cancer. This puck drop was special because it was Pink in the Rink night at Scotiabank Centre, raising money for breast cancer research. Less than 3 minutes into the game, the big Connor Moynihan got the home faithful on their feet scoring a pretty nice goal. There was back and forth action in the first forty minutes with both periods ending in brawls at the buzzer. With under a minute to go in the middle frame Halifax native Justin Barron scored his first career goal in front of family and friends. In the third however, after going the first 12 minutes without a goal, the Mooseheads took over propelling the guys in pink to a big 9-5 victory over their provincial rivals.

FINAL: Screaming Eagles 5 at Mooseheads 9 
Stars: 3. Justin Barron HAL | 2. Filip Zadina HAL | 1. Max Fortier HAL
Attendance: 7,717
MC’s Top Herd: Justin Barron

GAME LOG
First period
2:26 HAL Connor Moynihan (3) | A: Fortier & Chainey
8:46 CAP Phelix Martineau (3), PP | A: McCormick & Kalmikov
10:51 CAP Drake Batherson (8) | A: Gawanke & Sokolov
17:35 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (6) | A: Chainey & Fortier
19:07 HAL Raphael Lavoie (3) | A: Zadina & Jones

Second period
1:08 HAL Max Fortier (7) | A: Groulx
4:35 CAP Igor Sokolov (5) | A: none
9:11 CAP Jordan Ty Fournier (4) | A: MacDougall & Kalmikov
12:48 HAL Filip Zadina (7) | A: Somppi
13:45 CAP Jordan Ty Fournier (5) | A: none
19:31 HAL Justin Barron (1) | A: Fortier

Third period
12:53 HAL Joel Bishop (2) | A: McIssac
14:31 HAL Filip Zadina (8) | A: Somppi & Durandeau
19:10 HAL Otto Somppi (1) | A: Barbosa

Powerplay: CAP – 1-for-5, HAL – 0-for-4
Shots: 41-37 in favour of Halifax

MISSING IN ACTION – Walter Flower and Jordan Lepage were out with injuries and Ben Higgins

SCORES
Sherbrooke 8 at Drummondville 4
Chicoutimi 5 at Baie Comeau 2
Gatineau 1 at Blainville 2
Bathurst 3 at Charlottetown 4
Moncton 3 at Saint John 2
Rouyn Noranda 4 Val Dor 5
Shawinigan 4 at Victoriaville 2

UP NEXT: Halifax will welcome the Wildcats to town for the first matchup in Moose Country against Moncton on Tuesday. Puck drops at 7pm.

 

GAMEDAY #10: vs. Cape Breton

GAMEDAY
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS CAPE BRETON SCREAMING EAGLES
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

It's Pink in the Rink night! Your Halifax Mooseheads were one of the first teams to host such an event and now each QMJHL team participates in dedicating one game in October each year to raise money for breast cancer research in Canada. This evening is the 10th annual game of this event and will see the Herd take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Halifax will be looking to get back in the win column after losing 4 straight in the past 8 days. Pink in the Rink matches have raised an average of $110,000 a year since it became a league wide event. Fans can buy raffle tickets at the Scotiabank Centre for a chance to win a special game worn pink jersey from a Moosehead player with all money going to the Atlantic region of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. October 13-15 also happens to be rivalry week in the Q with different rival teams playing a home and home series against each other. As Cape Breton and Halifax are provincial rivals it only makes sense that the two teams would be pitted against each other this weekend in the first set of the Battle of Nova Scotia. The Screaming Eagles are another team that should be fighting for the division title at the end of the season with the Moose and Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

This is the second meeting between the two teams this season. Halifax is 0-1-0-0 against the Screaming Eagles while Cape Breton has a 1-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was actually last night in Sydney where the Eagles skated away with a 4-3 victory. Filip Zadina scored twice to lead the Herd and Alexis Gravel made 23 saves to take the loss.

OVERALL RECORDS
Screaming Eagles: 6-4-0-0 = 12 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 4th overall)
Mooseheads: 4-3-2-0 = 10 points (4th in Maritimes division, 10th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 13pts (6G & 7A), Filip Zadina 12pts (6G & 6A), Arnaud Dirandeau 10pts (4G & 6A)
CAP: Drake Batherson 13pts (7G & 6A), Egor Sokolov 7pts (4G & 3A), Jordan Ty Fournier 6pts (3G & 3A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
See above.

ALUM ON EAGLES
None

MISSING IN ACTION - Jordan Lepage and Walter Flower are out with injuries still

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 13  Halifax 3 at Cape Breton 4
October 14  Cape Breton at Halifax - 7pm
October 28  Halifax at Cape Breton - 7pm
November 18  Cape Breton at Halifax - 2pm
December 13  Halifax at Cape Breton - 7pm
December 16  Cape Breton at Halifax - 7pm|
December 30  Cape Breton at Halifax - 2pm
December 31  Halifax at Cape Breton - 2pm
January 19  Cape Breton at Halifax - 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Voltigeurs vs. Phoenix   4:00pm
Drakkar vs. Sagueneens   5:00pm
Armada vs. Olympiques   5:00pm
Islanders vs. Titan   7:00pm
Sea Dogs vs. Wildcats   7:00pm
Foreurs vs. Huskies   8:00pm
Tigres vs. Cataractes   8:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will stay home for another game, hosting the Moncton Wildcats on Tuesday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Non-Call Loses Moose the Game

A non-call in the overtime period was the deciding factor in the Halifax Mooseheads game against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Sunday evening. Less than a minute into extra time, Anthony Poulin put a rebound into a partial empty net to get the win for the away team seconds after the referees decided not to call a penalty for too many men on Blainville. The Armada had control of the puck while they were about to change players which the whole Mooseheads bench were screaming was too many men and while it was initially called a penalty by linesman Chris Ivanko, the other black & white stripes overturned his call. Arnaud Durandeau got the home team on the board first, a little over 9 minutes into the 1st period scoring a goal on the power play. Two minutes later Blainville tied it up on the power play. It was back and fourth in the second period and Durandeau put the good guys in front again close to the end of the frame. In the third it was an exciting period with lots of chances, pretty good saves and five goals.

FINAL: Armada 5 at Mooseheads 4OT
Stars: 3. Joel Bishop HAL | 2. Joel Teasdale BLB | 1. Arnaud Durandeau HAL
Attendance: 5,007
MC's Top Herd: Arnaud Durandeau

GAME LOG
First period
9:25 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (3), PP | A: Zadina & Groulx
11:4 BLB Anthony Poulin (3), PP | A: Paquette-Bisson & Hladonik

Second period
16:16 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (4) | A: Crossley & Kyte

Third period
1:34 BLB Joel Teasdale (3) | A: Bramwell
4:46 BLB Thomas Ethier (2) | A; Poulin
9:33 HAL Xavier Parent (2) | A: Bishop & McIsaac
12:33 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (4) | A: Fortier & Durandeau
12:49 BLB Joel Teasdale (4) | A: Crete-Belzile & DaSilva

Overtime
0:57 BLB Anthony Poulin | A: Katerinakis & Crete-Belzile

Powerplay: BLB - 2-for-4, HAL - 1-for-5
Shots: 30-29 in favour for Blainville

MISSING IN ACTION - Walter Flower, Otto Somppi and Jordan Lepage were out with injuries

SCORES
Quebec 0 at Acadie-Bathurst 3
Cape Breton 4 at Drummondville 5
Moncton 3 at Rimouski 4 OT
Victoriaville 5 at Sherbrooke 4
Val-d'Or 3 at Gatineau 5
Chicoutimi 5 at Shawinigan 0

UP NEXT: Halifax will go on the road now for a matchup against the Wildcats in Moncton on Wednesday. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY #7: vs. Blainville-Boisbriand

GAME PREVIEW

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND ARMADA
Puck drops at 7pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

It's fridge magnet day in Moose Country. The first 4000 fans will receive a customized Mooseheads schedule magnet. It expects to be an entertaining game with the two teams very close in the standings along with getting the first and only look at the Armada for the season until the Mooseheads travel to Blainville at the end of the month. As we saw on Friday night with the tight play from both teams it is something that you would expect again today as all teams are expected to be very close this year. After the hard fought battle on Friday night it showed the team that they can play with the top dogs in the league and it is going to be a fun year in Moose Country. Come out and support the Herd before you go and have your Thanksgiving feasts as they finish up this four game home stand.

OVERALL RECORDS
Armada: 4-1-0-0 = 8 points (2nd in West division, 5th overall)
Mooseheads: 4-1-1-0 = 9 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 4th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 9pts (5G & 4A), Filip Zadina 9pts (4G & 5A), Arnaud Durandeau 6pts (2G & 4A)
BLB: Anthony Poulin 6pts (2G & 4A), Alexandre Alain 5pts (3G & 2A), Alexander Katerinakis 5pts (2G & 3A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Blainville-Boisbriand is coming off of an 8-1 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs last night at Harbour Station. Alexander Katerinakis scored two goals and added two assists to lead the Armada. Emile Samson stopped 27 of 28 shots faced.

Halifax is coming off of a 3-2 OT loss to the Quebec Remparts on home ice Friday night. Filip Zadina and Max Fortier scored for the Moose as well as Blade Mann-Dixon stopped 22 of 25 shots faced.

NOT DRESSED – Walter Flower, Jordan Lepage and Otto Somppi are out with injuries.

ALUM ON ARMADA
None

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 8  Blainville at Halifax - 3pm
October 20  Halifax at Blainville - 8:30pm

OUT OF TOWN
Remparts at Titan    3:00pm
Screaming Eagles at Voltigeurs    4:00pm
Wildcats at Oceanic    4:00pm
Tigres at Pheonix    4:00pm
Foreurs at Olympiques    5:00pm
Sagueneens at Cataractes    5:00pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
The Mooseheads will travel to Moncton to take in the Wildcats for the first matchup of the season.

Moose Lose Close One to Remparts

Photo - Mooseheads website

It was t-shirt night in Moose Country where the first 3,000 fans received a commemorative shirt. Along with that, it promised to be a very good game with high intensity, it showed to be a playoff-like atmosphere with the two teams. The first period ended in a scoreless tie which saw your moose outshooting the Rempart. In the second the young moose came out and outplayed the Rempart and about midway through the second Filip Zadina puts the home team on top by one, but before the period ends Quebec storms back and ties it up to take it to intermission knotted at one. In the third captain, Max Fortier brought the 7000 plus fans to their feet as he scores to give the moose the 2-1 lead, but as happened in the second the Rempart stormed back to tie it up to take the game to overtime. In overtime, there were plenty of chances on each side but it eventually ended with 1:10 remaining in the OT period Jesse Sutton of the Rempart scored to give the visitors the win. Even in the loss the team played a really hard game and showed that they can play with the top dogs.

FINAL: Remparts 3 at Mooseheads 2
Stars: 3. Barrett Dachyshyn HAL | 2. Maxime Fortier HAL | 1. Jesse Sutton QUE
Attendance: 7,005
MC’s Top Herd: Blade Mann-Dixon 

GAME LOG
First period
None

Second period
3:38 HAL Filip Zadina (4) | A: Fortier & Durandeau
16:59 QUE Olivier Mathieu (2) | A: Coxhead

Third period
7:27 HAL Maxime Fortier (5) | A: Barbosa & Groulx
14:47 QUE Louis-Philipe Cote (1) | A: Boucher & Gagne

Overtime
3:48 QUE Jesse Sutton (1) | A: Boucher & Verrette

Powerplay: QUE – 0-for-6, HAL – 0-for-3
Shots: 33-25 in favour of Halifax

MISSING IN ACTION – Walter Flower (injured), Otto Somppi (injured), Jordan Lepage (injured)

UP NEXT: Halifax will host the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3pm.

 

9 Alum on NHL Opening Rosters

Hockey is back in case you didn't know. The National Hockey League began on Wednesday and there are nine players who have played for the Mooseheads in the past on opening night rosters. Some affiliate clubs have announced their rosters while the lowest tier in the professional leagues are still doing training camps but most will most likely make the teams anyways. Below you will find a list of where the alumni are playing this season in North America and Europe.

Konrad Abeltshauser	EHC Munchen, DEL
Brent Andrews	UPEI Panthers, CIS
Darcy Ashley	UPEI Panthers, CIS
Frederic Aube	McGill Redmen, CIS
Pierre-Olivier Beaulieu	Trois-Rivieres Draveurs, LNAH
Brandon Benefdict	Belfest Giants, EIHL
Kelly Bent	Dalhousie Tigers, CIS
Jessyko Bernard	Pensacola Ice Flyers, SPHL
Marc-Andre Bernier	Sorel-Tracy Eperviers, LNAH
Dominik Blain-Dupuis	Gatineau Flames, QJAAAHL
Andrew Bodnarchuk	Texas Stars, AHL
Matthew Boudreau	Jonquiere Marquis, LNAH
Jonathan Boutin	Augsburger Panther, DEL
Eric Brassard	Saint Mary's Huskies, CIS
David Brine	Medvescak Zagreb, EBEL
Lester Brown	Watertown Wolves, FHL
Frederik Cabana	Bietigheim Stellers, DEL2
Mathieu Charlebois	Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL
Garrett Clarke	Indy Fuel, ECHL
Mathieu Corbeil	HK SKP Poprad, Slovakia
Jake Coughler	Saint Mary's Huskies, CIS
Cameron Critchlow	Jacksonville IceMen, ECHL
Brad Cuzner	Karhu HT, Suomi-sarja
Marc-Olivier Daigle	Grant MacEwan College Grffins, CCAA
Gabriel Desjardins	Fort Wayne Komets, ECHL
Simon Desmarais	Saint-Georges COOL-FM, LNAH
Cody Donaghey	Brampton Beast, ECHL
Jonathan Drouin	Montreal Canadiens, NHL
Nikolaj Ehlers	Winnipeg Jets, NHL
Cavan Fitzgerald	San Jose Barracuda, AHL
Taylor Ford	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, QMJHL
Stefan Fournier	Brampton Beast, ECHL
Martin Frk	Detroit Red Wings, NHL
Zachary Fucale	Laval Rocket, AHL
Philippe Gadoury	Brampton Beast, ECHL
Randy Gazzola	UNB Varsity Reds, CIS
Nicholas Gibson	Royal Military College Paladins, CIS
Stephen Gillard	Saint Mary's Huskies, CIS
Keigan Goetz	Waterloo Warriors, CIS
Gerrad Grant	Wichita Thunder, ECHL
Alexandre Grenier	Springfield Thunderbirds, AHL
Austyn Hardie	Saint Mary's Huskies, CIS
Nico Hischier	New Jersey Devils, NHL
Milan Jurcina	Nurnberg Ice Tigers, DEL
Bradley Kennedy	Mount Royal Cougars, CIS
Jordan King	Amherst Ramblers, MJAHL
Tomas Knotek	BK Mlada Boleslav, Czech
Trey Lewis	UNB Varsity Reds, CIS
Max Lindsay	Toronto Varsity Blues, CIS
Brian Lovell	Waterloo Maroons, LHSAAAQ
Jesse Lussier	Dalhousie Tigers, CIS
Ben MacAskill	South China Sharks, CIHL HK
Stephen MacAulay	Chicago Wolves, AHL
Bradley MacDonald	Laurentian Voyageurs, CIS
Nathan MacKinnon	Colorado Avalanche, NHL
Logan MacMillan	ASC Corona Brasov, Erste Liga
Brad Marchand	Boston Bruins, NHL
Timo Meier	San Jose Sharks, NHL
Spencer Metcalfe	Cincinnati Cyclones, ECHL
Daniel Moynihan	Utica Comets, AHL
Matt Murphy	UNB Varsity Reds, CIS
Ladislav Nagy	HC Kosice, Slovakia
Morgan Nauss	Chicoutimi Sagueneens, QMJHL
Adam Nolan	Valley Wildcats, MJAHL
Gabriel O'Connor	Caen, France2
Shawn O'Donnell	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, AHL
Makail Parker	Valley Wildcats, MJAHL
Pier-Olivier Pelletier	Sorel-Tracy Eperviers, LNAH
Alexandre Picard	Dusseldorfer EG, DEL
Frederic Piche	Jonquiere Marquis, LNAH
Ilya Putintsev	Altay Ust-Kamenogorsk, MHL
Kevin Resop	Truro Bearcats, MJAHL
Caleb Rich	Amherst Ramblers, MJAHL
Giulio Scandella	Asiago, AlpsHL
Jimmy Sharrow	Grizzlys Wolfsburg, DEL
Andrew Shewfelt	Dalhousie Tigers, CIS
Anthony Sorrentino	Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks, CIS
Daniel Sparre	Adler Mannheim, DEL
Jan Steber	MH Automatyka Gdansk, Poland
Jan Stransky	Bill Tygri Liberec, Czech
Bryce Swan	Riviere-du-Loup 3L, LNAH
Jean-Sebastien Taillefer	Concordia Stingers, CIS
Zachary Taylor	Dalhousie Tigers, CIS
Jakub Voracek	Philadelphia Flyers, NHL
Petr Vrana	HC Sparta Praha, Czech
Mackenzie Weegar	Florida Panthers, NHL

Herd Word

EHLERS
Well congratulations are in order for one former Halifax Moosehead. Nikolaj Ehlers, 21, was signed to an extension on Wednesday by the Winnipeg Jets, the team announced. Ehlers is going into his third NHL season with the Jets and this will be the last year in his entry level contract. Over the course of two years in the professional leagues, Nik has 102 points in 154 games played, which includes 40 goals. The Aalborg, Denmark native was awarded a 7 year contract extension worth 42 million dollars.

Nik and the Jets start the 2017-18 season tonight hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs.
https://twitter.com/NHLJets/status/915613944802398216

CSS RATINGS
With the National Hockey League regular season about to begin, the Central Scouting Services announced their players to watch this year. On the list are four Halifax Mooseheads players currently on the team. Each player is given a rating; A is for players projected to go in the first round, while 2nd and 3rd rounders projected players are rated B and C ratings are those young men projected to go in the 4th rounds or later. There are 4 QMJHL players, Joe Veleno of the Saint John Sea Dogs and our own Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Jared McIsaac and Filip Zadina. Herd goaltender Alexis Gravel is among 10 Q players with a B rating.

For the full list click here.

TOP 10 RANKINGS
This evening, the Canadian Hockey League and BMO released the second regular season top 10 rankings. Halifax stayed in the top ten while a few teams made big jumps in the rankings after starting their seasons 4-0-0-0.

Week 2's CHL Top 10
1. Victoriaville Tigres (4-0-0-0) last week: 2
2. Owen Sound Attack (2-0-0-1) last week: 3
3. Moose Jaw Warriors (4-0-0-0) last week: -
4. Quebec Remparts (4-0-0-0) last week: -
5. Victoria Royals (4-0-0-0) last week: -
6. Portland Winterhawks (2-1-0-0) last week: 4
7. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (2-1-0-0) last week: 5
8. Kelowna Rockets (2-0-0-1) last week: 7
9. Halifax Mooseheads (4-1-0-0) last week: 8
10. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (3-1-1-0) last week: 10

Honourable mention: Flint Firebirds (3-0-0-0), Swift Current Broncos (3-0-0-0), Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (4-1-0-0)

OPENING NIGHT DEBUTS

Photo - Mooseheads website

A few alumni will be making debuts this week. There are 3 former players set to make their opening night debut when the NHL season begins on Wednesday. While all three have already made their NHL debut, none have been on the opening night roster for their respective teams. Timo Meier will start the season tonight when the San Jose Sharks host the Philadelphia Flyers. Meier had the unfortunate situtian last year when he got mono and had to rehab with the AHL's Barracuda. It was also announced earlier this week that Martin Frk and Mackenzie Weegar, who both helped the Moose win a Memorial Cup in 2013, have made their big clubs after spending the majority of 2016-17 in the American Hockey League. Frk had a strong pre-season with the Detroit Red Wings and will open up the season with the Wings on his birthday tomorrow when they host the Minnesota Wild. Weegar will have to wait a little longer to make his opening night debut as the Florida Panthers travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning on Friday. Good luck to all 3 guys this year, Moose Country will be cheering you on hoping you stay in the NHL all year long.

UPCOMING GAMES
Your Halifax Mooseheads continue their homestand this weekend when they play their first games against Quebec teams. The undefeated Quebec Remparts come to town on Friday evening for t-shirt night, a match that can also be seen on Eastlink. On Sunday, Halifax will host the Blainville-Boisbraind Armada in another afternoon game. I'll have tweets from both games and be sure to follow on Instagram as well for pictures and videos.