Halifax Gets Victory in New Arena

The Halifax Mooseheads are a perfect 4-0 to begin the season after they defeated the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. It was the first time that the Herd visited the new Avenir Centre in the New Brunswick city and they skated away with a big 4-2 win. Moncton got off to an early lead when Adam Cappennelli scored the opening goal 4:04 into the match. A few penalties proceeded the goal and it was back and forth for most of the first period until Antoine Morand scored a nice short-handed goal with under five minutes to play. With seconds left in the frame, Morand's teammate with Bathurst, Jordan Maher broke in on a breakaway and put the puck in the back of the net. In the second, fans weren't even back in their seats before the Wildcats tied the game 17 seconds into the middle frame. Halifax retook the lead though before the period was finished. The third period was a physical one as it looked like the home team was not happy by some calls (or non-calls) but it went both ways. Despite having a 4 minute powerplay (which lasted not long as Halifax evened it up taking a penalty) and receiving a 5 minute PP as well, the Mooseheads were unable to score with the man-advantage and actually Moncton didn't score on their 3 powerplay opportunities either. Defenceman Jocktan Chainey scored mid-third period which clinched the game for the away club. With a couple hundred fans in attendance, Halifax saluted them by raising their sticks at the end of the game.

FINAL: Mooseheads 4 at Wildcats 2
Stars: 3. Antoine Morand HAL | 2. Alexander Khovanov | 1. Arnaud Durandeau HAL
Attendance: 5,822
MC's Top Herd: n/a

GAME LOGFirst period4:04 MON Adam Cappennelli (1) | A: Cyr & McKenna
15:38 HAL Antoine Morand (1), SH | A: none
19:59 HAL Jordan Maher (1) | A: Morand & Durandeau

Second period0:17 MON Simon Le Colture (1) | A: Khovanov & Hudson
19:18 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (4) | A: Groulx & Chainey

Third period10:07 HAL Jocktan Chainey (1) | A: Groulx & Durandeau

Shots: 37-34 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: HAL 0-for-7; MON 0-for-3

NOT DRESSED - Samuel Dube, Jared McIsaac, Joel Bishop and Kyle Petten were out with injuries

UP NEXT - Halifax will head to Quebec for the first time this season to take on the Quebec Remparts on Wednesday. Puck drops at 8pm.

Sept 30: Wildcats vs. Mooseheads preview

MONCTON WILDCATS VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
September 30, 2018 at 4:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Avenir Centre (8,800) ~ Moncton, NB

It's the first trip for our Halifax Mooseheads to the new 8,000+ seat arena in Moncton, the Avenir Centre. The arena hosted the Wildcats' home opener on Friday evening and it was quite a spectacle according to the different social media accounts. Halifax heads to Moncton with a lot of offence added to front end after a couple of more trades last weekend but the club is still dealing with some minor injuries. The Mooseheads have never begun a season with three straight wins in team history before this year, they have gone undefeated twice before in their first 3 games but those were all ties. Halifax has the offense to extend their win streak this afternoon when they visit the Moncton Wildcats but questions about goaltending and defence have been swarming around the club since the opening of training camp. However, as the season goes on and the Herd continue to pick up victories, the questions will go away. The Wildcats have a number of new players on their team as well this year including to new goaltenders. Moncton is back stopped by an overager and a 16 year old rookie in net which is different. With the offense of the Moose and the younger talent of the Cats, the thousands of fans in attendance (including almost 100 Moose fans) should be in for a good game.

This is the first meeting between these two teams. Halifax was 6-2-1-0 against the Wildcats last year while Moncton had a 3-4-2-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup saw the Mooseheads pick up a 7-4 victory in the final weekend of the season on March 16 where Raphael Lavoie scored twice and assisted on another while Blade Mann-Dixon made 26 saves for the home win. 

Overall Records
Mooseheads: 3-0-0-0 = 6pts (3rd overall, 1st in Maritimes division)
Wildcats: 2-1-0-0 = 4pts (7th overall, 3rd in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
MON: Jeremy McKenna 6pts (1G & 5A), Jordan Spence 4pts (1G & 3A), Adam Capannelli 4pts (4A)
HAL: Arnaud Durandeau 5pts (3G & 2A), Raphael Lavoie 4pts (3G & 1A), Patrick Kyte 4pts (2G & 2A)

Previous Games
Halifax is coming off a 4-2 victory in Cape Breton on Friday evening against the Screaming Eagles. Raphael Lavoie had a couple of goals to get the Mooseheads started while Alexis Gravel made 28 saves to get the win.

Moncton christened their new digs with a 5-2 win over the visiting Sea Dogs. European Alexander Khovanov scored twice to help lead the Wildcats while veteran Francis Leclerc stopped 22 of 24 Saint John shots on Friday.

Head-to-Head
September 30  4pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
October 17  7pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
November 4  2pm  Wildcats at Mooseheads
December 14  7pm  Wildcats at Mooseheads
January 19  7pm  Wildcats at Mooseheads
January 26  7pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
February 2  7pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
March 9  7pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
March 13  7pm  Wildcats at Mooseheads

Out of Town
Victoriaville vs. Shawinigan - 5:00pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will head back to New Brunswick to take on the Moncton Wildcats for the first time at their new arena; the Avenir Centre on Sunday. Puck drops at 4pm.

TRADE: Herd Make Another Move

Photo - nhl.com

The Halifax Mooseheads made another move to help bolster an already impressive lineup on Monday. Halifax announced that they have acquired 19 year old Ostap Safin and a fourth round pick in 2021 from the Saint John Sea Dogs for a first-rounder in 2020. Ostap was recently returned to Saint John from the Edmonton Oilers and it forced the Dogs to make a move with two Europeans already on their team.

He has scored 26 goals and 58 points in 61 games. Safin also represented his country at the world juniors in December and collected a goal and two assists for the Czech Republic.

Welcome to the team Ostap.

TRADE: Moose Acquire Another From Bathurst

Photo - Getty Images

Big news came from the Halifax Mooseheads brass this afternoon just hours before the team's first regular season match. The club announced that they have acquired 20 year old Samuel Asselin from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday. Samuel was on the team that won the President's Cup and Memorial Cup last season and was in attendance when Bathurst raised it's championship banners last night. Halifax is Asselin's third team in his QMJHL career, the L'Assomption, QC native also spent two and a half years with the Shawinigan Cataractes. He has scored 34 goals and 114 points in 179 games.

Halifax traded prospects Cole Larkin and Yannic Barstarche and a draft pick to the Titan. This is the third transaction the Mooseheads have made with Acadie-Bathurst in the last 10 months, after getting the rights to Jake Ryczek in December and acquiring Jordan Maher and Antoine Morand back in June.

Welcome to the team Samuel.

Sept 21: Sea Dogs vs. Mooseheads preview

SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
September 21, 2018 at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @station_nation
Harbour Station (6,308) ~ Saint John, NB

In 8 months, your Halifax Mooseheads will have a chance to win a second Memorial Cup, this time as hosts, but before they can do that, the team has a lot of work to do and it begins with the regular season opener tonight! That's right, another season is here and ready to start. For our Herd it starts with a trip to New Brunswick to take on rivals Saint John Sea Dogs who are in a rebuild and will be looking to improve on their last place finish from last season. The Sea Dogs received permission from the QMJHL to have FIVE 16-year-olds on their roster and as such are one of the youngest teams in the Canadian Hockey League. Halifax meanwhile are a more experienced team this year but still have eight new players on the roster. A 15 game road trip to start the season will give the boys plenty of time to bond. The addition of Antoine Morand and Jordan Maher, who won the President's Cup and Memorial Cup with Acadie-Bathurst last year, and Samuel Dube should provide a replacement for departing players Max Fortier, Otto Somppi and Filip Zadina. With the moves Cam Russell and the brass made over the summer and being a year older, the Mooseheads were ranked the #1 team in the CHL's pre-season Top 10 rankings on Wednesday.

Overall Records
Mooseheads: 0-0-0-0 = 0pts (T-1st overall, T-1st in Maritimes division)
Sea Dogs: 0-0-0-0 = 0pts (T-1st overall, T-1st in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
SNB: n/a
HAL: n/a

Head-to-Head
September 21  7pm  Mooseheads at Sea Dogs
October 12  7pm  Mooseheads at Sea Dogs
November 16  7pm  Sea Dogs at Mooseheads
December 7  7pm  Sea Dogs at Mooseheads
February 18  2pm  Mooseheads at Sea Dogs
February 23  7pm  Sea Dogs at Mooseheads
March 10  2pm  Mooseheads at Sea Dogs
March 15  7pm  Sea Dogs at Mooseheads

Not Dressed - Arnaud Durandeau (NHL camp), Ben Higgins (injured), Jocktan Chainey (NHL camp), Jared McIsaac (injured), Antoine Morand (NHL camp), Kyle Petten (injured) and Benoit-Olivier Groulx (NHL camp)

Out of Town
Charlottetown vs. Cape Breton - 7:00pm
Val-d'Or vs. Gatineau - 8:00pm
Rouyn-Noranda vs. Drummondville - 8:30pm
Chicoutimi vs. Baie-Comeau - 8:30pm
Shawinigan vs. Sherbrooke - 8:30pm
Blainville-Boisbriand vs. Victoriaville - 8:30pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will head to the island to take on the Charlottetown Islanders tomorrow evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Herd in Pre-Season Top 10

Before the season begins, the Canadian Hockey League announced it’s BMO Top 10 Rankings Wednesday evening. Not only were the Halifax Mooseheads amount the teams named to the top 10 for the pre-season, but they were on top of the rankings. Halifax is one of three teams that many project will be in the President's Cup final in May.

CHL Top 10 - Pre-season
1. Halifax Mooseheads
2. London Knights
3. Lethbridge Hurricanes
4. Drummondville Voltigeurs
5. Niagara IceDogs
6. Spokane Chiefs
7. Portland Winterhawks
8. Saginaw Spirit
9. Rimouski Oceanic
10. Ottawa 67's

Honourable mention - Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Vancouver Giants, Oshawa Generals

We should see the Mooseheads in the top 10 quite a bit this season. Keep checking back here or on social media as I'll keep you updated all year long.

Eastlink Showing 14 Herd Games

Eastlink released it's QMJHL television schedule and your Halifax Mooseheads will have fourteen games broadcast on the Atlantic Canada channel. Cape Breton, Charlottetown and Halifax all have select matches that are shown on Friday Night Hockey broadcasts.

The first broadcast involving the Herd will be on September 28 when the Mooseheads travel to Cape Breton to take on the Screaming Eagles. There will also be one special Saturday evening match and one Thursday evening match.

Below is the full schedule (all games 7pm):
September 28 at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
October 11 at Charlottetown Islanders
October 26 at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
November 3 vs. Val-D'or Fourers
November 9 vs. Cape Beton Screaming Eagles
November 16 vs. Saint John Sea Dogs
December 14 vs. Moncton Wildcats
December 28 at Charlottetown Islanders
January 4 vs. Rimouski Oceanic
January 11 at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
January 18 vs. Acadie Bathurst Titan
February 1 vs. Sherbrooke Pheonix
February 15 vs. Gatineau Olympiques
March 15 vs. Saint John Sea Dogs
You can view the full schedule here.