Central Scouting Release Final Draft Rankings

The NHL Central Scouting Services released its final draft rankings on Wednesday afternoon and two current Halifax Mooseheads players were listed. The announcement comes on the day the Stanley Cup playoffs were supposed to begin had the season not been paused.

Photo - Herd website

Defenceman Justin Barron is 16th among North American skaters. Barron, who missed three months mid-season, picked up four goals and 19 points in 34 games. Despite being gone for almost half the year, the Halifax, NS native played a good defensive game and was well needed on the backend this past season. Justin was named the Mooseheads MVP earlier this month and received two other team awards.

Joining him on the final draft rankings is Senna Peeters who was ranked #101. Peeters had a pretty good rookie year where he scored 23 goals, which was second on a low scoring Halifax team. The 17-year-old recorded 33 points in total in 57 games played.

In total, there are 32 players from the QMJHL who will be hoping to hear their name be called. The 2020 NHL draft was originally scheduled to be hosted by Montreal on June 26-27 but it was announced in March that it will be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around the CHL ~ volume #2 season edition #11

With no playoffs to speak of for this season, this post comes a little later than normal. As a way to wrap up 2019-20, I wanted to share who led the three leagues during the season. 

League leaders
Goals - Nick Robertson 55 goals (OHL Peterborough Petes), Adam Beckman 48 goals (WHL Spokane Chiefs), Egor Sokolov 46 goals (QMJHL Cape Breton Eagles)
Assists - Marco Rossi 81 points (OHL Ottawa 67's), Alexis Lafreniere 77 assists (QMJHL Rimouski Oceanic), Eli Zummack 64 assists (WHL Spokane Chiefs) 
Points - Marco Rossi 120 points (OHL Ottawa 67's),  Alexis Lafreniere 112 points (QMJHL Rimouski Oceanic), Adam Beckman 107 points (WHL Spokane Chiefs)
Defenceman points - Noel Hoefenmayer 82 points (OHL Ottawa 67's), Alex Cotton 67 points (WHL Lethbridge Hurricanes), William Villeneuve 58 points (QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs)
Rookie points - Shane Wright 66 points (OHL Kingston Frontenacs), Michal Teply 63 points (WHL Winnipeg ICE), Zachary L'Heureux 53 points (QMJHL Moncton Wildcats)
Goalie wins - Alexis Shank 36 wins (QMJHL Chicoutimi Sagueneens), Dustin Wolf 34 wins (WHL Everett Silvertips), Jacob Ingham 33 wins (OHL Kitchener Rangers)
Save percentage - Dustin Wolf 0.935 SAV% (WHL Everett Silvertips), Kevin Mandolese 0.925 SAV% (QMJHL Cape Breton Eagles), Nico Daws 0.924 SAV% (OHL Guelph Storm)
Goals against average - Dustin Wolf 1.88 GAA (WHL Everett Silvertips), Samuel Hlavaj 2.25 GAA (QMJHL Sherbrooke Phoenix), Brett Brochu 2.40 GAA (OHL London Knights)

Division leaders
WHL - Portland Winterhawks 97 points/45 wins (U.S. division), Edmonton Oil Kings 94 points/42 wins (Central division), Kamloops Blazers 86 points/41 wins (B.C. division), Prince Albert Raiders 82 points/36 wins (East division)
OHL - Ottawa 67's 101 points/50 wins (East division), London Knights 92 points/45 wins (Midwest division), Saginaw Spirit 87 points/41 wins (West division), Sudbury Wolves 70 points/34 wins (Central division)
QMJHL - Sherbrooke Phoenix 106 points/51 wins (Central division), Moncton Wildcats 101 points/50 wins (Maritimes division), Chicoutimi Sagueneens 96 points/45 wins (East division), Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 68 points/32 wins (West division)

BMO CHL top ten ~ week 25
1. Sherbrooke Phoenix {51-8-3-1} week 24 #1
2. Ottawa 67's {50-11-0-1} week 24 #2
3. Moncton Wildcats {50-13-1-0} week 24 #3
4. Portland Winterhawks {45-11-3-4} week 24 #6
5. Everett Silvertips {46-13-3-1} week 24 #4
6. London Knights (45-15-1-1} week 24 #7
7. Chicoutimi Sagueneens {45-12-5-1} week 24 #8
8. Edmonton Oil Kings {42-12-6-4} week 24 #5
9. Saginaw Spirit {41-16-3-2} week 24 #10
10. Spokane Chiefs {41-18-4-1} week 24 HM
Honorable mentions: Kitchener Rangers {40-16-5-2 #9}, Kamloops Blazers {41-18-3-1 n/a}, Cape Breton Eagles {40-20-2-1 n/a}

Top Herd

An early ending to a disappointing season but there were still some good things that happened in 2019-20 including a total of eight rookies scoring their first career goals. With the season over, I gave you guys the chance to vote for this season's Top Herd player award. Thank you for voting once again.

And the winner is....










Cole McLaren

Halifax drafted the goaltender in 2016 and even in losses was one of the best players on the ice for the Mooseheads. Cole finished the season with an 8-16-0 record, one shutout and a 0.888 save percentage.

Here is the list of my Top Herd that I have done this season. I didn't name one every game.
Sep 27   Charlottetown - Zack Jones
Oct 10   Saint John - Senna Peeters
Oct 13   Val-d'Or - Benoit-Olivier Groulx
Oct 19   Cape Breton - Jordan McKenna
Nov 8    Drummondville - Maxim Trepanier
Nov 21  Baie-Comeau - Alexis Gravel
Nov 30  Blainville - Benoit-Olivier Groulx
Dec 13  Charlottetown - Walter Flower
Dec 31  Saint John - D'Artagnan Joly
Jan 4     Acadie-Bathurst - Jason Horvath
Jan 10   Chictoutimi - Denis Toner
Jan 23   Gatineau - Kevin Gursoy
Feb 1    Shawinigan - Cole McLaren
Feb 9    Sherbrooke - Alexis Gravel
Feb 20  Rimouski - Cole McLaren
Feb 22  Rouyn-Noranda - Ozzie King
Mar 6   Quebec - Cole McLaren


Here are the final poll results
Cole McLaren - 46.7%, Alex Gravel - 23.4%, Kevin Gursoy - 19.5%, Senna Peeters - 10.4%

Team Awards Presented by Mooseheads

For the last couple of weeks, our Halifax Mooseheads have been announcing their team awards for the 2019-20 season on social media with video clips of each recipient. The biggest winner was Justin Barron despite missing almost three months because of a blood clot. Below are the winners of the team awards.

Eastlink Trophy: Kevin Gursoy
Arthur J Gallagher Insurance Trophy: Senna Peeters
Tim Hortons Award: Denis Toner
Scotia Fuels Award: Cameron Whynot
Steele Subaru Award: Justin Barron
Avis Trophy: Zack Jones
Mooseheads Best Sportsmanship Trophy: Jordan McKenna
Sarah Morris Memorial Trophy: Alexis Gravel
Scotiabank Centre Trophy: Justin Barron & Cole McLaren
Sue Moore Memorial Fans' Choice Award: Alexis Gravel
Steele Auto Group MVP: Justin Barron

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)

West division
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 games 2-0-0-0 {4-1, 3-0}
Gatineau 2 games 1-1-0-0 {3-8, 4-3OT}
Rouyn-Noranda 2 games 1-1-0-0 {3-2, 1-4}
Val-d'Or 2 games 1-0-1-0 {6-2, 1-2OT}

Central division
Drummondville 2 games 1-1-0-0 {5-1, 1-4}
Shawinigan 2 games 0-2-0-0 {4-7, 3-8}
Sherbrooke 2 games 0-2-0-0 {2-4, 1-3}
Victoriaville 2 games 1-1-0-0 {2-1SO, 2-5}

East division
Baie-Comeau 2 games 1-0-0-1 {4-3OT, 1-2SO}
Chicoutimi 2 games 0-2-0-0 {1-4, 3-8}
Quebec 2 games 0-1-0-1 {4-5SO, 1-3}
Rimouski 2 games 1-1-0-0 {1-0, 2-6}

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

Monthly records
September 4 games ~ 1-3-0-0 record overall, 1-1-0-0 home, 0-2-0-0 away
October 12 games ~ 6-5-1-0 record overall, 2-2-1-0 home, 4-3-0-0 away
November 11 games ~ 6-3-1-1 record overall, 2-3-0-1 home, 4-0-1-0 away
December 9 games ~ 2-7-0-0 record overall, 1-3-0-0 home, 1-4-0-0 away
January 10 games ~ 3-7-0-0 record overall, 2-3-0-0 home, 1-4-0-0 away
February 13 games ~ 1-10-1-1 record overall, 1-6-1-0 home, 0-4-0-1 away
March 4 games ~ 1-3-0-0 record overall, 0-2-0-0 home, 1-1-0-0 away

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

QMJHL Cancels Regular Season

Photo - QMJHL website

Well, it's official. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced on Tuesday afternoon that they have decided to cancel the remainder of the 2019-20 regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A number of fans figured this would be the outcome eventually but it doesn't make it any easier. No word on if playoffs will go ahead or not yet. The regular season was scheduled to conclude on March 21, 2020. Final standings are below;

1. xy Sherbrooke Phoenix   63GP  51-8-3-1 record  106pts 

2. xy Moncton Wildcats   64GP  50-13-1-0 record  101pts

3. xy Chicoutimi Sagueneens   63GP  45-12-5-1 record  96pts

4. x Cape Breton Eagles   63GP  40-20-2-1 record  83pts

5. x Rimouski Oceanic   64GP  38-18-4-4 record  84pts

6. x Drummondville Voltigeurs   63GP  36-25-2-0 record  74pts

7. x Charlottetown Islanders   64GP  33-26-5-0 record  71pts

8. x Blainville-Boisbriand Armada   63GP  32-27-2-2 record  68pts

9. x Rouyn-Noranda Huskies   63GP  29-30-2-2 record  62pts

10. x Victoriaville Tigres   63GP  26-28-5-4 record  61pts

11. x Saint John Sea Dogs   64GP. 30-33-1-0 record  61pts

12. x Shawinigan Cataractes   63GP  29-32-2-0 record  60pts

13. x Val-d'Or Foreurs   63pts  26-30-5-2 record  59pts

14. x Quebec Remparts   64GP  27-32-4-1 record  59pts

15. x Baie-Comeau Drakkar   64GP  24-29-7-4 record  59pts

16. Gatineau Olympiques   64GP  22-37-5-0 record  49pts

17. Halifax Mooseheads   63GP. 20-38-3-2 record  45pts

18. Acadie-Bathurst Titan   64GP  12-40-8-4 record  36pts

The QMJHL also announced that they have cancelled four events that were supposed to take place after the regular season. The Golden Puck Awards Gala, the New England Showcase, the Gatorade Excellence Challenge and the Goaltenders Development Camp were all removed from the schedule because of the restrictions that have been put in place by the government and health authorities. 

Mooseheads Players Going Home

The Halifax Mooseheads players are returning home, a team statement announced today.

Halifax also said that their business office and the Official Mooseheads Shop in Scotia Square Mall until further notice.

Read the full statement below from the Mooseheads website.

With the current QMJHL season on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Mooseheads players have been returned to their families where their health and safety will continue to be a top priority.

The Mooseheads organization is following recommendations by Nova Scotia public health officials and has closed the business office along with the Official Mooseheads Shop in Scotia Square Mall until further notice. All staff members will continue to work remotely during these unprecedented times. For general inquiries please contact mooseheads@halifaxmooseheads.ca.

The Canadian Hockey League released the following statement on Friday about the 2020 Memorial Cup which is to be held in late-May.