QMJHL Season Begins Tonight

The 2021-22 QMJHL regular season begins this evening with the defending champion Victoriaville Tigres hosting the Shawinigan Cataractes at 8 p.m. Atlantic time. 

Some news before we get into the previews. 

Last week, the Canadian Hockey League announced that the 2021 CIBC Canada Russia Series will not be played given the ongoing challenges presented by the global pandemic. Details regarding the 2022 event will be announced at a later. This kind of sucks as it would've been nice to see if a couple of Halifax Mooseheads players were invited. We'll have to wait now most likely until December to see if Zachary L'Heureux and Elliot Desnoyers or any other guys will participate in Team Canada's world junior camp.

Three of the four current Mooseheads players that were invited to NHL main camps have been reassigned back to the junior club earlier this week. Bobby Orr and Cameron Whynot were released from the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames respectively on Saturday meanwhile Zachary L'Heureux got sent down by the Nashville Predators on Monday. From the Herd's preview for the home opener, L'Heureux is currently day-to-day with an upper body injury suffered at Predators camp last week. He is also due to serve the remaining three games of a four-game suspension to start the year after receiving the sentence on April 13th of last season. 

James Swan and Attilio Biasca will be out to start the season after both players suffered hand injuries during training camp and remain on the sideline indefinitely with a mid-to-late October return timeframe. Halifax is hopeful that they will have forwards Jordan Dumais and Vincent Gauthier in the lineup when puck drops tomorrow night after they both received injuries as well. 

Welcome back Moose Country! The Halifax Mooseheads have been permitted by the Nova Scotian government to host games at full capacity once again. Proof of full vaccination will be required meanwhile masks will still be mandatory for the immediate future. Check out the video the team put out to hype up fans. 

Even though our Halifax Mooseheads failed to make the CHL Top 10 pre-season rankings, which were released today, I thought I would share the list anyways. There are four QMJHL teams who got ranked with two of them coming from the Maritimes division. Another Maritime club is in the honourable mentions (London Knights, Charlottetown Islanders, Brandon Wheat Kings). 

Now let's get to the previews from other media personnel.

• Sportsnet has one question for every team in the Quebec league. 
• Junior hockey is finally getting back to normal after the pandemic wiped out the 2020 post-season for all 3 leagues under the CHL and the Ontario Hockey League lost it's entire 2020-21 season. 
• CBC Sports' Rob Pizzo and CHL play-by-play man Victor Findlay try to preview the season below. 
  
  
  
  
• Saltwire's Willy Palov, who has been covering the Halifax Mooseheads for years, has shared his thoughts on how good the Herd will be this year. 
• Most analysts have Halifax finishing the regular season 4th in the Maritimes division including Stephane Leroux from RDS and Palov from Saltwire

Yes it's going to be another different season but I am really excited to get back to cheering for the boys and hopefully it will be much more normal year. With a number of the Mooseheads' leading scorers returning and being a year older, Halifax should have an offensive team and could make some waves in what will be a tough Maritime division. Go Moose Go! See you Saturday Moose Country. 

Photos - QMJHL, Mooseheads & CHL websites

Stats Sunday: Pre-season

The Mooseheads have finished their pre-season schedule after playing the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday night. 

Games played: 7
Scores*: 6-4, 1-2, 7-4, 6-1, 4-3, 2-1, 2-3 SO
Record: 5-1-0-1, 11pts
Goals for/against: 28 / 18
Powerplay: 20%
Penalty kill: 83.3%

Team leaders
Points: Robert Orr (8pts), Zack Jones (7pts), Markus Vididcek (7pts)
Goals: Robert Orr (4G), Zachary Beauregard (3G), Landon Miron (3G)
Assists: Markus Vidicek (6A), Zack Jones (5A), Robert Orr (4A)
Penalty minutes: Keegan Hunt (11 mins), Zachary Beauregard (10 mins), Landon Miron (10 mins)
Plus/minus: Robert Orr (+7), Brady Schultz (+7), Attilio Biasca (+6)

Goaltending stats
Mathis Rousseau:  3-0-0-0   1.72 GAA   0.929 SAV%
Adam Tkacz:  0-1-0-0   2.04 GAA   0.909 SAV%
Brady James:  1-0-0-1   3.08 GAA   0.911 SAV %
Jack Milner: 1-0-0-0   3.99 GAA   0.833 SAV%

*Halifax's score is first

Saint John Get The Extra Point Over Halifax

Unfortunately, our Halifax Mooseheads finished the pre-season with a 3-2 shootout loss on Friday night but considering they were playing the highest scoring team during the exhibition schedule; the Saint John Sea Dogs, fans should be happy. I had said after the home game a couple of weeks ago that the real test would be against the Sea Dogs and while there was times that Halifax was flat, they didn't allow themselves to be pushed around. Saint John got on the board pretty quickly, with William Defour scoring his team leading 6th goal of the pre-season just 19 seconds into the game. The Mooseheads couldn't get anything through until late in the middle frame despite having four straight power-plays but then the referees gave the home team the next four penalties. Markus Vidicek picked up his first to tie the game up at the 17:26 mark of the second before former Herd Cole Foston gave the Dogs the lead early in the third. Senna Peeters sent the game to overtime which was entertaining and featured a few really good chances for Halifax to end it but no luck. 

Game at a Glance
FINAL: Saint John 3 at Halifax 2 SO
Saint John scorers: William Defour, Cole Foston, Riley Bezeau(SOW)
Halifax scorers: Markus Vidicek, Senna Peeters
Powerplay: SNB - 1/6, HAL - 1/7
Shots: Sea Dogs - 40, Mooseheads - 35

Photo - Shawn Davidson

Pre-season Game vs. Saint John

Opponent: Saint John Sea Dogs
Where: Scotiabank Centre
When: September 24, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Saint John Sea Dogs
Preseason record: 5-1-1-0, 11pts
Goals for: 42
Goals against: 22
Head coach: Gordie Dwyer
Scoring leader: Carter McCluskey (4G & 4A)

Halifax Mooseheads
Preseason record: 5-1-0-0, 10pts
Goals for: 26
Goals against: 15
Head coach: Sylvain Favreau
Scoring leader: Robert Orr (4G & 4A)

Notes

• This is the pre-season finale, Halifax will now take the week after the game to practice before travelling to Sydney for a meeting with the Cape Breton Eagles for the season opener 
• Saint John has recently been named the Memorial Cup hosts for 2022 meaning the should have a good team this year
• Rookies Carter McCluskey and Nico Laforge lead the Sea Dogs in scoring while the Port City club leads the league in goals during the pre-season
• Goaltender Brady James was returned to the Mooseheads on Wednesday from the Nashville Predators

4 Moose (Plus Alum) at NHL Main Camps

There are plenty of young men on NHL teams main camp rosters that have suited up for the Halifax Mooseheads sometime in their career. Many of the players are Herd alumni but there are a few who are currently on the Mooseheads' opening night roster (bolded). 

A lot of camps began over the last 48 hours after teams had their rookies participate in tournaments on the weekend.

Below you'll find a list of all the current and former Moose players on NHL teams main camp rosters:
Samuel Asselin - Boston Bruins
Justin Barron - Colorado Avalanche
Elliot Desnoyers - Philadelphia Flyers
Jonathan Drouin - Montreal Canadiens
Arnaud Durandeau - New York Islanders
Nikolaj Ehlers - Winnipeg Jets
Cavan Fitzgerald - Carolina Hurricanes
Martin Frk - Los Angeles Kings
Zach Fucale - Washington Capitals
Alexis Gravel - Montreal Canadiens
Benoit-Olivier Groulx - Anaheim Ducks
Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils
Zachary L'Heureux - Nashville Predators
Raphael Lavoie - Edmonton Oilers
Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche
Brad Marchand - Boston Bruins
Jared McIsaac - Detroit Red Wings
Timo Meier - San Jose Sharks
Antoine Morand - Tampa Bay Lightning
Robert Orr - Carolina Hurricanes
Ostap Safin- Edmonton Oilers
Otto Somppi - Tampa Bay Lightning
Jakub Voracek - Columbus Blue Jackets
Mackenzie Weegar - Florida Panthers
Cameron Whynot - Calgary Flames
Filip Zadina - Detroit Red Wings

Good luck to all the players in camp, especially the four guys who are currently on the Mooseheads roster. I'll try to keep you updated as best I can. Will we see any alumni move up to the NHL this year and grow the number of former players Halifax has in the big leagues? I hope we can but we may be another year or two before it happens. 

NHL pre-season matches begin on September 25 and go until October 9. 

Single Game Tickets On Sale Today

The 2021-22 QMJHL season is just a week away and Halifax has released their regular season tickets which go on sale at 10 a.m. this morning to the general public.

Fans can buy tickets four different ways, just as in the past; at the Scotiabank Centre Box Office, by phone at 902-421-1221, online at www.ticketatlantic.com and at select Superstores.

The walk-up prices have gone up since two years ago. Here are the prices:
                      LB middle      LB ends       Upper-bowl
Adults              $23.00           $21.00            $19.00
Senior*            $20.00           $18.00            $16.00
Student            $16.00           $14.00            $14.00
Youth**           $12.00           $10.00             $8.00

*Seniors 60 and older
**Youth 12 years and under

All taxes included in prices

There is a service charge when buying tickets by phone, online or at the Superstore.

Halifax starts their season on the road on October 1st before hosting the Cape Breton Eagles at 7 p.m. on Saturday. 

Saint John Named Memorial Cup Hosts

The Saint John Sea Dogs have been named the 2022 Memorial Cup hosts after a short bidding process. The announcement was originally supposed to be made the week of September 6 but was delayed twice, but the Canadian Hockey League came out with a video last night showing the trophy in the back of a car on the way to the host city which you can see here. 

From the CHL 
The Canadian Hockey League announced today that the Saint John Sea Dogs have been awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia beginning June 3, 2022.

“We are extremely excited to be granting the rights to host this event to Saint John for the first time,” said CHL President Dan MacKenzie. “The bid committee did a fantastic job of outlining how Saint John will embrace the Memorial Cup with its Maritime hospitality to create an atmosphere that both celebrates the game and leaves a lasting legacy in the community.”

Founded in 2005, the Sea Dogs have participated in the Memorial Cup three times (2011, 2012, 2017) when the club finished as QMJHL President Cup titlists before claiming CHL supremacy in their first appearance. The 2022 rendition marks the first time the city of Saint John the year-end championship.

Finishing the 2020-21 season third place in the QMJHL’s Maritimes Division with a 15-14-3-1 record and 34 points, the Sea Dogs are led by general manager Trevor Georgie, head coach Gordie Dwyer, and returning leading scorer Ryan Francis. A Calgary Flames prospect, Francis is one of five NHL drafted prospects on the Sea Dogs alongside fellow forwards William Dufour (New York Islanders) and Cam MacDonald (Tampa Bay Lightning) as well as defencemen Jeremie Poirier (Calgary Flames) and William Villeneuve (Toronto Maple Leafs).

Saint John will be one of four teams to participate in the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia alongside the playoff champion from each of the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. All games from the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia will be nationally televised by TSN and RDS.

“Like all hockey fans across the country, Kia Canada is excited to welcome the return of the Memorial Cup tournament, which honours the men and women who have and continue to serve our great country,” said Kia Canada Director of Marketing Michael Kopke. “Congratulations to the Saint John Sea Dogs on their successful bid.”

The 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia site selection committee consisted of Colin Campbell (Sr. Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations, NHL), Natalie Cook (Vice-President of TSN/RDS, Bell Media), Nancy Orr (P.E.I. Chief Provincial Court Judge), Dan MacKenzie (President, Canadian Hockey League), and Sébastien Vézina (Partner, Lavery Lawyers).

The Sea Dogs were one of two clubs alongside the Quebec Remparts to submit bids to host the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia. Cancelled the past two years due to the global pandemic, the Memorial Cup was last played in 2019 when it was hosted by the Halifax Mooseheads and where the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies ultimately won their first-ever CHL championship.

Congrats to GM Trevor Gregoire, the rest of the Sea Dogs organization and the city of Saint John on winning the bid and getting the tournament for the first time. Let's hope that we can get through this season without much interruption and can finally have the Memorial Cup be presented in 2022.