Stats Sunday: October

Games played: 11
Record: 6-4-0-1, 13pts
Goals for/against: 35/31
Powerplay*: 28.9%
Penalty kill*: 73.7%
Shutouts: 2

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Jordan Dumais 19, Elliot Desnoyers 18, Zachary L'Heureux 14, Markus Vidicek 8, Senna Peeters 6
Goals: Elliot Desnoyers 8, Jordan Dumais 6, Markus Vidicek 5, Zachary L'Heureux 4, Mathieu Cataford 3
Assists: Jordan Dumais 13, Zachary L'Heureux 10, Elliot Desnoyers 10, Senna Peeters 5, Jake Furlong 3
Penalty minutes: Zachary Beauregard 33, Zack Jones 17, Elliot Desnoyers 15, David Lafrance 15, Senna Peets 10
Plus/minus: Jake Furlong +11, Elliot Desnoyers +9, Jordan Dumais +6, Zachary L'Heureux +5, David Lafrance +2
Rookie scoring: Mathieu Cataford 5pts, Logan Crosby 2pts, Brady Schultz 2pts, Attilio Biasca 1pt, Vincent Gauthier 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau: 3-1-0-0     2.00 GAA     0.935 SAV%
Brady James: 3-3-0-1     2.99 GAA     0.900 SAV%

*overall

Top Line Makes Difference Again

The Halifax Mooseheads top line of Zachary L'Heureux, Jordan Dumais and Elliot Desnoyers had another good game picking up two points each to help lead the club to a 3-2 victory over the Moncton Wildcats on Thursday night. It was the first student night game of the season for Halifax and the match didn't provide much entertainment in the first with the period ending in a scoreless tie. Both teams came out with a new mission in the middle frame with Markus Vidicek opening the scoring by banking the puck off goaltender Thomas Couture. The lead wouldn't last long as 52 seconds later, Francis Langlois scored for Moncton to tie it up. It was clear in the second period that even though it had been more than a year since the last time the teams met that their rivalry did not go away despite the time a part as we saw a couple of fights. The home team would get out of the frame with a 2-1 lead but the tides changed in the third and we could've seen a different game had it not been for rookie Mathis Rousseau making some really nice saves. Jordan Dumais put away the game winning goal with less than 6 minutes to play as the Mooseheads improved to 6-2-0-1 on the young season. 

FINAL: Wildcats 2 at Mooseheads 3
Stars: 3. Jordan Dumais HAL | 2. Thomas Couture MON | 1. Mathis Rousseau HAL
Attendance: 4,133
MC's Top Herd: Mathis Rousseau

Game log
First period
No scoring

Second period
4:41 HAL Markus Vidicek (4) | A: Whynot
5:33 MON Francis Langlois (4) | A: Morin & Mueller
19:34 HAL Elliot Desnoyers (7) | A: L'Heureux & Dumais

Third period
11:56 MON Maxim Barbashev (3) | A: Kalmikov & Olson
14:12 HAL Jordan Dumais (6) | A: L'Heureux & Desnoyers

Powerplay: MON - 0-for-3; HAL - 1-for-3
Shots: 38-33 in favour of Moncton

SCORES
Gatineau 0 at Charlottetown 2
Rimouski 2 at Rouyn-Noranda 3 SO
Victoriaville 5 at Baie-Comeau 2
Shawinigan at Quebec

Missing in Action: Landon Miron, Vincent Guathier and Alexandre Tessier were healthy scratches

Up next: Halifax will welcome the Gatineau Olympiques for Friday night hockey with the puck dropping at 7 p.m. 

Herd on Prelim CSS Rankings

The National Hockey League along with the Central Scouting Services announced their preliminary Players to Watch list for the 2022 NHL draft. The players are ranked in three different categories; 'A' players are projected to go in the first round while 'B' players are 2nd and 3rd round candidates. 'C' ranked players most likely will go in the 4th to 7th rounds. Of course, rankings can change through out the season depending on how the player does. 

There are four current Halifax Mooseheads among the list of prospects and they were all given a 'C' rating. Sophomore defenceman Jake Furlong and forwards Markus Vidieek, Jordan Dumais and James Swan will be on NHL scouts radars this season. 17-year-old Dumas leads the team in scoring through three weeks of play with 4 goals and 9 points in 6 games. 

I'm sure we will see these guys rise in the rankings during the season. 

A total of 23 players were given an 'A' rating which includes two QMJHL players; Nathan Gaucher of the Quebec Remparts and the Gatineau Olympiques' Tristan Luneau. You can check out the full list here. 

QMJHL Names Scholastic POM

Every month, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announces a Scholastic Player of the Month which recognizes a player on each team with his performance on ice and in the classroom. The player is selected based on their school results, their implication, the school-hockey conciliation, their team spirit and their on-ice performances. 

For you Halifax Mooseheads, Mathieu Cataford was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for September 2021. 

Team Player Program Institution

BAT Lane Hinkley     Grade 12 Bathurst High School

BAC Isaac Dufort Social Sciences Cégep de Baie-Comeau

BLB Charles-Edward Gravel     Grade 12     Northern Pre University

CAP Émile Perron Secondary 5 Académie les Estacades

CHA Kieran Gallant Business     UPEI

CHI         William Rouleau Economy and Management Cégep de Chicoutimi

DRU Luke Woodworth Grade 12     Park View Education Center

GAT Tristan Luneau Grade 12     Northern Pre University

HAL Mathieu Cataford Grade 11     Prince Andrew High School

MON Vincent Filion     Grade 12     Bernice MacNaughton High School

QUE Pier-Olivier Roy Social Sciences Cégep de Limoilou

RIM Alexander Gaudio Natural Sciences Cégep à distance

ROU Marc-Antoine Séguin Natural Sciences Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue

SNB Noah Patenaude Grade 12     Northern Pre University

SHA Alexis Bonefon Natural Sciences Cégep Shawinigan

SHE Milo Roelens Grade 12     Northern Pre University

VDO Zachary Michaud Social Sciences Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue

VIC         Raphaël Blouin Secondary 5 École secondaire Sainte-Marie

2021-22 Leadership Group Announced

On Thursday afternoon, head coach Sylvain Favreau made the team's leadership group announcement during a group meeting and the club released the video to the public yesterday. 

To probably no one's surprise, forward Elliot Desnoyers was named captain of the 2021-22 Halifax Mooseheads. The 19-year-old missed some time at the beginning of the season but has been good for the Herd since coming back from Philadelphia Flyers training camp. I am surprised that they didn't name the leadership group last weekend when he did return. Forwards Stephen Davis, Zachary L'Heureux and Zac Beauregard were given the A's for this year's squad. 

Congrats to Elliot and the rest of the guys who now have letters on their jerseys. 

Check out the video below from the team

Penalties Almost Cost Mooseheads

As noted by everyone, Friday night was the first time since March 6, 2020 that a team from the province of Quebec has visited the Scotiabank Centre and boy, it did not disappoint. You would never know that the Shawinigan Cataractes and Halifax Mooseheads did not play each other last season as there was some animosity among the players during the whole game. Despite a not so great penalty kill tonight, the home Mooseheads came away with the 6-4 victory. The penalties started early with Brady Schultz getting called for hooking at the 4:32 mark and on the ensuing power play Xavier Bourgault got Shawinigan on the board. Less than two minutes later, Jordan Dumais picked up a loose rebound and tied the game up. The 17-year-old would go on to score again late in the first to give Halifax a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. In the middle frame, the Herd quickly extended their lead to 4-1 with goals from Zachary L'Heureux and Senna Peeters in the first 91 seconds of the period. Another two power play goals from the Cataractes made it a very close game at the end of 40 minutes but Brady James was able to make some really nice saves throughout the match to get another win after a few more goals were scored in the third. 

FINAL: Cataractes 4 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Nadeau SHA | 2. Elliot Desnoyers HAL | 1. Jordan Dumais HAL
Attendance: 5,250
MC's Top Herd: Jordan Dumais

Game Log
First period
5:39 SHA Xavier Bourgault (3), PP | A: Nadeau & Veillette
7:24 HAL Jordan Dumais (2) | A: Desnoyers & L'Heureux 
18:18 HAL Jordan Dumais (3) | A: Desnoyers & L'Heureux

Second period 
0:50 HAL Zachary L'Heureux (1), PP | A: Dumais & Desnoyers
1:31 HAL Senna Peeters (1) | A: None
6:25 SHA Olivier Nadeau (5), PP | A: Bourque & Bourgault
13:09 SHA Mavrik Bourque (1), PP | A: Booth & Nadeau

Third period 
5:07 HAL Elliot Desnoyers (2) | A: Dumais
14:32 SHA Marek Sramaty (1) | Bourque & Nadeau
19:40 HAL Zack Jones (1), EN | A: Desnoyers 

Powerplay: SHA - 3-for-4; HAL - 1-for-6
Shots: 32-24 for Halifax

SCORES
Cape Breton 5 at Saint John 4 SO
Sherbrooke 7 at Baie-Comeau 6
Quebec 6 at Rouyn-Noranda 2
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 at Val-d'Or 3
Drummondville 6 at Victoriaville 0
Gatineau 0 at Chicoutimi 3

Missing in Action: Attilio Biasca, Alexandre Tessier & James Swan

Up next: Our Halifax Mooseheads will go on the road again to visit the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday. Game time is 4 p.m.

Game Day 5: vs. Shawinigan

PREVIEW - For the first time since March 6, 2020 our Halifax Mooseheads will be playing a Quebec-based team tonight as the Shawinigan Cataractes come to town for a Friday night match. Halifax picked up a big win last Saturday when the defeated the Charlottetown Islanders on home ice and they will be looking to take that momentum into this evening's game. Shawinigan boasts a similar record to the Mooseheads early in the season but could be more lethal now that they have all three NHL prospects in their lineup. Forward Mavrik Bourque made his season debut on Wednesday in Sydney after the Dallas Stars kept him in training camp for a lengthy time. The Cataractes also have Buffalo Sabres' 2021 pick Olivier Nadeau and Xavier Bourgault who was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1st round of the same draft. All three forwards led Shawinigan in scoring during the 2020-21 season with a combined total of 128 points. With Elliot Desnoyers and Zachary L'Heureux back in the lineup for Halifax, the Herd will hopefully get some offence going and they need it as they are currently 16th overall in goals scored. This evening's game is fridge magnet giveaway night so the first 3,000 fans will receive a 2021-22 fridge magnet schedule. 

Game coverage
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry | Post-game: Halifax Mooseheads

Overall records
Cataractes: 2-1-0-2 = 6 points (2nd in Central division, 8th overall)
Mooseheads: 2-1-0-1 = 5 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 9th overall)

Leading scorers
HAL: Mathieu Cataford 3pts (1G & 2A), Jordan Dumais 3pts (1G & 2A), Senna Peeters 3pts (3A)
SHA: Olivier Nadeau 6pts (4G & 2A), Xavier Bourgault 6pts (2G & 4A), Lorenzo Canonica 5pts (3G & 2A)

Head-to-head
Halifax had a 0-2-0-0 record against the Cataractes in the 2019-20 season while Shawinigan was 2-0-0-0 versus the Mooseheads. Kirill Nizhnikov led the Cats with 3 points as Shawinigan picked up a 8-3 victory in the last game featuring these two teams on March 1, 2020 while D'Artagnon Joly had 3 assists to lead Halifax. 

Last games

Shawinigan picked up a 3-2 overtime win in Cape Breton against the Eagles on Wednesday. Lorenzo Canonica scored the game winner while goaltender Charles-Antoine Lavallee made 26 saves to give the Cataractes the victory. 

Halifax is coming off a big 2-0 victory over the Charlottetown Islanders last Saturday. David Lafrance and Robert Orr scored for the Mooseheads while Brady James had a 32-save shutout which earned him the CHL Performer of the Night honours. 

Not playing - I think James Swan and Attilio Biasca are still out with injuries 

Out of town
Sea Dogs vs. Eagles - 7:00 p.m.
Drakkar vs. Phoenix - 8:00 p.m.
Huskies vs. Remparts - 8:00 p.m.
Foreurs vs. Armada - 8:00 p.m.

Tigres vs. Voltigeurs - 8:00 p.m.

Sagueneens vs. Olympiques - 8:30 p.m.

After the buzzer
Halifax head to the province of New Brunswick for a battle against the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 4 p.m.