Halifax/Moncton Win World Juniors Bid

Earlier this month, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that the cities of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick have won the bid to co-host the 2023 World Junior Championships. The tournament was originally scheduled to be hosted by Novosibirsk and Omsk, Russia but they were pulled in February in condemnation of the country's invasion in Ukraine. 

It is the second time that Atlantic Canada has been awarded with hosting the prestigious tournament after Halifax and Sydney were joint hosts back in 2003. This will be the third World Juniors hosted in Canada as Edmonton, Alberta has hosted the last two editions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be played Dec. 26, 2022 to Jan. 5, 2023 with 10 countries participating. 

"Nova Scotia is thrilled to be selected to host the 2023 World Juniors, which will be the best tournament to date," said Tim Houston, premier of Nova Scotia. "We are ready to roll out the welcome mat for the players, their families and visiting fans; I'll be in the arena with thousands of Nova Scotians, cheering at each and every game." 

According to Hockey Canada's press release; 'fans eager to purchase tickets for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax and Moncton can enter the 2023 World Juniors Priority Draw for their chance to purchase tickets when they become available. Further ticket information will be announced at a later date.'

This is great news for these two cities, we already know that Halifax can throw a party. Will be interesting to see which Halifax Mooseheads players make the team. I feel like we could see Zach L'Heureux in red and white if he is more disciplined next season. I'm so excited for the World Juniors to be back in Halifax, I was young when it was here in 2003 so I don't really remember it. 

Photo - Hockey Canada website

Mooseheads 2022 Draft Selections

Photo - Mooseheads website

Normally the playoffs would be complete and we would have a Memorial Cup champion but of course everything has been pushed so that means the yearly drafts have as well. We're still quite a way from them happening as they will all take place in the first week of July. 

According to the Mooseheads press release; 'First up on the schedule for General Manager Cam Russell and staff is the CHL Import Draft on Canada Day. The Mooseheads hold the 33rd overall selection in the first round and will be looking to add an impact player to go along with fellow import forward Attilio Biasca. 

The busy July 1st weekend will continue for Russell in the hours following the Import Draft with the trading period set to open up in the QMJHL on Saturday, July 2nd from 9am-Noon ET. The opening of the 2022 QMJHL Entry Draft will be held on Monday, July 4th while rounds 2-14 plus the US Draft will take place the following day.'

Here is where the Herd will be drafting as of today: 
Round 1 - 7th overall (Moncton)
Round 2 - 29th overall
Round 3 - 47th overall
Round 4 - 65th overall
Round 5 - 83rd overall
Round 6 - 101st overall
Round 7 - 119th overall
Round 8 - 137th overall
Round 9 - 155th overall
Round 10 - 173rd overall
Round 11 - 191st overall
Round 12 - 209th overall
Round 13 - 227th overall
Round 14 - 245th overall

In the US draft, Halifax has the 11th and 29th overall picks over the two rounds. 

Check back during that weekend for a full recap of the Herd's draft. Follow the team on Twitter to see live coverage. 

Second Round Matchups Set

It's been a few days and the second round has actually begun but I've had a busy weekend so just getting to this now. Our Halifax Mooseheads were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday night in a small New Brunswick town after the Acadie-Bathurst Titan won Game 5 2-1. With that, the second round matchups have been set. 

Acadie-Bathust trailed 2-0 in the series and forced a winner take all final game by winning Game 4 in triple overtime on Wednesday. It became the longest game in team history after passing the 3:02 mark of the third OT period, the previous record which was set in 2008. 

The second round for the QMJHL 2022 post-season started on Sunday afternoon with the following teams going against each other. Once again, this round is a best-of-five. 

Eastern conference
#1 Quebec Remparts vs. #6 Rimouski Oceanic
#2 Charlottetown Islanders vs. #4 Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Western conference
#1 Sherbrooke Phoenix vs. #5 Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
#2 Gatineau Olympiques vs. #3 Shawinigan Cataractes

These matchups also mean that the Memorial Cup host Saint John Sea Dogs have been eliminated in the opening round in an upset. The club made moves during the season so they could be a top contender this year and win it all however, Rimouski surprised them by winning Game 5 in overtime. 

In the Ontario Hockey League, they are into their conference finals which will see the Hamilton Bulldogs (1) take on the North Bay Battalion (2) in the eastern conference while in the western conference, the Windsor Spitfires (1) will battle the Flint Firebirds (3). 

The conference final matchups in the Western Hockey League are not fully settled but we know three of the four teams that will be participating. The Winnipeg ICE (1) will take on the Edmonton Oil Kings (2) in the eastern conference.and the Kamloops Blazers (2) are still awaiting their opponent. 

Former Moose Playing at Worlds

Even though their seasons are done in the NHL, there are a few former Halifax Mooseheads players that will still have ice time as they have been named to their respective country's rosters for the 2022 IIHF World Championships. The tournament began on Friday, May 13 and will go until the Gold Medal game on May 29.

Two of the players are on the same team as they are from the same country. Timo Meier and Nico Hischier will represent Switzerland this year. The current captain of the New Jersey Devils, Hischier was given the C for the 2022 tournament on Saturday morning before the team plays their first game. Hischier recorded a career best 60 points in the regular season during 2021-22 with 21 goals and 39 assists. Meier led the San Jose Sharks during the year with 76 points (35G & 41A) which was also a career best for the 25-year-old. 

Former star player for our Herd, Nikolaj Ehlers will suit up for Denmark for the third time in his career after picking up 28 goals and 27 assists for 55 points with the Winnipeg Jets. Denmark has completed their first game of the tournament as of the writing of this post, picking up a 9-1 victory over Kazakhstan. Ehlers finished the game with three assists. 

Being in the same group, Switzerland and Denmark will play each other on Sunday. The puck will drop at 2:20pm/ET. 

Congrats to all three players, Moose Country will be cheering you on for the next two weeks. Good luck boys!

Photos - Switzerland National team twitter & NHL website

Top Herd

Now that the regular season is over and we're in the midst of the playoffs, I thought I would announce who the overall Top Herd is for this year. Once again, I asked you my readers for your opinion and vote on a poll which is now closed.  

And the winner is.....

Jordan Dumais

Probably no surprise but Jordan Dumais was the clear winner for the Top Herd even though as you can see below, he was named in game 3 times - a tie with Zachary L'Heureux. Dumais had a great season and led the team with 109 points in 2021-22, which is now the franchise record for most points by a 17-year-old. The Ile Bizard, QC native is in his draft year and will be most likely be back in Moose Country for a couple of more seasons so he could get even better. 

Here is the list of my Top Herd that I have done this season. I didn't name one every game.
Oct 2      Cape Breton - Brady James
Oct 15    Shawinigan - Jordan Dumais
Oct 28    Moncton - Mathis Rousseau
Nov 11   Acadie-Bathurst - Bobby Orr
Nov 26   Rouyn-Noranda - Zachary L'Heureux
Nov 27   Blainville - Brady Schultz
Dec 9     Drummondville - Zachary L'Heureux
Dec 11    Victoriaville - Markus Vidicek
Feb 21    Moncton - Jake Furlong
Feb 24    Saint John - Zachary L'Heureux
Mar 1     Cape Breton - Zack Jones
Mar 8     Charlottetown - Brady James
Mar 10   Sherbrooke - Elliot Desnoyers
Mar 12   Chicoutimi - Evan Boucher
Apr 2      Charlottetown - Markus Vidicek
Apr 8      Moncton - Jordan Dumais
Apr 12    Acadie-Bathurst - Mathis Rousseau
Apr 22    Rimouski - Elliot Desnoyers
Apr 23    Baie-Comeau - Jordan Dumais

Here are the final poll results
Zachary L'Heureux - 0%, Jordan Dumais - 81%, Mathis Rousseau - 5%, Elliot Desnoyers - 14%

3 on Final CSS Rankings

We're at the beginning of May and the Central Scouting Services announced its final rankings for the 2022 National Hockey League entry draft today. There are now 16 teams left without a spot in the post-season who are now concentrating on which players they want to draft and hoping for a chance to pick first overall. 

The Halifax Mooseheads are a young team once again but they had some good production by a few players who are draft eligible. Three Herd sophomores were among the 200+ North American skaters that were ranked. 

I'm not sure why our guys dropped from their mid-term rank, especially Jordan Dumais who didn't just double his point production but more than tripled it from the 2020-21 season but rankings aren't always indicative of where guys will be drafted. 

Leading the way is defenceman Jake Furlong who was ranked #68. Furlong scored four goals and 42 points in 67 games in his second year with the Mooseheads. Despite finishing with 109 points (39G&70A), Dumais was ranked #73 in the final list. Rounding out Herd players on the list, at #116 is Markus Vidicek. The Kirkland, QC native played in all 68 games this season scoring 18 goals and picking up 65 points. 

Photo - Herd website

The 2022 NHL Entry Draft is scheduled to be held at Centre Bell in Montreal, QC July 7-8. The draft lottery to determine the first 16 draft picks will be on May 10.

Alumni Update: Multiple Former Herd Win Championships

Sorry I haven't been doing very well at keeping you updated on how the alumni of our Halifax Mooseheads have done this season, with school and now a job and all the craziness that COVID has caused it's been difficult to keep track. As you know, it's hard to pay attention to the leagues overseas but since we're starting the playoffs here in the QMJHL I thought I would give you an update. 

USPORTS
Let's start with the university season. The University Cup was held in Wolfville, NS in early April with 8 universities participating. I had already mentioned who was in the tournament and that 7 Herd alumni were on team rosters but I never gave an update on the blog who won the whole thing. Goaltender Aleix Gravel and defenceman Jordan Lepage along with their UQTR Patriotes went into the weekend as OUA champions and ranked third. The Patriotes defeated the UBC Thunderbirds and Ryerson Rams to punch their ticket in the gold medal game. They battled the #1 Alberta Golden Bears but came out on top in double overtime after being down 4-2 after 40 minutes. Gravel made 66 saves in the contest and was named tournament MVP after the game. 

In the bronze medal game, the StFX X-Men got the 3-2 overtime victory over the Ryerson Rams. Former Moosehead Blade Mann-Dixon did not play but Patrick Kyte did for the X-Men. Forward Kevin Gursoy scored a goal for the Rams and was named Ryerson's player of the game in the loss. 

Congrats to Gravel, Lepage and the Patriotes on winning the David Johnston University Cup and to Kyte, Mann-Dixon and the X-Men getting the bronze medal. 

CZECHIA
In Czech Republic, a couple of former Moose players battled it out in the final best-of-7 series where the championship trophy was won on April 28. Milan Jurcina and Sparta Praha took on Petr Vrana and Trinec with Trinec coming out on top to win the Czech Extraliga for the third straight season. 

Jurcina had an assist in 23 games played during the regular season and the same in 16 playoff games. This is the third season Milan has played for Praha after a few years in the DEL. The 38-year-old suited up for Halifax between 2000-2003 collecting 53 points. Vrana meanwhile has been on all three championship teams for Ocelari Trinec, captaining the last two seasons. In the regular season, the 37-year-old had 13 goals and 26 points in 52 games and added 6 points in 14 post-season matches. 

Congrats to Petr Vrana and HC Ocelari Trinec on winning the Czech Extraliga championship. 

Regular season stats

Petr Vrana           Trinec       52   13   13   26
Jan Stransky        Boleslav   52    6     3    9
Cody Donaghey  Kladno      34    1    1    2
Milan Jurcina      Praha        23    0    1    1

EIHL

More congratulations are in order as another former Herd won a championship trophy recently, this time in the EIHL which is a league in the United Kingdom. Jake Coughler and the Cardiff Devils defeated the Belfast Giants in the final game 6-3 with Coughler actually scoring in the match. The 26-year-old finished the regular season with 21 goals and 35 points for Cardiff before adding 4 points in 4 games during the post-season. 

Regular season stats
Gabriel Desjardins   Dundee          49   13   27   40
Cameron Critchlow  Manchester   54   14   23   37

Jake Coughler           Cardiff          33   21  14   35

DEL
Konrad Abeltshauser and the EHC Red Bull Munchen were back in the final series again for the first time since the 2018-19 season but they couldn't get over Eisbaren Berlin on Wednesday evening. Berlin were victorious winning the series 3-1. Abeltshauser scored a goal and recorded 5 points in 8 post-season games. The 29-year-old had 3 goals and 25 points in 50 games played during the regular season. 

Regular season stats
Stephen MacAulay      Dussseldorfer   56   13   25   38
Konrad Abeltshauser   Munchen          50    3    22   25
Marcel Barinka            Kolner              48   11   12   23
Andrew Bodnarchuk    Nurnberg         42    2    11   13

ECHL
Over here in North America, the ECHL finished their regular season a few weeks and are waiting the start of the second round. The teams remaining to participate in the division finals include Reading, Newfoundland, Florida, Jacksonville, Toledo, Wheeling, Utah and Rapid City. Forward Randy Gazzola is the lone remaining Moose alumni in the post-season and he led all alumni who played in the ECHL in points during the regular season.  

      

 

AHL
The playoffs for the American Hockey League is a bit confusing as the second round will begin before the first one is scheduled to conclude. Partially because of that and the fact that guys seem to go up and down between the AHL and ECHL, I will just give you the regular season stats. Forward Martin Frk had a great year for the Ontario Reign scoring 40 goals and 73 points in 58 games. The 28-year-old also was named to the AHL second all-star team. 

NHL

Despite nine alum playing regularly in the top professional league during 2021-22, there are only 3 guys who are competing for the Stanley Cup. Mackenzie Weegar and the Florida Panthers were the top team in the NHL during the regular season, picking up 122 points. Florida is taking on the Washington Capitals in the first round which began May 3. The Colorado Avalanche were the next best team and are up 1-0 in their series against the Nashville Predators. Former Herd Nathan MacKinnon scored twice for the Avs in Game 1. Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins series versus the Carolina Hurricanes started on May 2. 

Good luck to the remaining players who are battling it out for trophies. Follow me on Twitter (MC_MooseCountry) as that will be where the most up to date info on current and former Mooseheads is shared. 

For more player statistics, check out Elite Prospects to see how our alumni did during the regular season. 

Photos - Radio-Canada, Trinec Twitter, Devils Twitter