Moose To Start Season At Home

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced the 2022-23 regular season schedule yesterday afternoon. 

For the first time since 2013, our Halifax Mooseheads will open the season on Scotiabank Centre ice when they welcome the Charlottetown Islanders on September 23. The two teams will battle each other again the next night in Charlottetown. Both matches have 7 p.m. start times. 

Some highlights from the schedule:

• The first Quebec road trip will be at the end of the following month, with the Mooseheads visiting Blainville-Boisbriand, Val-d'Or and Rouyn-Noranda from October 26-29. 
• With the World Juniors being held in Halifax, the team will not be able to play at home meaning that the normal before New Year's Battle of Nova Scotia series won't happen but the team could decide to move it to another date. 
• The longest home streak is 5 games between January 8-19 while the longest road trip also happens to be 5 games from November 25 to December 3. 
• Halifax will once again have a Family Day matinee on home ice welcoming division rivals the Moncton Wildcats at 2 p.m. 
• The Herd will finish the regular season with a three game home-stand and wrap it up on March 25 against the Islanders. Puck is scheduled to drop at 4 p.m. 

Events will be announced at a later date, let's hope that we can have the full slate of normal themed games this season. 

Herd Word: MacKinnon Off to Cup Finals

STANLEY CUP FINALS
The NHL Stanley Cup final series will begin on Wednesday and it will include a former Halifax Mooseheads player. Nova Scotia native Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche will be looking for the franchise's third Stanley Cup after sweeping the Edmonton Oilers last week in the conference finals. This will be first trip to the Stanley Cup final for MacKinnon in his career. The Herd alum scored a pivotal goal and registered seven shots on goal in the series clinching game which ended with a 6-5 score in overtime. Nathan has contributed 11 goals and 7 assists for 18 points in Colorado's 14 postseason games that has seen the team post an incredible 12-2 record in series wins over Nashville, St. Louis and Edmonton. The Avalanche had to wait a few days to find out who their opponent would be but now know and will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning for the trophy. Tampa is looking for their third straight championship. 

TICKETS

Our Halifax Mooseheads announced the prices and benefits for the 2022-23 season tickets the other day. One of the biggest benefits is the first right to not keep their seat for the 2023 World Juniors as long as you get your packages before July 15. Full season ticket packages begin at $225 for a youth ticket. Also available is the normal 15-game pack plus a family flex 20 package. 

Prices for a season membership are below:
                Red     Green

Adult       $615     $575
Senior     $515     $475
Student   $385     $445
Youth      $265     $225

Fans can get on the waiting list by going to the tickets page here or call 492-3470 as full packages don't go on sale until June 22. 

Q AWARDS
Mooseheads forward Jordan Dumais was named the QMJHL's most sportsmanlike player of 2022 a couple weeks ago. To be considered for the Frank J. Selke trophy, a player must prove his efficiency on the ice, demonstrate the utmost respect for opponents and officials as well as avoid the penalty box. One of the top used forwards on the Mooseheads, the Ile-Bizard, QC native spent no more than six minutes in the penalty box all season. Check out Dumais being presented the award here. Awesome job Jordan!

The league has been handing out the Golden Puck awards and recently announced the all-star rookie team for the 2021-22 season with Herd forward Mathieu Cataford cracking the list. Cataford led all 16-year-olds players in points with 46 after Halifax selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 Q entry draft. Congrats to Mathieu on being given the honour. 

PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE

Our Halifax Mooseheads released their pre-season schedule for the upcoming season. The Herd will play a total of six games starting on August 23 with a trip to Sydney against the Cape Breton Eagles. Halifax's three home pre-season matches will be played at the RBC Centre in Dartmouth. Tickets will go on sale later in the summer. 

Full schedule below
August 23   Halifax at Cape Breton   7pm    Glace Bay Miners Forum
August 24   Cape Breton at Halifax   7pm    RBC Centre
August 26   Saint John at Halifax   7pm    RBC Centre
September 9   Halifax at Saint John   7pm    Centre Aitken 
September 11   Halifax at Cape Breton   3pm    Centre 200
September 16   Cape Breton at Halifax   7pm    RBC Centre

The regular season schedule was also announced on Tuesday but I will do a separate post for that. 

MEMORIAL CUP
Three of the four teams that will participate in the Memorial Cup are known now after the Edmonton Oil Kings won the WHL championship last night over the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Oil Kings won their series 4-2 after a 2-0 Game 6 victory in Alberta. Edmonton will join the Shawinigan Cataractes and the Saint John Sea Dogs in Saint John for the 2022 tournament. Shawinigan won the QMJHL title on June 11 with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 5. The OHL trophy will be handed out tomorrow evening as Game 7 is set to go in Hamilton between the hometown Bulldogs and the Windsor Spitfires. 

Congrats to Shawinigan and Edmonton on winning their respective leagues and to whoever wins the OHL. 

Photos - NHL and Mooseheads website, Sea Dogs Twitter

Team Award Winners Announced

Over the last few weeks, the Halifax Mooseheads have been announcing the winners of the team awards for the 2021-22 season on social media with video clips of each recipient. Below are the winners.

Steele Subaru Trophy: Jake Furlong
Scotia Fuels Award: Mathis Rousseau
Eastlink Trophy: Elliot Desnoyers
Sarah Morris Memorial Trophy: Bobby Orr
Avis Award: James Swan & Zack Jones
Scotiabank Centre Trophy: Elliot Desnoyers
Best Sportsmanship Trophy: Brady Schultz
Tim Hortons Trophy: Markus Vidicek
Sue Moore Memorial Fans' Choice Award: Evan Boucher
Gallagher Insurance & Risk Management Award: Mathieu Cataford
Steele Auto Group MVP Trophy: Jordan Dumais

Jordan Dumais - Mooseheads' 21-22 MVP 
Photo - Saltwire

President's Cup Finals Begin Saturday

It's never happened before but we're going to get QMJHL playoff hockey in June as the final round begins on Saturday night. The final series will see the Charlottetown Islanders and the Shawinigan Cataractes go up for the President's Cup.

No former Halifax Mooseheads players are on either team. Charlottetown defeated the only remaining alumni, Xavier Parent and the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the third round 3 games to 1. Parent ended his junior career with 22 points in 11 playoff games. Shawinigan meanwhile forced a Game 5 against the league-leading Quebec Remparts and got the victory to win their series 3-2.

Charlottetown will have home ice advantage. The winners will represent the QMJHL at the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John, NB later this month. 

Full schedule below

Game 1 Saturday June 4 at 7pm Charlottetown vs. Shawinigan
Game 2 Sunday June 5 at 7pm Charlottetown vs. Shawinigan
Game 3 Wednesnday June 8 at 8pm Shawinigan vs. Charlottetown
Game 4 Thursday June 9 at 8pm Shawinigan vs. Charlottetown 
*Game 5 Saturday June 11 at 5pm Charlottetown vs. Shawinigan
*Game 6 Monday June 13 at 8pm Shawinigan vs. Charlottetown
*Game 7 Wednesday 15 at 8pm Charlottetown vs. Shawinigan

All times Atlantic
* if necessary

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.