Roy selected 1st overall

Nicolas Roy is now a Screaming Eagle. Roy was selected 1st overall in this year's QMJHL draft by Cape Breton. This is an interesting story in of itself. Earlier in the week, Nicolas' father mentioned that his son would go up on stage and wear the jersey but will not report to the Nova Scotian team next season. I wonder what he will do come August.

Cape Breton had to wait for a little bit after 11 am to make their pick as there were introductions including the Mooseheads were congratulated by the league for winning the Memorial Cup and a standing ovation by the crowd. Highlights of the season were also shown and President Gilles Courteau made his speech.

The top 3 picks went as projected with Antoin Belliveaur and Nathan Noel after Roy going #2 and #3 overall respectively. Noel is yet another hockey player who has trained at Shattuck St-Mary's. He is also from Atlantic Canada being born in Newfoundland.

FUN FACT: This was the first draft for the newly renamed Charlottetown Islanders. According to the Saint John Sea Dogs twitter page, the Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads also had their first drafts in Chicoutimi.

Here is the full list of the first round selections;
1. ROY, Nicolas - Cape Breton
2. BEAUVILLIER, Anthony - Shawinigan
3. NOEL, Nathan - Saint John
4. ROY, Jeremy - Sherbrooke
5. BRISEBOIS, Guillaume - Acadie-Bathurst
6. GAUTHIER, Julien - Val-d'Or fromGatineau
7. BOUCHARD, Jeremy - Chicoutimi
8. HENLEY, David - Val-d'Or from Victoriaville
9. ALAIN, Alexandre - Gatineau from Val-d'Or
10. DOSTE, Alex - Gatineau from Val-D'Or
11. ASKEW, Cameron - Drummondville
12. BELL, Jason - Cape Breton from Rouyn-Noranda
13. SPRONG, Daniel - Charlottetown
14. BROWN, Christophe - Val-d'Or from Moncton
15. MELOCHE, Nicolas - Baie-Comeau from Quebec
16. GALIPEAU, Olivier - Val-d'Or from Blainville-Boisbriand
17. THOMPSON, Will - Saint John from Rimouski
18. ALLARD, Frederic - Chicoutimi from Baie-Comeau
19. GOULET, Alexandre - Charlottetown from Halifax

Stefan Fournier's younger brother Ty was drafted at 24th overall by the Victoriaville Tigres. Congratulations to the Fournier family, they now have 3 sons drafted to the Q league. The oldest Fournier was drafted by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 2008 17th overall, while Dillon was drafted first overall by the Lewiston MAINEiacs in 2010.

Your Halifax Mooseheads picked the following players at the 2013 Draft in Chicoutimi today:
#34 Maxime Fortier (Lac St-Louis of the AAA in Quebec)
#38 Taylor Ford (Lac St-Louis of the AAA in Quebec)
#57 Vincent Watt (Lac St-Louis of the AAA in Quebec)
#91 Jean-Sebastien Talleter {EDIT: JS Taillefer} (Wilkes/Barre Scranton of the Junior in Quebec)
#92 Connor Moynahan {EDIT: Connor Moynihan} (Middlesex Islanders of U16 in New Hampshire)
#128 Jordan King (Western of the AAA in Newfoundland)
#146 Brandon Worthen (Dartmouth of the AAA in Nova Scotia)
#164 Andrew Shewfelt (Dartmouth of the AAA in Nova Scotia)
#182 Jean-Philippe Brais (Chateauguay of the AAA in Quebec)
#200 Alexandre Sanfacon (Notre-Dame of the AAA in Quebec)
#218 Bob Carpenter (Austin of HS in Massachusetts)
#236 Mark Vokey (Pictou of the AAA in Nova Scotia)
#254 Jacob Jacques (Jonquiere of the AAA in Quebec)

With the 254th pick by the Herd, that concludes the first step in the 2013-14 season. Congrats to all players and welcome to the new Halifax Mooseheads.

For complete list of draft picks click here.

Photo: Saint John Sea Dogs twitter page

Beauchemin traded

The Halifax Mooseheads have traded 20-year old Dominic Beauchemin to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan during the 5th round of today's QMJHL draft. The Titan traded their 91st overall pick in the fifth round in return for Beauchemin and they also received 19 year old Joel Blanchard. This caused the Mooseheads to pick back to back to end round 5 of the draft. With the 91st pick, Halifax chose Jean-Sebastien Tallefer who played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Junior in the Quebec Midget AAA league. At their original 92nd pick, the Herd chose Islanders Junior Hockey Club player Connor Moynahan.

TRADE
To Acadie Bathurst - Dominic Beauchemin and Joel Blanchard
To Halifax - Acadie's 5th round 91st pick in the 2013 Draft, originally Cape Breton's


The Herd will now pick at 128th overall in the 7th round next.

National Championship caps off perfect season (overview)

August 18 - start of preseason with a game against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, rookies versus rookies. The Mooseheads won 3-2 at the Halifax Forum .
September 9 - end of preseason, Herd finished with a 4-2-0 record playing two home-and-home series against Cape Breton on either side of a home-and-home against the Moncton Wildcats.
September 16 - Second pre-season game against Saint John Sea Dogs cancelled because too many players are sick with the flu.
September 21 - Halifax opens regular season playing against Cape Breton winning in overtime with a goal by Nathan MacKinnon.
September 23 - first big night for top line as MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Stefan Fournier record 11 points in 8-1 stomping over PEI Rocket.
September 25 - Drouin named CHL Player of the Week.
September 28 - Halifax plays home opener with a game against the Gatineau Olympiques and lose 6 to 1.
October 6 - after a couple of years being the weaker team between arch rival Saint John, Halifax manhandled them in the second game of a home and home at the Metro Centre winning 11-2 with MacKinnon and Ciampini scoring hat tricks.
October 19 - the 5th annual Pink in the Rink event and first sellout of the season in a 4-3 Moose win over Sherbrooke Phoenix.
November 4 - The Mooseheads win streak came to an end in a 6-5 shootout loss after leading 5-1 with 20 minutes to go. Herd won 14 straight games.
November 9 - Halifax play first game on national television in a game versus the Olympiques on Sportsnet.
November 16 -  DND Night with special Navy jerseys. Herd win 8-3 over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
November 25 - Halifax shutout for the first and only time of the season in Moncton against the Wildcats losing 3-0.
November 27 - PA announcer Pat Connolly passes away after losing his battle with cancer. A moment of silence was held before the November 30th game.
November 28 - Nathan MacKinnon named captain of Team Cherry for the 2013 CHL Top Prospects game. Linemate Jonathan Drouin was named his alternate.
December 5 - Halifax ranked #1 CHL team for 5th straight week, new franchise record.
December 12 - Zach Fucale added to Team Cherry along with Nate and Jo. The other 34 players were announced too.
December 13 - MacKinnon and Drouin named to Canada U-20 team.
December 29 - annual Battle of Nova Scotia event played between Halifax and Cape Breton. The Mooseheads won both games of the home-and-home series by scores of 4-1.
January 4 - Teddy Bear Toss game against Saint John and lost in overtime. First home loss in 16 games. It was also 1300th franchise game.
January 10 - Moose trade for Stephen MacAulay from the Sea Dogs and trade Randy Gazzola for Matt Murphy with the Val-d'Or Foreurs. They also released Steve Gillard and Anthony Terenzio.
January 16 - Metro Centre hosts the CHL prospects game. Team Cherry loses 3-0 to Team Orr.
January 18 - team books their ticket to the 2013 QMJHL playoffs.
January 30 - Halifax are knocked out of top spot in CHL rankings after spending 11 weeks on top.
February 20 - Maritime Division champs! Halifax wins 5th division title in franchise history after beating the Sea Dogs
February 20 - surpassed previous high for games won in a season with a win against SJ. New record is now 47 wins in one single season.
March 11 - nominees for Golden Puck awards are announced with 5 Mooseheads listed.
March 17 - played season finale. Finished season not losing in regulation for past 16 games.
March 17 - tied CHL record for most wins in a season after beating Cape Breton 5-2 in front of a sellout crowd.
March 22 - starts playoff against 16th seed Saint John with a big 11-2 win.
March 27 - SWEEP! Halifax wins game 4 on the road in Saint John to sweep the Sea Dogs and start out the playoffs just like 2012.
April 4 - QMJHL Awards night, Jo, Dom, Cam and Konrad win big.
May 10 - Halifax ends playoff run with an almost perfect record losing only one game. The Mooseheads are presented with the president's cup.
May 26 - Mooseheads win Memorial Cup against the #2 ranked CHL team, the Portland Winterhawks, in an almost exact score as first game between the two teams. Nathan scored a hat trick and added 2 assists. Drouin recorded 5 assists, while it was the last junior game for MacAulay, Konrad and Fournier.
May 26 - Nathan is awarded the Memorial Cup MVP and was also the tournament's top scorer. MacKinnon, Fucale, Abeltshauser and Frk were named to the All-Star team.
May 27 - fans gather at airport to welcome the team home.
May 28 - Mooseheads Day! cup parade and autograph session put on for fans.

Marchand to Finals

Halifax Mooseheads alumni Brad Marchand is off to the Stanley Cup finals once again after he and the Boston Bruins swept the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight with a 1-0 Game 4 win. Marchand assisted on the only goal of the game which came at 5:01 of the third period. With the assist, the fourth year player concluded the Eastern Conference Finals with 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games. He now has 13 points in the first three rounds. The Bruins will now play the winner of the Chicago/Los Angeles series. I believe that Chicago will win tomorrow night in Game 5.

The Boston Bruins have now beat both of my favourite teams in this year's playoffs. The funny thing is that the Toronto Maple Leafs (who were not projected to make the playoffs let alone as the 5th seed in the East) were a tougher opponent to beat than the New York Rangers and the Penguins combined.

Marchand, who grew up in the St. Margaret's Bay area of Nova Scotia, was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2004 QMJHL draft by the Moncton Wildcats. He played two seasons with the Wildcats before being traded to Val-d'Or Foreurs and finally playing his last 26 junior games with the Herd in the 2007-2008 season. He recorded 29 points while with his hometown team and added 19 more points in 14 playoff games that season as the Moose went on to the QMJHL semifinals only to lose in a sweep to Gatineau.

It's official

It's finally official. Dominique Ducharme, the Head Coach of your 2013 Memorial Cup champions Halifax Mooseheads, will return next season to coach the team hopefully to another awesome season. General Manager Cam Russell has also signed a new contract with the Herd. Dom signed a 3-year contract extension while Russell also signed a 3 year deal. It was also announced that Goalie coach Eric Raymond, assistant head coaches Jim Midgley and Steve Hartley will be back for the 2013-14 season. Here is the press release.

All I have to say about this is: smart move Bobby Smith. Congratulations to both Dom and Cam, hoping you will bring many more Cups to the city of Halifax.

The Matt Boudreau trade became official on Friday as well after rumors started early last week that he would be traded to Shawinigan. He officially is a Cataract now with Halifax receiving a first round pick in 2014.

In other draft news, Halifax and Val-d'Or traded first round picks with the Mooseheads receiving one in 2015 and the Foreurs getting our 2014 pick.

That would be all during the trade period on Friday morning. Look back tomorrow for all of Halifax's draft choices as they start the day off in the second round in Chicoutimi picking at 34th.

Subway Series hosts announced

The Canadian Hockey League, along with Subway and the other 3 leagues, announced yesterday the hosts for the 2013 Subway Super Series which will be played November 18 to 28, 2013.

Each of the three leagues host two games in two different cities. Once again the Russian Selects will play the QMJHL all-stars in the first two games followed by the OHL and finally the WHL. The Gatineau Olympiques and Sherbrooke Phoenix will be the host cities for Quebec. The OHL hosts will be the Oshawa Generals and Sudbury Wolves while the Red Deer Rebels and Lethbridge will be the final two hosts. The all star teams for each league contains players from that league who are selected, mainly candidates from each league who have a chance to play for the Canadian World Junior Team. The Russian Selects are players from the country's Junior Team including some of the Russians in the CHL.

The full schedule is as follows:
November 18 - Quebec vs. Russia - Gatineau
November 20 - Quebec vs. Russia - Sherbrooke
November 21 - Ontario vs. Russia - Oshawa
November 25 - Ontario vs. Russia - Sudbury
November 27 - Western vs. Russia - Red Deer
November 28 - Western vs. Russia - Lethbridge

For the full press release click here.

Herd Word

2013 QMJHL DRAFT
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft will be happening this weekend on Saturday in Chicoutimi. Most teams from the Maritimes already made their way to the Quebec city yesterday, including our very own Halifax Mooseheads. Since the Moose won the Memorial Cup they are lined up to draft last in each round but because of previous trades that is not usually the case including the first round pick which is now Gatineau's. Halifax has 12 picks in total.

According to QMJHL.ca this is where your Mooseheads will be picking on Saturday:
2 - 34 (look below)
2 - 38th
4 - 57th (from Cape Breton)
5 - 92nd
7 - 128th
8 - 146th
9 - 164th
10 -182nd
11 - 200th
12 - 218th
13 - 236th
14 - 254th

For a full list click here.

AMERICAN PICKS
The two American picks from the 2012 Q draft that Halifax picked have said they will pass on joining the team next year. Jack Eichel and John Hayden were drafted in last year's draft and were not ready to join the Herd this past season. Eichel told the team that he wanted to return to his country's development program for next season while Hayden said he has committed to Yale University. It would've been nice to see both boys play next season. I think they would've been good additions from what I have seen of course playing in the world juniors is a lot different than playing a full season.

All teams are required to pick two Americans in each year's draft. It will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday. Halifax gets to pick at number 34 now as compensation for forfeiting his rights.

CHARLOTTETOWN
Are we going to see the new jerseys for the Charlottetown Islanders this weekend? I guess we will have to wait and see. The more I look at the logo and other pictures of it, the more the colors are growing on me. It actually does look nice.

DUCHARME
According to Metro Halifax, Head Coach "Dominique Ducharme has no plan of leaving the Halifax Mooseheads anytime soon." This is good news for Moose fans but as real hockey knows it doesn't take just a coach to form a championship team. Coach Ducharme is looking to sign a multi-year deal with the team and told the Metro that "there is no other place that I would coach junior." He is currently in Chicoutimi for the QMJHL draft.

FUCALE
I'm a little late on this news but I have been trying to get the season recap post done and I'm still not. Anyways, Zach Fucale has been invited to Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence Goaltending Camp later this month. He is one of 8 Quebec League goalies that were invited. The camp will run from June 13-16 in Calgary. Practices are open to the public.