STATS SUNDAY: Preseason

The Herd have finished their pre-season schedule after playing provincial rivals Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Friday night.

Team stats
Games played: 9
Scores*: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 0-4, 1-6, 6-1, 7-2, 5-3, 1-5
Record: 6-3-0-0, 12pts
Goals for/against: 32 / 27
Powerplay: 13.6%
Penalty kill: 81.2%

Team leaders
Points: Cooper Jones (7pts), Arnaud Durandeau (6pts), Walter Flower (6pts)
Goals: Raphael Lavoie (4), Arnaud Durandeau (3), Barrett Dachyshyn (3)
Assists: Cooper Jones (7), Walter Flower (4), Otto Somppi (3)
Penalty minutes: Jordan Lepage (20), Mathieu Charlebois (17), Dominik Blain-Dupuis (14)
Plus/minus: Jared McIsaac (+9), Raphael Lavoie (+5), Morgan Nauss (+4)

Goaltending stats
Kevin Resop    2-1-0-0    3.15 GAA    0.883 SAV%
Alexis Gravel    3-2-0-0    3.26 GAA    0.866 SAV%


*Mooseheads score is firstNote: Moncton rookie tournament results are included.

Former Moose at NHL Rookie Camps

There's a few former Halifax Mooseheads that have been invited to National Hockey League rookie camps that begin this week.

Below is a list of all the former Herd who are on rookie camp rosters:
Zach Fucale - Montreal Canadiens - Sept 15-21
Matt Murphy - Winnipeg Jets - Sept 15-19
Cody Donaghey - Ottawa Senators - Sept 15-18
Timo Meier - San Jose Sharks - Sept 15-21
Danny Moynihan - Vancouver Canucks - Sept 15-19
Cavan Fitzgerald - San Jose Sharks - Sept 15-21

Former star Mooseheads goaltender Zach Fucale is participating in his third rookie camp with the Montreal Canadiens and will try to make the Habs this season as back up for Carey Price. The 21 year old will have to beat two other rookie goalies to get a chance to prove himself in main camp which begins next week. Montreal is apart of the Toronto Maple Leafs Rookie Tournament held in London, ON each year. Fucale and the Canadiens will play games against the Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend. Herd alumni Cody Donaghey will also participate in the tournament with the Sens. Donaghey was originally drafted by the Leafs but his rights were traded to Ottawa last season. This will be the 19 year old's second rookie camp.

Two other alum will be battling against each other out west this weekend. Matt Murphy was invited to Winnipeg Jets rookie camp after participating in the Anaheim Ducks development camp back in July. The 21 year old went undrafted but has played on good teams and has been invited to multiple NHL camps trying to make the pros. The Jets will play in the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, BC and will have games against the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oliers and host Vancouver Canucks. Recently graduated junior forward Danny Moynihan got the call from the Canucks to participate in their rookie camp and will try to get an invite to main camp while helping bring some victories to the host team.

The San Jose Sharks have a couple of Moose alum in their camp. Timo Meier, who the Sharks drafted in 2015, will look to make the team this season after being sent down to junior last year. Meier is just one of many promising prospect that San Jose has so the 19 year old will have to make a big impression to stay in the NHL. San Jose will play a pair of games against the Anaheim Ducks and Colorado Avalanche in Westminster, CO. Cavan Fitzgerald will also be there after signing with the team back in October. The 20 year old s looking to make the next step in his career and like every hockey player is hoping to become a pro in the National Hockey League this season.

Good luck to all the Mooseheads alumni.

Moose on Eastlink TV 13 Times

Eastlink TV has announced what games your Halifax Mooseheads will be apart of this season. Thirteen regular season Moose matches will be broadcasted by the Atlantic television channel during their Friday Night Hockey schedule.

The Herd's first game on Eastlink this season will be a special Saturday night edition when the team host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at 7pm.

Below is the full list (all game times are 7pm)
October 1   vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
October 21   vs. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
October 28   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
December 9   vs. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
December 30   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
January 6   vs. Moncton Wildcats
January 13   vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs
January 20   vs. Baie-Comeau Drakkar
February 10   at Charlottetown Islanders
February 18   vs. Charlottetown Islanders
February 24   vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan
March 3   at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
March 17   vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

You can find the full schedule here.

Season Opening Roster Announced

YOUR 2016-17 HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

1  Alexis Gravel  G  (Mississauga, ON)*
2  Cooper Jones  D  (Bridgewater, MA, USA)
3  Walter Flower  D  (Lunenburg, NS)
4  Mathieu Charlebois  D  (Blainville, QC) 
5  Jordan Lepage  D  (Rimouski, QC)*
7  Bradley Kennedy  RW  (Antigonish, NS)
13  Nico Hischier  C  (Naters, Switzerland)* 
14  Jared McIsaac  D  (Truro, NS)*
17  Brett Crossley  C  (Dartmouth, NS)
19  Benoit-Olivier Groulx  LW  (Gatineau, QC)*
21  Arnaud Durandeau  LW  (Beaconsfield, QC)
26  Taylor Ford  D  (Lasalle, QC)
28  Ben Higgins  C  (Truro, NS)*
36  Anthony Sorrentino  RW  (Woodbridge, ON)
40  Kevin Resop  G  (St. Petersburg, FL, USA)
41  Maxime Fortier  RW  (Montreal, QC)
50  Raphael Lavoie  C  (Chambly, QC)* 
51  Barrett Dachyshyn  C  (Halifax, NS)
61  Joel Bishop  C  (St. John's, NL)
71  Connor Moynihan  LW  (Boston, MA, USA)
79  Jocktan Chainey  D  (Asbestos, QC)
89  Otto Somppi  C  (Helsinki, Finland)

*indicates rookie

CAMP: Last cut made?

Photo - Metro News

The Halifax Mooseheads announced today the possible last cut of the 2016 training camp. I say possible last cut because we have already seen one change on the roster with a new coach in Andre Tourigny only keeping 7 defenseman instead of the normal 8 and this announcement leaves the Herd with 14 forwards "vying for a spot on the opening night roster" according to the team release.

Halifax released veteran Andrew Shewfelt  Monday afternoon. Shewfelt played three years with the Moose recording 27 goals and 58 points in 177 regular season games.

Good luck to Andrew in the next stage of his career and thank you for your service to the Mooseheads. Moose Country will miss you Shewy.

Kid Mack Helps Team NA Win

Former Halifax Mooseheads star player Nathan MacKinnon helped Team North America to a 4-0 exhibition victory in the World Cup of Hockey on Thursday night.

The 21 year old got the first goal of the game and the last one. Nathan put Team North America on the board shortly after the beginning of the second period, shooting a rebound into the net past Team Europe goaltender Jaroslav Halak on the powerplay. The North Americans, which is made up of players 23 and under from Canada and the United States, potted two more goals by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers) and Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames) in the next 4:43 of the game. In the third period, MacKinnon skated in on a breakaway but was tripped by Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins) which led to a penalty shot. The Cole Harbour, NS native didn't waste his opportunity to put Team NA up by 4 goals as he deked out Halak and backhanded the puck into the back of the net with 8:08 left in the game.

This was the first exhibition match for both teams at the WCH and was held in Quebec City's year old Videotron Arena. The two will meet again over the weekend in Montreal before the 2016 version of the World Cup of Hockey begins for real next Saturday (September 17) at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.

CAMP: Moose going with 7 D

Photo - David Chan (Mooseheads website)

The Halifax Mooseheads announced another cut on Wednesday afternoon, releasing defenseman Adam Nolan from camp.

Nolan, 18, was a free agent invite trying to crack a somewhat young d core. The Mount Pearl, NL native is property of the Valley Wildcats in the Maritime Hockey League and will most likely join the Cats for this season.

The cut left 25 players in camp with the defenseman and goaltending positions looking to be set now. With a new coach brings a new team look, as the Moose will go with 7 blue-liners this year compared to the 8 they have been the last few seasons.


Wednesday also brought the rumor that forward Dominik Blain was put on waivers. Halifax confirmed today (Thursday) that he was in fact put on waives and has been claimed by the Gatineau Olympiques. Blain will now have the chance to play for his hometown team in 2016-17.

Good luck to both players with their teams this seasons.

With this news there is currently 2 goalies, 7 defenseman and 15 forwards remaining in camp. The team has the next 5 days off before shifting their attention to practicing at the Forum next week.