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. 

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%