Former Mooseheads forward Xavier Parent made his NHL debut last Thursday for the New Jersey Devils. The 24-year-old did not record any points in the game and was a minus-1 as the Devils lost 8-4 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Parent, a native of Laval, QC has stayed up with the big team playing four games so far. He led New Jersey's AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets with 12 points (6G & 6A) in 20 games prior to being called up.
An @NHL debut is one of our favorite things. pic.twitter.com/CacCkjd12E
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) December 11, 2025
I didn't see this until today but Xavier was called up partly because Timo Meier, who also played for Halifax, asked for a personal leave of absence the same day and continues to be out of the lineup. Meier is dealing with a family matter, Moose Country sends their thoughts to Timo at this time.
LIIGA MILESTONE
HANDEL TO WORLD JUNIORS
Defenceman Carlos Handel missed the last three games that Halifax has played as he has been invited to and participating in Team Germany's world juniors training camp. The 18-year-old played in the tournament last year so I suspect we will be cheering for him again this holiday season. Germany will have two exhibition games, against Finland on December 19 and December 21 versus USA. The 2026 World Juniors are being hosted by Minnesota, United States from December 26-January 5 with the Germans in Group A. Handel had 0 points in 5 games during the 2025 version so he'll hope to improve on that and help his country do better than the 9th place finish they had.
MOOSE ACQUIRE ROUSSEAU
Halifax announced on Monday that they have acquired veteran forward Samuel Rousseau from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in exchange for a 2026 5th round draft pick. The move was allowed to be made since Rousseau is a 20-year-old. A native of St. Eustache, QC, Samuel had been playing for the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL this season as the Huskies didn't have any room for him on their roster back in September. He had 30 points in 24 games with the Grizzlies after spending the previous three seasons with Rouyn-Noranda.
Defenceman Carlos Handel missed the last three games that Halifax has played as he has been invited to and participating in Team Germany's world juniors training camp. The 18-year-old played in the tournament last year so I suspect we will be cheering for him again this holiday season. Germany will have two exhibition games, against Finland on December 19 and December 21 versus USA. The 2026 World Juniors are being hosted by Minnesota, United States from December 26-January 5 with the Germans in Group A. Handel had 0 points in 5 games during the 2025 version so he'll hope to improve on that and help his country do better than the 9th place finish they had.
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| Photo - Herd website |
Halifax announced on Monday that they have acquired veteran forward Samuel Rousseau from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in exchange for a 2026 5th round draft pick. The move was allowed to be made since Rousseau is a 20-year-old. A native of St. Eustache, QC, Samuel had been playing for the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL this season as the Huskies didn't have any room for him on their roster back in September. He had 30 points in 24 games with the Grizzlies after spending the previous three seasons with Rouyn-Noranda.
"We are proud to welcome Samuel to the team. His proven leadership and depth of experience will strengthen our work and elevate what we can achieve together," Cam Russell said.
Welcome to Moose Country Samuel!
NEW DRESSING ROOM
The team made a pretty big renovation to the Scotiabank Centre, which most fans will likely never see more than the pictures Halifax shared, and released video of it on social media earlier this week. Halifax introduced their new multi-million dollar, state of the art dressing room facility, allowing the Mooseheads to cement their position at the very top of the CHL as said in the press release. On top of updating the area the players get changed in, the team also added or upgraded a kitchen & lounge area, cold tubs & steam room, and coaches room plus giving the hype tunnel new LED signage.
The team made a pretty big renovation to the Scotiabank Centre, which most fans will likely never see more than the pictures Halifax shared, and released video of it on social media earlier this week. Halifax introduced their new multi-million dollar, state of the art dressing room facility, allowing the Mooseheads to cement their position at the very top of the CHL as said in the press release. On top of updating the area the players get changed in, the team also added or upgraded a kitchen & lounge area, cold tubs & steam room, and coaches room plus giving the hype tunnel new LED signage.
See the full video below.
PWHL IN HALIFAX
Halifax, the city, hosted the first game of the 2025-26 Professional Women's Hockey League's Takeover Tour on Wednesday night. It featured the Toronto Sceptres taking on the Montreal Victoire at the Scotiabank Centre. The over 10,000 fans got their money's worth as the match went to a shootout with Montreal taking the 2-1 victory. Unfortunately, the team (Sceptres) with the Nova Scotians did not win but it was still a good game. It was so nice to see a women's professional hockey match in my hometown. I mention it since former Herd head coach Jim Midgley is currently an assistant coach for Toronto.
The PWHL will be back in Halifax on January 11 as the Ottawa Charge take on the Boston Fleet.
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| Photo - Lukko Facebook |
I haven't really given any props to alumni achieving milestones in leagues that aren't the NHL, mainly because I haven't seen many posts about it but here is one. Antoine Morand, who suited up in the green and red during the 2018-19 season, played in his 200th Liiga regular season game on Friday. The 26-year-old moved over to Europe in 2022, originally signing with SaiPa before being traded to Lukko on January 22, 2024. Morand has 3 goals and 9 assists in 24 games so far this year. As a member of the Mooseheads, the Chateauguay, QC native had 22 goals and 70 points and served as captain.
Congratulations to Antoine, keep it up over there.
TRADE PERIOD
A break in the schedule means that the QMJHL trade period has opened, as of Friday teams can move any player on their roster and the deadline is January 6. Number of moves were made already mainly by Chicoutimi, Blainville, Victoriaville and Cape Breton on the first day. According to Willy Palov, this year will be about patience and perspective for the Halifax Mooseheads. Considering this is the second year of a rebuild, the Herd seem to be doing better at this point of the season than they were projected to so could we see Cam Russell make some moves that bolster the roster? "No big plans right now but obviously there are a few things we're looking at, like every year," Russell said. "We're happy with the core of players that we have and how they're growing. It's a really good group of kids that we're building around, but we're always looking for ways to make our team better."
A break in the schedule means that the QMJHL trade period has opened, as of Friday teams can move any player on their roster and the deadline is January 6. Number of moves were made already mainly by Chicoutimi, Blainville, Victoriaville and Cape Breton on the first day. According to Willy Palov, this year will be about patience and perspective for the Halifax Mooseheads. Considering this is the second year of a rebuild, the Herd seem to be doing better at this point of the season than they were projected to so could we see Cam Russell make some moves that bolster the roster? "No big plans right now but obviously there are a few things we're looking at, like every year," Russell said. "We're happy with the core of players that we have and how they're growing. It's a really good group of kids that we're building around, but we're always looking for ways to make our team better."
