Well we are officially in the second half of the regular season as game 33 will see our Halifax Mooseheads visit their provincial rivals, the Cape Breton Eagles on a rare Monday evening. Halifax didn't start the post-holiday break portion on a good foot being defeated by Bathurst on Saturday night and will hope to get back in the win column this evening. The Mooseheads have scored the least amount of goals this season with only 74 but the Eagles haven't hit triple digits either as they sit at 97 goals. Cape Breton is led in scoring by Sambro, NS native Jacob Newcombe who missed the first half of the 2023-24 season after being diagnosed with cancer and was named captain of the Eagles in September. It's retro night in Sydney in front of a sold out crowd.
Head-to-head Halifax is 1-1-1-0 against the Eagles this season while Cape Breton has a 2-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two clubs met on November 22 with the home Eagles winning 7-3, Antoine Fontaine led the Herd in the loss recording a goal & an assist.
Out of town Armada vs. Remparts - 8:00 p.m.
Next game These two provincial rivals will meet again tomorrow to close out 2024 in Halifax. Puck drops at 2 p.m.
WORLD JUNIORS There isn't officially a Halifax Mooseheads representative that will be playing at the 2025 World Juniors but alum forward Mathieu Cataford was named last week to Team Canada's roster for the annual holiday tournament. He is one of only two QMJHL players on the team. It is the first time that the 19-year-old will wear the red and white in his career. Meanwhile, Herd rookie defenceman Carlos Handel was invited to Germany's selection camp and will be hoping to prove himself that he deserves to be on the final team.
Teams don't have to submit their final roster until late Christmas Eve. Congrats to Cataford on making Team Canada and good luck to Handel at the selection camp with Team Germany.
SPRYNAR Forward Jan Sprynar has made the decision to not return to the Mooseheads after the Christmas break and has signed a contract with HC Verva Litvinov in Czechia to continue his career. The 19-year-old will play professionally in his home country after recovering from an upper-body injury that he sustained on December 6th. He had 9 points for Halifax this season and a total of 29 points in 47 games for the club since being acquired by the Herd at last year's trade deadline.
Thank you Jan for your contributions in Moose Country and good luck with your new team.
MOOSE TRACKS Episode 4 of the second season of Moose Tracks has been released on the team's YouTube channel but you can find it below. This one includes scenes from Liam Kilfoil's billet house, captain Brady Schultz on a ride to the game and Shawn Carrier discussing his move to Halifax.
BARRON Former Herd defenceman Justin Barron is on the move again. The 23-year-old was traded to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday by the Montreal Canadiens and will be back with former teammate Zach L'Heureux. After being drafted by Colorado 25th overall in the 2020 NHL draft, the Halifax, NS native has played 111 games in the top professional league so far with all but two of those for Montreal. Barron has scored 1 goal only in 17 games played in 2024-25 but has 13 goals and 31 points in his career.
Good luck to Justin in Nashville.
Photo - LeNouvelliste.ch
POINT LEADERS There are a few Moose alumni who sit on top of some different leagues at the time of this writing. James Swan (2020-2022) leads all former Herd players in points so far this season with a total of 56 points but is third in the QJHL in 28 games suiting up for the Valleyfield Braves. Star Nathan MacKinnon (2011-2013) became the first NHL player to hit 50 points in 2024-25 and he actually recorded his 600th career assist on December 10 against Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old has 13 goals and 37 assists in 33 games. Forward Peter Reynolds is tied for the AUS league lead at the Christmas break with 29 points (16G & 13A) for the top-ranked UNB Reds. He and teammate Benjamin Corbeil actually lead all of the U-Sports players and this is only his first year of university hockey.
Another forward that is tied for a league lead is Samuel Asselin (2018-2019), who decided to move to Europe to play pro hockey in the summer and seems like it was the right choice. The 26-year-old has 44 points (19G & 25A) for HC Sierre in the SL. His current teammate Josh Lawrence (2022-2023) is third in scoring with 36 points in 30 games played. Meanwhile, Randy Gazzola is the defensive leader of the ICEHL while suiting up for Asiago.
PODCAST The third episode of the new podcast "This is Moose Country" was released today and includes guest appearances by newcomer Quinn Kennedy and veteran Owen Phillips.
MURPHY There might be more stories like this one regarding alum but its the only one I have seen recently. Former Herd d-man Matt Murphy has been acquired by the Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters in the ECHL from the Cincinnati Cyclones. Murphy skated in 20 games for the Cyclones in 2024-25, scoring two goals and adding six assists. The 29-year-old has suited up for multiple teams since spending five years at UNB and was able to win a professional title with the Fort Wayne Komets in 2021.
UP NEXT The QMJHL is on Christmas break and the winter trade period opened on Monday. Our Halifax Mooseheads will be back on the ice on December 28 visiting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7pm. The Herd will be looking to end a losing streak against the Titan as they are 0-2-2-0 versus Bathurst this season. Halifax will then head to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Eagles on December 30 before the two clubs battle each other again in Moose Country the following afternoon to finish 2024. Puck drops at 2:00 p.m., tickets are still available.
The Halifax Mooseheads moved two players on the opening day of the winter trade period. Forward Lou Levesque and defenceman Jack Martin were traded to the Rimouski Oceanic yesterday and in return the Herd received right winger Quinn Kennedy plus a 2026 second round pick.
Although it might not have been the most expected trade by the fans, it is a good move for the players as Levesque and Kennedy will be closer to home. Kennedy is a native of Upper Tantallon, NS and was selected by Rimouski 9th overall in the 2022 QMJHL draft. The 18-year-old scored 21 goals and recorded 45 points last season and has 16 points already in 2024-25. He is known for his offensive abilities.
Photo - CHL website
Levesque meanwhile, requested to be closer to his family and Cam Russell was able to accommodate that request. The 18-year-old had 12 goals and 33 points in 2023-24 during his rookie season. He become a fan favourite in Moose Country over the last year and a half. Martin was drafted by Halifax 55th overall in 2021 and played 152 games for the Herd. The Upper Covedale, NB native had a career-high 13 points in the 2022-23 season and was on his way to pass that total as he recorded 12 points in 30 games this year.
"We're excited to get a player of Quinn's calibre. He was a high draft pick who has an excellent skill set. Quinn's abilities will be a nice addition on our power play unit. I know he's also very excited to play for his hometown team," said GM Russell.
Good luck to Lou and Jack with the Oceanic as they battle for the Memorial Cup and thank you boys for playing your hearts out while in Halifax. Welcome to Moose Country Quinn, we look forward to watching you continue your career here.
Every month, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announces a Scholastic Player of the Month which recognizes a player on each team with his performance on ice and in the classroom. The player is selected based on their school results, their implication, the school-hockey conciliation, their team spirit and their on-ice performances.
For your Halifax Mooseheads, Shawn Carrier was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for November.
WORLD U17 Halifax Mooseheads associate coach Brad MacKenzie assisted Canada White to a gold medal at the 2024 World U17 Hockey Challenge earlier this month in Sarnia. In the six team tournament, Canada White defeated Czechia and lost to Sweden in overtime during the preliminary round. It was an all Canada championship match. Congrats to Brad and the rest of Canada White on becoming the U17 champions.
Photo - Hockey Canada website
NCAA RULE CHANGE In a big move, the NCAA voted a couple weeks ago that players who have skated for any of the CHL teams will be allowed to play collegiate hockey in the USA effective August 1, 2025. Previously, CHL players had been considered professionals and barred because of the NCAA's amateurism rules, in part because some CHL have signed NHL entry-level contracts according to the NHL website. While it'll probably increase the pool of talented American players (or Canadians wanting to play college hockey in the States) for the QMJHL, OHL and WHL, it sounds like it could be detrimental to other junior leagues in the country. Universities in Canada will likely feel the affect of this rule change as well. One example of this already is star goaltender for the Moncton Wildcats, Jacob Steinman announced his commitment to play for the Bowling Green Falcons in 2024-25.
Photo - Predators X
L'HEUREUX IN NHL Former Herd forward Zachary L'Heureux made his NHL debut on October 22 and has been able to stay up in top league ever since with the Nashville Predators. The 21-year-old scored his first NHL goal on Monday. L'Heureux, a native of Montreal, QC, has an additional three assists for a total of 4 points in 15 games played. Congrats to Zach.
ATTENDANCE Despite being in a rebuild year, fans in Moose Country are still showing up - at least according to official numbers. The average attendance so far this season of 7,815 is fourth most in team history through the first 10 games. The top three seasons are 2012-13 (8,270) when the team was projected to win the President's Cup, 2018-19 (8,131) and 1999-00 (8,078). Both of the latter seasons were years that the Mooseheads were Memorial Cup hosts. In the summer, the club announced that season ticket holder seats were sold out so that is great considering the Mooseheads didn't have the hype that those other teams did. Whether it's the new arena features and added in-game experiences or the fact that the lineup on the ice has been competitive most games or the fact that half of the matches have been against Quebec teams, nice to see the fans continuing to support the team.
MOOSE TRACKS Episode 3 of Moose Tracks is up on YouTube now but you can watch below. I guess I never shared the first two but you can watch Episode 1 and Episode 2 on the team's channel as well. I believe they only did four episodes last season, so hopefully since this is the third one already they will be doing more this season.
TREY LEWIS Not sure if this was talked about in the above mentioned podcast but Willy Palov posted last week that a new biography about former captain Trey Lewis has hit bookstore shelves. The book is written in french and has been a project for New Brunswick native Bruno Richard since 2020. Richard said he conducted more than 50 interviews of Lewis's friends, former teammates and others who know him best according to the article.
If you know french and enjoy hockey biographies, keep a look out for the book titled Mon idole, Trey Lewis at a store near you.
Photo - Herd website
NEW TEAM THINGS The club has announced a few new adventures this month and it began with the unveiling of a new bus. It features individual leather captain's chairs along with a new window layout and redesigned interior lighting which will provide a better passenger experience on their long road trips. Halifax also opened up a new physical team store that is at Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth. Fans can get everything that has been sold on the online shop the last few years but I think the store has a few small additional items. I checked it out today and they have some nice displays so check it out if you need to do some Christmas shopping. The store will be open during mall hours Monday-Friday.
Scott MacIntosh and former Herd player Brad Cuzner launched the new Mooseheads podcast on Wednesday as well. I'm not sure how often they will put out a new episode but the first one is up on the team's YouTube channel now. Mooseheads ultimate tough guy Trey Lewis was a guest for this week, discussing his career with Halifax and what he has been up to since he graduated junior hockey. Check it out here.
It will be a special game this evening as our Halifax Mooseheads host league-leading scorer Justin Poirier and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for DND Appreciation Night. The Mooseheads will be honouring the military tonight as they continue to raise money for the Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Hospital by wearing themed jerseys and auctioning them off after the match. Halifax has struggled as of late but it isn't unexpected especially with the club dealing with injuries as well. Goaltender Mathis Rousseau has given the guys in front of him a chance pretty much every match he has started and the rest of the team have been competitive mostly. They will need to have another strong complete game as Baie-Comeau is coming into this one on a five game win streak. Like I previously mentioned, the Drakkar also have the current league-leading scorer in Poirier who has 30 points in sixteen games played.
Head-to-head This is the first game between these two clubs this season. Halifax had a 1-0-1-0 record versus the Drakkar last season while Baie-Comeau went 1-0-1-0 as well against the Mooseheads. Their last matchup was November 23, 2023 where Baie-Comeau won 4-3 in overtime in Halifax who was led by Markus Vidicek recording 2 goals and an assist.
Out of town Oceanic vs. Sea Dogs - 5:00 p.m.
Huskies vs. Armada - 5:00 p.m.
Foreurs vs. Tigres - 5:00 p.m.
Eagles vs. Islanders - 7:00 p.m.
Next game
Halifax will finish their four game homestand tomorrow afternoon when they welcome the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Puck drops at 3 p.m.
Every month, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announces a Scholastic Player of the Month which recognizes a player on each team with his performance on ice and in the classroom. The player is selected based on their school results, their implication, the school-hockey conciliation, their team spirit and their on-ice performances.
For your Halifax Mooseheads, Patrick McNab was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for October.
Welcome to November Moose Country. Since we are now well into the 2024-25 season I thought I'd share where former Halifax Mooseheads players are suiting up for this year. First, I'll start with the same league that the Herd play in followed by the professional leagues overseas. Than I'll do the North American leagues.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (5) Alex Carr - Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Mathieu Cataford - Rimouski Oceanic Dylan MacKinnon - Moncton Wildcats Reece Peitzsche - Shawinigan Cataractes Markus Vidicek - Moncton Wildcats
Czechia/Czechia2 (6) Marcel Barinka - HC Vitkovice Jared McIsaac - HC Litvinov David Moravec - HC Energie Karlovy Vary Jan Stransky - BK Mlada Boleslav Petr Vrana - HC Ocelari Trinec Tomas Knotek - HC Slavia Praha (2nd tier)
Liiga/Mestis (3) Antoine Morand - Lukko Otto Somppi - Tappara Evan Boucher - RoKi (2nd tier)
Switzerland (5) Attilio Biasca - EV Zug, NL Filip Zadina - HC Davos, NL Sam Asselin - HC Sierre, SL Josh Lawrence - HC Sierre, SL Yannik Ponzetto - GC Kusnacht Lions, SL
Other European leagues (9) Gabriel Desjardins - SonderjyskE, Denmark Maxime Trepanier - Herlev Eagles, Denmark Frederik Cabana - Heilbronner Falken, Germany3 D'Artagnan Joly - Tilburg Trappers, Germany3 Maxime Fortier - IF Bjorkloven, HockeyAllsvenskan Randy Gazzola - Asiago, ICEHL Senna Peeters - EC-KAC, ICEHL Jordan Lepage - Amiens, Ligue Magnus Andrew Shewfelt - Romford Raiders, NIHL
National Hockey League (9) Justin Barron - Montreal Canadiens Jonathan Drouin - Colorado Avalanche Nikolaj Ehlers - Winnipeg Jets Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils Zachary L'Heureux - Nashville Predators (called up in mid-Oct & currently on Preds roster) Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche Brad Marchand - Boston Bruins Timo Meier - New Jersey Devils MacKenzie Weegar - Calgary Flames
American Hockey League (7) Elliot Desnoyers - Lehigh Valley Phantoms Alexandre Doucet - Grand Rapids Griffins Cavan Fitzgerald - Rockford IceHogs Martin Frk - Calgary Wranglers Jake Furlong - San Jose Barracuda Benoit-Olivier Groulx - Hartford Wolf Pack Raphael Lavoie - Henderson Silver Knights
ECHL (7) Kelly Bent - Orlando Solar Bears Lou-Felix Denis - Reading Royals Taylor Ford - Adirondack Thunder Alexis Gravel - Orlando Solar Bears Jason Horvath - Maine Mariners Cooper Jones - Jacksonville Icemen Matt Murphy - Cincinnati Cyclones
SPHL (2) Kevin Resop - Pensacola Ice Flyers Ben Higgins - Birmingham Bulls
LNAH (4) Garrett Clarke - Jonquiere Marquis Stefan Fournier - Thetford Mines Assurancia Simon Desmarais - Quebec National Olivier Desroches - Thetford Mines Assurancia
AESHL (8) Joel Bishop - St. John's Sr. Caps Chad Earle - Clarenville Caribous Curtis Heffernan - St. John's Sr. Caps Adam Nolan - Conception Bay Blues Justin Pender - Clarenville Caribous Kyle Petten - HGOE CeeBee Stars Brandon Pye - Southern Shore Sr. Breakers Travis Randell - Southern Shore Sr. Breakers
LHSAAAQ (5) Said Abi - La Tuque Loups Eric Brassard - Plessisville Metal Pless Jacob Jacques - Levis Poulin Dev Brian Lovell - Granby Bisons Frederic Piche - Granby Bisons
Canadian Junior A (3) Luke McPhee - Truro Bearcats, MHL James Swan - Valleyfield Braves, LHJQ Liam Welsh - Truro Bearcats, MHL
University Sports (16) Cole Foston - RMC Paladins Brody Fournier - Dalhousie Tigers Kevin Gursoy - TMU Bold Stephane Huard - McGill Redmen Brady James - Concordia Stingers Zack Jones - Acadia Axemen David Lafrance - Ottawa Gees-Gees Ethan Larmand - Queen's Gaels Brock McLeod - York Lions Robert Orr - UPEI Panthers Liam Peyton - Dalhousie Tigers Peter Reynolds - UNB Reds Cole Stewart - St. Francis Xavier X-Men Brendan Tomilson - Acadia Axemen Denis Toner - U de M Aigles Bleus Cameron Whynot - Acadia Axemen
Overage goaltender Mathis Rousseau had maybe his best game of his career and his 48 saves helped the Halifax Mooseheads to a 2-1 shootout victory over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Friday night. As for the guys in front of him, they started a little late but were still able to break the scoreless game at the 10:09 mark of the second period. The first period was an interesting one with the Huskies getting the getting the first 11 shots of the match. Rousseau stood tall when Halifax had to kill off a 4 minute high sticking penalty, with half of it actually being a 5 on 3 after Brady Schultz was called for interference. The shots after 20 minutes were 19-1 for Rouyn-Noranda however the two clubs went to their dressing rooms with the score 0-0. Halifax native Daniel Walters got his first home goal to opening the scoring while Huskies rookie Bill Zonnon tied the game up with under 14 minutes to go in the third. Overtime would solve nothing and it looked like we would be getting an extended shootout before Liam Kilfoil got one past Samuel Meloche as the last normal shooter.
FINAL: Huskies 1 at Mooseheads 2 SO Stars: 3. Liam Kilfoil HAL | 2. Amelio Santini HAL | 1. Mathis Rousseau HAL Attendance: 8,002 MC's Top Herd: Mathis Rousseau
GAME LOG First period No score
Second period 10:09 HAL Daniel Walters (2) | A: Santini & Moser
Third period 6:38 ROU Bill Zonnon (7) | A: Steiner
Overtime No score
Shootout
Huskies Mooseheads
Steiner MISS Sprynar MISS Zonnon MISS Phillips MISS
Verreault MISS Kilfoil GOAL
Powerplay: ROU - 0-for-3; HAL - 0-for-3 Shots: 49-18 in favour of Rouyn-Noranda
Next game
Halifax will continue their home stand welcoming the CHL best Moncton Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3 p.m.
For the first time this season, our Halifax Mooseheads are playing three games in three days on the road and it continues tonight with the team visiting the Victoriaville Tigres. The Mooseheads will look to bounce back from an unfortunate loss on Friday night against Shawinigan that ended 8-1. Rookie defenceman Carlos Handel scored his first career goal during the opening period in the defeat. Halifax still has a good record for a rebuilding team but have been struggling with injuries lately to some of their top guys so you could use that excuse for last night. Victoriaville has a 3-7-1-1 record coming into this evening and had lost 8 straight contests before picking up a 3-0 victory on Thursday night. The Tigres are led by 19-year-old centre Mael Lavigne who has seven goals and 18 points so far this season. Not sure who will get the start in goal for Halifax tonight as both net-minders played yesterday and the club has a busy weekend but hopefully the whole team will use the loss as motivation and come out strong.
Head-to-head This is the first game of the season between these two clubs. Halifax had a 2-0-0-0 record versus the Tigres during the 2023-24 season while Victoriaville went 0-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads. Their last matchup was February 1 where Markus Vidicek's two goals propelled Halifax to a 4-2 win in Victoriaville.
Out of town Cataractes vs. Wildcats - 5:00 p.m. Foreurs vs. Oceanic - 5:00 p.m. Sagueneens vs. Islanders - 5:00 p.m. Voltigeurs vs. Sea Dogs - 5:00 p.m.
Next game The Mooseheads will wrap up this road trip on Sunday afternoon by taking on the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Puck drops at 4:00 pm AT.