Mooseheads to pick 3rd again

Photo - QMJHL website

The Halifax Mooseheads will select 3rd overall during the upcoming entry draft. 

Even though the Herd did not finish in the lower part of the standings, the club still had a chance to win the draft lottery as they hold the Rimouski Oceanic's first round pick after a previous trade. Halifax had 6 balls in the lottery, giving them the second best odds (at 28.6%) to win, however they slid to third. 

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who had the best odds, won the lottery that was held on Tuesday night and will select first overall. Rouyn-Noranda acquired the pick from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. 

Here's how the top five currently look like:

Here they are! The Top 5 picks of this year's #QDraft! pic.twitter.com/S3TTP1BacT

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) April 21, 2026

This is the second straight year that the Mooseheads will pick 3rd overall. In 2025, Halifax selected defenceman Malik L'Italien. 

Halifax will host the 2026 QMJHL Entry Draft on June 5-6. The Moose also own the 7th overall pick, plus four more picks in the second round. 

In other news....

• There are four current players on the NHL Central Scouting final draft rankings; Oleg Kulebiakin #87, Eddy Doyle #108, Danny Walters #114 and Shawn Carrier #178. Good luck to them at the 2026 NHL Draft in late June. 
• The QMJHL semi-finals are set after the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada defeated the Newfoundland Regiment 4-2 in their series on Monday. Blainville take on the Moncton Wildcats while the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will battle each other in the other series.
• Halifax announced on Tuesday that they have signed free-agent forward Evan Nee. Nee, a native of Arlington, Massachusetts, will join the Mooseheads as he enters his 19-year-old season. 
• Former Herd bench boss Sylvain Favreau has won the Ron Lapointe Trophy after being named the Coach of the Year after leading the Drummondville Voltigeurs to a 40-18-3-3 record in the 2025-26 regular season. 
• Mathis Rousseau, an alumni goaltender of the Mooseheads, has committed to Cornell University after entering the NCAA's transfer portal. 

QMJHL Names Scholastic POM

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, Connor MacPherson was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for March. 

Team	Player	Program	Academic Establishment
Baie-Comeau Drkkar	Liam Armit	Secondaire 5	Polyvalente des Baies
Blainville-Boisbriand Armada	Spencer Gill	Business	Athabasca University
Cape Breton Eagles	Lucas Romeo	Business General	University of New Brunswick – UNB
Charlottetown Islanders	Dylan MacKinnon	Business Administration	Athabasca / UNB
Chicoutimi Saguenéens	Alexandre Desmarais	Sciences humaines	CÉGEP de Chicoutimi
Drummondville Voltigeurs	Filip Kovalcik	High School – Grade 12	Trecin (Stredna Sortova Skola)
Gatineau Olympiques	Michel Myloserdnyy	Business	Northern Pre-University – NPU
Halifax Mooseheads	Connor MacPherson	Business General	St Marys University
Moncton Wildcats	Evan Dépatie	Sciences humaines	CÉGEP à distance
Newfoundland Regiment	Alexis Mathieu	High School – Grade 12	Northern Pre-University – NPU
Québec Remparts	Benjamin Lelièvre	Sciences humaines	CÉGEP Limoilou
Rimouski Océanic	Luke Patterson	Business	University of New Brunswick – UNB
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	Eliot Ogonowski	Sciences humaines	CÉGEP de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Shawinigan Cataractes	Frédéric Bergeron	Secondaire 5	Académie des Estacades
Sherbrooke Phoenix	Éloi Bénard	Secondaire 5	Académie des Estacades
Saint John Sea Dogs	Maxime Côté	High School – Grade 12	Northern Pre-University – NPU
Val-d’Or Foreurs	Hemerick Carbonneau	Sciences de la nature	CÉGEP de Val-d’Or
Victoriaville Tigres	Simon-Pier Brunet	High School – Grade 12	Northern Pre-University – NPU

Herd Word

NHL DRAFT
I'm super late to share this but since we're getting close to the end of the National Hockey League regular season, I thought I would share where some of our Halifax Mooseheads players were among the mid-season rankings back in January. There are 3 current Herd ranked this time. We may see these guys below move up (or down) when the final rankings are released in the next few weeks. 

Eddy Doyle - #66
Oleg Kulebiakin - #68

Daniel Walters - #147

Forward Gavin McKenna of the Penn State Nittany Lions was stilled ranked #1 and I'm sure we will see him go in that spot in late June. Meanwhile, Xavier Villeneuve was the top QMJHL player on the Central Scouting listing at 15. 

Photo - Herd website

HERD SWEPT
Well, there was no great upset this season for Halifax as the team were swept by the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the first round of the playoffs. In the 2025 QMJHL playoffs the Eastern Conference 9th ranked Mooseheads defeated the Western Conference number 1 Drummondville Voltigeurs. Despite an improvement in wins and points, Halifax finished 7th in the East but had to take on the highest scoring team in the QMJHL; the Sags. Chicoutimi certainly showed their offensive talents outscoring the Herd 24-4 in the four game series. 

So the 2025-26 season is now over for our favourite team unfortunately. There is lots to look forward to though, including the different drafts and trade deadline. It will be interesting what moves Cam Russell and co. make this summer to bolster the roster for next year.

Thanks for another entertaining year Halifax Mooseheads. 

STUDENT OF THE YEAR

Veteran forward Liam Kilfoil was announced as the Mooseheads nominee for the Marcel-Robert Trophy earlier this month. The prestigious honour is awarded annually to the student-athlete of the year - the player who best combines on-ice performance with academic success. A total of 18 nominees were announced on April 2, one player from each of the QMJHL's teams, of which three will be named as finalists soon. 

Congrats to Liam and good luck to him. If I have kept track correctly, no Herd player has actually won the trophy though an alumni did (Mathieu Cataford, Rimouski - 2023-24). 

Photo - QMJHL website

DRAFT ODDS

The 2026 QMJHL Entry Draft will for the first time be held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, NS by your Halifax Mooseheads. Halifax currently has fourteen picks over the two days. 

A week ago, the league released the draft lottery date and the lottery odds. Despite finishing outside of the bottom 5, Moose Country will still have an interest in the lottery as Halifax has the Rimouski Oceanic's first round pick. Rimouski finished 17th overall and out of the playoffs. The lottery will take place on April 21st at 6:30 p.m. (presumedly Eastern time).and be broadcaste live on RDS 

Here are the odds:

18th position: Rouyn-Noranda (from BAC) - 9 balls or 42.9%

17th position: Halifax (from RIM) - 6 balls or 28.6%

16th position: Shawinigan (from GAT) - 3 balls or 14.3%

15th position: Victoriaville - 2 balls or 9.5%

14th position: Saint John - 1 ball or 4.8%

JERSEY CONTEST

The CHL Jersey Contest auction raised thousands of dollars with 100% of the proceeds being donated to PC's Children's Charity. 

Classic Support from Moose Country 👏👏

A total of $13,425 was raised through our Real Atlantic Superstore #CHLJerseyContest auction. 100% of the proceeds have been donated to @PC_Charity which feeds 1-million children each year.

Thank you for your generosity | #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/Ac5HC9DQjT

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) April 7, 2026

Photo - Q website

ROOKIE TEAM

Mooseheads defenceman Malik L'Italien was named to the QMJHL's All-Rookie Team last week, the league announced. 

L'Italien finished 25th in rookie scoring while playing in all 64 games during the regular season. The 16-year-old posted 4 goals and twenty assists for 24 points in his first year as a major junior player. You can find the full team below.

Goaltender: Jan Larys, Drummondville

Defenseman: Tommy Bleyl, Moncton

Defenseman: Malik L'Italien, Halifax

Forward: Egor Shilov, Victoriaville
Forward: Alexey Vlasov, Victoriaville 

Forward: Alexis Joseph, Saint John

I'm surprised that Oleg Kulebiakin wasn't named to the team but congrats to Malik on being awarded the honour. 

Season records versus each team

Below you will find the records of your Halifax Mooseheads versus each of the other seventeen teams in the Q plus the monthly records for the team this season. (note: Halifax's score is listed first)

West division
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 games 1-1-0-0 {7-5, 3-6}
Gatineau 2 games 1-0-0-1 {4-3OT, 5-6SO}
Rouyn-Noranda 2 games 0-1-1-0 {4-5OT, 2-4}
Val-d'Or 2 games 0-2-0-0 {4-6, 2-5}

Central division
Drummondville 2 games 0-1-1-0 {2-3OT, 4-7}
Shawinigan 2 games 1-1-0-0 {1-3, 2-1SO}
Sherbrooke 2 games 2-0-0-0 {6-3, 4-2}
Victoriaville 2 games 1-1-0-0 {4-2, 2-3}

East division
Baie-Comeau 2 games 2-0-0-0 {4-1, 5-4}
Chicoutimi 2 games 0-1-1-0 {3-9, 4-5OT}
Quebec 2 games 2-0-0-0 {3-2SO, 5-4OT}
Rimouski 2 games 2-0-0-0 {5-4, 7-1}

Maritimes division
Cape Breton 8 games 5-3-0-0 {5-3, 1-5, 5-2, 1-5, 5-2, 2-5, 3-2SO, 3-2OT}
Charlottetown 8 games 3-5-0-0 {1-4, 5-4SO, 4-2, 1-2, 5-2, 1-5, 3-5, 3-6}
Moncton 8 games 2-4-0-2 {2-1OT, 4-5, 5-2, 3-4SO, 1-5, 2-3SO, 1-11, 5-7}
Newfoundland 8 games 2-6-0-0 {3-0, 2-4, 8-5, 0-7, 2-5, 4-7, 1-6, 4-6}
Saint John 8 games 5-3-0-0 {4-3, 2-5, 4-3, 4-3OT, 2-5, 2-5, 5-4, 4-2}

Monthly records
September 4 games ~ 2-2-0-0 record overall, 2-1-0-0 home, 0-1-0-0 away
October 11 games ~ 8-2-1-0 record overall, 5-2-0-0 home, 3-0-1-0 away
November 9 games ~ 4-4-0-1 record overall, 0-1-0-1 home, 4-3-0-0 away
December 10 games ~ 4-6-0-0 record overall, 2-4-0-0 home, 2-2-0-0 away
January 11 games ~ 2-6-2-1 record overall, 2-1-2-1 home, 0-4-0-0 away
February 11 games ~ 4-6-0-1 record overall, 1-4-0-0 home, 3-2-0-1 away
March 8 games ~ 5-3-0-0 record overall, 2-1-0-0 home, 3-2-0-0 away

Overtime/shootout records
OT ~ five overtime win, three overtime loss
SO ~ four shootout win, three shootout loss

Stats Sunday: March

Games played: 8
Record: 5-3-0-0, 10pts
Goals for/against: 28/32
Powerplay*: 22.4%
Penalty kill*: 77.0%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Quinn Kennedy 13, Oleg Kulebiakin 11, Samuel Rousseau 8, Shawn Carrier 8, Liam Kilfoil 8
Goals: Quinn Kennedy 7, Samuel Rousseau 6, Shawn Carrier 4, Liam Kilfoil 3, Oleg Kulebiakin 2
Assists: Oleg Kulebiakin 9, Quinn Kennedy 6, Liam Kilfoil 5, Malik L'Italian 5, Shawn Carrier 4
Penalty minutes: Daniel Walters 12, Shawn Carrier 11, Carlos Handel 8, Caylen Blake 8, Lincoln Waugh 7
Plus/minus: Shawn Carrier +3, Liam Kilfoil +2, Oleg Kulebiakin +1, Quinn Kennedy +1, Lincoln Waugh E
Rookie scoring: Oleg Kulebiakin 11pts, Malik L'Italien 5pts, Cameron Minella 1pt, Brenden Espenell 1pt, Jasu Mensonen 1pt

Goaltender stats*
Owen Bresson     18-17-2-2    3.66 GAA     0.887 SAV%
Nicolas Cirka     11-12-1-1     4.00 GAA     0.873 SAV%

*overall

Round 1 battle against Chicoutimi

Photo - Herd website

The playoffs are set to begin next week and on the last day of the regular season, our Halifax Mooseheads finally know who they will play in Round 1. Being the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference, the Herd will battle against the 2nd seed Chicoutimi Sagueneens. 

Halifax lost their last two games this weekend against Newfoundland on the road to finish with a 29-29-3-3 record. The Mooseheads went 0-1-1-0 against the Sagueneens in during the regular season but as we know anything can happen in the playoffs. Chicoutimi battled it out with Moncton for the last couple of months for the top spot in the QMJHL but they didn't get any help and finished with a 49-10-3-2 record, good enough for 103 points, just behind the Wildcats. The Sags have the top scorer in both points and goals in Maxim Masse who recorded 51 goals and 102 points. 

Full schedule below. With the distance between teams, this series will be 2-3-2 instead of the normal 2-2-1-1-1 format. 

Game 1    Friday March 27 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina
Game 2    Saturday March 28 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina
Game 3    Tuesday March 31 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
Game 4    Wednesday April 1 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 5  Friday April 3 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 6  Monday April 6 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina
*Game 7  Tuesday April 7 @ 8:00pm at Centre Georges-Vezina

*if necessary

Single game tickets for Games 3 and 4 are on sale now, you can purchase them at ticketmaster.ca or by phone 902-451-1221. 

Game Day 68: at Regiment

PREVIEW - After 6 months of playing tough hockey and battling it out, we have come to the final regular season game of 2025-26 and our Halifax Mooseheads are visiting the Newfoundland Regiment. The two teams met last night with the home Regiment winning quite handedly 6-1. Quinn Kennedy picked up his 31st goal of the season in the loss, which also locked up 7th place in the standings for the Mooseheads. Halifax's playoff opponent is still to be determined but it would be nice for the boys to go in to it with a victory. They're in a tough spot though as number 1 goaltender Owen Bresson is serving the 3rd of his 5 game suspension this afternoon, meaning that Nicolas Cirka will be in net. Newfoundland is led by overage forward Justin Larose who has 88 points this season which is good enough for 4th in the league. Meanwhile, rookie Oleg Kulebiakin still has the most points for the Herd with 73. 

Game coverage
TV: FloHockey | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads

Overall records
Mooseheads: 29-28-3-3 = 64 points (5th in Maritimes division, 12th overall)
Regiment: 37-22-3-1 = 78 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)

Leading scorers
NFL: Justin Larose 88pts (32G & 56A), Marek Danicek 72pts (33G & 39A), Dawson Sharkey 60pts (31G & 29A)
HAL: Oleg Kulebiakin 73pts (29G & 44A), Shawn Carrier 61pts (36G & 25A), Quinn Kennedy 54pts (31G & 23A)

Head-to-head
Halifax is 2-5-0-0 against the Regiment this season while Newfoundland has a 5-2-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. For their previous meeting, see above. 

Out of town
Eagles vs. Sea Dogs - 3:00 p.m.
Wildcats vs. Islanders - 4:00 p.m.
Sagueneens vs. Remparts - 5:00 p.m.
Drakkar vs. Oceanic - 5:00 p.m.
Olympiques vs. Voltigeurs - 5:00 p.m.
Cataractes vs. Tigres - 5:00 p.m.
Foreurs vs. Huskies - 5:00 p.m.
Phoenix vs. Armada - 5:00 p.m.

After the buzzer 
Halifax will continue on the road with the first two games of the post-season but opponent and time to be determined. 

Lots to be determined in final weekend

Photo - Herd website

The regular season is nearing its completion with the final two games for all eighteen teams this weekend. The 16 playoff spots have been clinched but our Halifax Mooseheads don't know yet who their first round opponent will be. 

Halifax could still technically move up to 6th place in the Eastern Conference, however the club needs to win both their games and have the Cape Breton Eagles lose theirs. So assuming the Mooseheads finish the season in the No. 7 seed, they will take on the second place team which could either be the Chicoutimi Sagueneens or Moncton Wildcats. 

The Wildcats will play the Charlottetown Islanders in a home-and-home series, while the Sagueneens take on the Quebec Remparts. 

Over in the Western Conference; Drummondville, Rouyn-Noranda and Blainville-Boisbriand are in the mix to win the #1 spot. Meanwhile, at the other end positions 6-8 are locked up. The Shawinigan Cataractes and Sherbrooke Phoenix are the lone playoff series officially determined, however the team with home advantage is still up in the air as the two teams are separated by one point and are the 4th and 5th seeds respectively. 

A few other notes...

• Every team in the league will be on the ice on both Friday and Saturday. Once again, Saturday matches will be afternoon starts. 
• Our Mooseheads, who have won four straight for the first time this season, are set to visit the Newfoundland Regiment this weekend for two road games. 
• At the bottom of the standings are the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (34 points) and Rimouski Oceanic (37 points) who will play each other twice to end the regular season. Both will miss the playoffs. 
• For the draft, scheduled to take place in Halifax, the Mooseheads will have a chance to win the lottery despite being 12th in the league right now. This is because Cam Russell and co. hold Rimouski's first round pick. 

QMJHL Names Scholastic POM

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, Owen Phillips was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for February. 

The QMJHL changed how they share the players in the article they post, so here's the picture of them. This is also the latest I believe the league have announced the student-athletes. 

Photo - QMJHL website

Bresson suspended for goalie fight

Photo - L'Express de Drummondville

Friday's road match against the Saint John Sea Dogs was an interesting game as the fans at TD Station got to see a goaltending fight midway through. Halifax Mooseheads netminder Owen Bresson took on Montreal Canadiens' prospect Arseni Radkov at the 12:07 mark of the second period after the latter challenged the former. The fight was a result of Bresson punching Sea Dogs forward Alexis Gauthier with his blocker after Gauthier gave an extra slap at the puck. 

Both Bresson and Radkov were given 5 minute major penalties for fighting along with two game misconducts each, meaning that they did not suit up for the rematch on Saturday afternoon between the two teams. Sophomore Nicolas Gilham-Cirka took over the crease on Friday after the fight and allowed one goal on 11 shots in relief, picking up the 5-4 victory. 

The QMJHL announced this morning that the goaltenders have been suspended five games as a result, which means that Owen, 19, will miss the rest of the regular season and the first two playoff games. 

Halifax will end the regular season with a couple of games in St. John's against the Newfoundland Regiment on March 21 & 22. 

Reds win AUS Championship

Some congratulations are in order for a few former Halifax Mooseheads players. Herd alum Braeden MacPhee, 21, was in the lineup for the UNB Reds as the school won its eighth consecutive Atlantic University Sport hockey championship title on Thursday evening. The Reds picked up a 4-1 victory in Game 3 of the final series against the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus to win the series 2-1. MacPhee recorded an assist in six playoff games after picking up 20 points in 29 regular season games during his first season at university. Despite having an up and down regular season, UNB still found a way to lift the trophy last week. 

Photo - AUS Facebook page

Peter Reynolds, in his second year, has not played a game since mid-January. For the Aigles Bleus and veteran defenceman Denis Toner, who suited up for the Moose between 2018-2020, it is the third straight year that they have come up short in the championship series against UNB. 

In the OUA playoffs, alum Ethan Larmand scored for the Queen's Gaels in the Bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon to help them to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Metropolitan Bold. Larmand, 22, had three points in 8 total playoff games. 

UNB, U de M and Queen's will all participate now in the 2026 University Cup tournament being held in Halifax March 19-22, hosted by the Saint Mary's Huskies. 

U-Sports alumni stats

Olympics: 5 Moose alum to participate

There are 26 former QMJHL players who will participate in the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy this month. The Olympics began officially on Friday February 6 and will go to February 22. Our Halifax Mooseheads will have five alumni in the tournament that starts on February 12th. 

Photo - Devils Facebook

Canada will have three Q alum on their roster with forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand all wearing the maple leaf later this week. Marchand split his junior career between the Moncton Wildcats, Val-d'Or Foreurs and our Halifax Mooseheads. MacKinnon, of course, spent two seasons with the Herd before being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche first overall in 2013. Brad, 37, has recorded 50 points in 46 games played before the break while 30-year-old Nathan is currently second in the league with 93 points. Team Canada is among four teams in Group A with their first game being against Czechia on Thursday. 

New Jersey Devils teammates Nico Hischier and Timo Meier will be sitting on the same bench during the Olympics in both of their debuts in the international tournament as they suit up for Team Switzerland. The country hasn't seemed to announce their captains yet but I'm sure we will see Hischier wear a letter. 29-year-old Meier has 14 goals and 28 points in 52 games played so far this season. Nico not only leads the team being the captain but he also has the most points on the Devils at the break with 42. Switzerland will join Canada in Group A and take on France on Thursday. 

Photo - Jets Whiteout website

Former Herd Nikolaj Ehlers was a big contributor to Denmark qualifying for the 2026 Olympics and will hope to help his country improve on their 7th place finish from four years ago. The 29-year-old, who will celebrate his birthday at the games on Saturday, has 43 points for the Carolina Hurricanes in 57 games. Denmark is playing in Group C and is set to kick off the tournament on Thursday against Germany.

Canada and Switzerland will meet each other on February 13 at 4:10pm Atlantic time. Each group winner and the best second-place team advance to the quarterfinals while the other eight teams play a qualification round. 

Good luck to all the players in the tournament and congrats to the Mooseheads alumni who are participating. The gold medal game is scheduled for February 22. 

Alumni Update: Pro league stats

Photo - Sportsnet

Well I did the statistics for the North American junior, senior and university leagues back in late December but now that the National Hockey League are on their Olympic break, I thought I would give you finally the stats for professional leagues in North America, Europe and Asia. 

Looks like Nathan MacKinnon will once again be going back and forth as the league leader this season but against Connor McDavid this time. The 30-year-old leads all former Mooseheads players at this point of the season in points and takes that offence to Italy. He also recently recorded his 700th career assist earlier this week. 

Note: some players have played for more than one team in different leagues 
*Stats as of February 6, 2026 (numbers according to Elite Prospects)

National Hockey League 

American Hockey League

ECHL

Kontinental Hockey League / VHL

National League / Swiss League 

EIHL / NIHL

DEL

DEL2 / Germany3

Czechia

Czechia2

Liiga / Mestis

ICEHL

Hong Kong

Ligue Magnus