Mooseheads bolster camp roster

It has been said that the Halifax Mooseheads could be a contender during the upcoming 2026-27 season and the moves that the team has made in the off-season have strengthened that belief. 

On draft day, the Herd traded for Vegas Golden Knights prospect Mateo Nobert in the hopes of improving the team's offence as the 19-year-old record 30 goals and 78 points last season. That number was higher than Halifax's leading scorer Oleg Kulebiakin who had 73.

Photo - Herd website

As I posted last night, our Mooseheads made a move the day before the CHL Import Draft to select second overall instead of at #20 where they originally were scheduled to pick. On Wednesday, it was announced that both players, forward Paul Sintschnig and defenceman Nico Uschan, have signed QMJHL Scholarship and Development Agreements. 

"We're very excited to officially welcome Paul and Nico to the Mooseheads organization," said General Manager Cam Russell. "Both players bring a strong combination of skill, competitiveness, and international experience, and we believe they'll be great additions to our lineup and our dressing room. We look forward to helping them continue their development in Halifax and are eager to see the impact they can make this season." 

The signing signals an end of Carlos Handel and Jasu Mensonen stints with the green and red. Mensonen played in Moose Country for one season on loan from Lukko U20, according to Elite Prospects. Handel, meanwhile put two years here in North America and has decided to go back home to suit up for Kolner Haie. 

Halifax received another commitment earlier this week, this time from centre Jackson Smail who also signed a QMJHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. The 18-year-old was selected by the Herd in the third round, 44th overall at the 2026 QMJHL Entry Draft after a strong season at Winchendon School. Smail, a native of Milton, VT, finished second on his team in scoring with 62 points in 34 games as a centre. 

Brady Smith
Photo - Elite Prospects

"We're excited to add a player of Jackson's calibre to our organization," said Russell. "He has shown strong offensive ability and we're looking forward to seeing him compete at training camp."

This might be the highest amount of American-born players on the team's training camp roster as the brass signed another free agent from the States last week in defenceman Brady Smith. He will be entering his 19-year-old season in 2026-27 and played the past four years at Taft School where he served as an alternate captain. Originally from Columbine Valley, CO, Smith scored 41 points in 99 career games. Brady joins Arlington, MA-native forward Evan Nee as a free agent while the club also drafted eight Americans back in June. Whether they all come to camp is to be determined. 

Training camp is set to open on August 19th at the team practice facility. The full schedule and roster will be released in the next couple of weeks. 

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. 

Free agency signings headlined by Ehlers

Photo - Hurricanes Twitter

Free agency in the National Hockey League started on Tuesday and the biggest story was where would former Halifax Mooseheads forward Nikolaj Ehlers sign. The 29-year-old told the Jets last month that he was going to test the market and fans had to wait until Thursday for him to make a decision. 

Ehlers will be heading south to Carolina after he signed a 6-year, $51 million contract with the Hurricanes on July 3. "He's a highly-skilled winger who can really skate and will fit very well with our forward group," said Canes GM Eric Tulsky. The Aalborg, Denmark native has spent all 10 seasons of his NHL career with the Winnipeg Jets after being drafted by the team in 2014. He had 24 goals and 39 assists in 69 regular season games played during 2024-25 with a plus-14 rating. In 674 career games, Nikolaj has total 520 points and a plus-106 rating. 

Prior to turning professional, Ehlers spent two years here in Moose Country where he reached the 100-point mark in both seasons. 

The Jets shared a video to thank him for his time with the team. 

Thank you, Nik 💙 pic.twitter.com/NBKahQ2gqD

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) July 3, 2025

Good luck in Carolina Nikolaj! 

Meanwhile, alum Jonathan Drouin was signed by the New York Islanders on July 1 to a two-year contract. Drouin had 11 goals and 37 points in 43 games last season with the Colorado Avalanche. Since being drafted in 2013 by Tampa Bay, the Ste-Agathe, QC native has suited up in 607 regular season NHL games with the Lightning, followed by the Montreal Canadiens and Avalanche. He's added 27 points in 43 Stanley Cup playoff games during his career. 

Photo - Islanders website

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they signed Benoit-Olivier Groulx to a two-year deal with a $812,500 cap hit on Tuesday. 25-year-old Groulx spent the 2024-25 season in the American Hockey League with the Hartford Wolf Pack, scoring 15 goals and 37 points in 47 games. The French-born Canadian forward was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2018 after spending 4 seasons in the QMJHL, three and a half of which were with the Mooseheads. 

Photo - Wranglers Facebook

29-year-old Martin Frk signed with the AHL's Calgary Wranglers on Thursday. Despite spending this past season with the Wranglers, the release says they signed him and not extended or re-signed but I wonder if it's because his last contract was a 2-way deal with the Calgary Flames. In 470 career AHL games, Frk has totaled 377 points (194G & 183A). The Pelhrmov, Czechia native was an instrumental to the Grand Rapids Griffins 2017 Calder Cup championship team, scoring the final series winning goal. 

Before the free agency period opened, alumni Brad Marchand re-signed with the Florida Panthers on a six-year deal worth 31.5 million dollars. "Instantly supplementing our lineup from the moment he arrived in South Florida, Brad has been an outstanding addition to our team," Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. "He is the definition of a warrior on the ice, a critical leader for our group and a relentless competitor." 

Marchand had 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 23 Stanley Cup playoff games to help Florida win the 2025 championship. The 37-year-old had played most of his 16 year NHL career with the Boston Bruins before being traded while scoring 424 goals and 980 points in 1,100 regular season games between the two teams. 

Former Herd Elliot Desnoyers of the Philadelphia Flyers did not receive a qualifying offer so he is now a unrestricted free agent but has not signed with a team yet while Vegas Golden Knights restricted free agent Raphael Lavoie is still hoping for a contract as well. 

Steinman Goaltender of Year & Friday News

The QMJHL held their annual Golden Pucks awards gala on Thursday afternoon at a hotel in Quebec City. A couple of players who have ties to the Mooseheads were amongst the nominees. 

Photo - QMJHL website

Goaltender Jacob Steinman, who started the season with the Moncton Wildcats before being traded to Halifax at Christmas, won the Patrick Roy Trophy as Goaltender of the Year. He had a 29-16-4-1 record during the season in 52 games played, finishing second in the QMJHL in GAA (2.41) and save percentage (0.923). Steinman will continue his hockey career with Bowling Green State University in the NCAA. 

Meanwhile, past player Mathieu Cataford was the winner of the Marcel Robert Trophy as Student Athlete of the Year. According to the release; Cataford maintained an average of more than 95% while currently studying Business Administration at Saint Mary's University with a 4.0 GPA while suiting up for the Rimouski Oceanic in 2024-26. 

Other news that has come out this week:

• According to Mikael Lalancette the 2026 QMJHL draft will be held in Halifax

  Ce n’est pas encore officiel, mais tout indique que le repêchage de l’an prochain #LHJMQ aura lieu à Halifax.
  
  Il est encore tôt, mais l’un des beaux espoirs de la cuvée 2026 est Zaac Charbonneau, le neveu de Daniel Brière.

  — Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) June 5, 2025

    
• Two former Herd players are on the move in Europe; D'Artagnan Joly will be playing in the DEL2 with ESV Kaufbeuren next season while Zach Fucale signed a 2 year contract with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL 
• Champions are colliding as the Hockey East Tournament winning Maine Black Bears of the NCAA have received a commitment from Herd alumni Mathis Rousseau, who won the Gilles Courteau trophy in March with the Moncton Wildcats 
• Logan Crosby, who played for the Mooseheads from 2021-2024, will finish his junior career with the Pictou County Crushers during the 2025-26 season   

Photo - Crushers Twitter

• Moose alum Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers find themselves down 1-0 in a Stanley Cup finals rematch against the Edmonton Oilers. Game 2 is tonight in Edmonton

Alumni Update: Champions, Signings, Records

As you will have noticed the past few seasons, I have not done well keeping my blog or social media accounts updated with news about the Halifax Mooseheads alumni. There are so many now that it is hard to keep track plus with the time differences, I don't always see things that teams post about our former players. The 2023-24 season was a pretty good year for a number of alum in terms of records broken, championships won and milestones so I thought I would share them in one post. The summer also brings along signings by hockey clubs so they can get ready for the upcoming season and there were a number of them as well. 

First, let's begin with the league that generally finishes the earliest; U-Sports. A total of 20 former Mooseheads played university hockey during the 2023-24 season. For the third straight year, goaltender Alexis Gravel, defenceman Jordan Lepage and the UQTR Patriotes were champions of the OUA playoffs. Congrats to the Patriotes on winning the Queen's Cup. 

Photo - UQTR Twitter

I did share this news on social media but figured I would post here as well. After spending about seven seasons in North America, former Herd Otto Somppi went back home to Finland and was able to win the SM-Liiga championship with Tappara on April 28. The 26-year-old recorded a goal and six assists in 16 playoff games following a 27 point regular season. On the same day, 39-year-old forward Petr Vrana (who played for Halifax between 2002-2005) once again captained HC Ocelari Trinec to a Czech Extraliga championship trophy. 

Photo - Toronto Star

It was another spectacular season for superstar Nathan MacKinnon. The year of course began with our Mooseheads raising his number to the rafters at the team's home opener and retiring #22. MacKinnon went on to record his first 50 goal season and had a career-high 140 points while playing in all 82 regular season games with the Colorado Avalanche. He scored two assists on April 18, allowing him to pass Peter Stastny for most points in a season in franchise history. 

Though he couldn't help the Avs out of the second round, the 28-year-old did pick up some hardware at the annual NHL Awards ceremony in late June. Nathan was voted as the regular season Most Valuable Player by the Writers' Association and won the Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player). 

Meanwhile, Ottawa, ON native MacKenzie Weegar also silently had a historic season becoming the first player in NHL history to score 20 goals and block 200 shots. The defenceman finished the 2023-24 season with a career high 52 points, which coincidently is his number with the Calgary Flames. Weegar played his 400th career game on November 10. 

Other milestones during the season for Mooseheads alumni in the NHL;
- Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg): 400th point October 30, 600th game April 6
- Filip Zadina (San Jose): 200th game November 2
- Raphael Lavoie (Edmonton): NHL debut November 4
- Nico Hischier (New Jersey): 300th point December 16, 400th game December 19
- Jonathan Drouin (Colorado): 500th game November 20, 300th point January 4
- Timo Meier (New Jersey): 500th game January 17

Former Herd forward Jakub Voracek announced his retirement from hockey in mid-April after playing 1,058 regular season games split between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers. I'm sure he would like to have continued his career considering he is only 35 however, the Kladno, Czechia native suffered a concussion during a game on November 4, 2022. The Flyers traded him to the Arizona Coyotes in hopes to give him a chance at coming back but the team made the move knowing it was unlikely. Congrats to Jakub on a great career, Moose Country wishes you all the best with your next adventure. 

Photo - NHL Facebook

In his rookie pro season, Moose alumni Zachary L'Heureux broke out during the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. Though he played less games because the Admirals didn't make it to the final series, L'Heureux scored 10 goals which tied him for the league lead in that column by the end. At one point during the post-season, the Montreal, QC native actual led the overall scoring. 

Photo - Oilers Twitter

Like I mentioned, summer brings signings and a number of alum put their name on the dotted line. Below you will find a list of them with contract details

• Jonathan Drouin: (UFA) re-signed Colorado Avalanche - 1-year contract $2.5 million
• Benoit-Olivier Groulx: (UFA) signed with NY Rangers - 1-year contract $775,000
• Justin Barron: (RFA) re-signed Montreal Canadiens - 2-year contract $2.3 million
• Raphael Lavoie: (RFA) re-signed Edmonton Oilers - 1-year 2-way contract $775,000
• Martin Frk: signed with Calgary Flames - 1-year 2-way contract $775,000

There probably have been more but these are the ones I have seen so far for signings overseas. After ending this past season in Norway, Maxim Trepanier has signed a contract with the Herlev Eagles in Denmark meanwhile Jared McIsaac is taking his talents to Czechia so he can suit up for HC Litvinov. 

Herd Word

Happy New Year everyone! I've been taking a break lately so this is my first blog post of 2024. There's been some news regarding current and former Halifax Mooseheads the last couple of weeks so thought I would do a Herd Word to wrap it all up. 

CATAFORD SIGNS

Photo - Golden Knights website

On December 31, the Vegas Golden Knights announced that they had signed forward Mathieu Cataford to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 18-year-old was leading the QMJHL in scoring at the time of the announcement with 53 points in 35 games. He has posted a current total of 181 points in 169 games played over three seasons with Halifax. The Chateauguay, QC native was drafted by Vegas in the third round (77th overall) of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. 

Photo - Herd Twitter

WORLD JUNIORS
The 2024 World Junior Hockey Championships didn't turn out how Hockey Canada or the Mooseheads representatives probably wanted it to go but that doesn't mean there wasn't highlights of the tournament. Mathis Rousseau took the starting role over for the preliminary round and had a strong tournament meanwhile Jordan Dumais and Jake Furlong both scored a goal but they couldn't help Canada make it past the quarter-finals. Furlong's marker tied up the QF match at 2-2 late in the second against Czechia so it was said that his first point was gigantic. 

Our three guys have lots to be proud of representing their country. 

GREAT SAVE
Like I said above, Rousseau had a good tournament, recording a 2.00 goals against average and was fourth in save percentage at 0.912%. In a game against Finland in the prelims, the 18-year-old made a really nice glove save which ended up being on Sportscentre's 1v1 challenge for a few days. You can watch it below (it's the second clip in the video). 

He also made another stop in the game versus Sweden that impressed former NHL goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The toe save was on a Canadian penalty kill late in the first period to keep the score 0-0. 

FIRST STAR OF MONTH
Halifax Mooseheads alumni Nathan MacKinnon had a stellar month of December and was rewarded for it as the NHL named him the first star of the month. The 28-year-old had eleven goals and 29 points during the month to lead the league as the Colorado Avalanche went 8-5-2-0 in December. According to the NHL, 'his 29 points set a franchise record for a single calendar month, besting Peter Stastny's 28 in February 1981.' Congratulations to Nate. He hasn't slowed down so far in January. 

Photo - NHL PR Twitter

 

HERD MAKE ANOTHER TRADE
The Mooseheads made another move, this one just before the 1pm AST trade deadline on January 6 which saw the team adding forwards Lou-Felix Denis and Jan Sprynar from the Shawinigan Cataractes. 20-year-old Denis was leading the Cats in scoring with 38 points when the deal was made. Sprynar is an 18-year-old import and is on his third team over two seasons. 

Shawinigan received in return overage forward Ethan Larmand, sophomore Reece Peitzsche and rookie import Yannik Ponzetto along with two draft picks. 

Welcome to the team Lou-Felix and Jan! The two new players made their debut for Halifax on Sunday when the team took on the Charlottetown Islanders where Denis scored the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory. 

Photo - Avalanche Twitter

DROUIN RECORDS 300TH POINT
I missed this originally but alumni Jonathan Drouin had a good night last Thursday to help the Colorado Avalanche win 5-4 in overtime against Dallas. The 28-year-old scored twice during the game with his first goal being the 300th point of his NHL career. Drouin has record 86 goals and 216 points in total over 524 regular season games. 

Drouin was drafted 3rd overall back in 2013 by the Tampa Bay Lightning where he played until 2017. The Ste-Agathe, QC native than suited up for the Montreal Canadiens from the 2017-18 season until 2023. He becomes the 9th former Moosehead player to reach 300 points. 

MOOSE CLAIM MCPHEE
'The Mooseheads filled out the roster with a waiver claim addition late Sunday when GM Cam Russell picked up forward Luke McPhee from the Cape Breton Eagles. The 18-year-old native of Cole Harbour, NS will join the Mooseheads for the remainder of the season and will suit up in his first home game on Saturday' according to the press release. He has played in 59 games between the Moncton Wildcats and Eagles, collecting 3 goals and five points. 

Herd Word

Photo - Mooseheads website

FURLONG SIGNS

A few days after being named captain of our Halifax Mooseheads, defenceman Jake Furlong signed a 3-year entry level contract with the San Jose Sharks. Despite being sent back by the Sharks and I believe not playing a pre-season game in the NHL, Furlong clearly made enough of an impression for San Jose to sign him on October 5. The 19-year-old was selected in the fifth round, 140th overall in the 2022 NHL draft by the Californian team. 

"I'm super excited and humbled to be signing with the Sharks. It's a dream come true and I'm happy to be able to share this moment with my teammates, coaches and especially my family who helped me get here," Furlong said. 

CHL TOP 10 

The Canadian Hockey League has announced the top 10 rankings for week 2 on Tuesday. Your Mooseheads find themselves #2 after going 3-0-0-0 in the past 7 days. Halifax has the longest active winning streak in the CHL currently at 5 following opening the season with two straight losses. Full top 10 is below

1. Portland Winterhawks (4-1-0-0)   last week: 2
2. Halifax Mooseheads (5-2-0-0)   last week: 6
3. London Knights (3-1-0-1)   last week: 1
4. Saginaw Spirit (2-1-0-0)   last week: 5
5. Moose Jaw Warriors (4-3-0-0)   last week: 4
6. Saskatoon Blades (4-2-0-0)   last week: 9
7. Prince George Cougars (6-2-0-0)   last week: n/a
8. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (3-2-1-2)   last week: 3
9. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (5-1-0-0)   last week: n/a
10. North Bay Battalion (3-1-1-1)   last week: n/a

Photo - QMJHL website

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Veteran goaltender Mathis Rousseau was named the QMJHL's player of the week ending October 9. The 19-year-old started all three games that Halifax had this past week, recording a 1.33 goals against average and a 0.944% save percentage. On Wednesday, Rousseau had a shutout after stopping all 26 shots against the Cape Breton Eagles. 

The Boisbriand, QC native was also named to the team of the week because of the above honour. The Mooseheads had two players on the team of the week ending October 2 in rookie Lou Levesque and Rousseau. Levesque had two goals and 5 points in two games played between September 25 and October 1. Congrats to these guys on being recognized for their play. 

DUMAIS
Last year's leading scorer for the Herd, Jordan Dumais still has not been returned to the team by the Columbus Blue Jackets and some people weren't sure why but with NHL's opening night rosters being submitted on Monday, the reason why has become clearer. Dumais played only one pre-season game for Columbus which was confusing. However, the Jackets announced their 2023-24 roster and the Montreal, QC native was placed on the injured/non-roster list with an upper body injury. It is thought that once he is is cleared to play, Dumais will be assigned to the Mooseheads. 

Hopefully Jordan will heal up quickly and be back to Halifax soon. 

NHL OPENING WEEK

The National Hockey League 2023-24 regular season began on Tuesday with three games and Halifax have 10 alumni on opening night rosters. Below you will find the players who have cracked their respective teams. 

Photo - Flames Twitter

Justin Barron - Montreal Canadiens
Jonathan Drouin - Colorado Avalanche
Nikolaj Ehlers - Winnipeg Jets

Benoit-Olivier Groulx - Anaheim Ducks
Nico Hischier - New Jersey Devils
Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche
Brad Marchand - Boston Bruins
Timo Meier - New Jersey Devils
MacKenzie Weegar - Calgary Flames
Filip Zadina - San Jose Sharks

As you will notice, a couple of guys have a new team this year compared to last season with Jonathan Drouin reuniting with Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado and Filip Zadina looking for a fresh start in San Jose. Jakub Voracek, who has been in the NHL since 2008, was traded to the Arizona Coyotes last year but has not played a game for them yet as he is injured with a concussion. Another note, BO Groulx has decided to change his number to #24 it was announced yesterday by Anaheim. Hopefully, he will stick with the big club this time and not get sent down to the AHL. 

I will have a full list of where alumni are playing later this month once all the leagues have begun playing. 

NAUSS

Congratulations are in order for Morgan Nauss who was given the Captaincy of the Acadia Axemen for this season. The Hammonds Plains native is a 4th year defenceman and had played 63 regular season games with Acadia, recording 8 points in his AUS career before the 2023-24 season began. He will be joined by Nick Deakin-Poot, Peyton Hoyt, Hudson Wilson, Perrick Rippon and Reilly Webb all of whom will serve as alternate captains. 

Photo - Axemen Twitter

"It is an honour to be named Captain of the Acadia Axemen. I plan to lead by example on and off the ice, along with many other leaders we have on our team," Nauss said. 

Halifax Make Big Trade

The Halifax Mooseheads made a big trade on Monday, picking up 20-year-old Josh Lawrence from the Blainville Armada. In exchange, the Herd let go of two draft picks; a 2023 second rounder and 1st round selection in 2024. Lawrence, a native of Fredericton, NB, has played strong so far this season scoring 32 points in 25 games with the Armada. The overager had a career best 101 points in 2021-22, helping the Saint John Sea Dogs to a Memorial Cup. 

Photo - Herd website

“We are very pleased to add someone of Josh's caliber to our already talented lineup. He brings elite level offense and valuable experience that will help our club tremendously this season,'' Russell said in the team's press release. 

I would like to welcome Josh to Moose Country! Looking forward to next Thursday when the Moose will be back home to take on Blainville.

DUMAIS SIGNS ELC
Congratulations are in order to forward Jordan Dumais who signed a 3-year entry level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets over the weekend. Dumais was selected by the Jackets in June 96th overall after putting up 109 points last season. The 18-year-old may surpass that number this year as he already has 54 points in 24 games. He leads the Canadian Hockey League in scoring and some have said that his play so far could get him on a spot on Canada’s world Junior team during the holiday break. 

Photo - Swiss hockey twitter

Other news and notes..

• Zachary L’Heureux made his season debut this past Friday where he picked up a goal and an assist. 
• Talking about the World Juniors, we know at least one Mooseheads player that will be participating as captain Attilio Biasca was named to Team Switzerland today for the tournament. 
• Here’s a crazy stat according to the NHL website, the New Jersey Devils are 17-0-0-0 this season when former Herd Nico Hischier records at least a point. 
• Arenas in Antigonish and Truro will get a pre-tournament game each in a few weeks while the Scotiabank Centre will host 4 matches. 
• Nobody cares probably but on Nov. 19 I got to watch Moose alumni Brad Marchand play live where he picked up 3 assists in a 6-1 Bruins win. Here’s a picture from that night (sorry it’s blurry, I was far away & using my phone camera) 

Herd Word

Former Halifax Mooseheads have had some big things happen over the last week or so while the current team is coming together for the regular season. 

Photo - AMH Photography

MACKINNON PARADE
The 2013 NHL number one pick Nathan MacKinnon won the Stanley Cup back in June with the Colorado Avalanche and he finally had his day with the trophy last weekend. MacKinnon brought the Cup back to Halifax where he played junior hockey for a parade and the city showed up big time. His teammates Gabriel Landeskog and Andrew Cogliano were also in the parade. Before it began, Nathan was on Citadel Hill to shoot off the noon gun. The 28-year-old answered a few questions from Paul Hollingsworth afterwards in Grand Parade Square in front of thousands of fans. 

It was a good parade and it was nice to see Kid Mack give props to his family, coaches and the city of Halifax for helping him get to where he is today. 

Check out some highlights from the day in the video below. 

WORLD JUNIORS
Well, the 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were finally able to be completed last weekend with Team Canada raising the trophy on August 20. With Canada's victory, former Mooseheads captain Elliot Desnoyers is a champion! Congrats to Desy on winning the gold medal. The 20-year-old finished the tournament with an assist in 7 games played. The Canadians went undefeated and won the final match 3-2 in overtime over Team Finland. 

Photo - Hockey Canada Twitter

Also in the tournament were Herd alumni Senna Peeters (Austria) and current forward Attilio Biasca (Switzerland). Peeters recorded a goal and 3 points in the preliminary round as Austria lost all 4 games to end in 9th place. Biasca had a great tournament scoring four goals and picking up 2 assists but unfortunately, Switzerland lost in the quarter-finals to Canada.

Photo - Birdgeport Islanders Instagram

DURANDEAU
23-year-old Arnaud Durandeau, who played for Halifax for four years from 2015-2019, got some good news last week when the New York Islanders signed him to a two-year two-way contract along with three other players. Durandeau set new career highs in goals (15), assists (22) and points (37) in 64 games with the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL last season. He ranked third on the team in goals and was tied for fifth in points during his third professional campaign. Congrats to Arnaud on signing a new contract.

TRAINING CAMP UPDATE
Things have been moving quickly at training camp this past week. Cam Russell and company made more decisions, releasing sixteen additional players. On Thursday, a total of nine young men were cut from the camp roster. The following players were cut from the camp roster on Thursday; Justin Breton (F), Mathis Laplante (F), Landon MacIntosh (F), Dominic MacKenzie (D), Cade Moser (F), Joe Power (D), Adam Tkacz (G), Ty Totten (F) and Ben Wallace (F). Goalie George Foti was released from camp on Wednesday. Six players were cut on Saturday morning including forwards Antoine Fontaine, Lou Levesque, Brandon Abbass and Bryson Boudreau along with defencemen Hugo Boucher and Dylan Chisholm. 

Russell made a trade on Wednesday afternoon as well when they acquired centre and Beaver Bank, NS-native Jake Todd from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in exchange for a 2023 4th round draft pick. Todd has played the past two seasons with the Cole Harbour Wolfpack where he has scored 79 points in 55 games with 23 goals and 56 assists. 

All these moves mean that there are 25 players remaining at camp. Another small round of cuts still needs to happen before the 2022-23 regular season roster is named but I suspect that will happen before the end of August. 

ZADINA

Photo - Wings website 

The Detroit Red Wings announced on Friday that they have re-signed right winger Filip Zadina to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $1.825 million. Zadina, 22, skated in 74 games with the Red Wings in 2021-22 and recorded a career-high 24 points (10-14-24) and 10 penalty minutes. Originally selected by Detroit in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Filip has totalled 61 points in 160 NHL games. 

Congrats to Filip on signing a new contract. 

CRITCHLOW
Former Herd Cameron Critchlow has been named captain of the EIHL's Manchester Storm for the 2022-23 season. The 31-year-old is heading into his fourth season in England. Critchlow played one season for Halifax back in 2011-12. He had 14 goals and 37 points in 54 games last season with the Storm. Manchester start their regular season on September 10 against the Coventry Blaze. 

Photo - Storm Twitter

Weegar Traded in Big Deal, Other Signings

A pretty big trade happened on Saturday in the National Hockey League and it included a former Halifax Mooseheads player. Defenceman MacKenzie Weegar was acquired by the Calgary Flames along with Saint John Sea Dogs alum Jonathan Huberdeau, Cole Schwindt and a draft pick in exchange for Matthew Tkachuk. 

Weegar was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2013 after helping the Herd to a Memorial Cup and has played all six of his NHL seasons with the team. Over the course of 306 games played, the 28-year-old has scored 27 goals and collected 121 points. He has one year left on his current contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent. 

"This is super cool for me, playing in a Canadian market," said the Ottawa-area native. "I never really thought I would play in a Canadian markets. This is going to be super exciting for me and my family. Lots of history with Calgary. I got to watch them growing up, obviously a lot and seeing them on (TV) all the time. The fans here are so passionate. They're loud. When When Johnny and I have come to Calgary, and played against the Flames,, it has been crazy. Watching the playoffs and seeing the Sea of Red and stuff like that." 

Some more signings from former players in professional leagues:

Herd alumni Bradley Kennedy has signed with Glasgow Clan of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The 26-year-old spent five years with the Mount Royal Cougars than played 5 games with the Fort Wayne Komets in 2021-22 after MRU's playoffs were finished. "I had a few good talks with the coach and watched some videos which gave me a really good feeling about the organisation," Kennedy said. 

Former Moose captain Maxime Fortier is sticking around Europe after signing with the HockeyAllsvenskan's IF Bjorkloven earlier this month. The 24-year-old had 11 goals and 13 points in 29 games played for HC Ajoie of NL during the 2021-22 regular season. 

A little closer to home, the St. Louis Blues announced on July 15 that they have signed forward Martin Frk to a one-year, two-way contract. Frk played six games with the Los Angeles Kings in 2021-22 season but was in the lineup for the Ontario Reign for most of the season, scoring 40 goals and 73 points in 58GP. The 6-foot-1 forward was originally drafted No. 49 overall by Detroit in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He has played in 124 career NHL games with the Kings, Detroit and Carolina, while recording 41 points (20 goals, 21 assists). Hopefully he'll be able to stay in the top league a bit more this upcoming season. 

Good luck to these guys with their new clubs. 

Photos - teams twitter accounts & LA Sports Hub

Herd Word

NEW COACHING POSITIONS 
More former Halifax Mooseheads coaches have been given positions with new teams. Townsend, ON native Jim Midgley has joined the National Hockey League's New York Rangers staff as an assistant coach. Midgley, who head coached the Herd during the 2017-18 season, is currently an assistant coach on Team Canada at the Women's World Championships in Calgary. Check out the reaction from the ladies when they were told of Jim's new job here. 

The Saint Mary's Huskies announced last week that Cole Harbour native Jon Greenwood has been added to their coaching staff as the new defense coach. Greenwood had spent the last 7 seasons with our Mooseheads. 

Photo - Rangers website

RECENT CUTS
After the pre-season game on Friday night, Cam Russell, Sylvain Favreau and the staff announced another round of cuts which leaves 26 players now in training camp. A surprise to many, the Herd reassigned free agent Bryson Boudreau along with Liam Welsh and Merle Putnam. Boudreau was on another level during the first week of camp, scoring 8+ goals over the multiple intrasquad games and picked up 3 assists in 3 pre-season matches. Many expected him to make the team after his performance the last two weeks. 

With the moves, the regular season roster is starting to shape up and unlike I previously thought, we could see the announcement of who made the team sometime this week. We're getting close Moose Country. 

SIGNINGS
It looks like a couple more Herd alumni will be playing in the ECHL in 2021-22. The Allen Americans announced they re-signed tough guy Kelly Bent on Tuesday. The Halifax native played for the Americans last season in 18 games and collected 71 penalty minutes. Bent was apart of the Mooseheads for two seasons (2014-16) before joining the Dalhousie Tigers for university. 

A teammate of Bent with both the Herd and Tigers, 25 year old forward Andrew Shewfelt will presumably turn pro after being signed by the Wichita Thunder late last week. He suited up for his hometown junior team for three seasons (2013-16) collecting 58 points with Halifax. Shewfelt was supposed to play in his fourth season with Dalhousie in 2020-21 but the pandemic cancelled university hockey. 

"I'm thrilled to be coming to Wichita for my first year of professional hockey," stated Shewfelt. "I've heard nothing but great things about the city, fans, and the organization. I'm excited to get down there and get to work."

Check back later in the year to see which teams the other former players are suiting up for this season in the next Where Are They Now? blog post. 

TICKETS
Some new about Halifax Mooseheads tickets for 2021-22. Previous season ticket and 15-game pack holders have until September 3 to renew their tickets or their seats will be released. The team has been told that they should be able to have full capacity this year meaning that members who had season tickets in 2019-20 should have those seats again. For fans who want to become members, full season, 15-games and family flex 20 packs go on sale tomorrow August 30 at 10 a.m. 

Individual tickets for the general public will go on sale September 23. For full info (including benefits) and prices, check out mooseheadstickets.ca 

MCKENNA

Herd alumni Jordan Mckenna had some big news come his way on Saturday evening as he was drafted by the Toronto Rock in the National Lacrosse League. McKenna, who played 55 games for Halifax in 2019-20, plays for the Orangeville Northmen lacrosse team during the hockey off-season. The 21-year-old captained the Yarmouth Mariners last year picking up 14 goals and 41 points in 35 games. He is committed to York University for the upcoming season. The NLL is a professional lacrosse league with teams in the United States and Canada. Congrats to Jordan on being selected. 

TIM HORTONS
It looks like we'll get a new Tim Hortons commercial featuring a couple of the top Nova Scotian hockey players. Alumni Nathan MacKinnon shared an Instagram story of himself and fellow Cole Harbour native Sidney Crosby in front of a Tim Hortons store with both wearing Team Canada jerseys. The two have done many advertisements together for Canadian restaurant chain over the years. Hopefully Nathan will have another fantastic season and be able to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the second round. 

TRADE
Your Halifax Mooseheads made a minor trade on Sunday afternoon, moving prospect Alex Carr to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. In return, Halifax receives a 4th round pick in 2023. Carr was drafted by the Herd in 2020 and recently participated in the team's training camp before being reassigned on Friday. He was set to play in the Maritime Hockey League this season but could possibly make the Huskies team. 

I'm sure we will see more trades in the coming days and there have been plenty already by other teams around the league as all 18 QMJHL clubs get ready for the regular season which is set to start September 30. 

Photos - teams' Facebook pages & MacKinnon's Instagram

Hischier Signs Extension

Former Halifax Mooseheads forward Nico Hischier has signed an extension with the New Jersey Devils before his current entry level contract is over. The 20-year-old put his signature on the dotted line on a 7 year contract. It will come into effect at the beginning of the 2020-21 season and is worth 50.75 million dollars.

"I like the direction the organization is going in and the confidence they give me is all a player can ask for," said Hischier. "We have a young, exciting team, and I ma driven to try my best to help the team succeed every day. I was really welcomed here from day one, and I have always felt that I wanted to be part of the Devils."

Hischier has played 157 games so far (includes this year) and has recorded 101 points. The Brig, Switzerland native suited up for all 82 matches during his rookie season and scored 20 goals in 2017-18. He was originally drafted at the 2017 NHL draft and the Devils surprised some people by selecting him 1st overall.

Congratulations to Nico on being signed to a contract extension today and good luck in New Jersey.

Herd Word

Since I've been on hiatus the last few months, I thought I would update you on some news that has happened.

Cole Foston with GM Cam Russell
Photo - Mooseheads Twitter

QMJHL DRAFT
The Q draft was on June in Quebec City, QC and Halifax didn't make a selection until the fourth round where they took Cole Foston with the 70th overall pick.

Only two trades were made in the first round while there were many draft picks switched between teams however the Mooseheads didn't make any moves during the day. Joshua Roy was selected 1st overall by the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Below is the 11 players selected by our Herd:
RD 4, #70 - F Cole Foston - Cole Harbour Wolfpack
RD 5, #88 - D Keegan Hunt - Moncton Flyers
RD 6, #106 - G Brady James - Lac-St-Louis Tigres
RD 7, #124 - C William Robitaille - Levis Chevaliers
RD 8, #142 - D Lucas Robinson - Western Nfld Kings
RD 9, #160 - RW Vincent Paquette - College St. Hilaire U18
RD 10, #178 - RW Olivier Tourchot - St. Eustache Vikings
RD 11, #196 - D Michael Sack - Cole Harbour Wolfpack
RD 12, #214 - D Justin Fernet - Trolet Harfangs
RD 13, #232 - F Merle Putman - Weeks Midgets

Click here for a list of all draftees.

NEW COACHES
Halifax announced a few changes on the bench for the upcoming season. The first being a fifth head coach in the last 5 years. Jean-Jacques Daigneault was named the bench boss for the 2019-20 season after Eric Veilleux was given a promotion to coach the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. This is the first head coaching position that Daigneault has had. The Montreal, QC native has been an assistant coach for the Phoenix RoadRunners (ECHL - 2005-06), Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL - 2007-12), Montreal Canadiens (NHL - 2012-18) and San Antonio Rampage (AHL - 2018-19). Halifax also got a new goaltending coach with the arrival of Joey Perricone. While not a coach, the Mooseheads announced that Chris MacDonald has moved on as well and have named Alex Ryan as their equipment manager.

IMPORT DRAFT
The Canadian Hockey League import draft was held at the end of June and our Mooseheads selected just one player since Marcel Barinka is returning to the lineup, there is only one Euro spot open. Halifax drafted Deurne, Belgium native Senna Peeters 48th in round 1 (47th overall). The 17-year-old played the 2018-19 season with the South Kent Selects Academy 16U team, collecting 66 points in 59 games.

Timo Meier
Photo - The Hockey News

SIGNINGS
A number of former Herd players have signed contracts over the summer. Defenceman Mackenzie Weegar put his name on the dotted line of a new agreement with the Florida Panthers of the NHL. The 25-year-old signed a 1 year 1 way contract. Press release. Forward Timo Meier's entry level deal ended after the 2018-19 season and the San Jose Sharks determined that he was worth 4 more years. Meier has 108 points in 193 NHL games played. Press release.

After being drafted in 2017, Arnaud Durandeau signed an entry level contract shortly after the Memorial Cup tournament ended and will play pro during the upcoming season. The 20-year-old was signed by the New York Islanders and since he would be an overager in 2019-20, the Isles can send him down to one of their affiliates instead of the QMJHL. Press release. With a fantastic season on the Memorial Cup hosting team, Samuel Asselin secured himself a contract with the Boston Bruins and will play this year in Providence for the AHL Bruins.

American Danny Moynihan received an all clear from his doctor that he is healthy enough to play hockey again. The 23-year-old was signed by the ECHL Tulsa Oilers earlier this month and will be joined his brother Connor. The two brothers played for the Mooseheads for 2 and a half seasons from 2013-2016. Press release.

Cameron Critchlow has signed a professional contract overseas. The Manchester Storm of the EIHL announced that Critchlow will join their team for the 2019-20 season. Press release.

NHL DRAFT
Despite multiple Halifax Mooseheads being ranked by Central Scouting Services for the 2019 NHL draft, only one was actually selected in Vancouver. Raphael Lavoie was had to wait until the second day to hear his name but he finally did when the Edmonton Oilers picked him 38th overall.

The 18-year-old had a pretty good season, scoring 32 goals and 73 points during 62 regular season games. In the playoffs, he stepped up his game and his 20 goals led the QMJHL during the post-season.

Congratulations to Raphael on getting drafted. He participated in the Oilers development camp at the end of June and will undoubtedly

TRAINING CAMP
This year's training camp for the Herd started with a bit of a bang, as the team announced they had traded forward Xavier Parent a day before camp opened. The 2001-born player was moved to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in return for Cam Whynot and a 3rd round pick in 2021. Parent played two seasons for Halifax, collecting 64 points. Xavier was selected 4th in the 2017 QMJHL draft by the Mooseheads. Whynot, a defenceman, was recently picked in the 2019 Q draft and is a Kentville native. The 16-year-old has been projected by scouts to be a standout D. The trade shocked some people but the team is without their top back end player; Jared McIsaac until the end of November and Jocktan Chainey announced that he is stepping away from hockey to concentrate on schooling.

So Halifax announced that camp would open with 51 players attending. The club made their first round of cuts the morning after the first pre-season game, releasing 8 players on August 19. They than announced another trade, acquiring D Jason Horvath from the Shawinigan Cataractes for a 2020 6th round pick. Another round of cuts were made on August 22 when 6 hopefuls were released. The biggest round of cuts were made on August 24 with the 11 young guys cut leaving 27 at camp. It was announced that Kyle Petten decided to return to the MHL Campbellton Tigers.

An updated roster can be seen below.

Photo - Mooseheads website

Somppi Signs First Contract

Photo - Syracuse Crunch twitter

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced some big news on Thursday regarding a Halifax Mooseheads player. Veteran Otto Somppi has signed his first professional contract with the Lightning after a career season with the Herd.

Somppi led the Mooseheads in the regular season with 28 goals and 83 points in 59 games played. He missed 7 of the 9 games that Halifax played during the 2018 playoffs because of an injury sustained in the opening game of the post-season. The 20 year old signed a three-year entry level contract with Tampa Bay, who had drafted him in the 7th round 206th overall in the 2016 NHL draft. Otto also led the team in plus/minus with a plus-39 which was 5th best in the league.

It will be interesting to see what the Bolts do with the Helsinki, Finland native as they could keep him with the big club or send him to the Syracuse Crunch or I'm sure a lot of Moose Country fans are hoping they will send Otto back to Halifax to help the Mooseheads in their quest to a league championship next season. Check out Otto's best goal of the season below.

Congrats to Otto on signing your first pro contract and good luck during training camp in September.

Herd Word

EHLERS
Well congratulations are in order for one former Halifax Moosehead. Nikolaj Ehlers, 21, was signed to an extension on Wednesday by the Winnipeg Jets, the team announced. Ehlers is going into his third NHL season with the Jets and this will be the last year in his entry level contract. Over the course of two years in the professional leagues, Nik has 102 points in 154 games played, which includes 40 goals. The Aalborg, Denmark native was awarded a 7 year contract extension worth 42 million dollars.

Nik and the Jets start the 2017-18 season tonight hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs.
https://twitter.com/NHLJets/status/915613944802398216

CSS RATINGS
With the National Hockey League regular season about to begin, the Central Scouting Services announced their players to watch this year. On the list are four Halifax Mooseheads players currently on the team. Each player is given a rating; A is for players projected to go in the first round, while 2nd and 3rd rounders projected players are rated B and C ratings are those young men projected to go in the 4th rounds or later. There are 4 QMJHL players, Joe Veleno of the Saint John Sea Dogs and our own Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Jared McIsaac and Filip Zadina. Herd goaltender Alexis Gravel is among 10 Q players with a B rating.

For the full list click here.

TOP 10 RANKINGS
This evening, the Canadian Hockey League and BMO released the second regular season top 10 rankings. Halifax stayed in the top ten while a few teams made big jumps in the rankings after starting their seasons 4-0-0-0.

Week 2's CHL Top 10
1. Victoriaville Tigres (4-0-0-0) last week: 2
2. Owen Sound Attack (2-0-0-1) last week: 3
3. Moose Jaw Warriors (4-0-0-0) last week: -
4. Quebec Remparts (4-0-0-0) last week: -
5. Victoria Royals (4-0-0-0) last week: -
6. Portland Winterhawks (2-1-0-0) last week: 4
7. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (2-1-0-0) last week: 5
8. Kelowna Rockets (2-0-0-1) last week: 7
9. Halifax Mooseheads (4-1-0-0) last week: 8
10. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (3-1-1-0) last week: 10

Honourable mention: Flint Firebirds (3-0-0-0), Swift Current Broncos (3-0-0-0), Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (4-1-0-0)

OPENING NIGHT DEBUTS

Photo - Mooseheads website

A few alumni will be making debuts this week. There are 3 former players set to make their opening night debut when the NHL season begins on Wednesday. While all three have already made their NHL debut, none have been on the opening night roster for their respective teams. Timo Meier will start the season tonight when the San Jose Sharks host the Philadelphia Flyers. Meier had the unfortunate situtian last year when he got mono and had to rehab with the AHL's Barracuda. It was also announced earlier this week that Martin Frk and Mackenzie Weegar, who both helped the Moose win a Memorial Cup in 2013, have made their big clubs after spending the majority of 2016-17 in the American Hockey League. Frk had a strong pre-season with the Detroit Red Wings and will open up the season with the Wings on his birthday tomorrow when they host the Minnesota Wild. Weegar will have to wait a little longer to make his opening night debut as the Florida Panthers travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning on Friday. Good luck to all 3 guys this year, Moose Country will be cheering you on hoping you stay in the NHL all year long.

UPCOMING GAMES
Your Halifax Mooseheads continue their homestand this weekend when they play their first games against Quebec teams. The undefeated Quebec Remparts come to town on Friday evening for t-shirt night, a match that can also be seen on Eastlink. On Sunday, Halifax will host the Blainville-Boisbraind Armada in another afternoon game. I'll have tweets from both games and be sure to follow on Instagram as well for pictures and videos.

Herd Word: Former Captain To Make Pro Debut Friday

Photo - Barracuda's Facebook page

MEIER
According to the San Jose Barracuda, former Halifax Mooseheads captain Timo Meier is set to make his professional debut on Friday night for the Barracuda. Meier's pro debut was pushed back a couple of weeks because the 20 year old was diagnosed with monocleosis at the end of September forcing him out of the lineup for at least 4 weeks. The San Jose Sharks, who drafted Timo 9th overall in the 2015 NHL draft, reassigned the forward to the AHL a couple of weeks ago to get some conditioning after he felt better. Meier had this to say on Tuesday after his first full practice since his diagnosis; “I feel great, and I can’t wait to get out there. I feel like we have a really good team, I think we can really achieve a lot.” According to the article, the Herisau, Switzerland native lost 10 pounds in the month that he was sick but has gained it back. In two and a half seasons with the Herd, Meier had 160 points which included 72 goals in 150 games played. Halifax traded Timo to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on January 6 where he scored 23 goals and 51 points in 29 games to help the team get 1st overall in the league. During the playoffs, the forward was second in team scoring and helped lead the Huskies to their first President's Cup win. He was also the captain of the 2016 Switzerland World Junior team where he finished with 5 points in 6 games. Good luck to Timo in your debut and this season with the Barracuda.

LOCAL NIGHT
Saturday evening's game versus the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles has been designated as Celebrate Local Night at Scotiabank Centre. The Moose will host Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Eagles in the second game of a home-and-home series. The team has stated that about 800 prizes will be handed out from local businesses. There will also be a few Nova Scotian Olympians and Paralympians who participated in the Rio Olympics in August, according to the release.

Photo - Team Canada twitter

U17 CHALLENGE
On Tuesday, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jared McIsaac, two rookies for the Mooseheads who have played quite well so far this season, left Halifax to head to Saint Ste. Marie to participate in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge hosted by Hockey Canada. The Canadian teams announced their leadership group on Thursday and both boys are apart of their respective team's leaders. Groulx was named captain of Canada Red while McIsaac was given an A for Canada White. The tournament runs from October 28-November 5. Congratulations to Jared and Benoit-Olivier and good luck guys.

Photo - Team Canada twitter

SPORTSNET
It was announced on Friday that the January 7th game vs. the Saint John Sea Dogs will be broadcasted nationally across Canada on Sportsnet. Because the channel now shows NHL hockey on Saturday nights, the start of the Mooseheads game has been moved to 4:00pm Atlantic time instead of the normal 7pm to allow for the TV slot.

MACKINNON
Former Halifax Mooseheads star player Nathan MacKinnon had a little fun on Thursday to celebrate the Denver Nuggets basketball season getting underway. Dressed in a Nuggets jersey, Kid Mack tried some trick shots and made a nice basket while facing the opposite direction. Check it out here.

NEW SIGNEE
The Herd announced that they had signed a 17 year old Ontario free agent on Tuesday. Moose Country would like to welcome Caleb Rich to the team. Rich played 15 games in the Northern Ontario Hockey League this season for the French River Rapids before being signed by the Herd. In 68 career games with the Rapids, the Callander, ON native had 27 goals and 64 points. He was in the lineup for Halifax on Wednesday night even though he wasn't expected to be. General Manager Cam Russell feels "that he could be a top-six player since he was a point per game player as a 16-year-old." Russell also had this to say; “There’s lots to like there he’s got great size, good speed and he seems to play well in traffic.”