Alum On Protected & Unprotected NHL Lists

In 2017-18 there will be a 31st team in the National Hockey League. The NHL added the Las Vegas Golden Knights as an expansion team and as such Las Vegas needs players. On Wednesday night the league will have an expansion draft before the annual NHL Awards ceremony and the Golden Knights have received a list of players they can select from.

There are a handful of former Halifax Mooseheads that have been left unprotected.

Here's a list of who is available to Las Vegas via NHL:
Andrew Bodnarchuk - Dallas Stars
Martin Frk - Detroit Red Wings
MacKenzie Weegar - Florida Panthers
Stefan Fournier - Tampa Bay Lightning
Alexandre Grenier - Vancouver Canucks



Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Jonathan Drouin (Montreal Canadiens) and Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia Flyers) were all protected by their respective clubs.

Las Vegas will host the festivities on Wednesday evening with the expansion draft beginning at 9 p.m. The NHL Entry Draft is set to play out on Friday and Saturday in Chicago, IL.

Drouin Heading Home

Photo - USA Today

Not because he's retiring but because he has been traded to the Montreal Canadiens.

The former Halifax Mooseheads forward was moved by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team that drafted the 22 year old back in 2013, this afternoon to the Habs along with a sixth round conditional pick in 2018 for Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional second-round pick also in 2018. Drouin will become a restricted free agent on July 1st after finishing his entry level contract at the end of the 2016-17 NHL season. Montreal will have to put him on their protected list now if they do not want the Vegas Golden Knights to pick him in the expansion draft on June 21.

Jonathan had 21 goals and 53 points in 73 games played this past season for the Lightning. He finishes his stint with the Bolts scoring 29 goals and helping on 66 others over 164 games played. The Saint-Agathe, Quebec native also had two stints in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch.

Good luck to Jonathan in Montreal, I know there is a lot of Habs fans in Moose Country.

Alum Scores Championship Winner

Martin Frk is a Calder Cup champion!

The Grand Rapids Griffins are the American Hockey League playoff champs after winning Game 6 at home against the Syracuse Crunch. It was a tight match on Tuesday night but the Griffs came out on top with Frk scoring the last goal of the series with just over 7 minutes left in the game. Check out his goal below.

The 23 year old had an interesting season. Frk began the year with the Grand Rapids Griffins but was waived in mid-October by the teams parent club. He was than picked up the Carolina Hurricanes and played 2 games for them. The Pelhrimov, Czech Republic native was put on waivers again and picked up by the Detroit Red Wings.

Photo - TSN twitter

He found himself back in the AHL with Grand Rapids where he led the team in goals during the regular season. Marty missed some time in the playoffs but came back just the same. The former Halifax Moosehead forward recorded 5 goals and 15 points in 16 playoff games after finishing the regular season with 27 pucks in the net and 50 points.


Congratulations to Marty and the Griffins on winning the Calder Cup. Moose Country is proud of you.

Schedule for Pre-Season Released

HALIFAX - The Halifax Mooseheads have announced their schedule for the pre-season.

The organization will once again invite their prospects to a pre-camp tournament held in Moncton where the boys will play 3 games from August 18-20 in hopes of getting an invite to main camp. Halifax will join the Wildcats, Saint John Sea Dogs, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Charlottetown Islanders and Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the Hub City Showcase.

Halifax will than play 6 pre-season games, each in a different arena. The Herd will have their first home game on August 23 in Lantz, NS against their provincial rivals. Since the QMJHL has decided to keep the beginning of the regular season later in September, there will be about a 2 week break between the first few matches and the last few.

Here is the 2017-18 pre-season schedule:
August 18 at 4pm - at Saint John Sea Dogs (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 19 at 1pm - vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 20 at TBD - at to be determined (Superior Propane Centre - Moncton)
August 23 at 7pm - vs. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (East Hants Sportsplex - Lantz, NS)
August 25 at 7pm - at Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (Membertou Sport & Wellness Centre)
August 27 at 2pm - at Saint John Sea Dogs (QPLEX - Quispamsis, NB)
September 8 at 7pm - vs. Moncton Wildcats (Halifax Forum)
September 9 at 7pm - at Moncton Wildcats (Dr Carson/Marion Murray Community Center – Springhill, NS)
September 15 at 7pm - vs. Saint John Sea Dogs (Scotiabank Centre)


Check back in August when I’ll have more information on ticket prices and camp news.

Q Draft: Moose Trade to Get Another First Rounder

Photo - Moose twitter

Your Halifax Mooseheads added some key pieces at the 2017 QMJHL Draft in Saint John, NB that will hopefully fill a few voids left for next season.

Cam Russell and the management team made yet another trade in the first round to move them up to the 13th overall pick. The Herd moved their 2nd and 4th rounds picks of this year's draft to Moncton for the Wildcats first round pick that they received from Acadie-Bathurst on Friday. Halifax also moved a 1999-born player in defenceman Mathieu Charlebois to Gatineau for the Olympiques 3rd round pick at #48. We may also see another set of brothers on the team as the Mooseheads selected current d-man Cooper Jones' younger sibling Zack in the thirteenth round.

Here is who the Moose selected today:
RD 1, #4 - C Xavier Parent - College Esther-Blondin Phenix, QMAAA
RD 1, $13 - D Justin Barron - Halifax McDonald's, NSMMHL
RD 3, #41 - C Alex Newhook - York-Simcoe Express, Minor
RD 3, #48 - C Cole Stewart - Moncton Flyers, NBPEIMMHL
RD 6, #95 - F Kyle Petten - Tri-Pen Ospreys, NLMMHL
RD 7, #113 - D Felix Gascon - College Esther-Blondin Phenix, QMAAA
RD 7, #127 - LW Arlo Merritt - Kimball Union Academy PS
RD 10, #167 - G Maxime Emery - Pionniers de Lanaudiere, Espoir
RD 11, #185 - F Miguel Duchaine - Les Cantonniers de Magog, QMAA
RD 12, #203 - F Gavin Hart - Pictou Weeks Major Midgets, NSMMHL
RD 13, #221 - C Zack Jones - Boston Bandits 16U, MSHL16
RD 14, #237 - C Matthew Boldy - Dexter PS

Congratulations to all the young men who were drafted today by the 18 teams and welcome to the new Herd players to the team.

Click here for the full list of players drafted.

Mooseheads Add Forward in First Round

Xavier Parent showing off his jersey
Photo.- LHJMQ Facebook page

After finishing 15th overall in the league, your Halifax Mooseheads were picking 4th in the QMJHL draft today in Saint John, New Brunswick. With that selection the Herd drafted forward Xavier Parent.

Parent played the 2016-17 season in the QMAAA with the College Esther-Blondin Phenix. The 16 year old is projected to be a top offensive guy in the Q. Hailing from Blainville, QC Xavier had 24 goals and 55 points in 34 games for the Phenix. He made headlines when he recorded 113 points in 30 games at the Peewee level. His size may be an issue in making it to the junior level his first year but "he is not afraid to go to the dirty areas of the ice" according to the Mooseheads draft preview. Parent checks in at 5-foot-7 and 164 pounds.

Congrats to Xavier Parent on being selected 4th and welcome to Moose Country.

Halifax has the 23rd overall pick as well.

QMJHL Draft Day Info

Here is some info to get you ready for the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft.

When: Saturday June 3 at 10 a.m.

Where: Harbour Station in Saint John, NB

Follow: TVA Sports is broadcasting the draft on TV, Rogers tv channel 10 in New Brunswick will be streaming the first round of the draft. For those who don’t have those channels you can see the picks selected on the Q website while junior hockey personnel will be using Twitter to update their followers during the day. This blog will also be updated through out the day. The draft will also be on Facebook live through Rogers TV New Brunswick as well as Across the Line New Brunswick.

Halifax’s picks:
Round 1 – 4th overall
Round 2 – 23rd overall
Round 3 – 41st overall
Round 4 – 59th overall
Round 6 – 95th overall
Round 7 – 113th overall
Round 7 - 127th overall
Round 10 – 167th overall
Round 11 – 185th overall
Round 12 – 203rd overall
Round 13 – 221st overall
Round 14 – 239th overall

Good luck to all the players who are eligible to be drafted.