Trade Acquisition To Report

Photo - ushl.com

Last week, the Halifax Mooseheads announced their first trade of the winter trade period. The team traded a 1st round draft pick in 2018 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for the rights of American defenceman Jake Ryczek and a 2018 3rd rounder.

Rycek was drafted by the Titan in the 6th round of the 2015 QMJHL draft from the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL but decided not to report. He instead stayed in his home country and played another two seasons in the USHL before joining the Providence College Friars this season. IN his three seasons in the USHL playing for the Musketeers and the Waterloo Black Hawks, the 19 year old had 21 goals and 81 points in 152 games played. The Ludlow, MA native has had limited playing time for the Friars this year only suiting up for 5 games.

Originally, Cam Russell and the Mooseheads brass were unsure if Ryczek was going to report to the team but I guess he thought about it and Russell was able to convince the young man that this would be a smart decision to come to Atlantic Canada. Jake, who was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2016 NHL draft, is already in Moose Country and participated in his first practice this morning. It is yet to be determined if he will make his debut tonight but if he plays this week, he will wear #8 before switching to number 16 in the new year.

Welcome to the team Jake!

Herd Finish 1st Half of Season

Photo - Shawn Davidson

And it's the end of the first half of the 2017-18 season already. Your Halifax Mooseheads go into the holiday break with three consecutive wins with two being over provincial rivals Cape Breton. Rookie Xavier Parent had a goal and an assist to lead the Herd in the game on Saturday night where Halifax defeated the Screaming Eagles 4-2. Blade Mann-Dixon was back for the last couple of games after being out with an injury but clearly did not feel good enough to be put in game action as Alexis Gravel started all 3 matches. The 3 victories led to the CHL giving the Moose an honourable mention on the BMO Top-10 rankings that were released on Wednesday.

The game against Cape Breton on December 13 began a streak of 20 matches that the Mooseheads will play against Maritime division rivals. It will be interesting to see how the standings are like when this string of games end in February. When teams come back on December 28, some will look different but is yet to be seen if Halifax will as they have only done one trade so far and the player they received from Acadie-Bathurst is not guaranteed to report. The Herd will start with a game at home against the Charlottetown Islanders before playing a home and home with CB on the weekend.

First half stats
Record - 21-9-4-1 = 47 points   35GP (3rd overall, 1st Maritimes division)
Goals for - 131
Goals against - 104
Penalties -  507
Powerplay - 17.2%
Penalty kill - 83.7%
Streak - 3-0-0-0
Past 10 - 7-2-0-1

Top 5 scorers: Filip Zadina (24-22-46), Maxime Fortier (18-23-41), Otto Somppi (11-25-36), Benoit-Olivier Groulx (15-14-29) & Arnaud Durandeau (13-14-27)
Goalies: Blade Mann-Dixon 13-3-2-0 record, 1 shutout, 2.70 GAA, 0.908 SV%; Alexis Gravel 8-6-2-1 record, 0 shutouts, 3.09 GAA, 0.899 SV%



Have a happy holiday break Moose Country, see you back at the Scotiabank Centre on December 28. Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you enjoy it.

Moose End the First Half on a High Note

Tonight was a big win for your Halifax Mooseheads as they finish the first half of the season on a winning note as they cruise to a 4-2 victory over their provincial rivals the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles after a very hard fought battle by both teams. This is the second victory Halifax has had over the Eagles this week where they took the game in Sydney by a score of 5-2. The Eagles did come out strong but after taking consecutive penalties it saw Jared McIssac draw first blood notching a power-play goal. After that, it saw Peyton Hoyt score to even things up, the first period would end in a one to one tie with shots 12-8 in favour of Cape Breton. In the second it saw your Mooseheads going ahead 2-1 with Patty Kyte scoring his second in as many nights, but about five minutes later Jordan Ty Fournier tied things up once again, just over halfway through the second just as a power play expired Xavier Parent scored to regain the lead that would remain going into the intermission. after two periods of play, it saw Halifax with a lead in shots 21-20. In the third Connor Moynihan would seal the deal and score into the empty net to secure the win for the home team. With a lot of the jump that Cape Breton did have it saw Alex Gravel play a very solid game and make some timely saves to help the team to victory. This game sets up the Hurley Cup that takes place at the end of the month, Halifax will look to take revenge after the loss last year.

FINAL: Screaming Eagles 2 at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Alex Gravel HAL | 2. Peyton Hoyt CAP | 1. Xavier Parent HAL
Attendance: 7,153
MC’s Top Herd: Alex Gravel

GAME LOG
First period
4:10 HAL Jared McIssac (4), PP | A: Parent & Fortier
6:28 CAP Peyton Hoyt (10) | A: MacLellan & Proulx

Second period
3:19 HAL Patty Kyte (2) | A: Flower & Somppi
7:46 CAP Jordan Ty Fournier (9) | A: Hoyt & Lauuon
12:05 HAL Xavier Parent (8) | A: Higgins & Bishop

Third period
19:16 HAL Connor Moynihan (11) | A: Fortier & Groulx

Powerplay: CAP – 0-for-3, HAL – 1-for-6
Shots: 29-29

MISSING IN ACTION – Ryan Barbosa, Jocktan Chainey and Filip Zadina

SCORES
Sherbrooke 2 at Blainville 5
Victoriaville 3 at Drummondville 5
Bathurst 3 at Moncton 2 SO
Rimouski 3 at Baie Comeau 2 OT
Chicoutimi 3 at Shawinigan 7
Saint John 4 at Charlottetown 3 OT
Val D'or 2 at Rouyn Noranda 4

UP NEXT: Halifax will welcome the Islanders to town to open up the second half of the season. Puck drops at 7pm.

Jumbotron Fails But The Mooseheads Don't

Photo - Shawn Davidson

In a game that would decide who was first in the Maritimes division for tonight, the evening began a little strange. The score board at the Scotiabank Centre went black during the playing of the pre-game video and did not work the rest of the night. For fans it was annoying but it didn't bother your Halifax Mooseheads who cruised to a second straight 5-2 victory, this time defeating the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday night. Another problem that did end up effecting the players a little bit was the ice surface which seemed to be affected by the basketball game played yesterday evening as the boys on both teams kept falling with no one around them. Bathurst came out strong and had the first two shots on net but Connor Moynihan drew first blood for your Herd on their second shot less than 5 minutes into the match. After that Halifax and the Titan played a pretty good defensive game with shots 10-9 for the away team after 20 minutes however Alexis Gravel was able to outplay Reilly Pickard in net and it helped the home team get a 2-0 lead though one. In the middle frame Gravel was the difference yet again especially on Acadie-Bathurst's power plays which allowed Max Fortier get a short handed goal to give the Herd a 5-0 after 40 minutes. It was Fortier's 4th shortie of the season and came on his 20th birthday. Rookie Patrick Kyte tipped in a nice back handed pass from Arnaud Durandeau to pick up his first junior league goal. In the third the Titan had some life after the decided to replace Pickard to start the frame and were able to get two goals past Gravel but it didn't matter in the end.

FINAL: Titan 2 at Mooseheads 5
Stars: 3. Jordan Lepage HAL | 2. Patty Kyte HAL | 1. Otto Somppi HAL
Attendance: 6,158
MC’s Top Herd: Patty Kyte

GAME LOG
First period
4:43 HAL Connor Moynihan (10) | A: Lepage & McIssac
17:21 HAL Xavier Parent (7), PP | A: Lavoie & Groulx

Second period
9:13 HAL Patty Kyte (1) | A: Somppi & Durandeau
15:48 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (13) | A: Somppi
18:30 HAL Maxime Fortier (18), SH | A: none

Third period
2:12 BAT German Rubstov (8) | A: Viel & Drolet
14:29 BAT Felix-Antoine Drolet (1) | A: Crossman & MacIssac

Shots: 31-26 in favour of Bathurst
Powerplay: BAT – 0-for-5; HAL – 1-for-8

NOT DRESSED – Filip Zadina (WJC), Jocktan Chainey (injury) and Walter Flower (healthy)

SCORES
Cape Breton 1 at Charlottetown 6
Saint John 4 at Moncton 3 OT
Shawinigan 2 at Victoriaville 7
Rimouski 0 at Baie-Comeau 2
Blainville-Broisand 6 at Drummondville 3
Chicoutimi 2 at Gatineau 4
Quebec 4 at Rouyn-Noranda 7

UP NEXT: The Mooseheads will welcome their provincial rivals to town as they take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tomorrow night. Puck drops at 7pm.

GAMEDAY #34: vs. Acadie-Bathurst

GAMEDAY 
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Once again top spot in the Maritimes division is up for grabs when these two teams are meeting. Almost 3 weeks ago, the Mooseheads and Titan faced off in Bathurst for the division lead where the home team got the victory and the clubs have been switching places since than. Acadie-Bathurst and Halifax are tied with 43 points after playing 33 games so far this season. The Herd will be without the services of team leading scorer Filip Zadina tonight and for the rest of this month as he is participating in the 2018 World Juniors with the Czech Republic. Halifax might also be without Blade Mann-Dixon and Maxime Fortier as they are still recovering from injuries but they may be game time decisions. Bathurst has been the hotter team of late going 3-0-2 in their last five games while Halifax has a streak of 1 win but when these two clubs meet they are exciting games and in recent history have been very close. Who will come out on top? Well head down to the Scotiabank Centre for some Friday night hockey and the second to last contest before the holiday break.

This is the fourth game this season between these two teams. Halifax is 1-2-0-0 against the Titan while Acadie-Bathurst has a 2-1-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was November 26 where the home Titan picked up a 5-4 victory on the back of Noah Dobson's three point night. Otto Somppi (2G&1A) and Raphael Lavoie (1G&2A) had 3 point nights as well to lead Halifax in scoring while Alex Gravel was the busier goalie stopping 40 of Bathurst's shots.

OVERALL RECORDS
Titan: 18-8-5-2 = 43 points (T-1st in Maritimes division, 3rd overall)
Mooseheads: 19-9-4-1 = 43 points (T-1st in Maritimes division, 6th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HFX: Filip Zadina 46pts (24G & 22A), Maxime Fortier 38pts (17G & 21A), Otto Somppi 33pts (11G & 22A)
BAT: Antoine Morand 37pts (14G & 23A), Noah Dobson 31pts (4G & 27A), Adam Holwell 30pts (8G & 22A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss on home ice Wednesday night against Charlottetown. Liam Murphy and Samuel L'Italien each had a goal while Reilly Pickard made 27 stops as the Islanders outshot the Titan.

Halifax is coming off a big 5-2 victory over their provincial rivals in Sydney on Wednesday. Four different players record a goal and an assist each for Halifax to lead the team while Alexis Gravel was strong making 25 saves against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

MISSING IN ACTION - Max Fortier (injury), Filip Zadina (world juniors) and Blade Mann-Dixon (injury)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 27  Halifax 3 at Acadie-Bathurst 5
September 30  Acadie-Bathurst 3 at Halifax 4
November 26  Halifax 4 at Acadie-Bathurst 5
December 15  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 7pm
January 7  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 3pm
January 20  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7pm
February 3  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 7pm
March 10  Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7pm
March 17  Acadie-Bathurst at Halifax - 4pm

OUT OF TOWN
Islanders vs. Screaming Eagles     7:00pm
Wildcats vs. Sea Dogs     7:00pm
Tigres vs. Cataractes     8:00pm
Drakkar vs. Oceanic     8:30pm
Voltigeurs vs. Armada     8:30pm
Olympiques vs. Sagueneens     8:30pm
Huskies vs. Remparts     8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will stay at home this weekend with another game against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7pm.

Four Mooseheads named to Top Prospects game

The Canadian Hockey League along with the Guelph Storm and Sherwin-Williams announced the 40 players that will be participating in the upcoming CHL/NHL Prospects Game. For the sixth straight year, your Halifax Mooseheads have players named to the rosters. Halifax has 4 members who will participate this season, a record for the Moose and the most of any team this year. Alex Gravel, Jared McIssac and Benoit-Olivier Groulx were named to team one and Filip Zadina was named to team two for the game that will be held in Guelph, Ontario on January 25, 2018. The coaches will be named at a later date but most likely they will be Bobby Orr and Don Cherry. Team captains will be announced closer to the match.

The game will be yet another opportunity for Gravel, Groulx, McIssac, and Zadina to show National Hockey League scouts what they have and get their draft stock even higher. At the beginning of the season, Jared, Filip, and Benoit-Olivier had an 'A' rating meaning they are projected to go in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft in June, while Alex was a top-ranked NA goalie. On Sportsnet's list for December, SN has Filip ranked at number four, Benoit-Olivier is ranked at #27, Jared is ranked at number 10 while Alex is ranked as the second NA goalie for the draft.

Congratulations to Filip, Benoit-Olivier, Jared, Alex and the rest of the players named to Team Cherry and Team Orr. For the full release check here.

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, Justin Barron was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for November 2017. Barron receives the award even with being away for a couple weeks for the U17 World Hockey Challenge while he recorded one assist and a +1 rating in 6 games with the Herd in November.

Here is the full list:

BAC	Gabriel Fortier	Cégep de Baie-Comeau	Human and Administrative Sciences
BAT	Olivier Desroches	Académie Les Estacades	Secondary 5
BLB	Anthony Poulin	Cégep de Saint-Jérôme	Human Sciences
CAP	Gabriel Proulx	Cégep correspondance	Cégep correspondance
CHA	Matthew Welsh	University of Prince Edward Island	Business
CHI	Zachary Lavigne	Cégep de Chicoutimi	Human Sciences
DRU	Xavier Bernard	Cégep de Drummondville	Human Sciences, Administration profile
GAT	Alexandre Landreville	Cégep de l’Outaouais	Police Techniques
HAL	Justin Barron	Halifax West High School	Secondary 4 – French Immersion
MON	Brady Pataki	Crandall University	Business
QUE	Andrew Coxhead	Nova Scotia Correspondance Study	Grade 12
RIM	Anthony D’Amours	Cégep de Rimouski	Industrial Maintenance Technique
ROU	Jacob Neveu	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue	Nature Sciences
SHA	Simon Dubois	Collège de Shawinigan	Nature Sciences
SHE	Brendan Cregan	St-Mary’s University	Business and Administration
SNB	William Poirier	Cégep correspondace	Nature Sciences
VDO	Yan Dion	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue	Human Sciences
VIC	Tristan Côté-Cazenave	Cégep de Victoriaville	Human Sciences