High Scoring Affair For 40th Win

Forty wins in 56 games, how does that sound Moose Country? Your Halifax Mooseheads picked up their 40th victory of the season on Friday night in dominating fashion against the Gatineau Olympiques. The Herd haven’t gotten win number 40 this fast since the year they won the President’s Cup, where they had 47 victories in 56 matches. Gatineau is a young team, they only have 5 players born in 1998 or 1999, and it showed this evening in their first game against the Mooseheads in 2018-19. Captain Antoine Morand scored 30 seconds into the contest while Halifax outshot the Olympiques 21-4 in the first period. Raphael Lavoie made a few dekes in front of second year goaltender Creed Jones before sliding the puck through the five hole to give the home team a 2-0 lead. That’s all the scoring that would happen in the opening 20 minutes. The middle frame was a little tighter with Gatineau pushing back and the club was able to get one past Alex Gravel on the power play just minutes after Samuel Asselin made it 3-0. Halifax held a commanding 4-1 lead after 40 minutes. The third period started off pretty frantic with defenceman Jared McIsaac scoring his 13th of the year 19 seconds into the frame while overager Giordano Finoro picked up his second of the game just thirteen seconds later. I thought the amount of shots the Herd had on Tuesday were high (49) but the team surpassed that tonight, outshooting Gatineau 54-20 cruising to a 7-2 win.

FINAL: Olympique 2 at Mooseheads 7
Stars: 3. Giordano Finoro GAT | 2. Antoine Morand HAL | 1. Raphael Lavoie HAL
Attendance: 7,809
MC’s Top Herd: Raphael Lavoie

GAME LOG
First period
0:30 HAL Antoine Morand (21) | A: Asselin & Lavoie
9:47 HAL Raphael Lavoie (26) | A: None

Second period
1:57 HAL Samuel Asselin (44) | A: Morand & Kyte
4:25 GAT Giordano Finoro (18), PP | A: Bilodeau & Roelens
6:10 HAL Raphael Lavoie (27), PP | A: Barron & Ryczek

Third period
0:19 HAL Jared McIsaac (13) | A: Flower & Morand
0:32 GAT Giordano Finoro (19) | A: None
4:06 HAL Samuel Dube (2) | A: Groulx & Ryczek
12:54 HAL Jake Ryczek (8), PP | A: Barron & Lavoie

Shots: 54-20 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: GAT – 1-for-4; HAL – 2-for-6

NOT DRESSED – Ostap Safin (injured), Marcel Barinka (injured), Alexis Sansfacon (healthy), Cole Stewart (injured) and Jocktan Chainey (injured)

SCORES
Wildcats 8 at Sea Dogs 1
Cataractes 1 at Phoenix 4
Oceanic 7 at Foreurs 4
Voltigeurs 4 at Tigres 1
Titan 4 at Drakkar 11
Screaming Eagles 4 at Armada 0
Remparts 2 at Sagueneens 3 OT

UP NEXT – Halifax will welcome the Charlottetown Islanders to the Scotiabank Centre on national television tomorrow afternoon. Puck drops at 4:30pm.

Feb 11: Mooseheads vs. Titan preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN
February 11, 2019 at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

It’s an even more rare Monday game night this evening as your Halifax Mooseheads host the last place Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the Scotiabank Centre. This match was originally supposed to be played on Friday night but a storm going through the Maritimes, which happened to be worse in New Brunswick, postponed the game and the league rescheduled it to tonight. The two teams are heading in opposite directions and actually the Mooseheads are being led by two former Titan players who were on Bathurst last season when they won the Memorial Cup. Halifax is trying to keep the trophy in the Maritimes and already have a spot in the tournament as hosts. Acadie-Bathurst were sellers over the summer trade period and are in a rebuilding season. As such, they find themselves in last place in the QMJHL with just 17 points and 7 wins. The team’s leading scorer Jesse Sutton came over from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens to finish his junior career. For Halifax, Antoine Morand, Samuel Asselin, Raphael Lavoie and Jared McIsaac continue to lead the Herd with both McIsaac and Morand scoring in a 4-2 loss on Saturday. Asselin was named the CHL Player of the Week on Wednesday and he added two more points in the club’s last two games. The Moose have dominated the season series winning all 7 games so far by a combined score of 42-10. Will we see a close game like the previous match or will it be another high scoring game for the home team? We’ll have to see.

Overall Records
Titan: 7-41-2-1 = 17pts (18th overall, 6th in Maritimes division)
Mooseheads: 37-12-2-1 = 77pts (4th overall, 1st in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Samuel Asselin 71pts (40G & 31A), Antoine Morand 56pts (18G & 38A), Raphael Lavoie 55pts (24G & 31A)
BAT: Jesse Sutton 34pts (16G & 18A), Evan MacKinnon 25pts (7G & 18A), Marc-Andre LeCouffe 24pts (11G & 13A)

Previous Games
Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a 4-3 overtime defeat to Drummondville on Saturday evening. Alexandre David led the Titan with a goal and an assist while Mark Grametbauer made 35 saves to take the loss against the Voltigeurs on home ice.

Halifax is coming off a 4-2 road loss on Saturday night against the Screaming Eagles. Antoine Morand and Jared McIsaac scored the goals for the Mooseheads while Alex Gravel stopped 16 of Cape Breton’s 19 shots.

Head-to-Head
October 14  Mooseheads 5 at Titan 0
November 7  Mooseheads 8 at Titan 2
November 10  Titan 0 at Mooseheads 9
December 8  Titan 0 at Mooseheads 6
January 8  Mooseheads 5 at Titan 4
January 16  Mooseheads 4 at Titan 1
January 18  Titan 3 at Mooseheads 5
February 11  7pm  Titan at Mooseheads
February 27  7pm  Titan at Mooseheads

After the Buzzer
Halifax will play another make up game as they welcome the Saint John Sea Dogs to Moose Country tomorrow evening. Puck drops at 7pm.

Tonight's Game Postponed

The game between your Halifax Mooseheads and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tonight has been postponed because of the weather. The reason being is because of bad weather conditions in New Brunswick. It has been freezing rain in Halifax this morning and has caused some accidents but is forecasted to become warmer.

The game has been moved to Monday February 11 at 7pm. People who had bought tickets for tonight’s game can use them for the makeup match and for season ticket holders, you can use tonight’s ticket for Monday.

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, Patty Kyte was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for January 2019. Kyte had a goal and 7 assists in 11 games played in January while also collecting 11 penalty minutes and was a plus 3.

Here’s the list:

Team	Player	Educational Institution	Program
BAC	Keenan MacIsaac	Acadia University	Independant Studies
BAT	Ben Roode	Bathurst High School	Grade 12
BLB	Cole Fraser	Kennebecasis Valley High School	Grade 12
CAP	Wilson Forest	Cégep à distance	Human Sciences
CHA	Matthew Welsh	UPEI	Business
CHI	Jérémy Fortin	Cégep de Chicoutimi	Economy & Management
DRU	Nicolas Guay	Cégep de Drummondville	Human Sciences with Maths
GAT	Darick Louis-Jean	Centre Académique de l’Outaouais	Secondary 5
HAL	Patty Kyte	Saint Mary’s University	Bachelor of Commerce
MON	Adam Capannelli	University of Arizona	Independant Studies
QUE	Jérémy Laframboise	Cégep de Limoilou	Human Sciences/Management
RIM	Jordan Lepage	Acadia University	Business
ROU	Félix Bibeau	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue	Human Sciences
SHA	Jérémy Martin	Collège de Shawinigan	Human Sciences
SHE	Nathaël Roy	Cégep de Sherbrooke	Natural Sciences
SNB	James White	University of New Brunswick	Business Administration
VDO	Jérémy Michel	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue	Natural Sciences
VIC	Vincent Sévigny	Cégep de Victoriaville	Natural Sciences

Feb 6: Mooseheads vs. Islanders preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS
February 6, 2019 at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Wednesday evening games are not very common in junior hockey however tonight your Halifax Mooseheads will host the Charlottetown Islanders in what is their first of 3 mid-week matches in the next 6 weeks. Our Mooseheads have built up a good lead for first place in the Maritimes division after winning three straight last week, I imagine we’ll see the team move up in the Top 10 CHL rankings when they are released later today. Charlottetown will also have to contend with the line of Antoine Morand, Raphael Lavoie and Samuel Asselin if Coach Veilleux decides to keep them together which after putting up 28 points in those three victories I would be shocked if he didn’t. Halifax has been hit by the injury bug hard this season, with a total of 7 players out right now, but a few are soon to return. As a result, the Mooseheads have called up Sonny Kabatay and Gavin Hart from Junior A to fill in a couple of spots. The Herd will also be without Ben Higgins as he received a one game suspension for an incident during Saturday’s match in Moncton.

This is the seventh meeting between these two teams this season. Halifax is 5-1-0-0 against the Islanders while Charlottetown has a 1-4-1-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was on back on December 28 in Charlottetown where the hometown Islanders took a 5-2 victory. Raphael Lavoie and Samuel Asselin scored for Halifax while Alex Gravel made 26 saves in the loss.

Overall Records
Islanders: 29-15-2-2 = 63pts (7th overall, 3rd in Maritimes division)
Mooseheads: 36-11-2-1 = 75pts (4th overall, 1st in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Samuel Asselin 69pts (40G & 29A), Antoine Morand 54pts (17G & 37A), Raphael Lavoie 53pts (23G & 30A)
CHA: Daniel Hardie 60pts (31G & 29A), Nikita Alexandrov 49pts (24G & 25A), Jordan Maher 35pts (10G & 25A)

Previous Games
Charlottetown hosted the Phoenix on Saturday evening and lost 6-4 on home ice. Lukas Cormier and Drew Hunter had a goal and an assist each to lead the Islanders while Isaak Pelletier made 37 saves against Sherbrooke.

Halifax is coming off a 4-2 victory in Moncton on Saturday evening. Jared McIsaac led the Mooseheads with a goal and 3 assists while Alex Gravel stopped 20 of the Wildcats’ 22 shots he faced to pick up his 25th win.

Head-to-Head
September 22  Mooseheads 3 at Islanders 2
October 11  Mooseheads 8 at Islanders 2
November 20  Islanders 3 at Mooseheads 4 OT
December 9  Mooseheads 2 at Islanders 1
December 15  Islanders 2 at Mooseheads 6
December 28  Mooseheads 2 at Islanders 5
February 6  7pm  Islanders at Mooseheads
February 16  4:30pm  Islanders at Mooseheads
March 16  4:30pm  Islanders at Mooseheads

Out of Town
Cape Breton vs. Drummondville – 7:00pm
Rimouski vs. Chicoutimi – 8:30pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will welcome the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday evening to the Scotiabank Centre. Puck drops at 7pm.

Asselin Leads Q This Week

For the second time this season, veteran forward Samuel Asselin was named the QMJHL Player of the Week for the week ending on February 3. The 20-year-old finished the week with 11 points over the three matches Halifax played between January 28 and February 3. On Thursday, he had two goals and 2 assists as the Mooseheads won 7-5 against the Victoriaville Tigres while Asselin had great game on Friday, scoring a hat trick and a couple of helpers. Samuel was named the first star on Friday when the Sherbrooke Phoenix came to town. In Moncton, the L’Assomption, QC native had a goal and an assist to lead to the Herd’s third victory in as many nights. He is the first player in the Q to reach 40 goals this season. In his 3 previous seasons combined Asselin had 34 goals in total.

The QMJHL also announced the Team of the Week today which included forwards Asselin and Antoine Morand as well as defenceman Jared McIsaac. Morand had a career night on Thursday, scoring a hat trick and picking up two helpers for a 5 point game, earning him the first star. The 19-year-old ended the week with 9 points. McIsaac also recorded 9 points last week as he scored twice and had 7 helpers.

Coach Eric Veilleux put Asselin, Morand and 18-year-old Raphael Lavoie together on a line Thursday evening and it seemed to have worked as the line combined for 28 points in Halifax’s three victories.

Congrats to all three players on being recognized for their awesome production last week. Keep up the great work boys.Coach Eric Veilleux put Asselin, Morand and 18-year-old Raphael Lavoie together on a line Thursday evening and it seemed to have worked as the line combined for 28 points in Halifax’s three victories.

Photos - QMJHL website

Big Night For Morand

It was a really big night for 19 year old Antoine Morand on Thursday evening as the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the visiting Victoriaville Tigres 7-5 at the Scotiabank Centre. The game didn’t start off too good for the Herd as they found themselves down 2-0 thirteen minutes into the game but Morand got the home team on the board at the 16:21 mark with a shorthanded goal. That was the start of his career evening. There were goals galore in the middle frame and a number of penalties which the Mooseheads were able to convert on but the Tigres were not. Halifax third power play goal of the period gave them a 4-3 lead but Anthon Poulin scored with 4:33 left in the second to tie the game up again for Victoriaville and that would be the score going into the third. The away team took back the lead a couple minutes into the final frame but Antoine wasn’t going to let them leave Scotiabank Centre with a win, tying the match once again a few minutes later. His hat trick goal came at the 9:30 mark of the third which sent the 6,760 fans in attendance jump for joy as it gave the Mooseheads a 6-5 lead. The boys were able to hold off the Tigres in the final 10 minutes and Samuel Asselin scored his 36th of the season to give the team some insurance. Morand also recorded an assist on that 6th goal giving the captain a six point night, a career high. A weird bounce near the boards with about 90 seconds left got past Alex Gravel, however it was immediately waved off as the puck had hit a referees skate redirecting the puck into the net.

FINAL: Tigres 5 at Mooseheads 7
Stars: 3. Dominic Cormier VIC | 2. Samuel Asselin HAL | 1. Antoine Morand HAL
Attendance: 6,760
MC’s Top Herd: Antoine Morand

GAME LOG
First period
4:05 VIC Feliks Morozov (6) | A: Gallo-Demetris & Cormier
12:32 VIC Simon Lafrance (24) | A: Mathieu & Abramov
16:21 HAL Antoine Morand (15), SH | A: Asselin

Second period
2:46 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (24), PP | A: Morand & McIsaac
3:04 VIC Dominic Cormier (10) | A: Mathieu & Abramov
8:28 HAL Jared McIsaac (10), PP | A: Lavoie & Morand
9:49 HAL Samuel Asselin (35), PP | A: Groulx & McIsaac
15:27 VIC Anthony Poulin (6) | A: Racicot

Third period
1:59 VIC Edouard Ouellet (2) | A: Boivin & Cormier
4:32 HAL Antoine Morand (16) | A: Lavoie & Kyte
9:30 HAL Antoine Morand (17) | A: Asselin
17:00 HAL Samuel Asselin (36) | A: McIsaac & Morand

Shots: 42-31 in favour of Halifax
Powerplay: VIC – 0-for-5; HAL – 3-for-4

NOT DRESSED – Jake Ryczek, Ostap Safin, Maxim Trepanier and Jocktan Chainey were out with injuries

SCORES
Sea Dogs 4 at Cataractes 5 SO

UP NEXT – The 10th overall Sherbrooke Phoenix will make their lone trip to Halifax on Friday evening. Puck drops at 7pm. .