Stats Sunday: Pre-season

Game played: 5
Scores*: 1-5, 9-4, 5-1, 3-2, 7-3
Record: 4-1-0-0, 8pts
Goals for/against: 25 / 15
Powerplay: 13.0%
Penalty kill: 73.7%

Team leaders
Points: Mateo Nobert (5pts), Jamie Calla (5pts), Nathan Langlois (5pts)
Goals: Mateo Nobert (3G), Jamie Calla (3G), Nathan Langlois (2G)
Assists: Jack Cameron (4A), Nathan Langlois (3A), Shawn Carrier (3A)
Penalty minutes: Emrik Ménard (8 mins), Ylan Verpaelst (6 mins), Daniel Walters (6 mins)
Plus/minus: Cole MacLeod (+5), Nathan Langlois (+5), Duncan Anderson (+4)

Goaltending stats
Jack Fichthorn:  2-0-0-0   1.93 GAA   0.949 SAV%
Carson Mertz:  1-0-0-0   2.06 GAA   0.944 SAV%
Chandler Bell:  0-0-0-0   3.99 GAA   0.900 SAV %
Jack Bell: 1-0-0-0   4.01 GAA   0.867 SAV%
William Laplante: 0-1-0-0   7.95 GAA   0.714 SAV%

*Halifax's score is first

NHL rookie camp rosters out

It's mid-September which means that hockey seasons are underway and the National Hockey League is about to begin this week with rookie training camps. 

Our Halifax Mooseheads have multiple players, from their current roster and alumni, who will be participating across the league. About half of the young guns listed below will battle it out at the 2026 Rookie Faceoff which is hosted by San Jose from Sept. 12-15 and will include Utah, Vegas and Colorado along with Anaheim and Los Angeles.

Photo - Ducks website

Players headed to rookie training camps:
Jake Furlong - Chicago Blackhawks
Quinn Kennedy - Utah Mammoth (invite) 
Attilio Biasca - Boston Bruins
Danny Walters - Ottawa Senators (invite)  
Mathieu Cataford - Vegas Golden Knights
Jordan Dumais - Columbus Blue Jackets
Oleg Kulebiakin - Tampa Bay Lightning
Eddy Doyle - Buffalo Sabres (invite)
Nick Cirka - Utah Mammoth (invite) 
Shawn Carrier - Colorado Avalanche
Dylan MacKinnon - Boston Bruins
Mateo Nobert - Vegas Golden Knights

Good luck to all the players at camp, hopefully we’ll see a few of these guys at main camps. 

With six current players away, the Mooseheads have adjusted plans that were originally scheduled for this weekend such as cancelling their last pre-season game that was set for tonight in Dartmouth against Saint John as well as postponing tomorrow’s meet the team event. 

#Our18: Halifax Mooseheads

Photo - QMJHL website

from theqmjhl.ca

At times last year, the Mooseheads looked like a team poised to build off a stunning 2025 postseason run. At other times, they fell well below that level. The club has made a number of moves to ensure a more consistent – and more competitive – season awaits the fans in Halifax.

First, the returnees; the top three scorers from the forward ranks last year - Oleg Kulebiakin, Shawn Carrier and Quinn Kennedy - are back for another season. Daniel Walters brings his heavy, combative style to the ice for a third 'Q' campaign. A pair of off-season transactions has added to this already impressive crew. On the draft floor in Halifax, a trade was finalized that saw slick puck mover Mateo Nobert come over from Blainville-Boisbriand. During training camp, the Moose acquired winger Nathan Langlois, a breakout player with Rouyn-Noranda last year, from the Huskies. Preparing to make his 'Q' debut is Paul Sintschnig, the second overall selection in the 2026 CHL Import Draft, who comes to North America after a full season in the Austrian pro ranks where he became the youngest player to score a goal in that league. 

The backend is led by captain Owen Phillips, back for his fifth season in Halifax and the lone player remaining from the team's most recent appearance in the league Final in 2023. Malik L'Italien is back as one of the best 17-year-old blueliners in the circuit. Eddy Doyle aims to build upon an impressive breakout campaign in 2025-26. Sintschnig's teammate in Austria last season, Nico Uschan, is ready to bring his defense first style of play to North America. It will also be a complete overhaul in the crease as a pair of American standouts, Jack Fichthorn and Carson Mertz, prepare to make their QMJHL debuts. 

It's been a methodical build back to contender status in the Nova Scotia capital and one that is not yet complete. However, based on the direction taken off the since the conclusion of the last season, there's a lot to look forward to in Moose Country this year. 

2025-2026 Stats:

Record	29-29-3-3 (64 points)
Conference Ranking	7th East
Overall Ranking	12th
Goals For	214 (11th)
Goals Against	258 (14th)
PP (Overall)	22.4% (9th)
PK (Overall)	77.0% (12th)
Leading Rookie (PTS)	Kulebiakin (29-44-73)
Leading Scorers (PTS)	Kulebiakin (29-44-73)
	Carrier (37-28-65)
	Kennedy (31-25-56)
	Phillips (6-35-41)
	Kilfoil (14-25-39)

Here are highlights from 2025-26 below

Regular season roster announced

YOUR 2026-27 HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS

6  Brady Smith  D  (Englewood, CO, USA)

10  Oleg Kulebiakin  LW  (St. Petersburg, Russia)

11  Paul Sintschnig  LW  (Klagenfurt, Austria)*

12  William Bent  RW  (Dover, MA, USA)

16  Mateo Nobert  C  (Beaconsfield, QC)

17  Patrick McNab  C  (Beaconsfield, QC)

20  Daniel Walters  C  (Halifax, NS)

23  Cameron Minella  D  (Darien, CT, USA)

26  Owen Phillips  D  (Hammonds Plains, NS)

28  Cole MacLeod  C  (Porters Lake, NS)*

30  Jack Fichthorn  G  (Darien, CT, USA)

35  Carson Mertz  G  (Coventry, RI, USA)*

43  Evan Nee  LW  (Arlington, MA, USA)

51  Eddy Doyle  D  (Tignish, PE)

55  Shawn Carrier  LW  (Trois-Rivieres, QC)

71  Nathan Langlois  LW  (Levis, QC)

77  Malik L'Italien  D  (Montreal, QC)

79  Duncan Anderson  D  (Antigonish, NS)*

81  Nico Uschan  D  (Villach, Austria)

86  Jackson Smail  C  (Milton, VT, USA)*

88  Quinn Kennedy  C  (Upper Tantallon, NS)

92  Jayden Napon  LW  (Montreal, QC)*

93  Paulo Gualberto Jr  C  (Bamstable, MA, USA)

*indicates rookie

CAMP: 3 more cuts set final roster

Photo - Herd website

The Halifax Mooseheads regular season roster seems to be set after the team made an additional round of cuts on Sunday morning. Three players were released today bringing the roster down to 23 young men, which is how many the club will go into the 2026-27 regular season with. 

I'm surprised who was reassigned to other teams and that it took so long for the brass to announce the roster but it sounds like it was a competitive camp. Halifax has played five pre-season games so far and has won their last four matches after losing the opening tilt against the Cape Breton Eagles. The Mooseheads defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-3 last night at TD Station. 

Players cut:
F Jamie Calla
D Brenden Espenell
F Emrik Menard

Defenceman Brenden Espenell was released after clearing waivers. 

Good luck to these players with their respective teams this season. 

The regular season roster includes 14 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders. There are 11 returning players along with 12 new faces to the team. Congrats to the guys who made the team and welcome to Moose Country. My next post will be the roster. 

CAMP: More cuts made Monday

Photo - Herd website

The Halifax Mooseheads announced their fourth round of cuts on Monday morning during training camp. A total of three players were reassigned to their respective clubs with another released on Friday. The announcement comes about 36 hours after our Moose defeated the Charlottetown Islanders 3-2 in pre-season action on Saturday afternoon. It was Halifax's third straight win after losing their first exhibition match. 

Players cut:
D Jack Cameron
D Samuel Fishbone
F Keith Olympia
F Maveric Thisdelle

This leaves 26 players on the roster, including 16 forwards, eight defencemen and two goaltenders. Nicolas Blanchette, Chase Cleary, Jake Donatelli and Logan Trewin were previously reassigned on Thursday while goaltender Chandler Bell was cut the day before. Free agent forward Will Highes was released on Friday after the team acquired 20-year-old forward Nathan Langlois last week. 

Halifax will announce its regular season roster in the coming days. 

CAMP: Herd make first cuts

Photo - Herd website

After splitting the home-and-home pre-season series against the Cape Breton Eagles, the Halifax Mooseheads announced that they have made a round of cuts on Sunday afternoon. A total of 13 players were reassigned to their respective clubs. The article did not mention if any players left voluntarily. 

Players cut:
G Jack Bell 
F Aaron Carrier
F Elie Champagne
F Thomas Cote 
D Mickael Fournier
F Keegan Kazan
G William Laplante
F Owen O'Donnell
F Nathan Ruel
F Sam Ryan
F Jordan Shaw
D Gavin Sudds
F Ylan Verpaelst

Owen O'Donnell will be sent back to Rouyn-Noranda as he was loaned to the Mooseheads by the Huskies on a try-out basis. This leaves 34 players remaining on the camp roster, including 18 forwards, 13 defencemen and three goaltenders. I suspect we will see the regular season roster named on Thursday following Halifax's next pre-season game on August 26 at the Dartmouth Sportsplex.