Top Herd

Now that the regular season is over, I thought I would share who the winner of my Top Herd award is for this season. Even though there was a tie between three players (as you will see below), I decided not to do a poll this time because I thought there was a clear winner. 

And the winner is.....

Mathis Rousseau

This season was supposed to be a year the Mooseheads went all in but in a number of games, goaltender Mathis Rousseau kept his team in the game and allowed Halifax to pick up some wins that shouldn't have. The Boisbriand, QC native had the second-highest save percentage in team history at 0.925 plus a 2.27 goals against average. 

Here is the list of players that I named in individual games. 
Sep 22   Charlottetown - Liam Kilfoil
Oct 6     Victoriaville - Brody Fournier
Oct 20   Rouyn-Noranda - Jordan Dumais
Nov 3    Rimouski - Mathis Rousseau
Nov 4    Sherbrooke - Jordan Dumais
Nov 11  Shawinigan - Jack Milner
Dec 7    Drummondville - Markus Vidicek
Dec 8    Gatineau - Mathieu Cataford
Dec 15  Saint John - Mathieu Cataford
Jan 20   Chicoutimi - Jan Sprynar
Feb 28   Cape Breton - Mathis Rousseau
Mar 10  Moncton - Lou-Felix Denis
Mar 14  Charlottetown - Brady Schultz

CHL Playoffs Have Begun

It's the end of March which means that the best time of the hockey season is underway across the Canadian Hockey League. Normally, I would do an Around the CHL post but I thought I would do things a little different to set up the first round of the playoffs this year. I'm not going to give predictions as I haven't been paying attention to any other team but the Mooseheads. Five series began on Thursday night, one being in the WHL and the other 4 in the OHL.

Below you will find the Round 1 series matchups in the three regional leagues. 

Ed Chynoweth Cup playoffs
E1 Saskatoon Blades vs. E8 Prince Albert Raiders

E2 Swift Current Broncos vs. E7 Lethbridge Hurricanes
E3 Moose Jaw Warriors vs. E6 Brandon Wheat Kings
E4 Medicine Hat Tigers vs. E5 Red Deer Rebels

W1 Prince George Cougars vs. W8 Spokane Chiefs
W2 Portland Winterhawks vs. W7 Victoria Royals
W3 Everett Silvertips vs. W6 Vancouver Giants
W4 Wenatchee Wild vs. W5 Kelowna Rockets

J. Ross Robertson Cup playoffs
E1 Oshawa Generals vs. E8 Barrie Colts
E2 North Bay Battalion vs. E7 Kingston Frontenacs
E3 Brantford Bulldogs vs. E6 Ottawa 67's
E4 Mississauga Steelheads vs. E5 Sudbury Wolves

W1 London Knights vs. W8 Flint Firebirds
W2 Saginaw Spirit vs. W7 Owen Sound Attack
W3 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. W6 Guelph Storm

W4 Kitchener Rangers vs. W5 Erie Otters

Gilles Courteau Trophy playoffs
E1 Baie-Comeau Drakkar vs. E8 Charlottetown Islanders
E2 Halifax Mooseheads vs. E7 Acadie-Bathurst Titan
E3 Moncton Wildcats vs. E6 Chicoutimi Sagueneens 
E4 Cape Breton Eagles vs. E5 Rimouski Oceanic

W1 Drummondville Voltigeurs vs. W8 Saint John Sea Dogs
W2 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. W7 Gatineau Olympiques 
W3 Victoriaville Tigres vs. W6 Shawinigan Cataractes
W4 Sherbrooke Phoenix vs. W5 Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

Good luck to all the teams in this year's playoffs. Will we see a fifth straight QMJHL team win the Memorial Cup in May? 

Season series versus each team

Below you will find the records of your Halifax Mooseheads versus each of the other seventeen teams in the Q plus the monthly records for the team this season. (note: Halifax's score is listed first)

West division
Blainville-Boisbriand 2 games 1-0-1-0 {3-1, 4-5OT}
Gatineau 2 games 2-0-0-0 {5-4OT, 5-4OT}
Rouyn-Noranda 2 games 1-1-0-0 {6-4, 0-2}
Val-d'Or 2 games 1-1-0-0 {5-1, 2-5}

Central division
Drummondville 2 games 2-0-0-0 {4-3, 4-3}
Shawinigan 2 games 1-1-0-0 {4-1, 0-1}
Sherbrooke 2 games 2-0-0-0 {5-1, 5-2}
Victoriaville 2 games 2-0-0-0 {5-3, 4-2}

East division
Baie-Comeau 2 games 1-0-1-0 {3-2OT, 3-4OT}
Chicoutimi 2 games 1-0-1-0 {2-3OT, 3-2}
Quebec 2 games 1-0-1-0 {2-3OT, 3-2}
Rimouski 2 games 1-1-0-0 {2-3, 3-2OT}

Maritimes division
Acadie-Bathurst 9 games 5-3-1-0 {9-1, 5-4, 5-4SO, 3-1, 4-8, 4-3, 1-2OT, 0-2, 1-3}
Cape Breton 9 games 5-3-1-0 {2-0, 4-0, 0-3, 3-1, 2-4, 2-1, 4-5OT, 3-5, 2-1}
Charlottetown 9 games 6-2-1-0 {1-3, 1-6, 6-2, 4-3SO, 1-2SO, 3-2SO, 4-0, 7-0, 4-2}
Moncton 9 games 5-4-0-0 {3-1, 4-5, 4-0, 1-4, 4-3OT, 2-8, 5-4OT, 3-1, 2-3}
Saint John 8 games 5-2-1-0 {4-2, 2-3, 5-4OT, 2-3OT, 3-2, 7-1, 2-5, 7-4}

Monthly records
September 3 games ~ 1-2-0-0 record overall, 0-1-0-0 home, 2-0-0-0 away
October 12 games ~ 9-2-1-0 record overall, 4-1-0-0 home, 5-1-1-0 away
November 12 games ~ 9-1-2-0 record overall, 5-0-1-0 home, 4-1-1-0 away
December 11 games ~ 4-5-1-1 record overall, 3-2-1-1 home, 1-3-0-0 away
January 10 games ~ 6-1-3-0 record overall, 2-1-3-0 home, 4-0-0-0 away
February 13 games ~ 9-4-0-0 record overall, 3-2-0-0 home, 6-2-0-0 away
March 7 games ~ 4-3-0-0 record overall, 3-1-0-0 home, 1-2-0-0 away

Overtime/shootout records
OT ~ eight overtime win, seven overtime loss
SO ~ two shootout win, one shootout loss

Playoffs Begin Friday

Photo - QMJHL wesbite

The road to the 2024 Gilles Courteau Trophy begins on Friday as our Halifax Mooseheads take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Round 1. 

Find the schedule of the Titan-Mooseheads series below:
Game 1   Friday March 29 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
Game 2   Saturday March 30 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
Game 3   Tuesday April 2 @ 7:00pm at KC Irving Regional Centre
Game 4   Wednesday April 3 @ 7:00pm at KC Irving Regional Centre
*Game 5  Friday April 5 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre
*Game 6  Sunday April 7 @ 3:00pm at KC Irving Regional Centre
*Game 7  Tuesday April 9 @ 7:00pm at Scotiabank Centre

*if necessary

Single game tickets for Games 1 and 2 are on sale already and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or at the Scotiabank Centre box office. 

Stats Sunday: March

Games played: 7
Record: 4-3-0-0, 8pts
Goals for/against: 26/19
Powerplay*: 24.6%
Penalty kill*: 81.1%
Shutouts: None

Top 5 leading scorers
Points: Markus Vidicek 11, Mathieu Cataford 9, Jan Sprynar 7, Lou-Felix Denis 6, Brady Schultz 4
Goals: Markus Vidicek 6, Jan Sprynar 5, Mathieu Cataford 3, Logan Crosby 3, Jack Martin 2
Assists: Mathieu Cataford 6, Markus Vidicek 5, Lou-Felix Denis 5, Brady Schultz 3, Lou Levesque 3
Penalty minutes: Jack Martin 8, Brady Schultz 8, Mathieu Cataford 8, Lou-Felix Denis 8, Jake Furlong 4
Plus/minus: Dominic MacKenzie +4, Jack Martin +3, Lou Levesque +2, Liam Welsh +2, David Moravec +2
Rookie scoring: Lou Levesque 3pts, Dominic MacKenzie 2pts, Liam Kilfoil 2pts

Goaltender stats*
Mathis Rousseau     31-8-4-0     2.27 GAA     0.925 SAV%
Jack Milner     11-10-3-1     3.19 GAA     0.894 SAV%

*overall

Round One Matchup Official

Photo - AMH Photography

With just over a week to go in the regular season, the Halifax Mooseheads' first round playoff opponent is now official after Saturday's games. The Mooseheads will take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the 2024 post-season. 

These two teams met in the opening round two years ago when Bathurst won the five game series 3-2 coming back from losing the first two games at home. This time, Halifax will have home ice advantage after winning the Maritimes division and finishing the regular season as the #2 in the Eastern conference. The Titan ended the year as the 7th place team. 

Halifax won the season series against Acadie-Bathurst 5-3-1-0. The Titan picked up wins in the last three matchups between the two clubs however including a 3-1 game on March 8. Game 1 will be played on Good Friday, March 29, in Moose Country with puck drop at 7 p.m Atlantic time. a

Individual tickets for Games 1 and 2 will go on sale on March 22 at 11am and you should be able to buy them on ticketmaster.com, at the Scotiabank Centre box office or by phone. 

Stay tuned to Moose Country for more playoff details and game previews. 

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, Jack Milner was named the Scholastic Player of the Month for February. Milner had a 1-1-0-0 record with an additional game a no decision and a 2.85 goals against average. 

Team	Player	Program	Academic Establishment
Acadie-Bathurst Titan	Robert Orr	Business	Athabasca University
Baie-Comeau Drakkar	Jules Boilard	Sciences de la nature	Cégep de Baie-Comeau
Blainville-Boisbriand Armada	Eliot Ogonowski	Sciences de la nature	Cégep de Terrebonne
Cape Breton Eagles	Émile Ricard	Secondaire 4	Académie les Estacades
Charlottetown Islanders	Carl-Étienne Michel	Sciences humaines	Cégep à distance
Chicoutimi Saguenéens	Loïc Usereau	Sciences humaines	Cégep de Chicoutimi
Drummondville Voltigeurs	Kassim Gaudet	Techniques policières	Collège Ellis
Gatineau Olympiques	Jan Golicic	Grade 12	Northern Pre University
Halifax Mooseheads	Jack Milner	Commerce	Saint Mary’s University
Moncton Wildcats	Shawn Carrier	Secondaire 5	Académie les Estacades
Quebec Remparts	Nathan Plouffe	Sciences humaines	Cégep Limoilou
Rimouski Océanic	Maël St-Denis	Gestion de commerce	Cégep de Rimouski
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	François-James Buteau	Independant studies	Athabasca University
Saint John Sea Dogs	Jacob Beaulieu	Grade 12	Saint John High School
Shawinigan Cataractes	Félix Plamondon	Administration	Cégep de Shawinigan
Sherbrooke Phoenix	Olivier Dubois	Sciences humaines	Cégep de Sherbrooke
Val-d’Or Foreurs	Antoine Lagacé	Sciences de la nature	Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Victoriaville Tigres	Joseph Henneberry	Bachelor of science	Acadia University