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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Mooseheads Late Season Slide Continues

Mathieu Corbeil made 41 Saves for Halifax
(Photo Credit: Richard Lafortune)
Bad Penalties, Bad Play lead to Herds 42nd Loss
In front of a season low crowd, the Halifax Mooseheads continued with what they do best this season; losing games that they could easily have won. A lacklustre effort for sixty minutes resulted in the Acadie Bathurst Titan winning in overtime, but in all honesty neither team deserved full points from the game.
The Mooseheads have been consistent this season. Consistently bad, and Wednesday night was no change as the young team came out flat and seldom looked dangerous.
Captain Tomas Knotek, enjoying a rich vein of form, was one of the lone bright spots on the night and scored the only goal of the first two periods at 15:47 in the first. The Mooseheads were outshot 19 to 8 in the first frame, and 42 to 27 on the night.
The Titan replied with a goal in the third period to tie the game and stretch out an agonizingly bad game into overtime. It seemed as though both teams would be held scoreless in the overtime effort but continuing the Mooseheads bad luck, Eric Faille added his second of the night with just 55 seconds remaining in the extra frame.
The only other bright spot for the Mooseheads was goalie Mathieu Corbeil, in his fifth start since returning from injury, looked solid all night and made 41 saves in the losing effort. Corbeil was named first star at the end of the game and continued to make a positive impact approaching the draft.
Announced attendance was 4,528 but was affected by the Canada – Russia game and the numbers dwindled as that game kicked off, leaving the Metro Centre almost empty during the overtime period.
Three Stars
3rd – Tomas Knotek – The Czech Forward and Halifax Captain continued to have hot hands and with a goal last night and now has 8 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games.
2nd – Guillaume Nadeau – The Titan goalie made 26 saves and although looked shaky at times picked up an important win for Bathurst
1st – Mathieu Corbeil – Put up 41 saves on the night and played another strong game to keep the Mooseheads close
The Halifax Mooseheads play their last home game of the season Saturday vs. the Moncton Wild Cats. Game time is 4:00.
Henry Whitfield is an avid hockey enthusiast who covers all angles of the Halifax Mooseheads. Follow him on Twitter @HenryWhitfield for live game updates or get a hold of him at henry.whitfield@gmail.com

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Tigers Hockey Receives Confidence Boost on Senior's Day






Jocelyn Leblanc, Emelie Edefors Lead the Way for Struggling Tigers
2010 has not been kind to the Dalhousie Tigers Women’s hockey team. Heading into Sunday’s game with the perennial powerhouse Saint Francis Xavier X-Women, the Tigers were looking to take a big step back in the right direction as the AUS playoff tournament approaches.
Mission accomplished.
The Tigers beat St. FX 3-2 on a goal by Robin Mullin at the 8:42 mark of overtime to record only their third victory since late November. The Tigers split the season series with the X-Women.
Jocelyn Leblanc led the way for Dalhousie assisting on all three Tiger’s goals. Rebecca Sweet and AUS Rookie Team member Fielding Montgomery scored in regulation to build a 2-0 lead.
Carolyn Campbell and Laura Grant scored for the X-Women in the middle stages of the third period to push the game to overtime.
The X-Women were without the services of high scoring forward Catie Gavin and All Conference defender Marilynn Hay.
Tigers Goaltender Emelie Edefors, one of several seniors being honoured at the Dalhousie Memorial Arena, made 23 saves for the home team.
In late November the Tigers had 7 wins and were looking like serious contenders when they travelled to Antigonish for a showdown with the X-Women just before Christmas break. St. FX won that game 4-2 and the teams went in drastically different directions after the holidays.
The X-Women have only lost 3 games this term, all in overtime, with 2 of the losses coming to conference rival Moncton. St FX will be the second seed at AUS championships in Moncton and have a banner in their sights, despite being already assured of a spot at CIS nationals. The X-Women are hosting the event at the Oland Centre in Antigonish from March 11-14.
The Tigers have 4 wins and 10 losses in the New Year and will enter the AUS playoffs as the 5th seed. The team has battled injuries and sickness all season, including the swine flu epidemic that ravaged the team in the fall, and a case of mono to Leblanc in January.
The win over the X-Women could provide some rejuvenation for a team once had visions of being a serious contender for the AUS title. The Tigers have struggled mightily from a lack of scoring from players other than Leblanc and Laura Shearer. Leblanc, a first team AUS all star, L finished the season with 34 points; Shearer registered 17 points on route to a 2nd team all conference selection.
The Tigers will open the AUS playoffs with a quarter final game vs. the 4th seeded St.Thomas Tommies. Dalhousie lost 3 of 4 games to the Tommies in the regular season.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Same Old Moose

Mathieu Corbeil earned the Third Star in a losing effort.
(Photo Credit: Richard Lafortune)
Different Game, Same Result for Mooseheads
Lack of discipline hurts Moose once again
A sense of Déjà Vu must be creeping up on the Halifax Moosehead players and their Coach/GM Cam Russell. Another loss and another hockey game filled with a lack of discipline that saw them spend much of their night in the penalty box.
The Mooseheads ruined a solid 32 save effort by goalie Mathieu Corbeil and dropped Sunday’s contest 4 – 1 to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
Halifax got off to a quick start when Captain Tomas Knotek, continuing his rich vein of form, snapped a bullet shot past goaltender Olivier Roy early in the first and the Moose held the lead going into the second period.
However, unlike the game in Sydney on Friday evening, there was no three goal lead in the books as Cape Breton answered right back in the second period, as Luke Adam scored his 42nd of the season to tie the game and then a few minutes later added his 43rd to put the provincial rivals up 2 – 1.
Cape Breton wasn’t done yet as Maxime Legault broke out on the powerplay and froze Corbeil with a snapshot to the top corner to make the game 3 – 1 and out of reach for the Halifax Mooseheads.
Much of the game had the young Herd chasing Cape Breton around the ice and between halfway point of the second period to the halfway point of the third period the Mooseheads did not have a single shot on net.
The Mooseheads gave up seven powerplay opportunities and it was due to stellar play by Corbeil that the Screaming Eagles were able to convert on just one of their chances.
Late in the third with his team down by two goals, Cam Russell pulled Corbeil and called a time out to settle the troops and draw up a play. The Mooseheads promptly lost the face off in the offensive zone and Cape Breton broke out on a three on one to score an empty net goal to end the game. It was another example of a lack of intensity late in games that has cost the Mooseheads more than a few points this season.
Announced attendance was 7,772, as the Mooseheads hosted Scout Day in Moose Country.
Three Stars
3rd – Mathieu Corbeil – The Mooseheads backstop made 32 saves and kept the Moose from being blown out early on
2nd – Maxime Legault –The Cape Breton winger had a beautiful goal and two assists on the night
1st – Luke Adam – The Canadian World Junior forward had two goals and was unlucky to not pickup a hat-trick, he also added an assist to finish +3
Henry Whitfield is an avid hockey enthusiast who covers all angles of the Halifax Mooseheads. Follow him on Twitter @HenryWhitfield for live game updates.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Sea Dogs and Screaming Eagles Cruise Past Mooseheads

Charles Bety played a solid game in defeat for the Moose
Photo Credit: Richard Lafortune
Missed chances and lack of discipline cost the Moose vs. Saint John
For three periods last night the Halifax Moosehead battled not just the Saint John Sea Dogs but the men in the black and white stripes, as the Herd kept the game close through two but were blown out in the third in a 6 – 2 loss.
In a game that was reminiscent of hockey movie Slapshot , the Mooseheads held it close for the first period, but Sea Dog Aiden Kelly scored with under 20 seconds left in the game to take a lead into the second. It was a relief to be down just one goal as the Moose killed off four penalties in the first.
Garret Clarke was his usual truculent self and was running around the ice throwing his body into anything that moved, he eventually got run over himself but Alex Lemieux jumped in and dropped the gloves with Christian Morin.
The league leading Sea Dogs held no punches as they chased Clarke around the ice all night, twice taking liberties with him after the whistle, but much to the chagrin of the Mooseheads bench the penalties kept being called against Halifax.
Early in the second period Charles Bety pulled one back and tied the game at one a piece. However, on their seventh powerplay opportunity of the game the Sea Dogs took the lead again at 11:04.
Halifax came out hard and fast in the third period and the hard work paid off almost immediately. Captain Tomas Knotek scored a highlight reel one timer from Gabriel Desjardins just a minute and a half into the period.
That was as close as the Moose would come as the Sea Dogs answered back seconds later and scored three unanswered goals on the way to goalie Marco Cousineau’s 10th win in a row.
With the score out of reach, the game started getting even more rough and the referees had a tough time keeping control of the players.
At the end of the game, the number one team in Canada showed a lack of a class, as the Sea Dogs players taunted Halifax fans as they skated off the ice.

Three Stars
3rd Star – Charles Bety – Picked up a goal and skated hard all night
2nd Star – Mike Hoffman – Had a goal and an assist
1st Star – Zack Phillips – Scored the game winner and picked up two assists


Halifax blows three goal lead; throws away win vs. Cape Breton
The Halifax Mooseheads had a three goal lead early in the second period but couldn’t hold on to it, dropping Friday night’s contest 6 – 4 to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
A lack of discipline played a large part in the Mooseheads demise and ruined another solid outing by goalie Mathieu Corbeil.
Halifax broke out to a three goal lead with goals from Travis Randall, Gerrad Grant and Bradley MacDonald. But midway through the period the wheels fell off as first Viktor Hertzberg scored shorthanded and then Ashton Bernard pulled even less than two minutes later.
Penalty trouble caused the tying goal as Linden Bahm sat in the box when Canadian World Junior star Luke Adam scored his 41st goal of the season on the powerplay.
With momentum clearly turned in favour of the Screaming Eagles, Mathieu Brodeur scored early and it looked like the Mooseheads had packed it in and given up. However, Grant picked up his second of the night midway through the third period.
Discpline had been the issue for the Mooseheads of recent weeks and Garrett Clarke was once again the focus of the problems as he took a kneeing penalty which resulted in a major penalty and a game misconduct for the under-fire rookie defencemen.
On the powerplay Cape Breton took no chances as they took the lead once again, before Jacob Lagacé added his 33rd of the year to put the game out of reach with just fifteen seconds left.
Announced attendance was just 4,233.
The Mooseheads will have a chance for retribution as they return home to face the same team Sunday afternoon in Moose Country. Game time at the Metro Centre is 2:00.

Three Stars
3rd – Mathieu Brodeur – Had a goal and an assist for the hosts
2nd – Tomas Knotek – The one bright spot for the Mooseheads, picking up three assists in the losing effort
1st – Nick MacNeil – The Screaming Eagles captain led by example adding a goal and two assists, finishing a +3

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Halifax Sneaks Past Rockets


Moose blow two leads but steal a win in a shootout
After blowing a one goal lead and a two goal lead late in the third the Halifax Mooseheads had no business taking the PEI Rockets to a shootout last night.
With the game on the line in the shootout, Gabriel Desjardins dangled and picked up the Mooseheads second win in a row. Peter Delmas stood tall throughout and stopped all four Rocket shooters to backstop the team to his fifth win out of nine starts since joining the team at the trade deadline.
The Mooseheads started off the right way, fresh off of a win over Cape Breton Saturday night, when top draft pick Brent Andrews hit the back of the net. Like most of this season the young Mooseheads blew a lead and it was tied 1 – 1 heading into the second period.
Sawyer Hannay tried to get the team pumped up early in the second period but instead lost his second fight in as many games. The Moose tough guy hasn`t had much luck dropping the gloves since picking up the slack left by the departure of Spencer Metcalfe back in January.
Linden Bahm proved an unlikely hero putting the Mooseheads up 3 – 1 heading into the third period.
Once again the Mooseheads couldn`t hold on and in just twenty seconds, after two dreadful defensive plays the Rockets levelled it at three a piece heading into the third period.
Rookie defencemen Garrett Clarke found himself the odd one out as he was a healthy scratch, after also being benched for part of Saturday night`s game. Clarke`s undisciplined play has hurt the Mooseheads of late and hopefully this will help encourage the young player to stay out of the penalty box.
Announced attendance was just 4,559.
Captain Tomas Knotek also continued his strong play with two goals, but the big story was that of Gabriel Desjardins, who scored the shootout winner. The young, speedy winger had been under a lot of pressure the first half of the season and unable to find his scoring touch, but has been on fire the second half of the season and is finally showing the skills that grabbed him the rookie of the year award last season.
Three Stars
3rd – Konrad Abeltshauser – Not sure how the big German defencemen made it into the three stars, he was a minus one on the night.
2nd - Jordan Escott – Picked up two goals for the Rockets.
1st – Tomas Knotek – The Moosehead captain continued his strong play of late and had two goals in the game.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Mooseheads Weekend Recap

Thomas Knotek Led the Moose to an Upset Win Over Cape Breton
(Photo Credit: Richard Lafortune)
Sea Dogs Edge Mooseheads
Halifax waste chances:drop game to Saint John
Heading into Friday night’s matchup with the Saint John Sea Dogs, no one in Moose Country expected the Halifax Mooseheads to walk away with a win.
The Moose managed to take the Sea Dogs to a shootout but it was business as usual for the number one team in the country as they left with the two points and win number 43 on the season.
The Moose had every chance to take the win but undisciplined play down the stretch and missed chances cost them a big upset in a season that has had so very few highlights.
Rookie Garrett Clarke took some abuse from fans as he picked up a number of minor penalties and was in the box when Michael Kirkpatrick scored to tie the game with just 42.5 seconds left in the game.
Delmas made a few key saves in overtime, as he stopped 31 of 35 shots faced, but had no help in the shootout as both Gerrad Grant and Carl Gelinas missed the net on their attempts.
Announced attendance was 5,676.
The Mooseheads face another tough opponent tomorrow night when provincial rivals Cape Breton are in town.
*Three Star information not made available post-game


Gabriel Desjardins scored a highlight goal to lead the Moose
(Photo credit:Richard Lafortune)

Mooseheads upset Cape Breton
Delmas shines as Moose knock off provincial rivals
After a tough loss the night before, the Herd came out with a purpose Saturday night and showed glimpses of the bright future ahead in Moose Country.
On the back of another strong outing from veteran goalie Peter Delmas, the young Moosehead squad beat the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3 – 2 in front of a rambunctious crowd of 7,202 at the Metro Centre.
Captain Tomas Knotek had one of his best performances of the season as he flashed along the ice all night and looked dangerous on every shift. He opened the scoring in the first period to give the Moose the lead and made a highlight reel play to assist Gerrad Grant’s 19th goal of the season to make it 2 – 1.
Gabriel Desjardins had another strong night and put the Moose up 3-1 early in the third but with just under ten minutes to go Cape Breton scored to put the pressure on. Knotek had a chance to close out the game as he broke in short handed and tried a nifty between the legs shot and was able to beat the goalie but not the post.
Delmas then stole the show down the stretch as he shut the door on a number of scoring chances, finishing the game with 27 saves.
Garrett Clarke rebounded from a number of mistake riddled games to have a solid night and also dropped the gloves, showing the toughness that defined his game earlier on in the season.
Both Bradley MacDonald and Andrew Wigginton were healthy scratches on the evening.
Picking up three out of four points against two of the top teams in the league will make the team happy and give them a boost as they head down the stretch and fight to catch one of the final playoff spots.
Three Stars
3rd – Luke Adam – The team Canada forward showed why he’s so highly touted scoring a big goal for the Screaming Eagles
2nd – Gabriel Desjardins – The speedy winger continues to improve his play and scored another pretty goal
1st – Tomas Knotek – The Moosehead Captain played his best game of the season and finished with a goal and an assist

The Mooseheads are back in action midweek as they face the PEI Rockets Wednesday night at the Metro Centre

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

AUS Hockey Takes Center Stage in Halifax

2009 MVP Marc Rancourt hopes to lead Huskies to CIS National Championships
Photo Credit: Richard Lafortune
Rebuilding Tigers, Nationally Ranked Huskies, Mike Danton Have Made University Scene Fun Again
Over the years in Halifax, AUS hockey has taken a back seat in media attention and local support to basketball and Saint Mary’s Huskies football.
Despite being arguably the best conference in the country over the past decade, the league has not enjoyed the same following as the perennial powerhouse SMU football team, and university basketball bolstered by the AUS and/or CIS championships held each year at the Metro Centre.
Not this varsity season.
The AUS football season was “ho hum” to say the least, with the Huskies being the best of a bad lot that eventually got thumped by Calgary in a Uteck Bowl that failed miserably to live up to expectations.
The balance of power in AUS basketball has shifted decisively to the North with Saint Francis Xavier and Cape Breton being heads and tails above the rest of the conference. Add in the absence of championship basketball in March at the Metro Centre for the first time in decades, and the hoops hotbed that is Halifax is eerily quiet this season.
The AUS hockey conference picked the perfect time to have one of their more interesting seasons in years.
First, the SMU Huskies have been the sleeping giant of the AUS and everybody is waiting for them to start looking like a national contender.
Despite having played painfully mediocre with outstanding talent at all positions, the Huskies have been ranked in the top 10 all season. The Huskies seem to be on cruise control and waiting for the playoffs to start before turning on the jets.
The team is stacked with 2009 AUS MVP, Marc Rancourt (33 points), and high scorers, Cam Fergus (37), Cody Thornton (29), and Andrew Hotham (35). Throw in size with 6’7” Justin Wallingford, three players at 6’3”, and defenceman David Macdonald (28 points), and the Huskies are built for a championship run.
The addition of former NHL player and convicted felon, Mike Danton, has brought national attention to the Huskies and a great deal of interest from Haligonians. Danton’s first game at the Forum drew a crowd of 3700, many of whom couldn’t get into the game until the second period. They gave Danton a standing ovation when he scored the only Huskies goal in the third period of a 4-1 loss to the Acadia Axemen.
Speaking of Acadia, assuming the Huskies and Axemen meet in an AUS semi final as third and second seeds respectively, the teams could battle in the most interesting semi finals in years. An underachieving but lethally dangerous Huskies team, versus the overachieving, nationally ranked Axemen. Outside of UNB, Acadia has been the most consistent team in the conference and is gaining more and more respect each week across the country.
The winner would have to face the undefeated Varsity Reds in the AUS final but would secure a spot at CIS nationals.
Then there’s those feisty Dalhousie Tigers. Watching the Tigers is akin to watching someone run in mud. Despite a barrage of mistakes and goofs every single game, Dalhousie has been remarkably tough at the Dalhousie Memorial Arena and currently are 3 points up on the last playoff spot. It would be the Tiger’s first playoff appearance in over 5 years.
The Tigers have been blown out by the Huskies all season long, but tempers have flared between the two teams on a few occasions. The coaches, Trevor Steinberg of SMU and Pete Belliveau of Dal, went face to face after the game in a heated argument that spilled out to the locker rooms of the DMA. Belliveau was not happy about Steinberg using his #1 power play line while leading 6-1 late in the third period.


Benjamin Breault has been an offensive catalyst for Dalhousie (Photo: Richard Lafortune)
Although the Tigers shoot themselves in the foot constantly during the course of a game, they play hard and have pulled out a number of gutsy wins over Saint Francis Xavier and had a huge upset win vs. Acadia on a thrilling third period comeback.
The Tigers have also received a lot of attention with the recruitment of Bobby Nadeau, the former QMJHL goaltender who was involved in the Jonathon Roy fight from several seasons ago that received national coverage.
Nadeau and Josh Disher have been solid in next for a Tigers team that is out shot badly nearly every game.
Dalhousie also added their first stud recruit in the form of Benjamin Breault, a former draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres. Breault has been with the team since the New Year and is averaging just over a point a game while bringing some much needed excitement to a team that was desperate for a playmaker.
If the Tigers hold on to the last playoff spot, and it should be fun watching them try (the team barely showed up for a critical home game vs. Moncton this past weekend), Dalhousie would play SMU in an opening round playoff series that would be very interesting to watch.
Can the Tigers beat the Huskies?
No. But it would be the first step to restoring a rivalry that has been sorely missed in the Halifax hockey scene the past 6 years.
So fear not local AUS enthusiast, even though the Uteck Bowl was a bummer, and we have no championship basketball at the Metro centre, AUS hockey is here to save the day. An already exciting season should really heat up as we head towards spring.