Just the facts

The Halifax Mooseheads took on Montreal in Montreal and came away with a point in a 4-3 shootout loss.

Lines:

Bahm, Bety,  Stoddard

Randell, Knotek, Grant

Lemieux, Andrews, Gelinas

Bernard, Pelletier, Desjardins

Metcalfe, Hannah

Amyot, Brunet

Dimitruk, Gillard

Costello was playing GQMF

About the Montreal JR:

Jake Allen was in nets for Mtl while my beloved David Stich was out with the flu.

The game:

Within the first minute Bahm got into a fight.

The Mooseheads had the first goal on 5 on 5 play - Dr Carlossis from Pelletier and Hannay

Speaking of Hannay:

 Is this not a face that everyones mother could love?

I think I am developing a problem. When you are 17 it is called a crush, when you are my age... it is called a problem. I think it's the joker smile. I am a sucker for joker smiles (see posts tagged Tomy Joly). I have to stay away from the CHL...or start watching the games blindfolded.

The Mooseheads then got their second goal on the PP. Knotek made a pass to Randell who had come in from the point. Randell shot and the puck was deflected in by Bahm. The Moose finished the first period with a 2-0 lead.

Early in the second Corbeil was suffering from technical difficulty (an injured hand) and needed to be tended to so Grondin was put into nets. Grondin allowed a goal (on 3 shots) and was then immediately taken out of the net. Before the end of the second both Gouchie and Chouinard also scored to bring the Montreal Jr into the lead 3-2. Damn ex-Screagel. Don't say I didn't warn you!

In the third period Knotek scored an unassisted goal on a breakaway to tie the game 3-3 and Corbeil made a huge save on a point blank shot by Parkes.

The game went into overtime and nothing happened but it was awesome because it means that the Moose would be guaranteed 1 point. Every point is precious.

Tomas Knotek was the only Mooseheads to get a point in the shootout. Really? Randell? Whatever you say Cam!

Knotek (Hfx) – scores

Trevor Parks (Mtl) – scores

Gerrad Grant (Hfx) – save

Matthew Brenton (Mtl) - save

Carl Gelinas (Hfx) – save

Guillaume Asselin (Mtl) – save

Travis Randell (Hfx) – save

Jeremie Gouchie (Mtl) – scores

Notes:

• I think I heard Bernard's name... once.
• How could I not give cookies to Bahm?  Am I on crack? Knotek MUST share.
• Both Knotek and Bahm received game stars. Knotek was 3rd star for 1 G, 1A, and one SOG. Bahm was 2nd star with 1 G,  and1 round of foxy boxing.
• Bety won 13 of 22 faceoffs
• Jake Allen faced 35 shots, Corbeil faced 32 shots (+ 3 for Grondin).

News links: 

Moose lose in shootout 

Video game highlights here.

____________________________________________

Hannay picture screencapped from SportsandMoore.com video

Road Trippin'

Introduction:

Friday night the Mooseheads begin a massive 3 in 3 through Montreal and its respective suburban areas. They will be taking on Montreal, Dummondville and Victoriaville, in that order.

It is generally accepted that  facing Montreal will be the easiest of these three tasks as the boys will be rested (should be arriving in Montreal today) and because the Montreal Juniors can be easily distracted by their own ice girls (if they still have them).

Chapter One:  Halifax Mooseheads vs Montreal Junior

The problem: Goaltender Jake Allen

The mission: hugging

As TSN's Jay Onrait pointed out - The goal of hockey is to hug your teammates in public as much as possible. This is FACT - The team with more PDAs always wins. The more elaborate the better. I want to see massive displays of fist pumping, ass tapping, and dry humping.

Jake Allen, fresh off the Canada/Russia Challenge (or whatever they are calling it nowadays) is probably full of confidence. Allen, an early second round draft pick of the Saint Louis Blues (the team you go to when you want to be forgotten about) is 8th amongst goaltenders in the QMJHL for  GAA (2.71)and is also sporting a healthy  0.909 sv % in 16 games (6W, 9L). Back up 'tender Berube, on the other hand, has not been so lucky.  His fortunes mirror the losing fate of his team - 3.40 and 8.91 in 9 games  (4W, 3L). Since Berube has already occupied the nets in a win over the Mooseheads this season it remains a possibility that he is again handed the reigns for this upcoming bout. However, given the fact that Montreal are also playing a 3 in 3 (Halifax, Shawinigan, Quebec), and Shawinigan are also a weak opponent one would expect to see goaltending duties divided up thusly: Allen, Berube, Allen.

Other possible dangers include David "balls of steel" Stich on defence, Pier-Antoine Dion's on fisticuffs, and Trevor Parks on forward. Parks was QMJHL offensive player of the week two weeks ago... he is the biggest point producer on the team and yet has only 20 points in 24 games. It may also be important to keep an eye on former Screagles Chouinard (23GP, 8G, 10A) and Gouchie (24GP, 7G, 9A) - they may know us too well.

Because of their lack of offense Montreal have an abysmal powerplay (14.7%) but that is offset by their respectable penalty kill (80.9%) and respectable defence. In 24 games they have allowed only 75 goals, while in the same number of games the Moose have allowed 95.

Chapter Two: Halifax Mooseheads vs Drummondville Voltigeurs

The Problem: Marc-Oliver Vachon

The Mission: Deciding which is your favorite flavour of Passion Flakie.

Vachon has 18 goals and 17 assists in 24 games and is currently third amongst all point getters in the QMJHL, and first among scorers. I have not been making  a Marc-Oliver Vachon voodoo doll out of discarded 'ah caramel' packages.

Other offensive threats include Sean Couturier (24GP, 16G, 12A), Gabriel Dumont (18GP, 9G, 16A) and Ondrej Palat (24GP, 7G, 14A). The team currently has 13 players with 10 or more points.

Did I mention that the Volts are currently the 4th ranked team in the CHL with a 19, 4, 0, 1?

Their PP (21.1) is actually just worse than that of the Mooseheads (21.9) but could not be considered shabby.  Their PK, on the other hand,  is awesome (82.1%).

If the Moose can get the puck past off the sticks of Drummondville's forwards and dodge their defence there is a possibility they can get it in the net. Oh I know that the Volts have allowed only 65 goals in 24 games BUT they have also only allowed 550 shots on net, an average of only 23 shots per game. Now look at the goaltender stats: both goalies have a sv% under 0.9. Starting goaltender Antoine Tardif has a 0.881%, while Ginger has a 0.895%. In his 4 wins Ginger has the league's best GAA at 1.75... but that is just 4 (+) games. Last year with the Titan Ginger had 19 losses and 0 wins. He doesn't scare me.

Chapter Three: Halifax Mooseheads vs Victoriaville Tigres

The Problem: Tomas Kubalik

The mission: Czeching - any way possible.

This is the Tigres Second week in the CHL top ten. The team are currently ranked 4th in the Q with a 17,7,0,1 record and are on a seven game winning streak.

Kubalik, Nestracil, Devos and Hynes are all at or above a PPG pace. Don't take this adorable face lightly - it can now grow facial hair and is developing a mighty five head. Puberty is cruel.

If you can catch Hynes I recommend simply picking him up and putting him in your pocket to take him out of the play - yes, he is pocket sized. Once pocketed this 16 goal scorer can be restrained until it is time to be shipped to Santa's workshop (its getting busy up there now and he needs extra workers). Don't let his small size and funny accent fool you - he is from Northern Newfoundland. He is not a leprechaun.

The Moose will need grit to keep the Tigres's forwards down. Body czeching, sneakily cross-czecking (while the refs aren't looking) or simply maintaining possession of the puck could all help.

The problem with Victoriaville is not just the offence, but also the defence. Their Penalty kill is the best in the league at 84.7% efficiency and Joel Chouinard (9G, 10A) QBs the power play with ruthless effectiveness (6 G on the PP).

Goaltender Kevin Poulin is rocking 12 wins and 5 losses with a 2.42 GAA  and 0.921%. second best amongst starting goaltenders in the league and in the top 5 for both GAA and save%. Mastropietro is not as lucky - his save % is on par with Corbeil's. The Tigres are not as busy this weekend, with a Friday game against Gatineau and a Sunday game against the Moose, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we face Mastropietro in nets.

Conclusion:

To increase our chances of getting what we want I have no problem resorting to mysticism. So if someone can rub Hynes just to see if you can make a wish for even a single Moose win - that would be great.

News links: 

Wuest

'Big brother' leads scrappy Mooseheads squad in dropping the gloves 

NHL Central Scouting taking notice of Corbeil

Palov

Moose feeling fans’ love 

Injuries sideline defencemen

Corbeil wins QMJHL award again   

Yes the spacing on this is awful. I don't know why.

Another word for ref is scunt

The Halifax Mooseheads lost to the Montreal Jr. by a score of 6-2**. Hold your ____________*. A post in this very space is inevitably eventual (is that redundant?).

*insert dirty word here
**yes I am drunk and apparently incapable of distinguishing between a 6-4 loss and a 6-2 loss. Mmmmmm a 6-4 loss would have tasted like lollipops.

I need to be bled dry to quit.

Fourteen wins. The Moose have overcome that nasty "stuck on unlucky # 13" win slump. I was beginning to think they would be stuck on 13 forever. The Halifax Mooseheads have defeated the Montreal Junior 4-3 in regulation. It must have been the hot chocolate, with extra marshmallows.

Here Puppy Puppy? Uh where is Jessyko Bernard? Wuest has the (temporary) lineups for the Mooseheads vs Junior game up already. I am writing as I go. I kept wondering why I did not see Jessyko out there with Piette in the first period. He appears to be some sort of scratch. Now, speaking of scratch, I am just going over here to sharpen my nails. Yes, I am biased. Someone must die for this injustice.

Goalies:

Jake Allen was supposed to start in nets for the Junior, but got a puck to the throat (ouch) in practice, so Bérubé is starting. Mark Yetman is in nets for the Moose. Speaking of poor: is Mathieu ever going to get a start ... or a painted helmet? So underappreciated!!! Will we have to attack Yeti and hurt him, Nancy Kerrigan style, just to get MCT his start? How unfortunate for Mathieu that it does not matter how he performs, he is still not allowed to play.

Goals:

1st period

Mooseheads: Desjardins with assists by Pender and Knotek

2nd period

Mooseheads: Power Play goal by Piette from MacAskill and Amyot. This was a nice shot taken from the blue line right in front of the net. I don't know exactly how it went down, it might have been a Piette tip in from an Amyot shot.

Junior: Layton from Adam. The Moose defence were a mess on this one, which went high glove side on Yetman.

Mooseheads: Stransky from Bona. Stransky was parked in front of the net... where all good boys park their asses.

Junior: Layton from Adam and Esposito. Adam and Layton had a 2 on 1 rush. Yetman made the save on Adam's shot but did not push left fast enough to get Layton's rebound.

Junior: Esposito from Adam and Layton (one line wonders here). Espo was parked in front of the net - taking out the trashes and fucking with my recyclables.

Tied at 3:3 going into the third

Mooseheads: Power play goal by Gerrad Grant, assisted by Linden Bahm.

Notes:

• Moose had a surprising 2 pp goals in 3 opportunities, then shut down the Junior on their 6 tries. Special teams are back in my good graces.
• It was not the most physical game ever.
• Yeti's glove hand was snappy like a lobster. He made a snogtastic 29 saves on 32 shots (18 dangerous). We will have to hold off on our Tonya Harding impersonation for now, sorry Matty.
• Randell's ankle loves to suffer. He took a puck to it at the end of the third, despite this being his first game back from an ankle sprain. I am sure his presence helped considerably on those six PKs.
  
• It was a reffing zombocracy. Quebec is apparently overrun with zombies.
• Knotek, Desjardins and Stransky may be trying to be a bit too fancy sometimes, what with their backwards passing and all.
• Bona did a good job breaking up a two on one.
• Game stars were (1) Stransky, (2) Desjardins, (3) Layton
• Cookies go to Gerrad Grant (or as his mother calls him Gerry, as in "Oh I hate to see Gerry get hit like that"...yeah, I sat next to his mom once, she is kind of a milf) for the game winner.

EDIT** NEWS LINKS
Wuest- Special teams shine as Mooseheads snap losing streak

Ewwwwwwwwww

Regular sexism is gross (that aimed towards ladies). Only reverse sexism is acceptable (that aimed towards men). Believe it or not I am a feminist... chicks before dicks and all that! No really! I am! Shut up you! It may seem like I really like boys, but the truth is I kinda hate them 'en masse'. They can be OK as individuals, but I presume they are just a mass of walking, breathing, evil, manipulative dicks-for-brains. They generally do nothing to offset my opinion.

What I am about to show you may disturb you, because it sure as hell disturbs me.


Mooseheads' girlfriends lock up your boyfriends! Did you know the Montreal Juniors have ICE GIRLS? Ice girls... in skin-tight short shorts - 'selling sex' in junior hockey!!! Keep it klassy Montreal.

Nuts to you Keven Veilleux

Disclaimer:
I love Keven Veilleux…except when he is playing against the Moose, at which point he becomes my Boyfrienemy or at least he would if he were my boyfriend…which he is not. He is more of a secret Lovenemy – but I think the secret is kinda blown because every time I say his name I mention that I secretly love him, and I probably love him because he drives me crazy. Girls are such suckas.

1^st
The game starts with a penalty to Keven Veilleux for cross-checking Cheremetiev. I sometimes forget that Keven plays for Riki now. It has been almost a year…you would think it would have sunk in by now. Anyway - Bad secret lover Keven…bad, bad, bad.

Rimouski get their 1^st goal on their 6^th shot. Yeti probably should have had that one. It was it low blocker side shot by Czech import Tomas Petracek – a defenceman playing the wing for this evening. This is his first goal of the season (and in the Q). Piche then scored for Riki on their 8^th shot with about 1 minute left in the period, on what was possibly a turnover in the Moose zone? That is what the announcer (John Moore?) says…I missed the goal. I am barely watching the game.

Moose are losing 2-0 after the first despite possibly outplaying Rimouski (more shots, more won faceoffs, more hustle, and more time spent in the oceanic zone).

2^nd
Bety gets the Moose's first goal (assisted by new guy Matt Boland)…hopefully cementing him a spot in Friday’s lineup. Luca Cunti (from Piche and Caron) then gets Riki their third goal on their 13^th shot. Eric Louis-XVI had a 2 on 1 chance for the Moose, but instead of shooting he passed back to Randell, who was covered and couldn’t control the puck so... Uh…no goal. Please remember…you shoot then the other guy is there to get the rebound. K?

Jessyko Bernard (from Knotek and Cheremetiev) then made me feel better by planting a puck top shelf. Throw kisses at Jessyko Bernard. You could actually kiss him if you choose (just run up to him with wild abandon and scare him with kisses)…but he still has a little moustache that kinda looks like a puberty moustache…so I think I’ll stay away until that is gone. I will, however, make him cookies and hot chocolate.

Every time I am not looking Riki get a goal (1:18), and there are no replays. That is now 4 goals on 18 shots. The post game recap indicated that the puck was passed from behind the net, to 'secret lovenemy' Keven who was in the slot and behind the Moose D…he then had 1000 years to think about his next move before he rifled it past Yetman.

Dear Keven,
Grrrrrr
Love,
Me

3^rd
Riki is out playing the Moose and hitting, hitting, hitting, and yet still no one is able to get a goal. The game ends with the Moose having a 6 on 4, but they were not able to capitalize despite a lot of pressure in the Oceanic end. I am just glad we did not give up an empty net goal this time.

Mooseheads lose 4-2

Elsewhere in the Q tonight:
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan defeated the Montreal Junior 4-0. You would think the Titan would have dominated the stars…but they did not. My Titan Boyfriend Tomy Joly had two goals. Much like Keven Veilleux, the only day Tomy and I can be together are those days when the Titan play in our barn, and yet those are the days when Tomy and I are fighting. Fighting results in one of those temporary break-ups. Sucks eh? I usually get over it in about 24 hours.

But that is not the crazy part, the crazy part is the fact that the Titan defeated Montreal 4-0 despite being outshot by Montreal 39-12. YES…that is correct 39-12. The Titan only threw 9 good hits all game…and still won. They won less face offs, 29 to 36…and yet still – SHUTOUT. Jake Allen allowed 3 goals on 8 shots in 15 minutes before he was replaced by Berube, who allowed 1 goal on 4 shots.

Oh yeah...and check it:
CHL Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 Rankings

1. Moncton Wildcats (17-0-2-0)
2. Windsor Spitfires (19-2-0-0)
3. Vancouver Giants (14-0-0-3)
4. Shawinigan Cataractes (19-4-0-0)
5. Calgary Hitmen (17-4-0-1)
6. London Knights (14-5-0-1)
7. Quebec Remparts (15-4-0-1)
8. Tri-City Americans (14-5-0-2)
9. Brampton Battalion (13-6-0-0)
10. Spokane Chiefs (12-4-0-3)

When the Fog rolls in...

I know I am slow. I was drinking last night so not only was I too drunkenly lazy to write a blog post, but I also did something stupidly regrettable. I had to recover from my shame before I could get around to posting.

So the Mooseheads faced off against the St John’s Fog Devils Montreal Junior last night and were defeated by a score of 4-1. Eric Louis-Seize (assisted by Gabriel O'Connor) had the lone goal for Halifax. Dion (2 goals), MacDougall, and Grenache found the back of the Mooseheads net for Montreal. Mark Yetman had the loss for Halifax stopping 23 of 27 shots and allowing one PP goal. The Mooseheads outshot the Junior 33 to 27.

Jake Allen was spectacular in nets for the Fog Devils turning aside 32 of 33 shots for the win. Let me just say that he was never that impressive last season when he was in town with the Fog Devils. He was, however, not doing a whole hell-of-a-lot of that famous Jake Allen puck handling. He did do one nice smooth pass to one of his teammates who was waiting on the Mooseheads side of the neutral zone. I also noticed that he only cuts the ice in front of the posts - how bizarre.

If Jake Allen would hug me like he hugs that post I would buy him some proper socks to match his gear.

How were the Moose? They were not defensively responsible. Rookie defenceman Ryan Matheson ended the night a -2, and he was left all alone in our zone trying to stop MacDougall on that second goal. Where the hell was everybody? I also have to wonder where everybody was on the fourth goal when Grenache was parked right in front of the net and waiting on a nice clean pass to get that goal.

Every time you fail to be defensively responsible in your own zone a Yeti dies. No wonder they are going extinct.

At least Logan MacMillan can win faceoffs. He was a machine, winning 17 of 27 faceoffs. I was very amused by his answer in the game day program: Q- What are his game day rituals? -Answer: I don't talk to Justin Pender. Yeah, I wouldn't want to catch a case of the IR Penders either. Also, MacMillan likes Polar bears. All together now - ahhhhhhhhh.

I just like this picture and needed an excuse to post it.

______________________________________

News:
We added a new player to our protected list.
Matthew Wuest (metro): Game Notes: Junior 4, Mooseheads 2 (yeah that's a mistake)
Willy Palov (Chronicle Herald): Moose fall to Junior
Chris Cochrane (Chronicle Herald): Patenaude Answers the criticisms

This Cochrane article made me laugh milk out of my nose thusly :^::::::::::: (Thanks IPB)

While explaining his acquisition of European import Radek Vlasanek from Bathurst, for a sixth-round pick in 2010, Patenaude conceded he was baffled by negative public reaction to the deal.

Vlasanek, says Patenaude, is short-term help for a losing team that needs more veteran presence. He notes the Mooseheads can use such a player to help with the development of fellow import Tomas Knotek.

How can acquiring a big slow player with 22 points last season help a with the development of a fast skilled player who had 66 points in last year's regular season?

Patenaude also dismisses another criticism, a common one made here, that by adding another veteran on a rebuilding team it means more press box time for another prospect.

"If you go only young, it could be a mess and it’s not motivating for the coaches and not motivating for the players. And we have to respect the other players here. They want to have a good season too."

There is absolutely NO NEED to carry 25 players. We carry too many players and too many older players that are no better than our young rookies. YOU give ME a break. Dude, we are the oldest and suckiest team in the division. No really, here are the average ages of each team in the Atlantic:
Mooseheads = 18.269
Titan = 17.826
Sea Dogs = 18.0
Screaming Eagles = 18.217
Rocket = 18.167
Wildcats = 18.16

Dump the useless 19 year olds (sorry guys) and let the youngins learn from experience. OK now I officially sound like everyone else. Der.

Just to prove that I am not as stupid as the average fan I will point out some stupid things I saw last night. 1) One chick kept trying to take pictures with her camera right up against the glass and with her flash on. Every picture was white - she never caught on what was wrong. 2) During the t-shirt toss there was a person (adult) behind the net banging on the glass and wanting a t-shirt tossed in their direction. They were upset that they were not getting a shirt - look up stupid - yes, that's netting.

______________________________

Sea Dogs:

...are currently defeating the Montreal Junior by a score of 3-0. My Kirky has a goal. During their last game against PEI my Kirky had 2 goals. So far this season he has 6 goals and 3 assists in 11 games. I like my Kirky. I just want another excuse to link to this picture again - ohhh Diva.