We no longer say his name. He is known only as :<[ )

Matthew Wuest has a new article and interview with :<[) in today's issue of the Metro. In it they discuss his re-entering the draft and why on Earth anyone would turn down a contract with the Anaheim Ducks. You know I am just gonna rip it.

The 20-year-old from Alder Point has already been drafted once — 38th overall by the Anaheim Ducks — and is re-entering the draft after turning down the team’s contract offer.

“Even if I don’t get drafted, if there are a few teams interested, I can handpick the best situation for me,” said Swan, who becomes an unrestricted free agent if he’s not selected.

...By his own admission, Swan had a mediocre over-age season in Halifax. His production slipped from 35 goals to 25 goals, and at times, he was used as a fourth-line centre.

That resulted in a three-year contract offer from the Ducks that Swan said “wasn’t where I wanted it to be.” He had been offered a more lucrative deal the previous summer.

Swan and agent Tim Cranston turned their backs on the Ducks, not only unhappy with the offer but also concerned Swan might get buried on a deep team with tremendous youth.

Draft Day Part 3 - A Love Lost Before It Began

God Dammit - “The Moncton Wildcats take Dartmouth native and Pictou County Weeks Crushers junior A forward Tyler Noseworthy with the 93rd overall selection. Noseworthy is a hard-hitting forward who was believed to be of some interest to the Mooseheads.”

The hockey Gods giveth (Nadeau in the East) and they taketh away (Noseworthy to the Wildcats). It is our own damn fault for not getting him with our 4^th round pick. *Shanks Patenaude*

Dear Tyler
It was over before it began. I am sad that we couldn’t make it work out between us. I am sure next year I will see you in the Moncton lineup and you will be “BIG HITTIN” all over the place, while the guy we took in the 4^th round will not report to the team. I can see it now – Halifax vs Moncton, and our own BigHits-E.L.XVI will be skating around with the puck, just whistling while he works, and along you will come - BAM. Just don’t hit Mighty Whitey, he has concussion problems.

Kisses to keep you warm on your travels
Q

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Mooseheads picks (from Wuest):

The Mooseheads gave up their 123rd overall pick and a 2009 selection for the 101st pick. They use the pick on defenceman Ryan Matheson from the Central Ice Pack in Newfoundland. He's a 5-foot-10, 157-pound centre.

Uhhhh What is that Wuest? confusing! Is he a Centre or a defenseman? Why are we picking so many little guys? Well if I can’t have another Quebecois or Noseworthy at least they are getting me a new Newf.

Alex MacDonald from the Moncton Flyers midget AAA team. He's a 6-foot-3, 182-pound defenceman who was ranked 73rd overall by Central Scouting. - Finally a big kid!!!

Oh my – A GOALIE
The Mooseheads grab Cole Harbour McCain goaltender Kody Blois. He's a 5-foot-10, 170-pounder who helped the squad to an Atlantic major midget title.
Ohhhhhhh HE IS SPRIGGIN – LOOK AT HIS LITTLE NOSE

Andrew O'Leary, a 6-foot, 180-pound winger who plays for Shattuck St. Mary's, a U.S. prep school. He is from Minnesota.

Andrew Morrison is a 5-foot-10, 172-pound defenceman from South Shore major midgets taken with the 15th pick of the 11th round.

William Cloutier, a 5-foot-11 defenceman from Quebec.

We should now officially change our team name to the Halifax Andrews. We now have at least 3 Andrews, 2 Alexes, and 2 Gabriels. Lord only knows how many more Andrews I will find if I dig into our protected list (Yes, I remember you Andrew Bodnarchuk) .

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Trades:

Former Dartmouth Subways captain and Halifax native Alexi Pianosi was just traded from the Moncton Wildcats to the Victoriaville Tigres for second- and fifth-round picks in 2010.

The Halifax Mooseheads have acquired 19-year-old right-winger Linden Bahm from the Victoriaville Tigres for a sixth-round pick in 2009. Bahm, a 6-foot, 188-pounder, had nine goals and nine assists in 67 games last season.

Cape Breton deals European goaltender Marek Benda to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for draft picks. - WEIRD!!! BC have two very good, young, NHL draft eligible goalies. What do they want Benda for?

SeaDogs:
140. Nicholas Spear (a goalie)
158. Nicolas Larocque-Marcoux.
171. Raphaël Girard (a goalie)
12th round . Stephen Walker

Eagles:
102. Goaltender Alex Newman. He will probably move to CB to back up Roy and become awesome – like all of their goalies.
138. Olivier Bibeau
143. Neil Coombs
156. Jean-Sebastien Fournier
173. Steven Brazil

Dear Wuest, I am stealing your post and your picture

You cannot trade Whitey and keep Yeti: they are roomies, they are BFFs, they are the breads in my Q-girl/Mooseheads sandwich of next season. Matthew Wuest has this to say about Andrew White and the Newf contingent (Yeti, Pender-bender), in regards to this years pre-draft trades.

"It's not a huge shock that Halifax Mooseheads general manager Marcel Patenaude calls goaltender Mark Yetman his only "confirmed" 20-year-old for 2008-09.

Yetman earned the right to start in the QMJHL with an outstanding finish to the 2007-08 season, as he was perhaps the Mooseheads' best and most consistent player in the playoffs.

Patenaude did say an “incredible offer” could sway him on Yetman, but was less definite on Andrew White.

“If we get a player plus another 20, it’s not that we don’t like Andrew White, it’s a situation where if we get an offer for Andrew White, we’ll be listening to it,” he said.

...So the real question is, who will be Halifax’s third 20-year-old next season? ...

If you were wagering, Pender wouldn’t be a bad bet. He’s certainly got the most upside, because he’s a fairly mobile 6-foot-4 and has a bomb of a shot. He struggles with decision-making at times and wasn’t as assertive last season as he could have been, but he didn’t get enough credit for his solid play in the post-season."

Patenaude, if you trade White I will break your motherfucking French ass. I don't care if he has caterpillars for eyebrows, I still love him. Go ahead, test me. You are this close to seeing just what a 5'1" 105 lb girl can do.

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Wuest has another blog post discussing the importance of having some veteran players around to guide the wee spriggins. I agree. Most of our fans do not - that is because most of our fans are chumps. Also, you must ice a somewhat competitive team. You cannot put a complete bomb out there. Honestly, who the fuck wants to show up to 34 games, at least 24 of which are losses.

I just wish we had a new goalie coach. If we bring in MCT to back-up Yeti, Dallaire is totally going to break him.