Halifax Mooseheads
The View from the GondolaHALIFAX MOOSEHEADS · 2026–27
Live · Jack 92.9
Pat Connolly at the microphone at the Halifax Forum, the Mooseheads on the ice below

The View from the Gondola

Halifax Mooseheads · 2026–27 · a broadcast notebook

Pat Connolly at the Halifax Forum · photo: Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame

Final · Friday, Oct. 16 · Scotiabank Centre
MooseheadsHALIFAX · 4-1-3-1
0
·
0
ForeursVAL-D'OR · 8-1-1-0
FINAL · SHOOTOUT
1st1–1
2nd2–0
3rd0–2
OT0–0
SO1–2
Shots
34 – 28
Faceoffs
43 – 26
Hits
11 – 7
Power play
1/4 – 1/4
★Shawn Carrier, HFX (2 G)
★★Maxime Sauthier, VDO (1 G, 2 A)
★★★Vincent Moreau, VDO (23/24 in relief + 4/5 SO)

The Mooseheads hosted the first-place Val-d'Or Foreurs on Friday night at the Scotiabank Centre. It was the Foreurs' only visit of the season and game two of a four-in-five-day road trip through the Maritimes. Brad MacKenzie called it "two of the fastest teams in the league going head to head" during our pre-game chat, and it played out that way: a fast and chippy affair.

Val-d'Or was coming off a 10-0 thrashing of the Islanders in Charlottetown on Wednesday night, while the Moose had won two straight in their six-game homestand.

Forward Will Bent dressed for the first time since Jan. 17, while Jack Fichthorn got the nod in goal against Habs prospect Arseni Radkov.

Shawn Carrier opened the scoring for the Herd on a nice individual effort at 7:58 of the first period. He tacked on another 59 seconds into the middle frame from Quinn Kennedy (which, unbeknownst to me at the time, ended Radkov's night; apologies to Vincent Moreau, who made one of the saves of the year in the second period on Kennedy).

Former Sea Dog Nolann Héroux scored at 17:42 of the first to even the game at 1-1.

Nathan Langlois' power play goal at 12:22 of the second gave the Moose a 3-1 lead after some beautiful puck movement from Mateo Nobert and Oleg Kulebiakin. It was reviewed for a kicking motion, but ultimately, the goal stood.

Halifax played a solid 55 minutes, but an unfortunate delay-of-game penalty for Eddy Doyle at 14:32 of the third led to a power play marker from former Eagle Maxime Sauthier with 4:22 left.

The Foreurs pushed hard late, pulling Moreau in favour of the extra attacker.

With the Val-d'Or net empty, Quinn Kennedy hustled to win a race to a loose puck late and just missed on his empty net attempt. Unfortunately for the Moose, the Q's leading scorer Philippe Veilleux came right back down the ice and tied it with just 16 seconds on the clock.

Halifax killed a Malik L'Italien hooking minor in overtime, a penalty he took to prevent a sure goal, but neither team had an answer in the extra frame.

For a second-straight game (and third time this season), a shootout was required: Sauthier and Gabriel Provencher (who has not yet scored a goal in the league) beat Fichthorn. Once again, Nathan Langlois was the only Halifax shooter to score in the shootout, slipping one past Moreau.

Moreau stopped Kennedy to seal the win in Round 5 and improve to 5-1 on the year with a .926 sv% and a league-leading 1.99 GAA. Fichthorn stopped 25 of 28 through 65 minutes.

The Moose will try to bounce back on Sunday when they host the Shawinigan Cataractes in a matinee matchup in the fourth game of their homestand.

Unfortunately, we didn't close it out. That's probably the biggest thing, we don't come away with two points. Overall, 55 minutes of the game, we played well. We did a lot of really good things. The third period was close to textbook, except for the last five minutes. These are the ones you've got to learn how to close out… Those are the ones that hurt, but at the end of the day, we've got to be better.JOSH HEPDITCH · Assistant coach · postgame
▶ Listen

▶ Shawn Carrier's second of the night, his fifth goal in five games

The Season So Far

Tap a game
GM8 · MOOSEHEADS 2 · VOLTIGEURS 1 (SO)
SATURDAY, OCT. 10 · Scotiabank Centre · 7,001 · Going in: HFX 3-1-3-0 · DRU 2-5-0-0
HFX goalsNathan Langlois (SO winner: Langlois)
Opp goalsEliott Belzil
GoaliesCarson Mertz 27/28 + 5/5 SO · Jan Larys 33/34 + 4/5 SO
StarsCarson Mertz · Jan Larys · Malik L'Italien
SHOTS34–28 HFX
PPHFX 0/2 · DRU 0/2
FACEOFFS28–26 HFX
HITS11–9 HFX

“He puts in the time, there's no doubt in the work. He's an ultimate teammate. When he gets a chance to get in the net, he gives you everything he's got… What a glove save, eh? That was amazing.” — MARK LEE, Assistant coach · on goaltender Carson Mertz, postgame

▶ Watch the Mertz save

GM7 · MOOSEHEADS 6 · HUSKIES 2
THURSDAY, OCT. 8 · Scotiabank Centre · 6,442 · Going in: HFX 2-1-3-0 · RN 3-1-2-0
HFX goalsPaul Sintschnig, Shawn Carrier 2 (one shorthanded), Oleg Kulebiakin (GW), Malik L'Italien, Eddy Doyle (EN)
Opp goalsAntoine St-Laurent (PP), Jérémy Jarret
GoaliesJack Fichthorn 25/27 · Alexandre Raymond 28/33
StarsShawn Carrier · Paul Sintschnig · Nathan Langlois
SHOTS34–27 HFX
PPHFX 0/4 · RN 1/5
HITS9–7 HFX

“Probably our most consistent 60-minute game that we've had all season, start to finish. We gave up, I think it was seven scoring chances at even strength against throughout the game.” — BRAD MacKENZIE, Head coach · on the team game, postgame

GM6 · SEA DOGS 4 · MOOSEHEADS 3 (OT)
SUNDAY, OCT. 4 · TD Station, Saint John · 2,119 · Going in: HFX 2-1-2-0 · SNB 2-1-1-1
HFX goalsMateo Nobert, Duncan Anderson, Shawn Carrier (PP)
Opp goalsAlexander Donovan (PP), Alexis Joseph (PP), Matyas Cancik, Brandon Delarosbil (OT)
GoaliesJack Fichthorn 24/28 · Samuel Meloche 26/29
SHOTS29–28 HFX
PPHFX 1/5 · SNB 2/4
FACEOFFS33–29 SNB
HITS19–17 HFX

“We kind of left a point on the table. We loved our start, got out of the gate hot, scored an early one, then a couple quick power play goals for them. After that third one went in, [Fichthorn] really shut the door.” — BRAD MacKENZIE, Head coach · on the point left on the table, postgame

GM5 · WILDCATS 4 · MOOSEHEADS 3 (OT)
FRIDAY, OCT. 2 · Avenir Centre, Moncton · 4,226 · Going in: HFX 2-1-1-0 · MON 4-0-0-0
HFX goalsNathan Langlois, Oleg Kulebiakin, Owen Phillips (19:57 of the third, goalie pulled)
Opp goalsNiko Tournas 2 (both PP), Liam Bursaw, Liam Kilfoil (OT, 0:16)
GoaliesCarson Mertz 24/28 · Yegor Rybkin 30/33
SHOTS33–28 HFX
PPHFX 0/2 · MON 2/3
FACEOFFS31–24 HFX
HITS10–5 HFX

“We came out pretty strong, had a good structured first period, and then kind of fizzled away. They took over and we got a little disconnected and sloppy. The big one for us was just being more connected as a unit of five.” — BRAD MacKENZIE, Head coach · on the start and the finish, postgame

GM4 · REGIMENT 6 · MOOSEHEADS 0
SATURDAY, SEPT. 26 · Mary Brown's Centre, St. John's · 5,236 · Going in: HFX 2-0-1-0 · NL 1-1-1-0
HFX goals—
Opp goalsAlexis Michaud 2, Matthew Frost 2, Tyson Goguen, Benjamin Veitch
GoaliesJack Fichthorn 2/5 (9:43), Carson Mertz 19/22 · Antoine Proulx 25/25
SHOTS27–25 NL
PPHFX 0/4 · NL 0/3
FACEOFFS31–24 NL
HITS8–8

“Not a very acceptable effort, start to finish. A lot of sloppy play. I felt bad for [Fichthorn] — the first couple of grade-A chances he faces are breakaways.” — BRAD MacKENZIE, Head coach · on the effort, postgame

GM3 · MOOSEHEADS 4 · REGIMENT 3 (OT)
FRIDAY, SEPT. 25 · Mary Brown's Centre, St. John's · 4,413 · Going in: HFX 1-0-1-0 · NL 1-1-0-0
HFX goalsMateo Nobert 2 (incl. the OT winner, 0:52), Jayden Napon (first Q goal), Danny Walters
Opp goalsNikita Bloch, Alexis Michaud, Benjamin Girard
GoaliesCarson Mertz 30/33 (first Q win) · Louis-Antoine Denault 23/27
StarsMateo Nobert · Nikita Bloch · Danny Walters
SHOTS33–27 NL
PPHFX 0/5 · NL 0/5
FACEOFFS34–30 NL
HITS10–8 NL

“Some key moments and some key performances to help us get the win, but there's a lot of things that we got to clean up. We kind of created our own mess at times. We brought pucks back when we should have been going north with the puck.” — BRAD MacKENZIE, Head coach · on the win, postgame

GM2 · WILDCATS 6 · MOOSEHEADS 5 (OT)
SATURDAY, SEPT. 19 · Scotiabank Centre · 8,122 · home opener · Going in: HFX 1-0-0-0
HFX goalsNathan Langlois 2 (one PP), Quinn Kennedy 2 (one PP), Paul Sintschnig
Opp goalsNiko Tournas 3 (one shorthanded, one PP), Rian Chudzinski 2 (incl. the PP winner, OT 2:16), Charlie Benigno
GoaliesJack Fichthorn 11/17 · Jacoby Weiner 33/38
SHOTS38–17 HFX
PPHFX 2/5 · MON 2/2
FACEOFFS38–22 HFX
HITS19–16 HFX

“Really a frustrating one not to come away with two points. It felt like we dominated. Twelve shots against after 60 minutes is something we want to build off of. But some big errors at critical times — some poor game management moments where you give up a goal right after we score to go up a goal, late goals in late periods, breakaways.” — BRAD MacKENZIE, Head coach · on the home opener, pregame Sept. 25

GM1 · MOOSEHEADS 5 · EAGLES 4 (SO)
FRIDAY, SEPT. 18 · Centre 200, Sydney · 4,026 · season opener · Going in: HFX 0-0-0-0 · CB 0-0-0-0
HFX goalsEddy Doyle, Nathan Langlois (PP), Nico Uschan (first Q goal), Quinn Kennedy · SO: Kennedy, Langlois
Opp goalsEliot Litalien, Reece Peitzsche, Jacob Hartlin, Adam Klaus · SO: Peitzsche
GoaliesJack Fichthorn 24/28 · Sam Berthiaume 29/33
SHOTS33–28 HFX
PPHFX 1/5 · CB 2/5
FACEOFFS41–29 CB
HITS20–12 HFX

“We played with pace, played with control. We talked about not trying to do too much, let it come to us a little bit. I felt like we did that. Quinn Kennedy was arguably our best player on the ice, dominant in all facets.” — BRAD MacKENZIE, Head coach · on the opener, postgame

GM9 · FOREURS 4 · MOOSEHEADS 3
SHOOTOUT · FRIDAY, OCT. 16 · SCOTIABANK CENTRE

Shawn Carrier opened the scoring for the Herd on a nice individual effort at 7:58 of the first period. He tacked on another 59 seconds into the middle frame from Quinn Kennedy (which, unbeknownst to me at the time, ended Radkov's night; apologies to Vincent Moreau, who made one of the saves of the year in the second period on Kennedy).

Former Sea Dog Nolann Héroux scored at 17:42 of the first to even the game at 1-1.

Nathan Langlois' power play goal at 12:22 of the second gave the Moose a 3-1 lead after some beautiful puck movement from Mateo Nobert and Oleg Kulebiakin. It was reviewed for a kicking motion, but ultimately, the goal stood.

Halifax played a solid 55 minutes, but an unfortunate delay-of-game penalty for Eddy Doyle at 14:32 of the third led to a power play marker from former Eagle Maxime Sauthier with 4:22 left.

The Foreurs pushed hard late, pulling Moreau in favour of the extra attacker.

With the Val-d'Or net empty, Quinn Kennedy hustled to win a race to a loose puck late and just missed on his empty net attempt. Unfortunately for the Moose, the Q's leading scorer Philippe Veilleux came right back down the ice and tied it with just 16 seconds on the clock.

Halifax killed a Malik L'Italien hooking minor in overtime, a penalty he took to prevent a sure goal, but neither team had an answer in the extra frame.

For a second-straight game (and third time this season), a shootout was required: Sauthier and Gabriel Provencher (who has not yet scored a goal in the league) beat Fichthorn. Once again, Nathan Langlois was the only Halifax shooter to score in the shootout, slipping one past Moreau.

Moreau stopped Kennedy to seal the win in Round 5 and improve to 5-1 on the year with a .926 sv% and a league-leading 1.99 GAA. Fichthorn stopped 25 of 28 through 65 minutes.

The Moose will try to bounce back on Sunday when they host the Shawinigan Cataractes in a matinee matchup in the fourth game of their homestand.

“Unfortunately, we didn't close it out. That's probably the biggest thing, we don't come away with two points. Overall, 55 minutes of the game, we played well. We did a lot of really good things. The third period was close to textbook, except for the last five minutes. These are the ones you've got to learn how to close out… Those are the ones that hurt, but at the end of the day, we've got to be better.” — JOSH HEPDITCH, Assistant coach · postgame

SHOTS34–28 HFX
FACEOFFS43–26 HFX
HITS11–7 HFX
POWER PLAYHFX 1/4 · VDO 1/4
ATTENDANCE6,920

Next Game

Home game 4 of 6

SHAWINIGAN CATARACTES

SUNDAY, OCT. 18 · 3:00 PM · SCOTIABANK CENTRE
2-5-1 through 8 games · 27 GF, 45 GA · game 3 of a three-in-three
  • Their last game: a 6-4 loss in Moncton on Oct 16. Shawinigan led 2-1 and 4-3 before the Wildcats scored three in the third; Liam Kilfoil, the former Moosehead, had two goals and an assist. Chad Lygitsakos, the Cataractes captain, a goal and an assist.
  • Three games in three days: Moncton Friday, Charlottetown Saturday, Halifax Sunday at 3:00. Seven of their first eight games have been on the road (1-5-1 away, 1-0 at home).
  • Lygitsakos leads them with 15 points in 8 games. Rookie defenceman Vladimir Shtyrkhunov had 7 points through 7 games — 12th among Q rookies through Oct 15.
  • Philippe Boucher in goal: 2-2-1 with a .903 coming into Moncton, where he allowed 5 on 28.
  • A physical club: 21 hits in Moncton, five by defenceman Jonathan Prud'homme. Daniel Renaud is the head coach.
  • Through Oct. 15, Shawinigan had scored 23 goals in 7 games and allowed 39 — tied with Drummondville for the worst goal differential in the Western Conference.
VS
Puck drop in
0DAYS
0HRS
0MIN
0SEC
then · FRIDAY, OCT. 23 · 7:00 vs CAPE BRETON · SATURDAY, OCT. 24 · 7:00 vs CHARLOTTETOWN

Leaders

Through 9 games

Points

Langlois 6 G, 5 A11
Kennedy 3 G, 8 A11
Nobert 3 G, 5 A in 7 GP8
L'Italien 1 G, 7 A8
Carrier 5 G, 2 A in 5 GP7
Kulebiakin 2 G, 5 A in 7 GP7

Goals

Langlois6
Carrier5
Kennedy3
Nobert3

Assists

Kennedy8
L'Italien7
Langlois5
Nobert5
Kulebiakin5
Sintschnig4

Power play points

Kennedy 1 G, 2 A3
Langlois 3 G3
L'Italien 2 A2
Nobert 2 A2
Kulebiakin 2 A2
Carrier 1 G1
Sintschnig 1 A1
Phillips 1 A1

Hits

McNab21
Doyle13
Uschan11
Walters11
Carrier10
L'Italien9

Faceoff wins

Langlois 133/231 · 57.6%133
Walters 64/110 · 58.2%64
Nobert 52/111 · 46.8%52
McNab 23/60 · 38.3%23
Fichthorn2-1-3 · 111 saves
Mertz2-0-1 · 100 saves

Voices

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There's that saying: pressure is a privilege. I didn't feel any pressure. I like playing hockey, I find it a lot of fun, so I was just having a good time… When the pass went over I was a little bit out of control, so it was kind of my fault, the way it got set up. But I saw the puck going back out in front and I just tried to stick my glove out there. A little bit lucky, but I'll take it.CARSON MERTZGoalie · on the save and the pressure, pregame Oct. 16
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Since day one of training camp we've been really excited for this day. He's looked like he could have played for the last two months. He's flying out there, he looks like he's in great shape. Hats off to him, he's put in a lot of work… We're really excited to put him on our power play tonight as a right-shot forward, which we haven't had on the power play units yet.BRAD MacKENZIEHead coach · on Will Bent's return, pregame Oct. 16
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I just got the puck at the blue line, protected it a little bit, and I saw the opening short side, so I just shot it and scored. It was a pretty fun moment, right in front of my whole family, so it's pretty special… It's a pretty good start, but it's early in the season, so I'm trying to keep going. It's a big season for me, so I'm excited for the rest to come.MALIK L'ITALIENDefenceman · on his first goal of the season, pregame Oct. 10
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He's involved in the offence, he's involved in the rush, but he's also just defending. Honestly, he looks like a 19 or 20 year old defenceman most nights with the way that he closes space and kills plays off… He certainly had opportunities, so nice to see him bury one. He had a lot of friends and family here last game, too, so that was special for him.BRAD MacKENZIEHead coach · on Malik L'Italien, pregame Oct. 10
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He puts in the time, there's no doubt in the work. He's an ultimate teammate. When he gets a chance to get in the net, he gives you everything he's got. His attitude's infectious… What a glove save, eh? That was amazing.MARK LEEAssistant coach · on Carson Mertz, postgame Oct. 10
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It's a good mix of guys. We've got guys from everywhere: guys from the States, our two new Austrian Euros, Kuli from Russia, a couple of Maritime guys, and then the French guys. We've all meshed really well together. We've had a couple of team builders throughout training camp, and I like the way we've come together so far. It's a fun group to be around.QUINN KENNEDYForward · on the new group, pregame Sept. 19
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It's a huge honour. It's my hometown team, I've watched them all throughout the years growing up. But at the end of the day, we're all leaders on this team. We're all one. We move as a unit. So I'm looking for everybody to chip in leadership-wise this year. Definitely exciting.DANNY WALTERSAlternate captain · on the letter, pregame Sept. 18
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I don't know if you can compare too much, every team's different. But what I can say is the talent level is very similar. We have so many good players. I look back at that team and our depth was such a key piece, and I can say the same thing about the team this year. That's just super exciting for us, and great for our expectations.OWEN PHILLIPSCaptain · comparing this group to the 2022-23 team that reached the final, pregame Oct. 4
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About

The voice from the gondola

This is Garreth MacDonald's tenth season behind the Halifax Mooseheads' mic. He joined the team in 2017–18. Broadcast credits include the 2023 IIHF World Juniors on TSN Radio and the 2025 World U17 Hockey Challenge on TSN. A former TV reporter with CTV in Halifax, he has provided play-by-play for the AUS, Maritime Junior A Hockey League, World Sledge Hockey Challenge, and the TELUS Cup.

Mooseheads seasons10th
With the club since2017–18
Game nightsJack 92.9