Help could be on the way for the Halifax Mooseheads.
Rookie right-winger Alex Lemieux, out since Dec. 27 with mononucleosis, is practising again and could be reinserted into the lineup as early as this weekend.
The last-place Mooseheads, who have lost five of their past six games, host the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday and the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday.
Lemieux is second among rookies in scoring with six goals and seven assists for 13 points in 37 games and was emerging as a solid contributor on a line with fellow freshmen Carl Gelinas and Brent Andrews before getting mono.
Mooseheads head coach and general manager Cam Russell said yesterday he is also hoping blue-liner Steve Gillard and right-winger Bradley MacDonald will be available on the weekend. They are day-to-day with shoulder injuries.
Russell is in Saskatchewan scouting the Notre Dame Hounds midget AAA team. The Mooseheads are a good bet to pick No. 1 overall in June’s QMJHL draft, and Hounds forwards Andrew Ryan and Liam O’Brien are ranked as top-10 prospects by International Scouting Service.
“It’s important,” said Russell, of the scouting trip that caused him to miss the past two Mooseheads games. “There are four players on the team we have listed in the top five rounds and three are potential top two or three round picks.”
Russell returns to practice with the Mooseheads on Thursday and will be behind the bench on the weekend.
