A new season has not been the cure for what ails the Halifax Mooseheads — at least not yet.
The Halifax Mooseheads opened the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season with a pair of road losses on the weekend, falling to the Prince Edward Island Rocket 7-4 yesterday and to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 6-4 on Friday.
It was a tough start for a team coming off a last-place finish.
“You’d like to come out on the other end winning two hockey games but we know this year is going to be a work in progress,” Mooseheads head coach and general manager Cam Russell said. “We have a lot of young hockey players and new guys and the positives outweigh the negatives right now.”
The Mooseheads battled back from a 4-2 deficit yesterday to tie the game at four midway through the third period. But the wheels came off after that as the Rocket struck three times in the final 10 minutes to cruise to the lopsided win.
Sophomore goalie Mathieu Corbeil allowed seven goals on 38 shots yesterday and 12 on 69 on the weekend. Russell said he “made some big saves” but was “up and down.”
Tomas Knotek, last year’s team MVP, returned yesterday from a tryout with the Minnesota Wild and scored twice. Rookies Konrad Abeltshauser and Alex Lemieux scored their second goals of the weekend. Abeltshauser also had an assist.
“I think we’ve had a solid effort from probably 90 per cent of our players both games,” Russell said, before adding, “I’m not displeased with any of our young guys.”
Both the Rocket and the Screaming Eagles were significantly shorthanded, as a handful of key players from each team were away at NHL training camps.
Veteran defenceman Alexandre Brunet did not play for Halifax yesterday because he was attending a wedding.
The Mooseheads are idle until Friday, when they face the Bathurst Titan at 7 p.m. in their 16th home opener.
