MacKinnon Leads Team Red to 4-1 Win

Boudreau had a solid night as he fights for a roster spot

(Photo Credit: Richard LaFortune)

By: Henry Whitfield

Moose Country got their first look at Nathan MacKinnon today and he impressed with a goal and three assists, playing a big role leading Team Red to a 4-1 win.

Fellow Rookie forward Alexandre Sills picked up two goals courtesy of MacKinnon, while Konrad Abeltshauser added the fourth goal for Team Red.

Mathew Boudreau scored the lone goal for Team Green, scoring on an excellent individual effort.

Ryan Davis stood out early on, providing lots of energy on a line combination with Cameron Critchlow and Luca Ciampini, dishing some big hits and forechecking hard.

However, it was MacKinnon who stole the show and flashed the brilliance that made him such a highly touted forward for the Mooseheads in the off-season. The crowd erupted on his goal early in the third period, fighting past a static defenseman to slot the puck top shelf.

Abeltshauser started the 3rd Period lined up as a right winger and he

The two teams tied 2-2 in the shootout, with MacKinnon and MacKenzie Weeger scoring for Team Red and Mathew Boudreau and Brend Andrews replying for Team Green.

Standouts:

– Nathan MacKinnon, 1 Goal and 3 Assists

– Alexandre Sills, 2 Goals

– Ryan Davis, Big hits and lots of hustle, provided much needed energy to the lineup

Highlight of the Night: MacKinnon goal in the shootout.

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Henry is a contributor to Sportstream.ca and part of the Bill McLean Sports Show on 88.1 CKDU every Tuesday Morning at 11. You can follow him on twitter at @HenryWhitfield, where he live tweets his thoughts during each Mooseheads game

The Overager situation is Murky in Moosecountry

Randell may be done in the Red and Green.

By: Henry Whitfield

(Photo Credit: Richard LaFortune)

When the Halifax Mooseheads announced the acquisition of 20-year-old Cameron Critchlow yesterday,it bolstered their over-age player count to five heading into training camp.

Smart money says that late-blooming winger Grenier and the newly acquired gritty Critchlow are already penciled in, granted they don’t forget how to skate during training camp.

That would create a three-way battle for the third and final over-ager spot.

Defenceman Jonathan Parisien will face off with current Herd Captain Travis Randall and goalie Frederic Piche for that slot in the lineup.

With an embarrassment of young, talented forwards it is Moosehead veteran Randell who will face the toughest task to crack the opening night lineup. The Twillingate, Newfoundland native has played 248 games with the club, scoring just 39 goals, but half of those came in the 2009/2010 season when he played big minutes with scoring stud Tomas Knotek.

Piche had a tough season last year, picking up 14 wins in the first half with the Saint John Sea Dogs before being traded to the Mooseheads and adding just 3 wins through his last 20 games. Zachary Fucale was picked up in the dispersal draft and the 16-year-old could steal Piche’s chance to play back-up to Anthony Terenzio.

That leaves Parisien with perhaps the best chance to fill that final over age spot, the blue line seen as the weakest link for this young Mooseheads team.  The Laval, Quebec native played three seasons with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar before switching to the Lewiston MAINEiacs halfway through last season, gaining valuable playoff experience on the their run to the semi-finals.

Parisien would add much-needed experience to a young core on the backend that has struggled over the last three seasons, shoring up some big minutes and taking some pressure off the shoulders of Konrad Abeltshauser and Sawyer Hannay.

Luckily for both the organization and the players, each should fetch some trade value.

Meaning that Cam Russell has a chance to get value while letting the two play out their junior career.

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Henry is a contributor to Sportstream.ca and part of the Bill McLean Sports Show on 88.1 CKDU every Tuesday Morning at 11. You can follow him on twitter at @HenryWhitfield, where he live tweets his thoughts during each Mooseheads game