QMJHL's top NHL draft prospect, Mikhail Grigorenko was the big winner at Wednesday night’s Golden Puck Awards.
Grigorenko of the Quebec Remparts edged Halifax Mooseheads' Nathan MacKinnon for both the RDS Cup (Rookie of the Year) and the Michel Bergeron Trophy (Offensive Rookie of the Year). He also won the Michael Bossy Trophy as the top professional prospect.
Victoriaville Tigres forward Yanni Gourde was named league MVP, taking home the Michel Briere trophy. He also won the Jean Beliveau tophy as top scorer.
Jean-Francois Houle of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada won the coach of the year. Houle led his team to a 40-22-4-2 record, easily the best record in the West division. He edged out Sea Dogs coach Gerard Gallant, who had won the award the previous two seasons and Remparts coach Patrick Roy.
Houle's boss, Joel Bouchard, was named the league's top general manager.
While Gallant lost out on a third straight coach of the year award, the Sea Dogs were still big winners. Captain Jonathan Huberdeau took home the Paul Dumont Trophy (Personality of the Year) and goaltender Mathieu Corbeil won the Jacques Plante Trophy.
Jerome Gauthier Leduc, who had 28 goals, and 46 assists in 62 games patrolling the Rimouski blueline, was named the league's top defenseman.
Other winners included: Zach O'Brien (Acadie-Bathurst Titan) for sportsman of the year; Jonathan Brunelle (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles) was named the top scholastic player; and Vincent Barnard (Quebec Remparts) was singled out for his humanitarian and community involvement.
jonathan@theqspot.ca
Showing posts with label Halifax Mooseheads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halifax Mooseheads. Show all posts
Friday, April 6, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Should the Q hold an outdoor game?
With the long awaited announcement that the OHL would have two regular season outdoor games at Comerica Park in Detroit as part of the NHL Winter Classic, I wonder if Gilles Courteau has begun to fathom the possibility himself.
I hope the commissioner of the QMJHL has at least contemplated the idea of the QMJHL holding an outdoor game
The positives to the idea are endless. The exposure the QMJHL would get would be priceless. Not only would fans in Quebec and Atlantic Canada be watching, but more than likely fans across the nation and maybe internationally as well. And if the Q was able to put on a great event and gain attention, chances are networks like Sportsnet would air more games. All this and I didn't even get into the revenue yet.
Revenue is the biggest positive. The revenue to be had in an outdoor game would be huge.
Scenario: The Quebec Remparts host the Halifax Mooseheads outdoor game at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. This scenario would work out amazing if Mikhail Grigorenko did not make his NHL club in the fall. A showcase of Grigorenko versus MacKinnon in a stadium that can hold 65,000 plus spectators would definitely bring in a ton of cash.
Let’s say the average price of tickets to the event were about $15. If Olympic Stadium sold out (and all indications are it would), that’s $975,000 on ticket sales alone. Add in concessions, and merchandise, as well as parking and you could easily clear three million dollars in revenue before taxes. On top of ticket sales, merchandise, concessions, as well as different events leading up to the game would also bring in serious dollars. You can also bet that the host city would do everything in its power to hype up the game. Even with the host city taking in 20 percent of gate revenues, you’re still looking at the upper end of two million dollars.
I honestly do not see many negatives at all with an outdoor game, certainly not from a business perspective. The only negative I’ve been able to come up with is that ice surfaces outdoors are not as good as indoor ice surfaces, but that hasn’t stopped teams in the past.
The OHL is generally a trendsetter and I can imagine David Branch and company will make these two games a spectacle next year. So, I plead with Mr. Courteau, consider the idea?
If you do, I guarantee you will become an even smarter man.
jonathan@theqspot.ca
The positives to the idea are endless. The exposure the QMJHL would get would be priceless. Not only would fans in Quebec and Atlantic Canada be watching, but more than likely fans across the nation and maybe internationally as well. And if the Q was able to put on a great event and gain attention, chances are networks like Sportsnet would air more games. All this and I didn't even get into the revenue yet.
Revenue is the biggest positive. The revenue to be had in an outdoor game would be huge.
Scenario: The Quebec Remparts host the Halifax Mooseheads outdoor game at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. This scenario would work out amazing if Mikhail Grigorenko did not make his NHL club in the fall. A showcase of Grigorenko versus MacKinnon in a stadium that can hold 65,000 plus spectators would definitely bring in a ton of cash.
Let’s say the average price of tickets to the event were about $15. If Olympic Stadium sold out (and all indications are it would), that’s $975,000 on ticket sales alone. Add in concessions, and merchandise, as well as parking and you could easily clear three million dollars in revenue before taxes. On top of ticket sales, merchandise, concessions, as well as different events leading up to the game would also bring in serious dollars. You can also bet that the host city would do everything in its power to hype up the game. Even with the host city taking in 20 percent of gate revenues, you’re still looking at the upper end of two million dollars.
I honestly do not see many negatives at all with an outdoor game, certainly not from a business perspective. The only negative I’ve been able to come up with is that ice surfaces outdoors are not as good as indoor ice surfaces, but that hasn’t stopped teams in the past.
The OHL is generally a trendsetter and I can imagine David Branch and company will make these two games a spectacle next year. So, I plead with Mr. Courteau, consider the idea?
If you do, I guarantee you will become an even smarter man.
jonathan@theqspot.ca
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Weegar commits to Mooseheads next season
Halifax Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell’s job this summer may have gotten a whole lot easier.The Halifax Mooseheads announced today that Mackenzie “Mac” Weegar of the Nepean Raiders will commit to the team for the 2012-13 season.
Weegar reported to the Mooseheads training camp this past summer after being acquired by trade from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies just after the OHL Waiver draft.
A relative unknown to most who follow the Mooseheads, the offensive defenseman turned heads at camp, with a lot of fans predicting him to make the opening night line-up. Unfortunately for Weegar, the play of Josh Desmond and Mitchell Shewfelt couldn’t guarantee that spot.
With the NCAA eligibility deadline looming, Weegar informed the team he would not be remaining at camp, leaving the team and fans wondering what the future held. The question will now be about where Weegar will fit into next seasons depth chart.
Weegar’s offensive talents, if able to translate to the major junior level will solve a lot of problems that Russell was going to face this offseason. Weegar is second in defensive scoring in the Central Canada Tier 1 Junior Hockey League at just over a point per game. His 10 Goals and 44 points in 43 games lag only behind teammate Ryan Johnston. The Mooseheads will be expecting Weegar’s offense to fill the void that will inevitably be left when Konrad Abeltshauser, Halifax’s current offensive leader from the blue line, turns pro at the conclusion of this season.
The arrival of Weegar should also give Russell a few more assets to work with this offseason. The Mooseheads will still need to find at least one top pairing defenseman if they want to compete on the national level. Possibly two, if Steve Gillard is unable to recover from his concussion and return to past form. This will leave Desmond, Shewfelt, Austyn Hardie, newly acquired Brendan Duke and prospect Brian Lovell competing for the three remaining spots. This will leave Russell with some tough choices this summer as two of those names will likely be included in a move to acquire needed 20-year-old players.
Weegar currently stands at 5-11 and 183-pounds according to NHL Central Scouting who also have the right hander ranked 160th among North American skaters leading into the 2012 NHL draft.
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