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Moosehead fever grips Halifax; forces game cancellation
The Saint John Sea Dogs may have lost a few players after last season's repeat President's Cup, but they still return a formidable roster with veterans Ryan Tesink, Stephen MacAulay, and of course, Jonathan Huberdeau.
Meanwhile, in Halifax, the Mooseheads are seeking their first QMJHL title and looked primed to do so. There was a scheduled preseason game tonight that would have been a battle between past and future maritime powers. One wrinkle, the flu bug has taken over Halifax:
The Halifax Mooseheads have cancelled Friday night's pre-season game with the Saint John Sea Dogs because nearly half of the Mooseheads players have come down with the flu.
The illness has left the Mooseheads with "an inoperable number of players for tonight's game," according to a message posted to the hockey team's website. [CBC]
The Mooseheads have already trimmed their roster to 24 players in prep for their opener one week from today. As this is simply a pre-season contest, the game won't be post-poned, it just won't happen. The team has pledged that fans can have their tickets re-funded starting Monday through October 1 at the team merchandise store.
Obviously, in the scheme of things, this doesn't affect too much. Both teams finalized their rosters in August, so it's not like a game is going to make it tougher on a prospect to make the team in a depth capacity.
Update This sort of thing is disconcerting, though. It's been pointed out to me that the QMJHL opened its camps a full two weeks earlier than anybody else, despite their season starting on September 20, same date as the other two Canadian junior leagues.
The CEGEP, Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, deadline, that has Québec-born players register for courses in mid-August, forces teams to start camps early to accomodate them. Last year, the season started on September 8, as Willy Palov pointed out back on August 24, after both Sherbrooke and Québec had finalized their rosters.
A longer pre-season means more exhibition games, which means more opportunities for those same star players to get hurt. Anyone remember when Halifax Mooseheads winger Marty Frk suffered a concussion in a meaningless pre-season game last year and wound up missing the first half of the regular season? It's not like he needed that extra ice time to ramp up for the start of the year.
Or how about the increased wear and tear on the players from playing in that more compressed regular season? You've got to think there are more injuries because of the increased demands on their bodies. It's just common sense. [Halifax Chronicle Herald]
An earlier start makes more sense. You get an earlier finish and, other than the Memorial Cup team, players get more time to rest and recover between seasons. Who knows if this explicitly played a part. Keeping kids indoors through the prime summer days working out and on the ice as the sun beats on outside, can't be too healthy.