The is the moment the Halifax Mooseheads have been preparing for all season long: the playoffs.
As the regular season is behind them now, the Mooseheads are focused on the road to the 2019 Memorial Cup, which begins tonight when they host the Quebec Remparts for Game 1 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs at the Scotiabank Centre.
As host of the Memorial Cup, Halifax is guaranteed a spot in the four-team national tournament but head coach Éric Veilleux says the team isn’t thinking about that right now. Their focus remains solely on their current goal and that’s to win the QMJHL Presidents Cup.
“There are 16 teams and everybody entering the playoffs want to win the Presidents Cup, that’s the main goal,” said Veilleux.
“We’ve been talking about this day, since Day 1.”
Halifax finished the regular season with a 49-15-2-2 record, and hold the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They will have home ice advantage for the opening round of the playoffs as they host the eighth seed Quebec Remparts, who finished the season with a 27-28-7-6 record.
The Mooseheads know the Remparts are a good team and better than their record will show, as the Remparts beat Halifax in both of their regular-season meetings, including a 6-2 loss early on in the season and a 4-3 overtime loss back on Jan. 5.
“They are fast, well structured and well coached and they beat us twice this season,” said Veilleux.
“So obviously they are likely coming in full of confidence but at the end of the day, we have our own style and we know how to play in order for us to have success.”
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This is the Mooseheads 25th anniversary season and to host the Memorial Cup this year will be the icing on the cake for the franchise and its dedicated fan base.
Veilleux, who has won a Memorial Cup as head coach of the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2012 when they played host to the national finals, knows the playoffs can be a long grind.
The Cataractes took the back door into the tournament after they were bounced from the second round of the playoffs that year. They lost to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in seven games, before going on to win the Memorial Cup on home ice when they beat the London Knights 2-1 in overtime.
Veilleux says it was tough to lose out early and he doesn’t want to go through that experience again and stressed the Mooseheads want to win its way into the tournament.
During a players’ meeting this week, Veilleux says they spoke just briefly about the Memorial Cup.
“All that was said was the Memorial Cup is here. They aren’t going to change their mind. It’s not going to move someplace else. It’s going to be here and so there’s no point in us talking about that,” said Veilleux.
“Before that, there is the playoff run that needs to be played and we need to be prepared for that.”